For What It's Worth,Reversal of Freedom

I am starting to see a shift in certain aspects of our society.

We are losing our freedoms as others are gaining their's.

What prompt me to this thought was this article .

Reversal of Freedom-Fortunes on the Two Sides of the Florida Straits

Yeah. That seems to be the developing story of Cuba, indeed all of Latin America, on one side and United States on the other. Degrees of freedom and economic fortunes for the peoples on the two sides of the Florida Straits appear to be on reverse mode. World knows Cuba — primarily through Western mainstream media – as a ‘Communist outpost’ in the underbelly of United States that, like its former mentor and supporter, Soviet Union, is but a little bastion of Communist cruelty against its people, therefore justifying continuance of American Cold War approach against the tiny island country. But, as usual, it is far from the ground realty – no less false than Saddam’s WMDs. What brought Cuba close to Soviet Union is conveniently ignored because it helps mask American duplicity that beats its drum of freedom and democracy simply for opening avenues in other countries for exploitation by its corporate mafia and banksters. Never mentioned, for instance, is the America’s forcible occupation of Cuba first from 1898-1902 and then 1917-1923 or the Platt Amendment, a piece of humiliating and exploitative legislation passed by the US Congress in 1902 — later in 1903 christened as the Cuban-American Treaty — that rendered Cuba a protectorate of the United States, granting the latter veto power over Cuban foreign and economic policies and perpetual lease of Guantánamo Bay. By early 1920s, while Americans virtually controlled Cuban farmlands and sugar industry, the Islanders were introduced to the business of prostitution and gambling controlled by American criminal gangs, which also forayed into several other businesses. When not directly Governing itself, as was the case for a very brief period (1933-34) when the reformist Grau San Martin held the reins of Cuban government, America propped up and sustained dictators like Gen. Gerardo Machado (1925-33) and Fulgencio Batista (1934-44 and 1952-58) – like we see Hamid Karzai currently in Afghanistan. US Government and media may wish and try to erase American political, economic and moral depredations of Cuba but fortunately history writing hasn’t been the sole prerogative of the United States.

www.veteranstoday.com...

It just seems to me that as government control is bearing down on the US citizens,The Cuban authorities are loosening up they're control.

My only concern is can I finally have that famous Mojito that Earnest Hemingway always bragged about?

Maybe, but Freedom House is calling Cuba one of the 18 least free countries in the world, and they've been ranking the countries of the world for years. If Cuba is changing, it doesn't seem to be significantly.
www.freedomhouse.org...
There's a link on that page to "The Worst of the World" (or something like that) with additional information.

reply to post by charles1952


Couldn't find the rankings, but it also says that the U.S is a free country, same goes for Israel and other countries that fit to the "free nation" ideology we have here at the West.

Maybe the U.S is freer than Cuba and has more civil rights, but in Cuba i'm sure it's much easier to get your own land and a house to live in, without being a debt-slave for 20+ years. Debt enslaves people & nations, but it has a nicer term and we call it a loan. So who's the freer nation?

reply to post by Shuye

Dear Shuye,

Nice timing. A year ago, owning a home was illegal in Cuba. It's still illegal to advertise your home for sale and there are no vacancies. There isn't really any real estate market yet, and home ownership hasn't taken off. Besides, I'll take free speech, elections, religion, etc. over home ownership any day. Especially when the government may decide to take it all back next year.

With respect,
Charles1952