Democratic Primaries
Related: About this forumWhat the Cuban literacy program Bernie Sanders praised was actually about
Literacy and education had been pillars of Fidel Castro's agenda even before he swept Cuba's military dictatorship out of power in January 1959. In Castro's 1957 manifesto, he wrote about the need for an "intensive campaign against illiteracy, and civic education emphasizing the duties and rights of each citizen to his society and fatherland."
When Castro ousted the military dictator Fulgencio Batista, 23.6% of the population over the age of 10 were illiterate, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Many Cubans living in cities like the capital Havana were literate, while those from the countryside often lived in abject poverty with no access to education.
Castro set about improving literacy with a program that launched in April 1961 and ended about nine months later, according to Bill Leogrande, a professor of government at American University.
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According to Cuban government statistics, nearly 100% of the communist-run island is now literate and access to free education is one of the cornerstones of the Cuban revolution. The World Bank puts Cuban adult literacy rate at 99.8%.
But Leogrande adds that, "the program had as much a political purpose as it was educational."
For Castro it was a way to get young people "who hadn't participated in the revolution against the Batista Dictatorship to participate directly in this program by the revolutionary government and it really did change people's lives," Leogrande said.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/25/politics/sanders-cuba-literacy/index.html
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
dlk
(11,572 posts)Its permeated our internet & social media.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Cha
(297,360 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
brutus smith
(685 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Cha
(297,360 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Link to tweet
?s=20
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
denem
(11,045 posts)to his society and the (Republic)" something every education system does?
I'm not fan of Castro, (to put it mildly) but that quote is not a smoking gun.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
oasis
(49,393 posts)propaganda down the throats of generations of Cuba's young people.
That was a "good thing" in the minds of some folks here in the U.S..
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Cha
(297,360 posts)Castro's literacy program.
"FYI- Castro's "literacy program" was an ideological indoctrination ploy"
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
oasis
(49,393 posts)You can count on it.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Cha
(297,360 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
DanTex
(20,709 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
BS was talking about what he thinks Castro's revolution brought to Cuba in 1959.
President Obama was talking about the post 2014 strides that Cuba had made as part of the negotiated pre-conditions for normalizing US-Cuba relations. Cuba had to meet benchmarks during the gradual process of moving towards normalization.
You're welcome!
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Cha
(297,360 posts)with that misinformation to bail out BS.. when it's not helping in Florida or anywhere?
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Gothmog
(145,359 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Just_Vote_Dem
(2,813 posts)Many people there still live in poverty, and try to escape the island.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
mcar
(42,337 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Midnightwalk
(3,131 posts)To like the literacy rate and still not like Castro? Can I like the result even if there were ulterior motives?
Can I also not like Bautista or the other dictators the us backed? Can I also dislike some of the despots who replaced them even if the us backing made the revolutions necessary or inevitable?
Sorry for being snarky. Im seeing a lot of lines drawn that I dont agree with. There are also points about the complexity of history which I appreciate.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)No one here is espousing an "all or nothing" "black and white" POV.
I am promoting that there can be grey areas, a more nuanced view supported by facts, instead of seeing everything as false dilemmas and false equivalencies.
.
This is why I don't support candidates known for casting suspicion on anyone expressing the least disagreement or dissent with them on anything whatsoever, and accusing anyone who does as being "extreme."
See also: "Obama said "the very same thing," so you are hypocritical if you didn't blast Obama and you think Bernie made a mistake in his statements about Castro.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Midnightwalk
(3,131 posts)I could have been clearer I was reacting to a number of threads and replies.
I was just trying to make a point about the need for nuance in the face of complexity too. Sometime I feel the need to state the obvious.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
TCJ70
(4,387 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)That's some straw man there.
It's not the people who disagree with Sanders who are calling everyone else extreme or demanding that one take an extreme, all or nothing position.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
TCJ70
(4,387 posts)...regarding the authoritarian aspects of Castro's time but also said it was good that there was a literacy program. Sounds like nothing to be upset by to me.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)That's what I'm doing.
Are you talking about the people in Florida? Go ask them why they're upset. I don't live there.
Personally, I think that he could have handled it much better, and talked about it differently, but i'm only speaking for myself.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Gothmog
(145,359 posts)sanders praise of Cuba is pissing off an important segment of voters https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/25/why-bernie-sanderss-repeating-cuban-propaganda-rankles-so-many-latinos/
Yes, Cuba made education available free to everyone through the university level. But so did countries such as Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay and Mexico. There was never any need to build a police state to bring people to school an insight so obvious, its ludicrous to even have to write it.
In reality, Cubas reputation for educational prowess is mostly a product of a relentless, multi-decade propaganda campaign. Virtually every speech by every Cuban diplomat and regime admirer for the past seven decades has made a point of praising Cubas supposed literacy miracle. Cubans who have left know the propaganda only too well, and understand why a government desperate to establish its legitimacy in the face of the mass impoverishment of its population would turn to it again and again.
To Cubans and Venezuelans who have witnessed much the same kind of propaganda talk of Cuban educational prowess grates not because its wrong, exactly, but because it serves as a simple way to identify whos ready to be duped by regime apologists. We know propaganda doesnt need to be entirely false to be profoundly damaging. So we despair when we hear it parroted by those who ought to know better.
The bottom line is that when you associate yourself with an ideology whose past contains some of historys worst crimes, you take on a special duty to denounce. When those denunciations come hedged with qualifiers that rest on propaganda lines, they ring entirely hollow.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Gothmog
(145,359 posts)Link to tweet
Granma, the Communist Party newspaper, prominently displayed a report about Sanders and his praise of some of the social programs implemented by the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, today one of the strongest candidates for the nomination of the Democratic Party to the November presidential elections, recognized Cubas role in sending doctors worldwide, Granma said.
Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article240626672.html#storylink=cpy
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden