> may have a profound impact on millions of Cuban lives in a very short period of time.
I can think of some things Raul Castro could do which would improve millions of Cuban lives in a very short period of time.
I can think of some things Raul Castro could do which would improve millions of Cuban lives in a very short period of time.
At least some of the restrictions are going away, and some weren't really enforced in later years (e.g. officially no-one can trade on their own and the so-called "black market" is illegal, but in practice this wasn't enforced because otherwise people wouldn't be able to live their lives at all).
Some degree of "off the record" trade is allowed... one example that comes to mind right now are the unofficial restaurants called "paladares", hosted in private apartments; everyone knows they exist and where they are located, and they don't get closed down by the police.
I am, but I live in the US: we have illegal drone strikes against US citizens, NSA wiretapping against US citizens, and so on (the glasses are rose colored for some). Every country has its human rights issues.
Cuba may not move towards democracy as much as we'd like, but quality of life can still be improved for its citizens in parallel with political reform.
Are you seriously claiming that a government which has been ruled by a strongman for decade and which regularly throws people in jail for criticizing the regime is morally equivalent to the US government in its treatment of its own citizens?
So why is it that we must focus on the problem of NSA wiretapping before we are even allowed to talk about the problem of millions of people being oppressed by a Communist dictatorship?
To compare drone strikes on jihadist camps in foreign countries, and wiretapping of calls entering and leaving the country, with the total suppression of the human spirit by the Castro regime, is ridiculous and irrelevant.
Unfortunately, people are increasingly buying into this narrative. Moral relativism, moral nihilism I call it, is an unfitting ideology for a nation built on a strong belief in human dignity and freedom.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_you_are_lynching_Negroes
As a US citizen, I'm looking forward to the day the US government as a healthy respect for the dignity, privacy, and freedom of its citizens. That day is not today.
Your statement is at the very least, buggy.
Political dissent is allowed, not encouraged. Another thing is the US gov investing gazillion dollars on busting the career of a dissident blogger and hence everybody (lazy) reading shitty news... Why not invest it on the very successful Cuban research on Cancer? A mistery?
And if you go to Cuba and talk with Cubans you will see most of us want more BUT love what we have. And in general, we are happy people, look at statistics, look at health charts, education, poverty, suicide charts if that's your thing... so, yes, dictatorship.
Also, things have been and are changing... Raul Castro said he would be stepping out after 5 years and I believe he will, and then all the "representative" democracy elections that won't solve anything.
Democracy per se is not a good thing, but it is the perfect instrument for those able to influence masses.