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Monday, March 03, 2008

CUBA and Castro



  • According to the article we read in class and Matt's presentation has Fidel Castro done a "good" job running the Cuban government?



  • If you had the chance to run a governement how might you run things differently than Castro?



  • Did Fidel Castro make a wise decision for CUba by appointing his brother as the new leader of Cuba?

CASTRO SLIDESHOW


NYTIMES ARTICLE


On a side note, many of your classmates will be presenting materials for the next few lessons. What can they learn from Matt?


19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fidel Castro has done both a good and bad job in running the Cuban gov't because he almost brought world to a nuclear war in 1962. He didnt't succeed in industrializing the nation so that Cuba could compete in the world market with durable goods. Cuba is still dependent, relying on most tourism and money sent home from exiles to get currency. He never restored democracy and has ruled with abslute power. However, Castro also established universal health care and provided free education through college and rooting out racism. He had some great achievements even though most of them were bad. If i had the chance to run a gov't, I would run it by the interest of the people and the country. Fidel Castro did make a wise decision for Cuba by appointing his brother as the new leader of Cuba because first off, Fidel is really sick and second, it wouldn't hurt for Cuba to have a new leader since it needs some alterations in the economy, etc. anyway. However, w/o Fidel, who knows what might happen since the people aer already used to the old one.
-TLau

Anonymous said...

Courteney Richardson

Today was the first time I ever really heard of good deeds of Fidel Castro. From stories before I always looked at him as a mean indivual , but actually Fidel castro was a good man, especially to his country. For example Mr. Brown explained how Fidel made sure everyone in Cuba was satisfied and recieved te same treatment. If i ever had the chance to run a government I think I would take a few ideas from castro like making everyone equal BUT! make sure people who work hard, get the money they deserve.Like what tiffany said , Castro had his I want to rule the world times but I believe no one in Cuba couldnt say Fidel didn't try. Honestly I'm type unsure about fidel putting his brother on his throne but then again that is his family so he would take after his older brother. Nothing differently..

W Brown said...

Couretney

I'm glad you see both sides of Castro but do not be mislead. He ruled with a very harsh hand. The was no freedom of the press, no voice for dissent.

Anonymous said...

Manpreet Kaur

I am also very shocked to hear about the good Fidel Castro did. Since, we have to believe what the media tells, and the media only tells the negatives of Castro not the postives.

I think that Castro did good for some people in Cuba, but in the eyes of the American people he is not seen as a good leader.
By making his brother the new leader, he has made the wise decision to keep Cuba the way it is.Since, of corse his brother will follow in the steps of the older brother.
If I had the chance to run the country, I would allow trading to happen between the U.S.and Cuba. If Fidel's brother doesn't run the nation the way Fidel ran it, will that benefit him or no?

Anonymous said...

What dissent? You agreed or your weren't arround to disagree much longer. Sounds like most people would tend to agree. I hear agreeing with Castro was part of their health care plan, one of their steps to living long.
Honestly we don't hear that much about Cuba, its not on the news, everything that comes out is filtered. Apparently the hurricanes that could level US cities, like New Orleans, do nothing to Cuba. Very believeable. I'm all for heathcare for everyone, for giving everyone affordable housing, and all that jazz. There are somethings that are just not worth giving up though, such as everything Castro doesn't let the people of Cuba do. We take the fact that we can call the president mean names, do that to Castro while in Cuba and you'll be in his gucamole dip three seconds later. Obivously I'm exaggerating, its more like three hours, not seconds.

Anonymous said...

I agree with John. Even though he has changed Cuba for the better, it wasn't like the people there had a choice but to conform with Castro's ideas. He ruled with an iron fist. The man was in "office" for almost 5 deacdes but it wasn't like anyone could run against them. Because we don't know much about the true status of Cuba(its never on the news), we can't truly say if the Castro years were an overall success.

Domonique said...

If I was coming from the Pre-Castro time period I would definatley be a fan of him. Coming from the horrible times and messed up economy of the time, if someone was offering me free health care a place to live, and a weekly pay check coming from nothing, I would care less about a voice fo dessent and more about how I'm going to feed my family and my self. John said that there are some things that are not worth giving up, but how about thinking about the fact that before Castro the people of Cuba had nothing to give up. I mean come on, yea it would stir in my thoughts a little, the fact that I wont have freedom of the press anymore even though I'll probably end up working on my fathers farm, but to be honest,thats the least of my worries if your telling me to choose between living and dying.

Anonymous said...

Wait a sec, never said he changed Cuba for the better, just said I thought health care for everyone was a good idea. Canada does it, Cuba does it, we don't. I figure insurance for those without the ability to afford it is a great idea. Castro was, and still is for a bit at least, a cruel dictator. Honestly we invaded Iraq, but not Cuba, Cuba's closer, smaller, and run by a dictator. Iraq was run by a dictator, and apparently that's the new reason for invading. But I won't get into that kind of thing now. Just saying.

Anonymous said...

From hearing many stories about Fidel castro like the Bay Of pigs and how he didnt like Americans made me think of fidel Castro as an evil man. From what was talked about in the class like how Fidel Cstro didnt want his people leaving Cuba Because he owned them basically from reading the article and also from what Mr. Brown said that he paid for the childrens education food and etc so hetook care of his country but if they left he they owed him money which i think is unfair because your suppose to take care of your country you wouldnt want to see them fail because you will fail as government. But i do think that how he treted his people equally was fair up until a certain extent of them all being paid equally because their could be someone working twice as hard as the next person and have to turn around and be paid the same so basically their your profession doesnt matter because you all get the same pay which unfair to people who actually worked hard their. If I had a chance to run a government i would base it on what my country needs in education, health, financial, and stability wise i would mke sure that everyone in my country gets to live a happy life were everyone is treated equally to a certain extent. How do i feel about fidel Castro putting his brother on the throne? Honestly i dont know what to think about Fidel putting his brother on the throne because he might be different or he might be the same you never know, but be prepared to have another strong determined and dominating leader who knows he might be the next Fidel Castro, just because you were raised in the same upbringings doesnt neccessarily mean you have the same morals or values sometimes.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Tiffany, Fidel Castro has has done both good and bad for Cuba. All his intentions were to better his country. But he did go about with a little bit of fear. As people has stated before he has changed it so that Cuba is equal. and as Manpreet has said we do base all of our opinions and views of Cuba from the Media. And as we have learned through the years the media is not such a great source because you are really not getting the full story. But honestly I was thinking that putting Fidels brother in power was not such a great idea. Yes Fidel's brother has seen everything is brother has done and will keep a things going the way his brother has left it. But he seems like he doesn;t really know what he is doing so I feel that at times he will be pushed over and Cuba will become a different country from when Fidel was in power

Anonymous said...

I agree with what manpreet said about castro. The media will only tell about the negatives about what he did and not the postives, that's why he is seen as a bad person in the eyes of america. But the way he is running Cuba, I think he is running it in a good way. He also made a smart decision about giving the power of running cuba to his younger brother so he can follow hi.s footsteps and run it the same way as him. But if i had to be a leader of Cuba, I would run it in a way how people would want me to run it in cuba.
-Simran Kaur

Anonymous said...

When it comes to a topic like whether Fiedlel Castro was a good or bad man, it is hard for us as Americans to truly give a apprioate answer. Until the day that we all live under his control, we can not really say how it is to live in Cuba. Yes, we can all sit here, and name on more than one time when Fidel Castro has acted out in such a horrible way. From an American point of we mostly see him as an evil man, who treats his people in a very inhuman way. We see him as a dictator who does not let his people leave his country. But at the same time he does do a lot for his country. He has helped the children with their education, and he also helped people pay for their food and thing like that. But people should really ask themselves, is having Fidel's brother in office a really good deal?

Anonymous said...

Sorybel Robles


When I think about Fidel Castro the first thing that comes to mind is Trujigo. Trujigo was once a dictator in Dominican Republic and he was a very selfish and cruel individual. But i was a bit surprise when I heard good things about him this time. Fidel Castro may have done a couple of mistakes but one thing he has done was making sure all cubans were satsifed. But he didnt let no cuban leave the country and had he had them to his power and his rules. Fidel has been there for a long time and I thought he was gonna stay there for a long time. But I feel that he has a wise desicion into putting his brother even though fidel may take a bit part. Maybe things might feel a little akward because he wont be
there anymore but let see what happens....

Anonymous said...

I like a lot of things Fidel Castro has done and I dont like a lot that he has done I am half and half with him i agree on something like every one lives the same and everyone has free health care and he has not had any wars he has done good but i think he should let people leave if they want to if they do not want to live in cuba anymore why would he make them stay? i didnt like how he ran his country on fear everyone was affrad of him. I think it is about time he step down. i think it mite be a little better now that his brother is in charge. he lookes a little more flexable.
-Kristen Fitz

Anonymous said...

If I had the chance to run a government, the main thing I would have done differently from Fidel Castro is to keep good relations with global leaders such as the United States. If my government managed to be friendly with all nations, then it could trade goods freely with any country and have a much stronger economy than the Cubans enjoyed under Castro. A strong economy would lead to less poverty in my country, and more industrialization and job opportunities.
Fidel Castro did make a wise decision for Cuba by appointing his brother as the new leader because this allows the country and its people to make a smooth political transition. Raul Castro will run the country very similarly to the way his brother did, and this should keep the government in place stable for the time being. Also, Fidel can still have a say in the affairs of the country with his brother in charge, so he still retained a lot of power although he resigned his post.
Fidel Castro kept the political and economic situation in Cuba stable for several decades, so he was a good leader. The article stated his various social achievements, such as universal health care and free education. However, his political struggles with the United States and extreme leftist policies left many of his people in poverty and with little freedom. Fidel Castro deserves praise for his various achievements in Cuba, but he also should be criticized for the major problems in his country today, which he failed to properly address.

-Anta R.

Anonymous said...

It kind of hard giving a honest opinion on Fidel Castro because we aren’t given all the information on what he has done. If you look at it he’s try to do the best by his country and if you live in the country it is great. I don’t care were you live in the country when your leader is doing well by you are going to back him up. Now looking in from the outside we see things very differently. What he does is wrong because he is threatening people to vote for him and if you don’t you will be thrown in jail. That makes people in Cuba to live in fear and running that kind of show seems to work for him.
J Dilan

Anonymous said...

I agree with what almost half of the students said that he did kind of help Cuba but also what ever even if it was good or bad they were his choices the people in Cuba really don't have that much right. And i agree with manpreet how she said that the media only shows the bad thing Fidel Castro has down to Cuba and not the good thing. And i think that Fidel Castro's Brother will probably run the country much different than Fidel Castro himself.

-Khizer Hayat

Anonymous said...

Castro helped many people and suceed in many things,also he accomplished many things many other lokked at him upon being not helpful but deep down fidel was a good man who help those and helped his country he wanted the best,liike manpreet said the media only post up bad things about people meaning fidel but they never brong out the positive things he had done in life.

kristal Atchison

Anonymous said...

I agree with what Alyssa F. said, I don’t think us as Americans could really answer that. I feel that if we lived under his rule for a couple of years then we could answer correctly if he did a good job running the Cuban government. And on top of that we really don’t really hear anything that goes on in Cuba that much. Like what John said, all the news that comes out is filtered. But if I had to choose I think he did a good job as the president of Cuba. I think he did a good job because he offered free healthcare, and he bettered the economy by giving everyone the same amount in a paycheck. If I ran the government I would focus on three main topics, education, health, and the economy. I would basically run a democratic government. I feel that Fidel did make a wise decision by choosing his brother to run the government after him because he would run it like how Fidel ran it and that’s what Fidel wants. I think everyone that presents after Matt should understand and have prior knowledge to the article and the topics in the article.