I have read, not here on DU that they do have some actual wicked good health care .

It seems their wicked good healthcare did its job in just a couple of years.

He passed away 2 weeks ago. He had wicked good health insurance through his job. Until he couldn't work then he qualified for medicaid through disability.

say that some of my Socialist and Communist comrades have expressed reservations and worry and argue that the Cuban government should keep the U.S. government at arm's length. For the most part, though, elation at the release of the remaining three of the Cuban 5 -- all considered heroes in Havana among the masses 0 -- has trumped those reservations and worry.

U.S. could allay a great many of those concerns by allowing the terrorist Posada Carriles to be extradited to Havana to face justice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Posada_Carriles

Thanks for asking and for your concern.

in a revolution.

And then, Cuba managed to keep the most powerful Empire the world has ever known from controlling their affairs for 52 years.

I believe that they will find a workable balance from which they will maintain full autonomy while at the same time make improvements to their systems which will be of benefit to all of the people of Cuba.

"I believe that there is no country in the world including any and all the countries under colonial domination, where economic colonization, humiliation and exploitation were worse than in Cuba, in part owing to my country’s policies during the Batista regime. I approved the proclamation which Fidel Castro made in the Sierra Maestra, when he justifiably called for justice and especially yearned to rid Cuba of corruption. I will even go further: to some extent it is as though Batista was the incarnation of a number of sins on the part of the United States. Now we shall have to pay for those sins. In the matter of the Batista regime, I am in agreement with the first Cuban revolutionaries. That is perfectly clear."

— U.S. President John F. Kennedy

Washington, D.C. – On October 9th, 1967, Ernesto "Che" Guevara was put to death by Bolivian soldiers, trained, equipped and guided by U.S. Green Beret and CIA operatives. His execution remains a historic and controversial event; and thirty years later, the circumstances of his guerrilla foray into Bolivia, his capture, killing, and burial are still the subject of intense public interest and discussion around the world.

The Death of Che Guevara: Declassified

greeted by Cuban President Raul Castro upon their return. (Sorry, the voiceover is in Spanish and I can't find a version with English subtitles or dubbing):

as it's been portrayed. Not everyone who is anti-Castro is a Batista apologist/US imperialist supporter. Far from it. There have been many on the left (including many former revolutionaries) who quickly became disillusioned with Castro. It became evident rather early that he didn't intend to follow through with many of the revolution's promises, particularly the restoration of the 1940 Constitution, and free and open elections. While there were a handful of Communists among the rebels (most notably Che, obviously) the vast majority did not fight and die to replace one dictator with another. Castro himself is on record (around 1958 while he was still in the Sierra Maestra) saying that the revolution was a democratic one. He didn't reveal any Communist agenda until about a year after he assumed power.

Having said that, I do given the Castro regime credit for their infamous health care system and literacy programs. I appreciate that their society is not a slave to capitalism, that there aren't chains on every corner, and that unlike other Caribbean nations, their people aren't slaves to the tourism industry. I hope they can maintain their vibrant culture when things open up. I can't think of anything more tragic than to see Havana become another Miami.

of those makes a comeback now.

from being quickly re-conquered by the capitalists, right after the violence ended, if Castro did not institute policies that were, at their core, designed to keep the capitalists from rapidly infiltrating Cuba and placing Cuba under multinational corporate rule again?

Obviously, the multinational capitalists were not pleased that Cuba escaped from their control, or they would not have tried to starve the Cubans into submission and subjugation through economic warfare; a 50 plus year embargo that was, in fact, nothing but a siege:

It will be interesting to see how things unfold. I suspect if Cuba does not submit to ownership and control of its government by Wall St., then Wall St. will continue to punish the people of Cuba through more economic warfare, in a continued attempt to force them to surrender.

It's hard to know the answer. Could Cuba have maintained its sovereignty AND an open society? It's a difficult balance and I can't think of any country in the Caribbean or Central America that has pulled it off (maybe Costa Rica to some extent?) Could Castro have instituted policies that would have safeguarded the country against rampant capitalists taking over and exploiting it, as was done under Batista, while also not suppressing the citizenry? I believe he could have; that was certainly the objective of most of the revolutionaries.

I hope they can find a near perfect balance between personal and collective liberty, and maintaining national sovereignty.

There seems to be a lot of potential for an exchange of good, new things between Cuba and the rest of the world if Cuba can somehow keep the insatiable global corporate wolf outside of their house.

In defense of Che and Fidel, they saw the criminal suffering, exploitation, injustice, and inequality caused by the private ownership of Latin America, and by all accounts they totally hated it, and did something about, risking their lives on a daily basis right alongside the cane slaves to end injustice in Cuba. And they managed to keep both the Russians and Americans out.

Che could have lived the easy life of a national hero and a bureaucrat, but instead he chose to further risk his freedom and his life to go to other countries and try to help free them from intolerable conditions in ownership societies. Che was, reportedly, the most wanted man on the CIA's hit list. I don't imagine that he would have attained this arguably noble position if global corporate interests didn't feel he was a very serious threat to their bottom line.

I think many more years of history will have to unfold before accurate judgments can be made about Cuba's version of the "revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat".

and that would be his determination to export the revolution. To me, the Cuban Revolution was a thing of beauty. It was completely organic ("Cubanisima, as Cuban as the palms" as Camilo Cienfuegos so famously said.) Revolutions usually have the support of a certain segment of society -- a particular class or ethno/religious group. That was not the case in Cuba. Everyone from the guajiros, to university students, to even the wealthy class were united in their support of the rebels and determination to oust Batista. That's not something that's easily duplicated, just like exporting democracy doesn't always work out so well.

I have no doubt that Fidel, like Che, despised the deplorable conditions that he found many of his countrymen in. But Fidel wasn't the revolution, and the revolution wasn't just Fidel, and it's a shame it turned out that way. The revolutionaries who fought alongside Fidel did so with the hope of bringing a Marti-esque idealism to their country. I guess we'll see if that vision becomes a reality.

Btw, appreciate the civility of the convo so far

that it made no sense to completely shut them off while extending most-favored-nation status to Communist China.