With the 50th Anniversary of Castro's ascension to power (January 1st, 1959, to be precise), we spent almost a day of our vacation checking out the 257-minute version of Che, the new film from Steven Soderberg. Even at more than four hours (not including the intermission), it felt incomplete-- both because it was so involving and because so much was left unexplored.
Why did Che care so much? What was his personal stake in the Cuban and Bolivian revolutions? What was the deal with his personal life, anyway? And what happened to Cuba after it became a socialist republic?
We've inched closer to an answer to that last question thanks to a Reuters story which dwells on Cuba after a half centry of Castro. Amanda Gonzalez, a member of the Communist Party, still thanks her lucky stars Batista was deposed:
"Poor people at that time had nothing, and there were many poor. The rich only cared about profits and wealth..."
However, she ain't no Castro flunky, which makes this story stand out:
"On balance, the revolution has been positive, but what hits me is the
economic situation. We are forced to do illegal things to improve our
lives," she said.
She's talking about the fact that most Cubans live on a mere $20 a month and resort to buying goods on the black market to save money.
Argelio Gonzalez, a 61-year-old gardener with a cigarette hanging
out of his mouth and a machete in his hand, said the young critics
should not forget the conditions that created the revolution.
"The rich had everything and the poor had nothing, only misery," he said.
As for change, "I don't want any," he said. "I want everything to stay like Fidel wants it."
Although Cubans were recently allowed to purchase computers and cell phones, it's not as if they could afford them in the first place. And while, in worldwide matchups, Cubans rank highly in health and education, they don't even have half the opportunities for advancement that their Latin American counterparts possess. You can read the rest of the four-page story here.
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