Fidel Castro RESIGNED!!!

[silentsniper_42]

His brother is taking over! Raul is taking over my friends :surprised: (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/world/americas/20castro.html?ex=1361163600&en=b39bf716f3ebdd22&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss)

[Kaos]

Actually, he hasn't actually announced that his brother is taking charge, that's for an 'election' of the Party to decide.

Buuuuut. Chances are it will be him.

So long Fidel. It's been a long and fun ride.

[DavidUpton]

Ah I will miss all the good times we had; like the Cuban Missile Crisis.

[2ltben]

I should hope that Raul would take office. If he doesn't, it'll be some aging general we're not familiar with who will probably turn Cuba into a full-on junta. The enemy you know, and at least Cuba has the best public education system in the Americas.

[lazlazlaz1]

Castro rocks

[SuperSoldier]

I should hope that Raul would take office. If he doesn't, it'll be some aging general we're not familiar with who will probably turn Cuba into a full-on junta. The enemy you know, and at least Cuba has the best public education system in the Americas.

And some of the worst poverty.

[Sgt So and So]

Have you even been to the Dominican Republic, Haiti, or Honduras?

Cuba is a utopia compared to them.

[Kaos]

And some of the worst poverty.

One could easily the blame the US embargo for that...

The number of people who live below the poverty line in the US is 30 million. That's three times the entire the population of Cuba.

The infant mortality rate in Cuba is less than in the Unite States and the life expectancy is the same.

Literacy rates for both men and women are higher in Cuba than the Unite States.

Just some interesting facts.

[Bunglo]

Literacy rates for both men and women are higher in Cuba than the Unite States.


According to the CIA World Fact book, Cuba's literacy rate is 99.8% and the USA's is 99%

I really don't consider .8% that much of an increase.

There's more people in the United States which means many more chances of things like death and more people in poverty. Now, if Cuba had the same population as the US and still had those same facts, that might say something.

[Kaos]

According to the CIA World Fact book, Cuba's literacy rate is 99.8% and the USA's is 99%

I really don't consider .8% that much of an increase.

There's more people in the United States which means many more chances of things like death and more people in poverty. Now, if Cuba had the same population as the US and still had those same facts, that might say something.

Infant mortality is expressed as a figure out of 1000, so population differences don't come into effect regarding statistics.

And life expectancy is expressed as a real number, so the same again.

Cuba and America are trying to do the same thing (Run a country) different ways. Cuba is "Communist" so obviously that involves a lot of government intervention in the economy and areas like education, housing and health. America figures the best thing to do is leave it to the "free" market. They both think they've got it right and they spend a lot of their time dissing the other. America says "Hey we're the best, check out our propaganda films about how poor Cubans are and look how well off we are!". Cuba says "Hey WE'RE the best! Listen to our propaganda about how the United States is an imperialistic power with no concern for its regular citizens and tries to assassinate our leader."

The truth? Neither system is working as well as they would have you believe. Both have their ups and downs, but one shouldn't write-off Cuba as a failed state when compared to other countries in that bracket it has an extremely high level of literacy, a very high life expectancy, low infant mortality and a functional health and education system. All this despite it being a tiny island nation of 10 million that has been blockaded for the last 50 years.

[Bunglo]

Please disregard my previous post than lol.

[2ltben]

According to the CIA World Fact book, Cuba's literacy rate is 99.8% and the USA's is 99%

I really don't consider .8% that much of an increase.

There's more people in the United States which means many more chances of things like death and more people in poverty. Now, if Cuba had the same population as the US and still had those same facts, that might say something.
.8% is about 250,000 Americans. And you forget that this is also during the embargo. It has nowhere to go but up once they're allowed to have a real economy. It also shows just how hypocritical that policy is because we're not doing a damn thing to hinder the economies of any other Communist state. China is our best god damn friend and Vietnam is almost entirely dependent on tourists who are mostly American.

[Bunglo]

How exactly do they get these literacy numbers? Do they go into the slums of America and see who can and cannot read? I just have a hard time seeing where these 250,000 people live.

[silentsniper_42]

How exactly do they get these literacy numbers? Do they go into the slums of America and see who can and cannot read? I just have a hard time seeing where these 250,000 people live.

Knew Yoark?

[icecoldbeerer]

I pretty sure Cuba said they were that medically good, at least, thats what my teachers have said...I wouldnt take those for granted.

[2ltben]

How exactly do they get these literacy numbers? Do they go into the slums of America and see who can and cannot read? I just have a hard time seeing where these 250,000 people live.
Its actually more accurate to use random samples in a census than an actual person by person count. With the headcount, people get overlooked.

Why exactly would they not be doing just as well as their adjacent Caribbean nations? Because they're all Godless Communists who hate freedom? Cuba is one of the most socially progressive nations in the Caribbean, if not the leader itself.