National Geographic goes to CUBA

[James]

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/9906...fngm/index.html (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/9906/fngm/index.html)

This article covers a vast range of issues, and interviews people from all walks of life in Cuba. This does make it rather long, but it also makes it very detailed and of a high standard.

The article discusses health, doctors, political prisoners, political opposition, human rights, and also what the future generations think will happen after Castro (plus more).

Also of interest - it is obviously western and arguably biased, but he went to cuba before, a few days after the revolution; and does thus make some comparisons.

I recomend this article to all.





(When reading this article i couldn't help thinking of "1984" at times...)


Block to block, I heard his voice, reciting the achievements of the revolution: “Cuba counts one teacher for every 42 inhabitants. . .98.8 percent of infants up to age two are immunized against ten diseases. . .7.3 hospital beds per 1,000 inhabitants. . .total of doctors: 63,384. . .electricity production capacity multiplied by ten. . . .”

“He always cites statistics,” a young man later remarked. “I should know them by heart.” Before I went to bed that night, I looked out my hotel room window and saw the floodlights at the Moncada barracks still blazing. The comandante was still speaking. Among his concluding words: “We will never surrender. . . . Socialism or death!”

[Inti]

Thank you James,

It was a good read though I wished for it to be longer and more detailed, but its always like that. The best way to get knowledge about Cuba is still to go there, something I havent done yet, but sure will.

[James]

no problem. When i went through it i felt it was like we were travelling through cuba; due to the different people he talked to.
I suppose facts and figures can be found anywhere - but asking the people is the best way to get a sense of what the community actually feel. How they view their situation.

I must say - i don't personally think cuba is that great... Although of course, no countries are that good, in that area of the world, with that amount of money, with that amount of opposition, with that lack of support from others.

I agree, the best way to form an opinion, is to actually visit the country, and also be in a situation that you can compare Cuba to similar countries.

Like them though, i wonder what will happen next after Castro...

[Inti]

I totally agree with you on that the best way to form an opinion is to visit the country that you wish know more about. There is only so much you can learn from reading books and listen to other peoples travels since an opinion or books seldom are un biased, its almost impossible for a writer to be unbiased.. The only thing you could possible have unbiased is figures.

Im not a fan of Cuba myself (yet), but I might become one when I go there, because I dont know much part from that I have some Cuban friends here in Norway and I have read some books. Also when I travel I always make a point of not living in "touristy" areas, but rather with people I know from before or people that I get to know when I get to a place.

My first experience of meeting a very different country than I had a picture from books and TV was when I went to Mocambique to do Voluntary work. Altough that its a really poor people and there indeed exist lot of starving people, the reality was much better than I expected. Poor people in means by our western standards of living, like moneywise and stuff like that, but yet the most humble, happy people I have met, and I made lots of new friends and actually it was meant that I should help them, but they gave me so much more in means of new experiences and they were like living history books and I learned so much from them. Since then I have always stayed away from the tourist traps and lived with people from the places that I visit and see how every day life is..

I dont think anyone has the answer on what will happen after Castro. Perhaps it will become better, then again it can always get worse as well. I only know that I will probably live long enough to see who will take over after.. I hope it wont become a McCuba or another US state though.

[James]

how did you get into the volunter work? Did you go through an agency or something?

I hope i can do something very similar... but i suppose you need to know the language...something that i'm just no good at - at all.

I think after Castro there will be some more less extreme lefty, who will privatise alot, and then it will just change into the norm.
I hope it doesn't - but i think thats what will happen.

[Inti]

You can visit Humana.org I think and from there you can contact them.. firstly you have to go to a school for 6 months preparing before you go to one of the countries where they have projects.. you can also choose english speaking countries if you think its a too big challenge to learn portuguese.. Where are you from? Because if you go in the states there is schools that if you go from one of them you can stay for one whole year.. I went to a school in denmark and it was tough at the time because I was pretty young, but it was an experience I wouldnt like to change for anything in the world.

I dont like the privatising stuff at all.. I like more the idea of the government or the people owning the big stuff collectively. just look at that shitty business with the water around the world right now.. imagine privatizing the water supply... horrible

[James]

I'm English, speak only English and live in England :)
I'm just finishing my last year of college, then off to Uni in september.
I'll check out that site...


The privatisation of Water is so terrible - its so bad in some places you arn't allowed to have water tanks on your roof; because the water supposedly belongs to a company. Or so Pilger claims in one of his books...

[Inti]

Oh, English.. Thats cool:) Have some nice friends there in London!

Fucking hell!! I havent read much Pilger but I have heard lots of good stuff about him, and only negative stuff on the PenisWarrior site.. What I do know is that in Bolivia the people won back their water after that the government wanted to sell it to a big company that I guess probably is from the states. Sometimes when the people stand up and fight they win.. :D

I just watched a documentary about the great wall that is being made in Israel, and god I really got pissed off watching it. I dont have anything against jews in general, but what they are doing there is really horrible.. The Israelis were actually caught on tape robbing the Palestine peoples Olive Trees and destroying the land just to make like a 3 fences thick Wall.. SICK

[James]

hmm, i HATE london. Like i hate Manchester and all sprawling urban areas. YAck

The wall; Well what else can they do? If those pals just stopped being so irresponsible by blowing themselves up - the israeli's wouldn't have an excuse to make a big wall. Both sides have serious issues - and i hate the whole thing! Its impossible to say that one of the sides is in the more wrong, in my opinion. I see no solution till they both stop using violence.