After winning the Spanish-American War the United States failed in their mission towards Cuba. Like Guam and Puerto Rico, the US
should have made Cuba a protectorate. With the US Government as the final authority, the US Constitution would have been applied
to all matters of law. And Cuba would have advanced socially just as the US advanced. Do not forget that in 1958 the US had harsh segregation,
deep poverty in the rurals, and little opportunity for upward mobility for those born poor and a literacy rate not much greater than neighbor countries
at that time. Cuba needed to evolve, just as the US evolved. Cuba, however, did not have a tradition of democracy like the US. Frankly, it did not have a true system of
law. It had a colonial economic and justice system, the very type of system the US overthrew in 1776. Jose Marti notwithstanding, Cuba was very slow to shed
its deep colonial roots and Hacienda based traditions which perpetuated economic servitude, both among Euro White and Afro Cubans. But to say that White Cubans hated
blacks is simply not true. They were seperate societies but equal in many ways. For instance, if you were born poor, whether black or white, chances were equally great that you died
poor. They were people of their times the same as American Whites were people of their time the same as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were men of their times and
possessed public policies which were at conflict with their private feelings.
Cubans did not embrace Castro, they embraced the IDEA of change, of social and economic justice, of reform, and an end to the deep corruption of their government. Castro just
fed the idea and was then cunning enough to eliminate the other men around him who truly had the LOVE of the people--- men such as Camilo Cienfuegos who "disappeared" somewhere
over the ocean. Of the Euro-White Cubans who fled the government of Castro, a very small percentage were elites. The rest were people who wanted to be able to think
for themselves, worship for themselves, decide for themselves and for their families what was best for THEM and did not want government controlling their every move and dictating
where they would live, what they would study, how much they could eat, where they could travel to, etc.... And many stayed when they could have left for one reason or another, like not
leaving behind a son who was 15 years old and could not leave the country because he was now of military age. But what if you had two daughters and a son? Could you have sacrificed
the future of the daughters for your son? It was a choice many people were given by the government--- to choose between your family and the future.
Life after Castro? I hope that it can be a good life full of gentle breezes and peace. I hope they can have a life of justice where young girls do not have to prostitute themselves in order to
feed their families, where people can think, and write, and worship and travel and live as a free people with the opportunities that we take for granted in the U.S.
After 50 years of deprivation I think they deserve better.