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To: mornedsunnpr TO: NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO
During the "Summit of the Americas," now concluding in Santiago, Chile, the US media - including NPR - is energized to hype the growth of democracy in the western hemisphere. The hype never fails to mention the exclusion of Cuba - as if Cuba had been left out because Fidel Castro is being called a dictator. Only reluctantly and briefly is it noted that nearly all the participants in the "Summit" would have preferred Cuba to have been invited, and that it was only because of the insistence of the US that Fidel was omitted. Moreover, it is a rather large stretch to call Chile a democracy since now Senator-for-life (General) Pincohet has never having been elected as a senator at all. Guatemala, Peru, Equador, Mexico, and several other countries have a very long way to go before they are democracies. For that matter, it is only with considerable hyperbole that the US itself celebrates being a democracy, since only rarely does more than 50% of the electorate show up to vote. Another highly relevant issue which the propaganda of the US media will not touch is the question of what a "free and fair" election in Cuba would be like. With the looming presence of the US Government and dozens of multinational corporations, not to mention thousands of rabid anti-Castro fanatics drooling at the opportunity to destroy that country's socialist system and exploit new markets and propagandize another victory for capitalism, there would be little chance that the socialists would prevail. It is hard to believe the ordinary people of Cuba, having been virtually starved into submission by 33 years of US embargo, would be able to resist the publicity and the glowing promises of capitalism and a "chicken in every pot." It would be impossible for them to later reverse course if they found capitalism to be a disappointment - as it has been in East Germany and in many parts of the former Soviet Union. _______The Knight's Apprentice |