{"id":2144,"date":"2008-02-19T08:30:54","date_gmt":"2008-02-19T13:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=2144"},"modified":"2008-02-19T08:30:54","modified_gmt":"2008-02-19T13:30:54","slug":"castro-is-the-weakest-link-goodbye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=2144","title":{"rendered":"Castro Is The Weakest Link. Goodbye."},"content":{"rendered":"

Castro is resigning.<\/p>\n

Good news, to be sure.\u00a0 But, as Val Prieto points out,<\/a> he’s walking out on his own time, according to his own plan, rather than being chased from Havana by a crowd of his subjects carrying guns in one hand and copies of the Constitution in the other:<\/p>\n

I certainly don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, there is, after all, a little bit of happiness buried deep down inside because of the news, but, at the risk of sounding cliche, this is a tempest in a teacup.<\/p>\n

We’re going to hear hopes that this is the beginning of change in Cuba. We’re going to hear arguments for the lifting of the embargo. We’re going to hear wishy washy eulogies and praise for the bearded bastard. We’re gonna hear a lot of crap today and in the next few days. Cuba experts will be coming out of the woodwork with their own particular theories and there will most certainly be editorials galore.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But at this point, it’s not a 1989 situation – where the edifice of the Communist dictatorship was smashed to pieces by an irresistible popular uprising, where attempts to control the crash ended either peacefully but decisively (Poland, Czechoslovakia) or in a hail of gunfire (Romania).<\/p>\n

At this moment, Cuba’s change of government is a controlled crash; Castro’s had the year-plus since his illness became public knowledge to arrange an orderly transfer of power to Raoul, and to ensure that all the loose ends – like popular anger – are controlled for.<\/p>\n

There is going to be much ado about new “freedoms” in Cuba and “changes” in policy and what not. Some are going to point to these as proof of raul’s willingness for change. But, you know what? Freedom doesnt come piecemeal. The few crumbs this “new and improved” castro regime will toss down to the Cuban people will do little to stay any true hunger for freedom.<\/p>\n

The day there is real change in Cuba – and not a carefully choreographed one – will be the day when every single Cuban on the island is allowed to know who Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet<\/a> is. When every Cuban is allowed to know exactly and truthfully why he, and so many like him, have been rotting away in putrid jail cells for years.<\/p>\n

For fifty years, the Cuban people have been physically, mentally, spiritually, ideologically, culturally and emotionally emasculated. Today’s news is just another snip in a surreptitiously planned and meticulously orchestrated surgery.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The best we can hope for at this point?\u00a0 Surgery sometimes goes awry.\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes transplants get rejected.\u00a0 Bad news in most cases.<\/p>\n

Good for Cuba, in this case.<\/p>\n

Hang in there, Val and company.<\/p>\n

<\/blockquote>\n
<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Castro is resigning. Good news, to be sure.\u00a0 But, as Val Prieto points out, he’s walking out on his own time, according to his own plan, rather than being chased from Havana by a crowd of his subjects carrying guns in one hand and copies of the Constitution in the other: I certainly don’t want […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-and-its-making"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}