Unlike many people, I do not care for pretending that the Cuban regime is not repressive and a disaster for the Cuban people.

I love liberty too much to excuse its repression anywhere..."

I Absolutely agree. My position here is:

1. That there is mucho misinformation being disseminated in this thread.

2. It is hypocritical to pontificate about the actions of other governments when our representative government (no?) has committed numerous atrocities around the world, including the embargo of Cuba.

What many fail to understand is that the very policies of US imperialism and colonialism are why his face adorns so many walls and shirts around the world. Guevara stood up to these policies and died trying to fight them, arguably in an over idealistic manner.

"I do not care for pretending that the Cuban regime is not repressive and a disaster for the Cuban people."

Sort of a mirror of their next-door neighbor these days...just substitute 'American' for 'Cuban.'

The parallels and contrasts are even more stark when you consider public policy and results, ie. healthcare, education.

Yet it's tough to exist as a role model for egalitarian societies when the colonial imperialists won't let you buy IV catheters for your pediatric wards. And yet Cubans are healthier than either the Iraqis or us. They are smarter too. Their kids can READ. They are vaccinated. They are cared for.

We have a far far larger prison population per capita than Cuba. How many taser deaths occur each year in Cuba? How come we don't EVER read about roving death squads grabbing people in the dead of night? You can't hide that from the folks in Miami, and they'd be screaming it from the rooftops if it existed.  

How many homes does Castro own? How many palaces? Oh yeah, right. He's not a US puppet.

And JFYI Hurricane Katrina slammed Cuba also. How many refugees did Katrina leave in Cuba?

The list goes on and on.

Cuba is not repressive. It's POOR.

They didn't got sophisticated enough to say, don't attack Iraq without loving Saddam, opposing the embargo without also lauding the virtues of Castro and opposing the US, EU and Israel joint blockade of Gaza without calling a Taliban like group such Hamas nice guys.

that's the great thing about the internet, in the absence of clearly identified ethnicity or gender, you're forced to focus solely on the facts and logic the individual brings to bear in their posts. it almost brings a level of intellectual purity to the discussion.

batista was tyranical thug, so is castro. che' was a hypocrite of a dr., fortunately killed before he could murder more innocents. no great loss to mankind. i remember when he was still alive, even his peers weren't all that impressed with him. a legend in his own mind.

cuba is both politically repressive and dirt poor, with basic necessities subsidized by the gov't. yes, all are entitled to free health care and education. a good thing, no doubt.

of course, they have a population smaller than texas, for an entire country. i haven't seen a reverse migration to cuba lately, so i reasonably assume it's not the marxist paradise so many "useful idiots" would have you believe.

of course, these same "useful idiots" wouldn't be caught dead actually living in cuba, or any other "marxist paradise".

Apparently the massive slums in all those Latin American cities in countries supported by the U.S. are not disasters. Or peasants thrown off their land for big indigenous farmers or multi-nationals are not a disaster.

Tens of thousands of Central Americans killed by repressive American-puppet regimes and the Contra terrorists are not a disaster? Sure Castro has imprisoned and executed people unjustly, but the numbers are on a much smaller scale than those the U.S. is responsible for.

I am one of the few Americans who has visited Cuba, that was back in the Carter days when it was legal. I saw the government and social control, but ordinary Cubans approached me to talk to me even when they knew they would be observed. Of course, maybe there was a government informer among them from time to time.

Che was a murderous thug and Castro a disgrace.   Cuba will only be free again when Castro is dead and the Cuba opens itself up to free elections again.   It won't take long to bring that country up to speed with it's natural resources and tourisim industry.