Posted by
The Hermit Crab on Saturday, March 12, 2011 1:29:56 PM
The Hermit Crab has a new mini-cause -- justice for the late Cuban "strongman" Fulgencio Batista. He, of course, was the non-communist dictator who was deposed by Fidel Castro's communist revolution in 1958. He's one of those dictators who is caricatured by the likes of the History Channel and Biography Channel for the sin of either deposing socialist leaders (like Augusto Pinochet did in Chile) or opposing the rise of socialist/communist leaders (like Batista in Cuba). I'll never forget watching back-to-back History International Channel documentaries on Joseph Stalin and Augusto Pinochet one evening a few years ago. The Stalin piece portrayed him as a ruler with a mixed legacy. (Stalin ordered or caused the death of approximately 50 million of his own citizens.) The Pinochet piece began with words like "One of the most evil men of the 20th century..." Pinochet's coup is estimated to have caused the deaths of about 3 thousand Chileans. 50 million vs. 3 thousand.
Once Fidel Castro proved to be not only a blood-stained communist tyrant but also an economic illiterate, it became vital to portray pre-Castro Cuba as no better than Fidel's insane policies had made it. This is false. Humberto Fontova (who writes on this fine website) knows it, and can prove it. You'll find some of the evidence in this
column. When you've finished the article, I suggest that you click on the columnist's archive link, and spend some time reading his other columns. There's a great education on reality in Cuba therein.