Who’s better off since 1959, Cubans or Puerto Ricans?
It may sound like a dumb question, but someone actually is asking. Really.
Well, what are you waiting for? Go answer it!!!
18 thoughts on “Got a question for you…..”
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…an island on the net without a bearded dictator
By the mere fact that citizens of the Republic of Cuba are forbidden to participate in this debate is really “enough said”. I like the point that “what good is a “wonderful” healthcare system if one doesn’t have the basic freedoms; e.g. freedom of speech, freedom of movement, freedom of religion, etc…..”.
Bueno creo que uno no se debe dignar en contestar esa pregunta tan ridicula, y si alguien en realidad tiene dudas es tan imbecil que ni explicandole en español y en letra de molde lo van a entender
I’ll answer this one with a simple question:
Do you know of any Puerto Ricans trying to escape their homeland on rafts to get into Cuba?
One more comment; wouldn’t a more “thought provoking” comparison be Cuba (who received their current dictator in 1959) and the Dominican Republic (who assassinated theirs, Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, in 1961)? While life in the DR is FAR from perfect I wonder how many (including those whom are struggling) would trade the basic freedoms they currently enjoy for the “excellent” health care and educational opportunities that are offered in Cuba? Not many I would guess. (How many Dominicans do you see trying to immigrate to Cuba?)
How many Hiatians are escaping their island to flee to Cuba? None.
Puerto Ricans have it sooooo good it’s not funny – they are American citizens whether they like it or not – OH SURE THEY COMPLAIN like hell about it but they wouldn’t last a week living like a real Cuban in some Havana slum. the PRs don’t know just how good they have it. Yet there are many that love castro especially in Brooklyn and the South Bronx.
I say give them their independence and let the YOUNG LORDS elect a fidel of their own – then they will have gotten all they have wished for.
And when Castro dies we can make Cuba the proud 51st state. Cubans will be greatful to be Americans – just look how much exiled Miami cubans love the USA!
haha Mandingo, let’s not get carried away. Gotta keep in mind we Cubans are grateful to be Americans, but always proud to be Cuban. Cuba as 51st state = not gonna happen.
Look at the economy, including things like average income and economic mobility, between Cuba and ANY Spanish-speaking democratic nation in the Caribbean or Central America.
Look at political rights.
Maybe in 1980 you could have asked this question and not been sure if you looked at places like El Salvador or Nicaragua or Chile, and not been sure of the right answer.
Today? You have to be intentionally not looking at any objective data.
The question is based on a false premise. It assumes that the two islands are equal in status across the board. Using the term “better off” assumes that one economy will be better than the other and nothing else is taken into account. Also, the writer begins the post with this:
”Occupy” and ”acquire” — powerful words. They immediately telegraph to the potential reader what the point of view is of HavanaJournal (regardless of the quotation marks). This rag is a shill for the castro government and the anti-embargo crowd. I’m not going to dignify their question with an answer. It should be painfully obvious to anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear what the answer is. To even ask the question is an insult to the memory of all who have died and all who are still in prison who have worked for the cause of a free Cuba. Pffft to the useful idiots at Havana Journal.
Right on Dean. As for you mandingo, I’m with bombillo on this. I appreciate US help to Cuba, but I want Cuba to remain a sovereign independent country, and I’m sure my parents will too.
Puerto Ricans, well, even my best friend who is Puerto Rican thinks that they should be scared one day and have the US announce they are no longer citizens…see what happens when they all become illegal…including her and me (unfortunately).
Yeap, there is a big flotilla of Puerto Ricans wanting to move to Cuba, I just don’t know what they are waiting for.
In a recent survey of cities all over the world, Puerto Rico ranked number one among ALL Latin American cities in quality of life. It ranked so high it made me want to go there. Given the cultural similarities of Puerto Rico and Cuba, it’s fair to say that Puerto Rico is what Cuba might have been, had there been no brutal curse of castro.
Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain to the U.S. in 1898 as a result of the Spanish-American War. Puerto Ricans became U.S. citizens in 1917. Only about 300 people living on the island, mostly Spaniards, refused American citizenship.
Puerto Ricans created their own constitution in 1952 and have been freely electing their own form of government since then. Since 1967, they have held various plebicites to vote on whether to become a state of the Union, remain a commonwealth, or be independent. The majority have always voted for commonwealth. The independence votes have been less than 5%.
Thousands of Puerto Ricans have heroically fought in all of America’s wars since the First World War.
Puerto Rico receives $11 billion in federal assistance annually. Half the islanders receive food stamps.
The close ties between the U.S. and Puerto Rico extend over a century. The Puerto Rican people control their own destiny. Cubans under Castro do not.
Puerto Rican “independence” is the obsession of one fidel castro ruz. The issue is a canard. Puerto Ricans enjoy all of the freedoms of Americans because they are Americans. As de la Cova points out the Puerto Ricans have spoken time again and have no desire to change the status quo vis-a-vis their relationship to the US. Case closed.
As far as acquired territory goes, are we going to start giving back other territories like the Southwest? When does the statute of limitations on land acquired through war end? Is France going to give back lands that it may have conquered 1000 years ago?
Cubans in Miami are clearly better off than just about everyone else!!!
Without fidel ever being born, Cuba today would have been a first world country in every sense of the word!
Hey MiamiCuban here is a question for you.
Where would you rather have your children live in Puerto Rico or in Cuba under castro?
I’m with George M. on this one. It’s not a question to generate discourse, it’s a wrong assumption dressed up in innocent garb. It creates a false equivalence between the two countries. Good thing our posters are great at wiping out the fog of ignorance.
Of course, Puerto Ricans are better off.
However, it’s important to clarify something: Cuba will not become the “51st U.S. state”. There shouldn’t be any doubt about that.
Not that it would be bad, but the US has never had such an intention. Since Cuba was liberated from the Spanish yoke, José Marti’s Cuba had good relations with the U.S. and the latter had never tried to conquer Cuba.
Cuba has always been a sovereign country, until Castro took power y se la entrego a Rusia (translation: and he sold it to Russia).
Right now, Cuba is owned by the castro’s clan and is not at all sovereign.
Cuba no es ni libre ni soberana.
It is wise not to forget that international agencies, such as WHO, take Cuban government statistics at face value, and then publish them as their own.