I like this debate on what a democratic society truly is. "For the people, by the people..." and so on, but is that just rhetoric in the United States? Do U.S. citizens truly run things, or is the real power held by the various lobbies, oil companies, consulting firms (i.e. Haliburton), etc?
The "stolen election" that was mentioned earlier, as well as things such as the Patriot Act and Bush's wire-tap plan point to a not-so-free society. The latter are suspiciously reminiscent of the CDR's in Havana...
How do Cubans view things such as the CDR(neighborhood watch groups) who report to the government? The difficulties in traveling abroad? The necessity to inform the government if you are going to move to a different part of the country, and possible expulsion from that area without documentation? Prohibition from entering hotels, namely the Nacional?
There is evidence on both sides of opression. No one country is "better" than another. I just hope that in the coming years, the U.S. does not take an "interest in installing democracy" in Cuba, as it has in other parts of the world.
I hope my words do not come across as an attack on Cubans or on U.S. citizens. The people themselves are good, it's the governments that create the problems.
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