Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Old dictator steps down.

Fidel Castro, the dictator who has ruled Cuba with a iron fist, has stepped down from office. The old bastard is basically dying. An indication of how unfree his country remains is that he hands power over to his brother. Castro is one of those politicians that makes Hillary look nice. He is one of those people who deserved to be swinging from a lamp post -- of course in his Cuba the lamp post is probably too derelict to hold the weight and no one would be able to find rope. 

Brother Raul will now be the dictator. He has implied that he would consider some reforms previously rejected by his brother. The one good thing is that Raul is old an old man and can't last long. 

My prediction is that the moment the communists are out of power, which will happen, I believe, within the next 10 years, that Cuba will see an economic miracle. Millions of Cubans have fled the country. And they have built thriving communities with large amounts of capital to invest. The end of communism would mean an influx of successful Cubans to their homeland and a bigger flow of cash into the country. I believe Cuba will see rapid economic growth when this happens.

If the United States government wants to sped up the process they should abandon the short-sighted and counter-productive embargo of Cuba. They should open free trade with Cuba and remove all travel restrictions. The embargo actual inhibits reforms and the death of Cuban socialism. 

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