By God, this has just been an amazing string...I think I'll save the whole thing and put it in a book. If I can figure out how to do that...I'm still a neophyte on this chat routine and on Mucat in general.

Doug R - there are a variety of reasons why people flee Cuba. I think the strongest one is that the ecomony there is very bad now, compared to the not too recent past...this because of the collapse of the Warsaw Pact combined with a 40-year-old US (and OAS) embargo, and the floating peso against the US dollar situation. People will go where they can get money and what they see as a more abundant lifestyle. The paradox is...and I am not kidding about this...I found people in Cuba who seemed to me to be happier and more open-hearted than we North Americans with all our money and possessions. There are hundreds of thousands of people in South and Central America who also risk all to get across the Mexican border into the USA. They will do anything to escape the poverty which is much worse in Mexico than it is in Cuba. Many have died in the attempt. Many others have become 3rd class citizens in American ghettos and experienced firsthand the dark side of the "American dream". There is also repression of some freedoms in Cuba (as there is throughout Latin America), so there are genuine political refugees of conscience. I will never claim that one side is totally without fault in this matter and the other totally wrong. What I will claim is that there is no justification for an embargo against Cuba, none whatsoever.

Kim C - Correct! Cuba never was any threat to the USA, because the basic intention of the Cubans was to establish their own sovereignty over their own country and economy. Cuba has made efforts to export its revolution...not surprisingly...because they have provided considerably more social justice than other Latin American regimes, and they know it. The one thing Cuba WAS a threat to was the profits of American business and American organized crime (the Mafia).

and Kim C - you are quite right that not everyone hates the USA. The Cubans themselves like Americans (as individuals) in general, and rather admire the USA in various respects, but they will not surrender their sovereignty, not to the USA or to anyone. In other words, they have mixed feelings on the subject.

the Yank - Yes! Machado was a monster. Batista started out as somewhat of a reformer, but became a monster as he abandoned democratic principles and succumbed to greed and megalomania. He personally darn near bankrupted the country by looting its treasury and indirectly caused the deaths of 20,000 civilians in 10 years by execution, torture, and other means. He ought to have been tried in the World Court. Or shot. I am not one for capital punishment, but in his case I would have considered it. On second thought, I say no...just make him pay back what he took and put him to work on a sugar farm for about 10 years, after which he might appreciate the needs of the common people.

Lena - your comments are fascinating, and merit a great deal of thought. I will see what I can do, and reply directly to you, rather than in this string.

Gracias, amigos, much food for thought.

Little Hawk (George Coventry)