CUBANET ... CUBANEWS

February 11, 2002



FROM CUBA

Hitting the nail on the head

Tania Díaz Castro

HAVANA, February (www.cubanet.org) - Without realizing it, the Brazilian Jesuit priest, Frei Betto, the promoter of liberation Theology and friend of Fidel Castro, has hit the nail on the head regarding the economic situation the Cuban people are undergoing, which is much more serious than Argentina’s.

According to Betto, in an article published in the official Juventud Rebelde newspaper, there is a need to look for an alternative to the present economic model. Thus, it is understood, also in Cuba. We’ll see why.

After a brief analysis of the world economy, among other things, the Brasilian priest mentioned that in our planet, with 6.1 billion people, only a third of them enjoy "dignified living conditions," while the rest live in poverty or in misery because they don’t have a monthly income equivalent to 60 or 30 dollars, respectively.

But in his text, the Jesuit doesn’t mention the crisis in Cuba (where workers receive an average monthly salary well below the equivalent of 30 dollars) that has gone on for decades. Not even Betto dares to compare the situation in the island with that of the poorest countries in Africa.

The Communist failure of Fidel Castro becomes evident in this article by Betto, even if he doesn’t say so clearly. After almost 50 years of a socialist economy, totally controlled by the State, we don’t have the same living standard of Latin America, with the exception of Haiti.

The liberation theologist also neglects another fundamental aspect: the right of every citizen of freely expressing his political ideas. In Cuba and this can be confirmed by all visitors, even if they lodge in luxury hotels or in the government’s diplomatic houses what recently happened in Venezuela could ot happen: those opposed to Chavez had all the guarantees to express their ideas in the streets, in the local press, on radio and television. Nor could what happened in Buenos Aires happen in Cuba: rebellious demonstrations in the public thoroughfares and in the stores.

Cubans, especially ordinary Cubans, have been the victims of a sophisticated, repressive machine for more than four decades. The rights of the majority don’t count. Their freedom is restricted for the benefit of the central economic planning of a failed, unworkable State, whose representatives don’t share the penury of ordinary Cubans.


Versión original en español


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