Fat Albert, you obviously have not been to Cuba. I and hundreds of thousands of other Canadians have. I have walked the streets of Cardenas, not a tourist town. No big hotels in Cardenas. I have also been to Mexico and seen how the poor live there. Cuba is immeasurable more responsible to its people.

Here is today's news from Guatemala, taken directly from my Rogers Homepage, news section. I quote:

"GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - The United States issued a serious security warning for Guatemala on Wednesday after a series of attacks on U.S. citizens in the Central American nation, including the rapes of children.   

A statement from the U.S. Embassy said there have been three serious assaults on U.S. citizens in 10 days. In two of them minors were raped.

The statement did not come with a recommendation to avoid travel to Guatemala, which is battling a surge of violent crime. Buses and trucks are frequently held up in broad daylight.

In some of the cases, the attackers wore police uniforms and used police-like vehicles to trick their victims into stopping, the embassy said.

It was not clear if the attackers were police, although the embassy statement said police might have been involved in some of the attacks. The embassy declined to give further details.

While the vast majority of victims are Guatemalan, the embassy registers attacks against hundreds of U.S. tourists every year and is concerned that criminal activity is on the increase.

In recent months, high-ranking officers in Guatemala's notoriously corrupt police force have been suspended for alleged involvement in gangs dedicated to kidnapping and assault.

Several members of the office for professional responsibility, whose duty is to monitor police behavior, were recently fired for alleged corruption.

"We are retraining the remaining personnel, so that they work against the bad police," police spokesman Oscar Piveral said.




That's Guatemala, another US ally and business partner. Guatemala is a country that was savaged in the 80's by CIA-trained and funded death squads who terrorized the populace and massacred anyone who stood up for political and social freedoms. You now see the result of that policy.

Your ideas about Cuba are a schoolboy fantasy picked up from God knows where. I have met any number of highly educated Cubans and ordinary working class Cubans. They live in a country that has the best literacy rate in Latin America, a better infant survival rate than the USA, totally free and modern medical care, totally free and good education right to the completion of university, and safe streets. Much safer than Miami or Washington, D.C., I can tell you.

You just keep repeating the myths and lies you've been told, Albert, and I'm sure you will keep believing them. They are supported by your stark ignorance of the real World that exists outside the USA.

I already live in a good country, pal. It's called Canada. If I was born Cuban I'd be mighty proud to live there too. They have held off a superpower for over 40 years now, and that's nothing short of a miracle.