Apparently Cuba is the Western Hemisphere's 'happiest' land, with the 'best health care', the most 'caring' people; and the most fabulous 'architecture'. The time warp which is the Castro family farm, is lauded by big-brains for its non-development, its lack of Americanization, its dearth of loud-mouthed American fools and tourists; and its fantastic culture where everyone is tanned, smiling, drinking mojitos and doing nothing else but dancing, giggling and laughing all the day long. Surely a paradise in a world destroyed by globaloneywarming-carbon imperialism, and mindless modernity.

As with most coveted beliefs, the madness of the crowd does not a truth make. Cuba is a disaster, with a direct diaspora numbering half of the population before the 1959 Castro-Communist-Fascist takeover. Apparently Miami, a developed city with a broad economy, political pluralism and its own share of fine beaches, is just a little bit better than grim, grey, Communist controlled Havana. Miami even has health care and people who smile. Who would have thought ?

Some facts for the lovers of Cuba, themselves the usual cadre of mentally unhinged socialists and communalists, who prefer fantasy to reality, utopia to progress, lies to facts, and fiction to rationality:

[From 'The Pursuit of Freedom', by H. Thomas]

Cuba before 1959:

1. In 1953, almost 57 per cent of the population was urban. More than 1/2 of the population lived in cities of more than 25,000 inhabitants, 1/3 lived in 4 cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants. One-sixth of the population lived in Havana, third-largest capital of the world in relation to the total number of the nation's inhabitants after London and Vienna.

2. In the 1950s Cuba had a large middle class: about a third of the population. Twenty-three per cent of the working class was classified as skilled. There was much social mobility.

3. Cuba had the third-highest per capita income in Latin America, exceeded only by Argentina and Venezuela-between $350 and $550 a year, probably nearer the higher figure.

4. According to a U.S. Department of Commerce analysis (1956), Cuba was "the most heavily capitalized country in Latin America" and its "network of railways and highways blanket the country." The country also had numerous well- equipped ports.

5. Per capita consumption of meat was about 65 lbs to 70 lbs a year; of sugar 50 kilos, exceeded only by England, Australia and Denmark, and higher than that of the U.S.

6. Life expectancy was 58.8 years, while the average for South America was 56 years.

7. During the 1950's, Cuban literacy rates were the fourth-highest in Latin America after Argentina, Chile and Costa Rica.

8. Cuba had between sixty and seventy newspapers, eighteen in Havana alone. The twenty-eight main newspapers claimed a circulation of 580,000. Magazines were important. Bohemia, with a circulation of 250,000, was the most prominent weekly of hispanic America.

9. Cuba had more telephones per capita than any Latin American country except Argentina and Uruguay; more TV sets per capita than any other Latin American country, and more than Italy; more cars per capita than any Latin American country except Venezuela.

10. The dollar and the peso circulated jointly and were interchangeable.

Cuba after 1959:

1. Cuba is now the 4^th poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

2. The average income is the 3^rd worst in the WH.

3. Basic commodities, comestible items and even standard health care is unavailable.

4. Illiteracy is widespread.

5. The economy is dead, there are no jobs outside of tourism, and there is no economic development, innovation, or capital. When was the last time a Cuban invented anything ?

6. More than 10.000 have been killed by the Communists since 1959.

7. More than 100.000 have languished in, or died in, Cuban gulags since 1959.

8. The Cuba diaspora now numbers some 30 million in the US, all generations included.

9. The country is in the main, outside of tourist areas, an ecological disaster, mimicking other Communist states such as the FSU and China.

For those who gape like grinning morons at the 'architecture' of Havana and revel in its 'majesty' it should be noted that the Americans built Havana and its impressive structures from 1900-1920. Not much has been built since 1959.

So Cuba went from a fairly rich country, with lots of appliances, development, capital and a broad economic base to a corrupt Communist dictatorship which has plundered the island, destroyed [outside of where the tourists are] its ecology; imprisoned its population and consigned helpless people to poverty and ignorance; whilst enriching the elite and the cult. This is now deemed to be an example of 'fairness' for the clueless Western socialist, and an inspiration for the Che-loving cult of college airheads. Maybe those who love Cuba so much so go and live there. After about 10 days they might grow up and leave.