Michelle Malkin has a post today titled “LETTER OF THE MORNING: WHAT ABOUT CASTRO’S GULAGS?” In it is the following letter from one of her readers familiar with a couple of fidel castro’s gulags:
What’s not being said in reference to the Amnesty International “gulag” exaggeration is that Fidel ran his own gulag for many years right next door to Guantanamo. Castro really did run what qualifies as a gulag. This is something I know a lot about having grown up friends with a Cuban exile family.
Why isn’t the media mentioning that Castro’s concentration camps had some of the most vile torture components ever psychopathically devised? And that he imprisoned political prisoners by the tens of thousands?One of Fidel’s main installations was at Boniato, a stone’s throw from Guanatanamo at Santiago de Cuba. In fact, this prison was where Fidel tried out his latest and most heinous psychological torments on political prisoners. It was the place the Cuban state police tuned up their methods. Castro was a big fan of the East German state police, and he was always interested in trying out their sick innovations. Yet none of this is mentioned when commentators are showing how the so-called “gulag” at Guantanamo is nothing remotely like the Soviet gulag: only Russia is being mentioned.
Fidel’s prison concentration camps had three main locations: Isla de Pinos, La Cabana in Havana, and the aforementioned Boniata near Santiago de Cuba. It absolutely was a gulag, and Castro’s prison system still treats political prisoners in ways that he never wants Amnesty International to get a close-hand look at.
Only three gulags are mentioned in this letter, but back in January of 2004 I posted a scan of a brochure outlining all the prisons in fidel castro’s island prison camp. There are literally dozens of prisons strewn about the island of Cuba.
Of course, should Amnesty International or representatives from the UN Human Rights Commission actually be allowed unfettered access to fidel castro’s island, they might actually see a real live gulag in operation.
So, in answer to Ms. Malkin’s question “What about castro’s gulags?” I say, what about them?
Everyone knows they’re there. Everyone knows the island is rife with political prisoners, but not many care. Because if you hate America, your poster boy is fidel castro.
LETTER OF THE MORNING: WHAT ABOUT CASTRO’S GULAGS?
Reader Bob Strauss writes: What’s not being said in reference to the Amnesty International “gulag” exaggeration is that Fidel ran his own gulag for many years right next door to Guantanamo. Castro really did run what qualifies as a gulag….
If we had the money, we could run a full page color ad in the LA & NY Times with graphic photos. I’d like to see the collaborators have that with their breakfast. I know there is a special place in hell for those who have blood on their hands.
Kathleen: Killcastro and I have been talking about something like this but we were thinking t-shirts and getting the students from C.A.U.S.A. involved (CB has a cool design), but your Idea will have an immediate impact and then we can start working the campuses after we launch it with the full page adds. WE need to find a way to raise the funds. If you serious let me know we really need to do something. Let them start experincing a little hell right now.
Mojo, yes, I am serious. Check your email.
Many years ago (1986 or 87) I was attending the New Music Seminar in New York City. One of the seminars being held for the attendees was sponsored and produced by Amnesty International. Now remember that this was during the Reagan years and we were (as we are today) the evil, evil influence in the world.
The president of Amnesty gave his talk and mentioned just about every right-wing dictatorship in the world. Not surprisingly, he neglected to mention any communist regimes and what they did. I had my hand up to call his attention to Cuba, East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, the USSR, Red China, et al, when another attendee (with a slavic accent) made the same point. I’ve never forgotten the look on this guy’s face when faced with the question of the political prisoners of the left. It was an instructive lesson for me; I will not donate or aid an organizaton that calls Guantanamo a “gulag” while they have systematically ignored castro’s real gulags for decades.
They are hypocrites and deceivers of the first rank.
I find a fundamental problem with your logic which seems to imply that because America’s treatment of prisoners is not as bad as Castro’s it is therefore not bad at all. America likes to portray this image as being the land of the free and exporting that freedom and democracy to the rest of the world.. by any means necessary. As such they must be held to a higher standard than any other nation, and certainly much higher than that of Fidel Castro (being better than garbage is hardly an accomplishment).
“Because if you hate America, your poster boy is fidel castro.”
I also have a particular problem with this statement. One need not be for Castro or for America. The world is not black and white. Just like Bush saying you are either with us or with the terrorists is fundamentally flawed..
“Just like Bush saying you are either with us or with the terrorists is fundamentally flawed..”
Sophomoric and decidedly wrong headed! The world is black or white regarding America’s safety, just as the two rag heads that were arrested by the FBI for collusion and swearing the oath to al Queda can now attest.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/25/AR2005052501838.html
A balanced opinion from last week IMHO. I think Amnesty needs a dictionary.
“The world is black or white regarding America’s safety”
I would debate that on its own merits (and win) if it were even the case that America’s safety were in question. Al Queda is a small relatively powerless group. What we are seeing now is the politics of fear. Study more of American history or world history if that doesn’t make sense to you. Consider Pearl Harbor, the Gulf of Tonkin, USS Maine, the burning of the Reichstag. Look at the history of the Roman Empire and how Crassus helped put Julius Caeser on the throne. If you can begin to convince me that America’s safety is threatened I might be inclined to explain to you why that still would not be justification for saying you must either be my friend or my enemy.
Rather ironic that you would make statements in direct violation of the principles held by America’s founding fathers and use America’s safety as their justification. But resorting to an argument based on empirical logic (rather than appealling to emotions, an unnacceptable form of argumentation) wouldn’t get you far with that line of reasoning, so I can see the need for an Argumentum ad metum.
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
–Benjamin Franklin
Carlito,
You know what bothers me? People with an ineluctable need to take the words of the founding fathers of the Republic and attempt to use them completely out of context for their own agendas.
The Gulag Archipelego vs. Amnesty International’s ‘Gulags’
Work Will Make You Free Sign over the Auschwitz concentration camp. Labor in the USSR Is a Matter of Honor, Courage, and Heroism Sign over the gulag camps gates. Last week Amnesty International called the Guantanomo Bay, Cuba, detention facility…
The Gulag Archipelego vs. Amnesty International’s ‘Gulags’
Work Will Make You Free Sign over the Auschwitz concentration camp. Labor in the USSR Is a Matter of Honor, Courage, and Heroism Sign over the gulag camps gates. Last week Amnesty International called the Guantanomo Bay, Cuba, detention facility…
Carlito…….Kiss my ass your still a commie !!
“Al Queda is a small relatively powerless group”
Oh and a dickhead.
Sorry Val lost it there.
I hope there is a hot spot in hell, not just for Fidel, but also all of his Hollywood fans. Since they love him so much, it is only fitting they join him for eternity.
Everyone, I believe there seems to be some confusion. I think Carlito was just making an allusion to be weary of how much power one allows any government. It can be seen over and over again all over the world… ANY government is a stone’s throw away from removing it’s people rights. The age old saying of “power corrupts” is true of any person, and consequently of any government. Humans have an intrinsic desire to accumulate “things” of value (value being placed on different “things” at a socio-economic level). It is wrong that large international groups ignore atrocities being perpetrated in Cuba, they should not be condemned to ignore allegations of wrongdoings in all parts of the world. Also, it didn’t seem to me, at least in the original post, that anyone was denouncing wrongdoings in the Guantanamo Bay prison, they just said it was an exaggeration to call it a gulag. In the end, as in all the doings of government (and I use that term in the general sense of all governments), no one really know what they are doing. We really don’t know what is happening in Guantanamo Bay, it may be just and fair or contain abuses at many levels.
First: A copywright issue, I am the real CB. Make sure that you don’t get me confused with “CBner”.
Second:
We should locate a few political prisoners from the infamous cagastro prision theme camp and from UMAP (Military Units of Support to the Production) which had the following motto at their entrace, El Trabajo Los Hara Hombres. Or in plain English, Hard Work will make you into men.
(Sounds like Arbeit Macht Frei, of Nazi fame, that was the motto of the death camps in Europe)
Their stories are such that they will be forbidden for publication in the liberal media in the US (they are already verbotten by the cagastronazis)
So, since libs love money so much we need to buy ads in the lib media to make the true part of the public domain.
“If you can begin to convince me that America’s safety is threatened”
I have no intention of convincing you of anything, but remind you that hundreds of American’s have been killed by terrorists since the 70’s, and only when these vermin are eliminated from the earth will America be safe.
Unlike most, my three years of combat service to the nation created a worldview based on reality and not some liberal feel good psychobabble.
You may wish to reside in a liberal fart cloud, but my training and experience suggests prudence to protect friends and family.
After you have been a few rounds with the bad guys, only then will you grasp the enormity of the current situation.
CBner-We don’t know what’s happening at Guantanamo Bay? Yeah, we do, unlike Cuba, we ALLOW the Red Cross, Amnesty In’tl etc. observers. It’s called transparency. We have a free press. The allegations were outrageous and politically motivated.
“I have no intention of convincing you of anything, but remind you that hundreds of American’s have been killed by terrorists since the 70’s, and only when these vermin are eliminated from the earth will America be safe.”
100’s of people died since the 70’s? More people have died taking a shit since the 70’s. Actually soemthing like 3000 died on 9/11 alone. I’ll grant you that terrorists are a problem. So what? More people died from drunk driving last year alone than the past 20 from terrorism. The terrorist threat will allways exist you can never “kill them all.” That’s about as stupid and idealistic as communism. If all of our rights are taken away in the process of this “war on terror” then we (those of us who are Americans) have lost the very thing we were fighting for.
I am not pro-Castro, pro-communism or any other shit you might like to think because my opinions challenge your narrow world view. Comparing the actions of the worlds greatest and only super-power to that of Cuba is specious to begin with. If Cagastro wants to be a corrupt asshole it affects Cubans and Cuban Americans. If America decides to descend into corruption it affects the entire world.
I also don’t know where you got the impression that I am a liberal. I don’t buy into that distinction in American politics. The government likes to divide the American people by exploiting wedge issues, so that real problems like health care, education, corporate power, corrupt media, ad nasuem aren’t addressed. Issues where there is a genuine consensus. I respect your millitary service, but again, claiming veteran status is another appeal to emotion and has no bearing on the subject at hand. It does not give a particularly unique perspective on American history or American politics. Sorry. If you want to talk about gays in the millitary, or lack of armor on humvees i’ll grant you some relevant expertise.
Oh and river rat, since you can’t say anything remotely intelligent and feel you need to resort to ad hominem attacks rather than address my points, you can lick my balls… bitch.
carlito, I’m curious. What rights have you lost? I know your comment was not directed at me, but I have to challenge your view that military service doesn’t give one a unique perspective. When was the last time you were shot at? I think it gives one a very unique view.
Any news about the boycott to tonight’s concert by the defender or the Cuban Gulag Island and cagastrorottweiler, Carlos Satanas?
VAL’S MOST IMPORTANT ACCOMPLISHMENT
For years the Cuban community has fought on alone trying to educate the U.S. about Castro and his form of tyranny, but the Left, or Liberals, have effectively thwarted them. I saw it and was involved in it from the very beginning, when the anti-war protestors were in full gallop, when Jane Fonda was making her famous tour of North Vietnam, and the Berkeley Free Speech Committee set about shutting down dissenters to their liberal philosophy.
Not only this, but from my viewpoint, those involved in the Cuban story were not cooperating with each other, nor did they seem to be reaching out to the rest of the non-Cuban U.S., because when most everything one receives is in Spanish (and my Spanish is very limited), you’re not communicating properly. Agustin Blasquez was working along on his films, and the only ones united were those trying to squelch him, the opposition!
Finally we’re getting information in English, finally we’re seeing photographs, finally we’re reading stories of what Cubans have experienced before they fled, and explanations of why they fled Cuba, and WE, WE can understand it! I wrote letters to Cuban organizations that were never answered (or they sent pamphlets in Spanish), asking for information so that I could use it in California, and I left messages on answering machines that were never returned.
While you may think I am trying to steal someone else’s thunder, I’m not. Yet, Val and others know that I published anti-Castro, anti-Berkeley, anti-Kruschev and anti-Siberian posters back in the mid-60s. Agustin knows full well what it means not to get any help or support. The Liberals were having their day. They had Fair Play for Cuba committees all up and down the coast in the Universities, but it was pro-Che and pro-Castro, and I argued with the President of one of those groups. (Eventually the activists in having my posters banned from college bookstores, one by one.)
Now, after all these years I see a unity, and a growing movement that is anti-Castro, web-sites and Blogs, and from my long experience the main one to give credit to is Val’s Blog. Every Blog that is anti-Castro, in my opinion, should carry information about Agustin’s films, and any book that tells the true story of Cuba yesterday and today. Cubans are no longer alone; they have Allies, and everyone that is anti-Castro should be welcomed and encouraged. By swaying more people to the cause, even if they are Eskimos, you begin to raise awareness and build a force that is like a tsunami that will sweep Casto out of power! Why wait for the son-of-a-bitch to die?
Maybe that’s too simplistic or idealistic for many, but the more Blogs about the Cuban situation, the more pictures, the more personal histories, the greater the influence on the general public, not only here, but world-wide. There are hundreds more who will join in with Blogs out there, if encouraged. There are thousands more who will make comments (even if negative, that’s fine, because unless they read the stories and view the pictures, you don’t have a chance to change minds).
Val has brought the Cuban story to many more Americans, as have those others who have long worked alone trying to convince the rest of us around the U.S. that something terrible is going on and…we’re all being betrayed by Hollywood!
That’s my take on it. Don’t forget to visit: http://www.therealcuba.com if you doubt the truth of what you hear from Miami! If you haven’t checked it out yet, it’ll shock you.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
And yes, a full page ad with some of those pictures of the health care would make a few Liberals lose their appetites, or at least spit out their morning coffee at Starbucks. That’d be great.
no me jodas acere, tu crees que yo soy un comemierda? I fucking hate Castro more than anybody here but now I live is the USA and there is something here that I treasure very dearly and that is the ability to think for myself and only have government propaganda descreetly inserted in my daily routine instead of having it shoved down my throat all day long. I never said the US is shoving giant throbbing anal probes into the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and I know the US will let people go inspect but, let me ask you a question… When you invite visitors to your house, do you make an effort to clean it before they arrive? Look at all the shit the CIA has done over the years, some of it good and some of it bad, wouldn’t you say so?
Howarde, great post. Viva Libre Cuba and now.
Cbner, and your point is?
The US might be using giant throbbing anal probes and we won’t know about it. If a tree falls in the forest but it is quickly buried by undercover operatives (the sweeper team), did it ever fall? History is always written by the winners. Don’t get me wrong, the US is one of the best countries on Earth and Castro is an HP and really has gulags in there.
Allright, let me just say to CBner (not CB), it is clear to me that you know exactly what i’m talking about. I respect your writing and your ideas. The American people are great, the policies of the American government need to be questioned. That is the American way and was the intention of America’s founders. All the founding fathers of this country knew and spoke about government’s NATURAL tendency towards corruption, and that’s why they put all the checks and balances in to the Constitution, Bill of Rights etc. Unfortunately, the powers that be have learned to work around those checks and balances. Democracy only works when a truly free, independent and competitive media (which we do not have in this country) exists.
Howarde: You have come up against the wall that is corporate and government controlled media. You also know what i’m talking about when you speak of your efforts to get your voice heard and air the truth to the American people. I find it unfortunate that you blame this on the “liberal media”, when in fact you should be blaming the corporate and government controlled media. Too many exiles have the idea that the CIA and the American government are on their side. They’re not. The CIA and US gov’t by and large don’t give a fuck about the average American, and care even less about the average Cuban American. It may seem otherwise because Cuban Americans typically live in a politically important swing state (Florida). And because, until now, the desire to see Castro fall has, by coincidence, been in line w/ both the CIA and Cuban immigrants. If you think that this is because the CIA is filled w/ “good people” you are sadly, very mistaken. Still you are absolutely right that the internet and bloggers are our greatest hope to challenge controlled media and get diverse, unique opinions out to the people on a grand scale. We need to be careful that the American government does not censor the internet or Bloggers for, i guarantee you, efforts to do so are underway.
The whole point of me posting here is to say it is not a black and white choice between Cagastro’s government and the CIA. They are both evil institutions and I refuse to choose either!! I need not be for one or the other. If you study the history of the CIA you too would know what i’m talking about. It’s unfortunate that you only view American policy by looking at what it’s doing for Cuba and not what it’s doing around the world. It’s unfortunate that you fail to grasp how powerful America’s decisions are and how drastic their consequences can be upon Cubans, Americans and the REST OF THE WORLD.
Kathleen: What rights have I lost? I was born and rasied in the ghettos of America. I have seen American policy first hand from birth. I have seen exactly what it means to be equal, but not as equal as others. I have seen institutional racism, economic class discrimination, and the whole lot of America’s instituions fail time and again for those from the lower economic classes. What rights have I lost? Not many to tell you the truth. The fact is that as a poor man of ethnic decent I didn’t have many to begin with. It could have been worse sure, I could have grown up in communist Cuba, but that hardly makes what I have seen “good”. You have to compare apples to apples. And if you have had your head in the sand long enough not to see the writing on the wall as to where this country is going maybe you should take a look at the Patriot Act I and II, Total Information Awareness, FEMA, the suppression of dissent and protest et al. If you can’t see civil rights being taken from the American people, perhaps you are weatlhy enough to be insulated from the tribulations of the other 99% of the American people. In that case I reccomend you just keep drinking the cool-aid, because, as they say, ignorance is bliss…
Kathleen: Incidentally i’ll admit that serving in the military actually can give one a unique perspective on American foreign policy, politics and history. But not when you only serve a few years and not when you are a grunt (non-officer/low ranking person). I have friends and family in the military and literally came within inches of joining myself till I was told my history would prevent me from going into military codebreaking (even though my test scores did not). Had Grouper claimed to be a general that actually was involved w/ foriegn relations, diplomacy and millitary policy I would have given his statements more credence. It is not my intention to denigrate his service but it hardly qualifies him as an expert (or even an informed person) on the subject at hand.
Hi Carlito, I commend you on your verbal eloquence, and I must say that, to an extent, I too grow weary of certain institutional corruptions within the US.
However, with that said, and after a close examination of what you have written, I am compelled to disagree with you.
You attack the cut and dryness issue, and claim that through logic: it is non-existent, wrong, and that both Cuba and current US policies are wrong.
Where, pray tell, is your burden of proof?
You do know that it is logically possible to have black and white situations. If… then… statements. And though I am not going to defend this current article, I will say that you have not provided sufficient proof as to who, what, where, HOW, and WHY other variables may exist.
Quite frankly to argue “It is, because it is” and then quote a founding father, is a tautology that sounds extemely intelligent and unfortunately bears little weight.
Furthermore, I am suprised that within your reference to the Roman Empire, you completely disregarded how exactly it fell: through small, insignificant, bands of “terrorists” (yes, I think we can call those forgein invaders “terrorists.”) Small bands of attackers who were so persistant in their invasion, that Rome eventually dissolved in to regional Kingdoms.
And as to Blogs possibly being outlawed in the US, that comment alone signifies the absence of reality that you dwell in. Freedom of Speech is the bench mark of this society. What is being done in blogs has been done for centuries on paper. The difference is that this is on the web. Now, the only way that I can see the Government stepping in, is in copyright laws (some people blantly copy news and claim it as their own.)
In closing, though it is really Val’s place to say this, and not mine, I would highly suggest that you do not post on this any further, and dash off and give birth to your own blog for your own audience. Moreover, and most necessary, with sufficient burden of proof.
You know… before they become illegal, right?
Carlito,
Yes, I deleted your comment where you resorted to elementary school level and emailed you an explanation why. You should check your inbox more often.
You came here with a mouthful of revisionist history and a spittle of latin and then used a quote from Benjamin Franklin, the exact same quote, incidentally, that Kucinich used in naming his version of the Patriot Act (HR 3171 IH), completely out of context.
I can assure you, in 1755, when Franklin made his now butchered speech, he was most assuredly concerned about giving up a few liberties to the British in order to live safely under their control.
You may also want to do some further research where you may find that the very same quote was used by FDR on January 6, 1941 during his now famous Four Freedoms Speech.
So, my suggestion to you is for you to go back to eigth grade civics class like you suggested I do in your deleted comment. I may be Cuban, but I know just as much about American History, if not more, than you.
You may also want to start your own blog where you can go on and on, ad nauseum, showing the world your absolute brilliance and complete lack of reading comprehension.
I banned you from commenting on my site, but you are still free to email me personally if you prefer to get spanked privately.
Promemoria per Amnes(t)y
Anche la blogsfera si scatena. Ecco un breve roundup italo-americano. The Java Report su cosa furono i veri gulag. E poi RogerLSimon, Michelle Malkin, Babalu, AustinBay, Villainous Company, ScaredMonkeys.
Carlito-Just for the record,I don’t drink cool-aid. You don’t know anything about me and your assumptions are stereotypical and wrong. My parents were blue collar. My Father died when I was sixteen and I’ve been working hard ever since, and no I’m not rich. Everyone in this country has equal rights. Those of us born without wealth have to work harder to get where we want to go, but no one denies us our right to do so. Institutional discrimination? Not for decades, have you heard of civil rights? Affirmitive action? You say our institutions failed you but admit you haven’t lost rights. Sounds to me like you’d prefer socialism. Maybe you should move. You’re an ignorant ass.
Amnesty International – Guantanamo is the new ‘gulag’
UPDATE: Good thoughts and a good link to a damning Chicago Tribune editorial from Austin Bay.
Wonder if Carlito will ever understand his form of rhetoric basically spits in the faces of self-made Americans such as Oprah Winfrey’s or Dr. Condolezza Rice.
With the gulags of Cuba (and other typically Communist tyrannies) willingly ignored for decades by self-righteous “human rights” activists and institutions, I never fail to be amazed at how pernicious an addiction fidellatio is.
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
–Benjamin Franklin
And this was said when? What kind of world was it what kind of threats where they facing?. Do you realize how idiotic it is to go back 229 in history to try to make a point ?
Not any different than the cultist still hammering at how bad Batista was.. 46 years GET OVER IT, what have YOU done?
I am pretty certain if Franklin knew of dirty bombs or planes smacking into civilian buildings and blowing to pieces 3000 people that line would come out a “little bit different”
It is a VERY different world, a very different world population.
You can get the rudimentary knowledge to blow up a few square city blocks from the Internet.
The only threat in Franklin’s days was a bunch of red coats just DYING to go back to the corner pub in Surrey and shag the local wench. Now, see how god damn silly you sound? Actually affected is more like it . Nothing worse than someone who quotes inapplicable quotes just for the sake of sounding well read.
Wasn?t the world FLAT for a while? Didn?t “bleeding” get rid of all sorts of illnesses caused by bad blood?
What makes you think that politically we face the same situation? The thing here my dear and naive interlocutor is that our ENEMIES are COUNTING on those words you so patriotically chant.
That we are so STRICTLY bound by an archaic moral code that we will do NOTHING. That ours is such a FREE and OPEN society that ANYONE can collapse it.
I remember seeing a Bin Ladin interview about a year prior to 9/11 where he says ? do you even know how fragil you are ??
Yes WE WERE, and we still are because people like you frown at a wire tap or having a bunch of beasts incarcerated in a very comfy surrounding in a place where we are sure they will not do the USA population any harm.
God the world SCREAMS if a Koran was flushed down the toilet, but doesn?t the American constitution assures the right to burn an American flag?
So if I feel that the KORAN is an evil document of destruction and I DO decide to burn the damn thing, isn?t THAT my constitutional right?
Did I just insult a WHOLE lot of Muslims, ooops but they DID blow up a big chunk of MY city!
So stop the sophomoric debates, the out of context quotes, WAKE up to the REAL threats that lurk outside our borders.
Franklin may have been very eloquent in that little quote but it was just dogmatic bullshit , if you can assure me my family will be safe in a flight because of profiling , and someone with a Koran and a turban is boarding that plane I DEMAND HIS liberties be withheld , until I know my family will be secure.
There is a whole world out there where the exercise of his religion is fully acceptable and not questioned, why insists in living in a country filled with INFIDELS?
Someone said we need pictures of Castro Cuba!
Do you want to see pictures? here’s where to go.
http://www.therealcuba.com At least 50 to 70 pictures
click the subtitles at the top of the page