Says Latin American leaders 'dance to the strings of U.S. mandates'
By I.J. Toby Westerman. © 2000, WorldNetDaily.com, Inc. August 8, 2000
The Cuban government of Fidel Castro has condemned the United States for the high level of poverty in Latin America, stating that the "neo-liberal" economic policies supported by the U.S. "generate discontent" which demand change, according to official Cuban sources.
"There is no justification of the continuance of the neo-liberal model" of economics due to the high level of poverty in Latin America, the broadcast said. Even so, there is continued support in the region for what the Castro government terms the "neo-liberal model," because,
according to the statement, "the vast majority of Latin American politicians, now more than ever, dance to the strings of U.S. mandates."
The Castro government defines the "neo-liberal" model as one that "glorifies free market economics, capital investment, fiscal balance, competitiveness and privatization."
The Cuban government's statements were carried on Radio Habana Cuba, the official broadcasting service of the Cuban government.
The attack upon the "neo-liberal" model accompanied a Cuban government report claiming a 7.7 percent increase in economic activity on the island during the first part of this year, as compared to the previous year.
Though the Cuban government acknowledged foreign (capitalist) investment on the island as "a complement to internal efforts to development," the main credit for the increase in economic growth was given to "the central planning system."
Havana also praised its Marxist-controlled economy for enabling the island to survive the "acute economic crisis" of the early 1990s that followed the collapse of Cuba's traditional friend and benefactor, the Soviet Union. The United States maintained and continues to maintain its
embargo on the island in response to Castro retaining the totalitarian government that supports the "central planning system."
During much of the '90s, Latin America was generally praised for its robust and promising economy, although repercussions of a recent international monetary crisis have dampened Latin American growth figures. Observers praise the region's governments for their continued national stability.
Growth figures -- at least those outside of Cuba -- remain unimpressive to the Castro government.
"It is more clear than ever that growth does not translate into social well-being," according to the Havana broadcast. "A decade of bourgeois democracy and neo-liberal reform ... has brought about unparalleled wave of violence and drug trafficking."
Referring in the broadcast to the drug problem in Latin America, Havana failed to report that the pro-communist guerrilla groups in Colombia for years have cooperated with that nation's drug cartels in the manufacture and distribution of a major share of the world's supply of cocaine and other
narcotics. There have also been consistent reports over the years regarding Cuban cooperation and involvement in the illegal drug trade.
Despite his government's description of "the vast majority of Latin American politicians" as those who "dance to the strings of U.S. mandates," Castro remains a significant, even popular, figure in Latin America.
The recently elected president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, is an admirer of the Cuban revolution, and Cuba is a valued participant in the Caribbean trade community (known as Caribcom). Cuba is developing close relations with Panama, Nicaragua, Haiti and Jamaica, among others.
Havana has hosted a number of regional and international conferences, including the 15th Latin American Congress on Banking Security in July and the "G-77" summit of underdeveloped nations in early April.
Cuba's government, however, remains condemned by the United Nations on the basis of its religious and political human-rights abuses. Cuba still employs its neighborhood spy network in which neighbor carefully watches neighbor, and children still salute Castro on public occasions.
Editor's note: WND's multi-lingual reporter Toby Westerman specializes in monitoring global shortwave broadcasts and reading foreign-language news journals for information not readily available from the domestic press. Each month, Westerman presents a special in-depth report in
WorldNetDaily's monthly magazine, WorldNet. Readers may subscribe to WorldNet through WND's online store.
I.J Toby Westerman, a contributing editor to both WorldNet Magazine and WorldNetDaily.com, focuses on current events in the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Balkans. He can be reached at twesterman@worldnetdaily.com.
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