Gee...lots more good stuff to respond to. Where do I begin?

Doug R - you ask if the sanctions are working, since apparently things are hunky-dory in Cuba. Not so. The Cubans are desperately short of money, medicine, and many types of manufactured goods. They are somewhat short of food, but it's not too bad in that sense. This is due to the sanctions, not to any inherent wrongdoing on the part of the Cuban government, which has still managed to provide a better society than exists in most of Latin America, even despite those sanctions.

I am sorry to say that the sanctions are working. They are slowly de-stabilizing a society that has done wonders for its people since Batista's removal, and they may yet destroy the independence of Cuba and turn it back into a branch plant of American industry.

The Cuban constitution. Yes, it is a brilliant document, every bit as much as the US constitution. Yes, it does guarantee freedom of speech, and it does proscribe dictatorship. In the case of a dictatorship being established, the Cuban constitution enshrines the right of the populace to engage in armed rebellion against said dictatorship and overthrow it in order to restore the rights guaranteed in the constitution. It was this very constitutional statement that Fidel Castro used as moral and LEGAL authority for his 10 year armed revolt against Batista.

Surprised? Needless to say, the present Cuban government is violating the conditions of its own constitution in both of the above cases (free speech and no dictatorship)! So did the Batista government violate the Cuban constitution, and so did most of the other Cuban governments before Batista. The difference is, Castro gave the people land, jobs, health care, education, and economic national sovereignty, which Batista and the others did not. The USA was happy to support Batista, despite the fact that he was a vicious dictator who denied free speech. He didn't deny American business as usual. The USA cares not a fig whether a 3rd world country has free speech or not, as long as it is anti-communist and compliant with American business.

You are quite correct that Castro is a dictator. The Cubans are well aware of that too, and they don't like it, but he's better than dictators that the USA supports in numerous other countries not far from Cuba's shores. This fact is not lost on older Cubans who remember Batista.

The Cubans want free speech. They have always wanted it. So do people in many US allies and client states here and there, and they are not getting it.

Castro is not keeping food off anyone's plate. It is US sanctions that are doing that...not only in Cuba, but also in Iraq.

Constitutions are routinely violated by governments all over the place. Do not be surprised that it happens in Cuba. The way it is done is by people simply turning a blind eye to hyprocrisy, and refusing to even talk about it or recognize it...or permit others to talk about it. The brainwashing starts when you're a kid. In this way, the USA committed atrocities against blacks and Native Americans routinely for a very long time, despite saying "all men are created equal". The unspoken assumption, obviously, was simply that Indians and blacks were not men...in other words they were not human in the common sense of the word. This is how constitions are denied by seemingly rational human beings in a supposedly enlightened society.

Things are not all wonderful in Cuba. What is wonderful is the spirit, character, and awareness of the people...which, if you get to actually know them, is something to behold.

I would (and do) love to live in either Cuba or Canada. Each is a fine society in a number of ways. I would also be quite happy to live in the USA, although I see areas that need improvement. I see areas that need improvement in all present day societies, including Cuba and Canada.

We have all got to work together on this and build bridges, not burn them. Sanctions will only make misery.

Fidel doesn't open his doors for the same reason that many other poor countries don't. It would create a chaotic situation. 3rd worlders see our consumer goods and money and they want it now! Open the border with Mexico and see what happens. You would have chaos, and soon you would have race war, and maybe war between nations as well. Blood would be shed on a massive scale.

Last point. The Monroe Doctrine was a self-serving attempt to turn all of North and South America (with the possible exception of Canada) into a US dominated empire or financial protectorate, and the surrounding oceans into a US lake. It was an effort made on behalf of the USA, not on behalf of Latin Americans. Latin Americans are well aware of this. Everyone is well aware of it, except US citizens who have been taught something a bit different in their high school history classes.