A Leftist "Indictment" of Communist Cuba

In the opening few lines of Marc Cooper's editorial piece in the LA Weekly, he writes:

"Have you ever imagined what it would be like living in a society where, say, a John Ashcroft would be unrestrained by the niceties of constitutional law? Where draconian enforcement of a Patriot Act includes long prison terms for alleged thought crimes? Where, in the name of fighting "terrorism," nonviolent prisoners are summarily executed after being denied even the trappings of due process?"

Well, such a society does exist, the author is "sorry" to say. "Sorry," because that society is not based on American principles, but founded on the principles of the Left. That society is based on the anti-social principle: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." It holds that the purpose of government is to force men of ability to serve those without.

That society's name is Cuba.

Here is the reality of Cuba as stated from the horse's mouth:

Last Friday, three men were lined up at dawn and executed by a Cuban firing squad after being convicted of "grave acts of terrorism," according to a statement read on state television. Their executions came a mere nine days after they had surrendered in a failed attempt to hijack a Havana ferryboat to Florida. Their trial was, of course, secret. Even the Cuban state isn't shameless enough to open to public scrutiny such a degrading and chilling sham -- a capital trial that allows no serious defense. And both Cuba's Supreme Tribunal and its governing Council of State, headed by Fidel Castro, immediately rubber-stamped the death sentences. I suppose when you don't have a real trial, you don't need any real appeals. [1]

Cuba is a brazen example of the "successful" practice of Communism: the theory that the individual has no rights, and that all "rights" belong to the collective, or commune. However, it is not Cuba's communism, or Fidel Castro, that the author indicts; rather it is its naked depravity that he seeks to hide.

After recounting several more of the atrocities committed by the Castro regime, the author remarks that "some friends of mine urged me not to write this column, arguing that at a time when U.S. troops are occupying Iraq, this would only 'play into the hands of the right.' "

"Of course" Cooper argues, this is "ridiculous." In his view, there must be something outside of communism and that dictator (so loved by the likes of Oliver Stone, the cast of the Today show, and the Hollywood left) that is perverting Marx's perfect plan. [2] After all, communism and the principles underlying it are the Left's ideal. Ispso, facto, it must be good. So what is the source of that perversion? Cooper opines:

There are many enemies of freedom in the world, and -- no -- not all of them live in Washington. The actions taken by Fidel Castro this past month, precisely in this moment of American belligerence, are guaranteed to only please the ultraright. They help confirm my longtime suspicion that Castro lives in mortal fear that his most powerful tool of social control, the U.S. embargo, will one day be lifted. [3]

Here is revealed the real purpose of Cooper's piece: not to indict Castro's actions--but the alleged source of those actions. Ah yes, the reason why Castro is such a cruel dictator, the author would have us believe, is not because the "useful idiots" on the Left celebrate and morally sanction the thug Castro, or because communism is illogical in theory and a dismal failure in economic practice. Rather, according to the author, the evil of communist Cuba is due to a policy successfully used against the Apartheid collectivists in South Africa. That policy is the trade embargo supported by those "Patriot" types of the "ultraright" in semi-capitalist America.

Bear in mind that the United States of America is the only country in the region that has an embargo against Cuba--which the author clearly must know--and that Cuba is free to trade its products and services with any other country in the world. The average person, who assumes Mr. Cooper is honest, might wonder why he thinks that no country other than the United States has anything to offer or trade with Cuba.

The proper question to ask, however, is: Why does Cuba offer so few products or services for trade with other countries? The answer is because Cuba's economic system is socialist. There are no Michael Dells, Henry Fords, or Hank Reardons in Cuba. Those people would probably be jailed for committing "grave acts of terrorism."

Cartoon by Cox and Forkum.