Castro: Communism Doesn't Work

[wuapinmon]

http://www.theatlantic.com/internati...anymore/62602/

So, according to this Atlantic Monthly article, Castro has admitted to Jeffrey Goldberg that communism doesn't "even" work for Cuba anymore. With news that government plans to lay off 500,000 people in the next few months, this should be very interesting.

I can't really believe it; maybe now we'll end the stupid embargo and go about making Cuba an ally, and stop letting Florida matter so much in our presidential elections.

[creekster]

http://www.theatlantic.com/internati...anymore/62602/

So, according to this Atlantic Monthly article, Castro has admitted to Jeffrey Goldberg that communism doesn't "even" work for Cuba anymore. With news that government plans to lay off 500,000 people in the next few months, this should be very interesting.

I can't really believe it; maybe now we'll end the stupid embargo and go about making Cuba an ally, and stop letting Florida matter so much in our presidential elections.

I haven't read the Atlantic monthly article but I did read a couple of articles reporting on this pronouncement by Castro. In reading them it made me wonder if this was a translational error, or even a bit of a tongue in cheek comment by Castro. It sounds like it was made in a very off-hand and jocular way. I realize even that would be out of character for Fidel, but does the article itself give enough of a context that the full import of the statement can be reasonably accepted?

[Jacob]

I can't really believe it; maybe now we'll end the stupid embargo and go about making Cuba an ally, and stop letting Florida matter so much in our presidential elections.

Are we taking away some of Florida's electoral votes? Or will good relations with Cuba make the state more liberal or more conservative? I don't understand.

[FN Phat]

What does this have to do with sex

[Coach McGuirk]

What does this have to do with sex

It's coded. Here, I will help you.

http://www.theatlantic.com/internati...anymore/62602/

So, according to this Atlantic Monthly article, Castro has admitted to Jeffrey Goldberg that communism doesn't "even" work for Cuba anymore. With news that government plans to lay off 500,000 people in the next few months, this should be very interesting.

I can't really believe it; maybe now we'll end the stupid embargo and go about making Cuba an ally, and stop letting Florida matter so much in our presidential elections.

[RobinFinderson]

It's coded. Here, I will help you.

Oh wow! You just really made my life better today.

[SeattleUte]

lol so everyone but Robin, Korea's dictator, and Jimmy Carter admits it doesn't work.

[wuapinmon]

I haven't read the Atlantic monthly article but I did read a couple of articles reporting on this pronouncement by Castro. In reading them it made me wonder if this was a translational error, or even a bit of a tongue in cheek comment by Castro. It sounds like it was made in a very off-hand and jocular way. I realize even that would be out of character for Fidel, but does the article itself give enough of a context that the full import of the statement can be reasonably accepted?

FTFA:

Even more striking was something he said at lunch on the day of our first meeting. We were seated around a smallish table; Castro, his wife, Dalia, his son; Antonio; Randy Alonso, a major figure in the government-run media; and Julia Sweig, the friend I brought with me to make sure, among other things, that I didn't say anything too stupid (Julia is a leading Latin American scholar at the Council on Foreign Relations). I initially was mainly interested in watching Fidel eat - it was a combination of digestive problems that conspired to nearly kill him, and so I thought I would do a bit of gastrointestinal Kremlinology and keep a careful eye on what he took in (for the record, he ingested small amounts of fish and salad, and quite a bit of bread dipped in olive oil, as well as a glass of red wine). But during the generally lighthearted conversation (we had just spent three hours talking about Iran and the Middle East), I asked him if he believed the Cuban model was still something worth exporting.

"The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore," he said.

This struck me as the mother of all Emily Litella moments. Did the leader of the Revolution just say, in essence, "Never mind"?

I asked Julia to interpret this stunning statement for me. She said, "He wasn't rejecting the ideas of the Revolution. I took it to be an acknowledgment that under 'the Cuban model' the state has much too big a role in the economic life of the country."

Julia pointed out that one effect of such a sentiment might be to create space for his brother, Raul, who is now president, to enact the necessary reforms in the face of what will surely be push-back from orthodox communists within the Party and the bureaucracy.

Are we taking away some of Florida's electoral votes? Or will good relations with Cuba make the state more liberal or more conservative? I don't understand.

Well, the Cuban voting block's voting will become less important to candidates when they don't have to worry about losing that vote over ending the embargo.

What does this have to do with sex

Go be an asshole somewhere else.

It's coded. Here, I will help you.

I'm flattered that you spent so much time cracking my code. If you ever want me to slip you a cipher, just ask.

[Non Sequitur]

I think this is just Castro sticking it to his brother.

[Jacob]

I think this is just Castro sticking it to his brother.

How so? There isn't much indication that Raul is really in control, is there? It's still Fidel's country.

[Green Monstah]

How so? There isn't much indication that Raul is really in control, is there? It's still Fidel's country.

Hasn't it been reported that he meant to say Capitalism?

[Jacob]

Hasn't it been reported that he meant to say Capitalism?

That's what he's claiming now:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39102590/Cast...m_Doesn_t_Work

But he initially said that the Cuban model didn't work.

Then again, we are dealing with a really old delusional guy here.

[Non Sequitur]

How so? There isn't much indication that Raul is really in control, is there? It's still Fidel's country.

I have nothing to base it on. I just know that if I had an endeavor that really sucked, and I turned it over to my brother, I would wait a year and then lament to anyone who would listen that my brother had run my vision into the ground.

Of course this assumes that Fidel is as big a dick as myself.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

What does this have to do with sex

I think it is because Florida is shaped like a penis.

[falafel]

I think it is because Florida is shaped like a penis.

Yeah, but a limp penis, which doesn't really get us back to sex.