what do you guys think about fidel

[hoffer]

is fidel a good guy of is i a dictator ithink he is a good guy

[ComradeJunichi]

I think he is a good guy.

[Saint-Just]

Its my opinion that he is a dictator and a 'good guy'.

[Donut Master]

It is my opinion that "good guy" and "dictator" cannot belong together in the same description. There are things I admire about Cuba, like the excellent healthcare system, and that they have held up surprisingly well despite the US embargo, but there are many things I dissaprove of as well. No political pluralism (the Communist party has a complete monopoly on power), and the dual Pesos-Dollar economy, which hurts the poor. Fidel is getting old, it's time for him to move out. Cuba needs to move away from this Marxist-Leninism style socialism and towards one based on political democracy.

[Sensitive]

Quote: from Donut Master on 5:06 pm on April 29, 2003
It is my opinion that "good guy" and "dictator" cannot belong together in the same description. There are things I admire about Cuba, like the excellent healthcare system, and that they have held up surprisingly well despite the US embargo, but there are many things I dissaprove of as well. No political pluralism (the Communist party has a complete monopoly on power), and the dual Pesos-Dollar economy, which hurts the poor. Fidel is getting old, it's time for him to move out. Cuba needs to move away from this Marxist-Leninism style socialism and towards one based on political democracy.It is the lack of "political pluralism" that allows Cuba to have all of the things that you admire about it (e.g. healthcare, education, etc). The moment you legalize capitalist political parties the money will start to pour in from the US. Cuba would become just another capitalist client state of the US. The only "freedom" the Cubans would get is to be able to choose McDonalds or Kentucky Fried Chicken after their 12-hour shift at Wal-Mart. Aww... the wonders of Amerikkkan capitalism.

[thursday night]

Ah, Donut Master. Another seemingly upper-class young youth liberal revisionist. Why are you even on a forum for internationalist Che admirers when Che himself was a dedicated Marxist-Leninist who would scorn people with views like yours?

“No political pluralism (the Communist party has a complete monopoly on power), and the dual Pesos-Dollar economy, which hurts the poor.”

Political pluralism? Why should the capitalist class be allowed to legally organize into a political entity? Marxism-Leninism is a theory of class struggle, a theory of the majority proletarian overthrowing and abolishing the bourgeoisie class. Why then should they be allowed to legally operate as a political party? It would present a grand opportunity for socialism to end in Cuba (or any other socialist state). You do not understand that the former ruling-class will do anything to gain their powers back, and imperialist nations such as America will always try to destroy new socialist states.

[andresG]

Quote: from thursday night on 3:14 am on April 30, 2003
Ah, Donut Master. Another seemingly upper-class young youth liberal revisionist. Why are you even on a forum for internationalist Che admirers when Che himself was a dedicated Marxist-Leninist who would scorn people with views like yours?

“No political pluralism (the Communist party has a complete monopoly on power), and the dual Pesos-Dollar economy, which hurts the poor.”

Political pluralism? Why should the capitalist class be allowed to legally organize into a political entity? Marxism-Leninism is a theory of class struggle, a theory of the majority proletarian overthrowing and abolishing the bourgeoisie class. Why then should they be allowed to legally operate as a political party? It would present a grand opportunity for socialism to end in Cuba (or any other socialist state). You do not understand that the former ruling-class will do anything to gain their powers back, and imperialist nations such as America will always try to destroy new socialist states.

I agree, capitalists should not be allowed to organize.

But what about other socialist parties?

Why should the Cuban Communist Party be the only party?

I think that a diversity of communist ideas would prove more beneficial to the Cuban people.

[Sensitive]

There should be able to be a diversity of communist ideas inside of the Communist Party.

If you have more than one party the capitalists will take over the new "socialist" party and then get monetary funding from Washington and destroy all the gains made by the revolution.

So yeah, I agree that a diversity of communist ideas is good, but there should only be one party.

[hoffer]

lets make instad of good guy good politacal leader

[Donut Master]

I've heard the old arguments to defend the one-party republic in Cuba time and time again. I understand where you're coming from, but I disagree that capitalist parties would instantly take over. As long as the Communist party is doing a good job, then they will continue to be dominant - only they will have gained this dominance through a fair and square political race - presuming the democracy created is actually fair, unlike we have in most capitalist countries. So as long as the Communists continue to keep the people's support, the capitalists should only be a minor nuisance at best. And this would probably be the case - from what I hear, the Communists have a very high approval rating.

So then, if they're going to win anyway, what's the point, you might ask? It's principle. We need democracy on all fronts to have a truely just society. It's also a safety precaution - if the Communist party every becomes too corrupt, we can avoid another Soviet Union and vote them out before it's too quick. Other socialist parties would probably enter the scene, because there are so many ideas on how to run socialism.

Another aspect of the one-party republic that is bothersome to me is the fact that your arguments to justify it mirror the capitalist's arguments to defend their monopoly on power. There are many who would like to ban any radical left party in the US, and during the Red Scare of the 1920's, that's what happened. The Anti-Communists would use the same rhetoric: we musn't let those commie bastards destroy our freedoms, etc. etc. Shouldn't we should those cappies that we're better than them, and actually give them a fair chance at re-election... and still beat their pants off, because we're better than them?

[damn the capitalism]

as chairman mao said ,he is a dictator and a good guy!
i think that the aim of the usa is to destroy the only socialist country left ,and i think that it has already begun to do this! so if we talk about democracy and general elections and saying goodbye to Castro , so i think that the usa damned administration will be involved as they did in iraq (preparing itself to involve in the other middle east countries) ,so america entered iraq and now they are ruling it(economicly) ,maybe they got to sit for a while in iraq until the elections, but the fact that the case of iraq is a different case than that of cuba!
so as i told the will be inviolved in cuba policies and this governemant will be amerca's governemant, that what they trying to do! and this what i think will happen when castro will die, and this is america's way to colonize cuba! so i think elections and democracy is not a good idea at the time of this dirty Bush!
Anyway i beleive that the peoples still like him ,he is such a charismatic person and the peoples there find loving him a habit! and any way maybe the peoles will think that they would be rich after the elections ,but the fact that it will turn as the perioid of Batista or we will not see any progress ,So i think that no one will be better than castro to rule cuba!

[exploding toast]

he is a good guy... and anyone who doesnt think tha doesnt know what they are talking about

[hoffer]

why doesn t the world like him

[rumblefish86]

The man was guest of honour at the Manics cuba gig! If the Manics like him then he must be a brilliant bloke! But i knew that anyway!

[Sabocat]

Fidel is a hero to the Cuban population. Over the years, he has strived to make sure that all had medical care, housing, food to eat, literacy,pride etc.

I consider Fidel to be the shield to imperialism and capitalism. Cuba has been under constant attack from the U$, and because of this threat, Fidel has needed to remain.

If Cuba was allowed to be totally unmolested, able to evolve, then there would be no problem changing the leadership, but of course, that won't happen in our lifetimes will it? Recent events demonstrates to us the active subversion continuously ongoing there with U$ support doesn't it?

If anyone thinks that once Fidel is gone, that the U$ govt. and the filthy Miami exiles aren't going to make some sort of push to try to reclaim it, they're dillusional. My belief is that the only thing keeping that at bay, is Fidel.

¡Fidel de largo vivo!

[damn the capitalism]

i give support to comrad disgustapated

[thursday night]

“As long as the Communist party is doing a good job, then they will continue to be dominant - only they will have gained this dominance through a fair and square political race - presuming the democracy created is actually fair, unlike we have in most capitalist countries.”

Again you forget the constant threat of American imperialism. Look at the elections in Bulgaria following the unfortunate collapse of socialism there. The Bulgarian Socialist Party one the country’s first multiparty election since the forties, however this was despite the massive amounts of time, effort and funding put into the right-wing opposition party by the Americans. Not surprisingly, the opposition won the following election thanks to the Americans.

This is only a prime example of imperialist intervention at an electoral level, but there have been other outrageous interventions by the great enemy all over the world in many forms. I suggest you read the book by William Blum ‘Killing Hope.’ Perhaps it will help you out of the fairyland you live in.

“We need democracy on all fronts to have a truely just society.”

Another common fallacy spread amongst the capitalists and you upper-class liberals (there is hardly a difference in my mind, I view them both as enemies of the global Marxist-Leninist movement) is that a one-party state must be an autocratic state. This is simply not the truth, and I will use Cuba as a fine example of socialist democracy. The National Assembly of People’s Power is an elected parliament (similar to America’s House of Representatives or England’s House of Commons). The election process is slightly different than capitalist ‘democracies.’ Candidates are nominated by mass people’s organizations (woman’s organizations, trade unions, youth groups, student blocs etc. etc.) and then elected by the people. You do not have to be a Communist Party member (in the last National Assembly some 30-35% were not). On a regional basis provincial legislatures and people’s councils are nominated and elected on a similar fashion. It is completely democratic, as I can tell you from my extensive research and travels to Cuba myself.

This is a prime example of socialist democracy. Similar systems are in place in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the DPRK.

What you are missing is that the one-party is not some bureaucratic front created to keep the working-class enslaved as the Trotskyites would have you believe, it is an essential and base element of Marxist-Leninist theory – it is the vanguard revolutionary people’s party, the mass mobilizer used to overthrow and repress the bourgeoisie class and their lapdogs and protect socialism, keeping the nation on a road of it. This is what you fail to understand. If you are a not a Marxist-Leninist (I have no idea why you would then frequent an internet forum dedicated to a Marxist-Leninist who, yes, supported the dreaded one-party state) and simply a lowly social-democrat then I can understand your petty fears.

“The Chinese Communist Party is the core of leadership of the whole Chinese people. Without this core, the cause of socialism cannot be victorious.” Mao Zedong

“Both in the army and in the local organizations, inner-party democracy is meant to strengthen discipline and increase combat effectiveness, not weaken them.” Mao Zedong

“State-run] education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed." Joseph Stalin

“To avoid it there is need of an organism that takes the lead of the revolution and guides it. That organism is the communist party. The party is a forefront organisation. The best workers are nominated for membership by their comrades. They form a minority, but due to the quality of its militants the party radiates great authority. It is our aspiration that she becomes a mass-party, but only when the masses reach the level of consciousness of the forefront. Meaning: when they have been reared up to communism. That educative work is our task. The party must be the vivid example through her militants, an example of dedication and sacrifice. Through their efforts they have to get the masses to rise up to their revolutionary task in turn. It will take years of heavy combat against the difficulties that the edification of socialism will bring, against class-enemies, against misdeeds of the past, against imperialism…In short "the party's mission is to achieve the dictatorship of the proletariat as soon as possible."” Che Guevara

“Any revolutionary party which participates in the electoral process is not truly a revolutionary party.” Che Guevara

[Rastafari]

I prolly already said this, but I had a dream 2 nights ago which was exactly like the movie "E.T.", except Castro was ET

[immortal211]

i think he's a good man for standing up to america and imperialistic nations even after the fall of the USSR

[Kapitan Andrey]

Full solidarity with you, comrades!!!

[Gaddafi]

FIDEL CASTRO RUIZ IS THE GREATEST LEADER THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE HAS EVER SEEN SINCE JACOBA ARBENZ!
LONGLIVE HIS PATRIOTIC IDEALS, PROGRESSIVE MOTIVATIONS AND ACHEIVEMENTS AND INSPIRING EXAMPLE! MAY CANADA, MEXICO, COLOMBIA, VENEZUELA, CHILE, BRAZIL, ARGENTINA AND THE ENTIRE WESTERN WORLD ALSO BREAK FREE OF AMERICA'S YOKE AND BE ABLE TO CHOOSE OUR OWN DESTINY!

[Dirty Jersey]

id just want to meet him. i only trust my personal opinion and not what other people say. from what ive read he seems like a good enough guy but you never know. are there many americans who have met him? i know you cant catch a flight to cuba from the us.

[damn the capitalism]

good point of view comrade Gaddaffi, immortal 211

[El Barbudo]

I think Fidel used to be good, but the time prooved that he was corrupted like most of the rebels. Fidel is great orator, but corrupted like all the fuckers from USA, G-B and Spain...

[Domino]

I certainly wouldn't compare Fidel with the UK, U$A and Spain, comrade Barbudo.

[ComradeJunichi]

Fidel is not corrupt, he is a great leader of the Cuban people. Socialism in Cuba lives on, even today.

And by the way, you can get to Cuba from the US.

[BluesyZapatista]

good guy.

[Gaddafi]

Fidel is not and has never been corrupt, comparing the living standards in Cuba with the living standards in the rest of Latin America (Guatemala, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Panama, Nicaragua since the Sandinistas have gone, and especially the Dominican Republic) is like comparing the living standards in Libya to the living standards in North Africa and the entire African contenent in particular. Cuba is far ahead, though one mistake he can be charged with is being to reliant on Soviet trade during the Cold War, I mean 1991 did hurt Cuba badly, but with the right reforms to keep socialism in place and simply modernize it Cuba is making a full and impressive recovery!

[Aleksander Nordby]

I think of course he are a great leader, but he so old. So he must give his power to someone younger.

[GCusack]

Bennine Dictator, in other words a Good Guy, Officially he is a dictator but he's an amonalous result, if u get wat i mean, he really doesnt fit the trend of dictator. He's an example that not all people get corrupted by power!

[WUOrevolt]

Fidel is a good guy in some respects but a bad guy in other respects. I think that he is a good guy in that he is a socialist but he is a bad guy in the respect that he arrests political dissidents. Arresting of political dissidents is not a leftist idea.

[Saint-Just]

Quote: from leftistmarleyist on 1:17 am on May 16, 2003
Fidel is a good guy in some respects but a bad guy in other respects. I think that he is a good guy in that he is a socialist but he is a bad guy in the respect that he arrests political dissidents. Arresting of political dissidents is not a leftist idea.

We better rewrite a lot of leftist theory then. I was under the impression that pursuasion, correction and occasionally suppression was how to deal with those who attack the working class movement, but maybe we should let them run free.

[Urban Rubble]

Yes, but you have to distinguish between those who are attacking the working class movement and those who are voicing their opinions about injustices.

Not to bash Fidel though, if I was a woman I'd have his baby !!! Just kidding.