"If you are Jamaicans studying here, we have a responsibility to all of you. Therefore, I intend to arrange that no matter what was the source of your scholarship, once you are here as Jamaican students, you are to be included in the programme of financial support that we offer." -- Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding, while on a state visit to Cuba, May 4, 2008
No independent media is more pro-Castro than Jamaica's. It might be possible to say that its local media are even more pro-Castro than Communist Cuba's official media. The Cuban media, which is read worldwide through the internet, is somewhat constrained in its mendacity by that fact; but no one is monitoring Jamaica's media, and, therefore, there is no lie too big for them to report about Cuba. Nearly 50 years of such deceptive reportage has achieved near-unanimous support for the Castro regime among Jamaicans. Yet, there is this little thing that gives me hope, however. Jamaicans no longer flock to Cuba, as they did before 1959, in search of jobs and opportunities closed to them at home. In that respect Cuba was to Jamaica then what the U.S. is to Mexican migrants today. No longer. It is Cuba that is poor now and Jamaica that is (relatively) wealthy, thanks, no doubt, to the imposition of Communism in Cuba, which did more to spur Jamaica's development than any other factor in its history.
Obviously, Jamaicans do have some inkling of the truth beneath the hard veneer of respect for the traditional regional hagemon. Ironically, the couriers of the truth about Cuba are the Jamaican students sent there to study on scholarship. They live very close to the Cuban people, that is, they are not immured like Europeans from the misery of their existance but eat (or don't eat) at the same table.
The regime hopes these becados will be good-will ambassadors and staunch supporters of Cuban-Jamaican solidarity in the future, that is, when the degrees they acquired in Cuba secure them lucrative employment at home as doctors, engineers and government officials, something, incidentally, which the same degrees won't do for their Cuban counterparts unless they, too, leave Cuba.
In the meantime, however, the Jamaican students must survive their stay in Cuba and they have grown tired, it seems, of doing in Cuba as the Cubans do. The becados have used the occasion of Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding's ongoing three-day visit to Cuba to petition their government for more financial assistance. Those on scholarship who were sent there under an agreement with the Jamaican government and Castro regime are already receiving assistance, but those sponsored by Jamaica's former ruling party under an agreement with Cuba's Communist Party were not. The prime minister has promised that all Jamaican students in Cuba will henceforth be entititled to participate in his country's programme of financial support (i.e. welfare). He has also pledged to raise the annual stipend above the current U.S. $1200 per annum, which he called "inadequate."
Consider that the average Cuban earns $180 per year and Jamaican welfare in comparison seems almost princely. The Jamaican Gleaner, in reporting this news, was careful not to elaborate on it. Perhaps it hopes that Jamaicans will think that their government is only now providing for its students what Cuba has always furnished to theirs. A great deal of propaganda about Communist Cuba involves not only reproducing the official lies but withholding any information that would expose the lies. In this case, however, the facts speak for themselves. To live as Cubans do has now been deemed "inadequate" by Jamaica's own prime minister. Castro offers Jamaican students everything that Cubans students get, including meals and lodging. Yet not only is this "inadequate" for Jamaicans but US$1200 on top of that is also deemed "inadequate!"
There are several hundred thousand Cubans that are descendents of Jamaicans who arrived in Cuba before 1959, many of these sons and daughters of Jamaicans (and hence holding dual nationality). Prime Minister Golding will be meeting with representatives of Cuban-Jamaicans today. I hope he offers them the same generous assistance that he has extended to Jamaican students in Cuba.
Also of interest:
Cuban Ambassador Puts On Fashion Show In Jamaica to Mark "Cuba Day" There (Updated)
Notable & Cretinous: Cubans Have Enemies in Their Backyard, Too
Jamaica poorer than Cuba before 1959, must indeed realize they are now wealthy by comparison.
ReplyDeleteWas having trouble with blogger Manuel, it would not let me comment earlier.
ReplyDeleteJamaica probably would be better off with a Fidel as their leader!!
ReplyDeleteVana:
ReplyDeleteI did not get the e-mail that you mentioned in an earlier thread.
Blogger, as usual, has its moments. Whenever I noticed a paucity in comments, I attribute it to one of those moments.
Yes, it is ironic that Jamaicans, who before 1959 relied on Cuba for their survival, should now live ten times better in Cuba than Cubans do. But, then again, so do all the counties in Latin America and the Caribbean. The nations that were rich 50 years ago are still rich. The nations that were mendicants 50 years ago are now not as poor as they once were. Only one nation which was rich 50 years ago is poor now.
Just finished casting my ballot for Hillary. But let me tell you, there were A LOT OF Obama supporters, and all white. Naturally, i made my displeasure known to the long-haired hippie Obama supporters. And they had some choice words for me. If it werent for the tv cameras around. They would have regreted back-talking me.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, Obama has strong support, and may very well carry my home state.
John:
ReplyDeleteOf course, one would expect Obama's supporters in Indiana to be all white, or nearly all white. What else could they be? I still believe Obama will be defeated by a margin of 10 percentage points or more.
NC amplio for Obama}
ReplyDeleteget most delegates...
Hillary should call it quits after tonight
Obama holding strong in IND
The MSM are already calling North Carolina for Obama with 0% of the vote counted. However, they refuse to call Indiana for Hillary even though she is leading by two digits with 35% of the vote counted.
ReplyDeleteSo let me be the first:
FLASH!!!
Hillary Clinton Carries John's Home State
MaT,
ReplyDeleteI was out of town this last few days. While at a midwest airport I met a West African who I mentioned to I was Cuban. He smiled and told me several of his friends had gone to Cuba to study medicine all expenses paid by Cuba. I told him the Castro had a way of helping other countries while starving his own people and he smiled and said "yes, I know". I don't think Castro's propaganda machine works when these folks return to their own countries.
ms. calabaza:
ReplyDeleteI believe that you are right. While they should be grateful to Cubans for the very great sacrifices that they have made to underwrite their education, these becados don't owe anything to Castro who used them for propaganda purposes and has always harbored racist attitudes towards blacks and Africans in particular.
big lie
ReplyDeleteHe smiled and told me several of his friends had gone to Cuba to study medicine all expenses paid by Cuba
Cuba le cobra a estos paises africanos cerca de 20 mil dolares por estudiante , y si no pagan con cash lo hacen de otra forma pero no es gratis
hillary must quit
ReplyDeleteher husband envio a elian para cuba
Obama will destroy Big mac
obama 70 hilla 30 in nc
indiana very close to call obama strong showing 53.47
The MSM are already calling North Carolina for Obama with 0%
ReplyDeleteyes ideed, they did that because the exit polls indicated 90% of blacks voted for him
Eso se llama un KO in the first round manny
mat said: Hillary Clinton Carries John's Home State
ReplyDeleteAs i told you before. I saw a lot of Obama shirts at my polling station. But yet, you insisted on telling me different. Fact is the 527's ran anti-spanish adverstisements that cost Obama 3-4% percentage points in Indiana.
And more importantly. I told you that the racist republicans in my redstate would not be voting against Obama because of Rev. Wright.
In conclusion, Obama barely lost my home state of Indiana because 1) anti-spanish ads against him 2) the cross-over like me who voted for Hillary. And not Rev.Wright, and you attempted to peddle. Mat, i know my red state republicans, YOU DONT!!
John:
ReplyDeleteIf Indiana is not able to hold the Obama tide, then all is lost.
I am still putting my trust in the people of Indiana. One percent will do as well as ten percent: the only important thing now is that Obama not carry the state.
The future of America, indeed, whether America has a future, rests with the people of Indiana and with you, John.
God help us all!
CBS has announced Clinton victory in Indiana.
ReplyDeleteManuel:
ReplyDeleteIs your e mail the one that appears in your profile?
Cry babe hillary
ReplyDeleteplease,DEAN PLEASE .... count florida and michigan
NOT a chance
Is crying time at RCAB
ReplyDeleteIs requiem for Hillary, Obama got his mojo back.
let me hear it
ReplyDeletewho WON INDIANA?
AND by what margin?
ouchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
lol
55 delegates waiting for Obama here in Puerto Rico, june 1
500k possible voters here
Indiana to close to call as of 10:06pm PST
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lklfIPBK4Zg
ReplyDeleteHillary wins Indiana, despite the all-night vigils at nearly all the networks, which refused to acknowledge her victory while there might still be one uncounted Obama voter.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteVery early Wednesday morning, after many voters had already gone to sleep, the conventional wisdom of the elite political pundit class that resides on television shifted hard, and possibly irretrievably, against Senator Hillary Clinton's continued viability as a presidential candidate.
ReplyDeleteThe moment came shortly after midnight Eastern time, captured in a devastatingly declarative statement from Tim Russert of NBC News: "We now know who the Democratic nominee's going to be, and no one's going to dispute it," he said on MSNBC. "Those closest to her will give her a hard-headed analysis, and if they lay it all out, they'll say: 'What is the rationale? What do we say to the undeclared super delegates tomorrow? Why do we tell them you're staying in the race?' And tonight, there's no good answer for that."
It was not exactly Walter Cronkite declaring that the Vietnam War would end in stalemate. But the impact was apparent almost immediately, starting with The Drudge Report, the online news billboard that is the home page to many political reporters in Washington and news producers in New York. It had as its lead story a link to a YouTube clip of Russert's comments, accompanied by a photograph of a beaming Obama with his wife, Michelle, and the headline, "The Nominee."
The thought echoed throughout the world of instant political analysis, steamrolling the Clinton campaign's attempts to promote the idea that her victory in Indiana was nonetheless an upset in the face of Obama's heavy spending and his campaign's predictions that he would win there, or that she could still come back if delegates in Florida and Michigan are seated.
"I think there's an increasing presumption tonight that Obama's going to be the nominee," Chris Wallace, the Fox News host, said to Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's longtime political guru, who is now a Fox News analyst. The statement preceded a discussion about what a general election race would look like between Obama and the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain.
Today in Americas
Clinton vows to fight on as Obama widens delegate leadU.S. indicts Russian on four terrorism chargesUN watchdog groups denounce 5 nations vying to join rights councilA posting on the DailyKos Web site included a mock memo to Clinton titled, "To-Do List Before Dropping Out."
Speaking on CNN, David Gergen, a former adviser to several presidents, including Clinton's husband, said, "I think the Clinton people know the game is almost up."
Stating it more bluntly, Bob Franken, the political analyst, told the MSNBC host Dan Abrams shortly after 2 a.m. Eastern time, "Let's put it right on the table: It's over. It's over."
And it picked up again on the major morning news programs in a devastating cascade of sound bites for Clinton and her campaign.
Bob Schieffer on the CBS News program "Early Show": "Basically, Maggie, this race is over."
George Stephanopoulos on the ABC program "Good Morning America": "This nomination fight is over."
Matt Lauer on the NBC News program " Today": "Good morning, is it over?"
The commentary was punctuated by some brutal morning newspaper headlines: "Toast!" blared The New York Post; "Hil Needs a Miracle" declared The New York Daily News.
Of course, the political news media have not exactly showered themselves in glory this year. They have frequently made predictions that have been upended by actual votes from actual people.
But their opinions matter as much as ever in this late phase of the primary race, when Clinton and Obama are battling to sway the opinions of the uncommitted superdelegates — the party leaders and elected officials with automatic convention seats, whose support Clinton will need if she is to snatch the nomination from Obama.
The superdelegates are a largely elite group that presumably will track the conventional wisdom of Washington's class of political insiders as they weigh their decisions. And the big donors and fund-raisers whose help Clinton will need to continue her campaign are similarly tapped into the news media echo-sphere.
Clinton's campaign indicated early this morning that it would try to prove the commentariat wrong once again. "Pundits have gleefully counted Senator Clinton out before, and each time they have been wrong, because they don't decide this race — voters do," Howard Wolfson, Clinton's communications director, wrote in an e-mail message. "And as the results in Indiana demonstrated, voters are rewarding Senator Clinton with victories, even in states Senator Obama predicted victory in."
Wolfson's statement came in quick response to a request for comment that was sent to him by e-mail after 2 a.m. Eastern time — an indication of the campaign's eagerness to undo the new conventional wisdom before it hardens.
And the campaign held a conference call with reporters this morning to send the clear signal that nothing had changed overnight.
Pointing to Clinton's victory in Indiana, and her inroads with what he called swing voters, Geoff Garin, her lead strategist, told the gathered reporters, "We think the results last night strengthen the case that she will be the strongest candidate for the Democratic Party in November."
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