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Havana.– An ailing Fidel Castro took partial credit on Wednesday for firing Cuba's long-serving education minister this week, indicating that he would remain influential behind the scenes as long as he is able.

Castro, who was succeeded by his younger brother Raul Castro as president this year after almost half a century at the helm, blasted former minister Luis Ignacio Gomez for being "burnt out" and "losing revolutionary consciousness."

In a newspaper column, Castro laid into Gomez for traveling abroad too much and taking personal credit for advances in Cuba's education system.

In the first cabinet change under Cuba's new president, Gomez was summarily replaced on Tuesday after more than 18 years on the job.

Gomez was viewed as one of Fidel Castro's staunchest supporters who for the last decade had faithfully carried out educational reforms proposed by Castro and questioned by many teachers and parents.

Many Cubans have criticized the decline of Cuba's vast free education system during grass roots discussions fostered by Raul Castro on the socialist state's ills.

"In this special and important case, in addition to my personal views, I was consulted and completely informed," Fidel Castro wrote in an article published by the ruling Communist Party newspaper Granma and other state-run media.

The 81-year-old revolutionary leader has not appeared in public since undergoing intestinal surgery in July 2006 from which he never fully recovered. His whereabouts and medical condition remain state secrets.

For a year now he has written opinion columns on foreign and domestic affairs that appear in newspapers and are repeatedly read on state-run radio and television.

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COMMENTS
168 comment(s)
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 26 Apr 2008 3:53 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
good bye fidel we are glad you are almost gone ,nobody will miss you
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 26 Apr 2008 7:40 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Fidel your funeral will be a joyous event .....the tens of thousands of victims will come to your grave to defecate on it....they will need a sewage treatment plant there to handle the waste...there will be many who will be willing to pay for it...soon it will be goodbye,they are preparing the hottest part of the inferno as we speak and Che the phony doctor will be there to wup you for betraying him...he also will get a sewage treatment plant paid for by the T shirt vendors
Written by: time2rize, 26 Apr 2008 10:11 AM
From: Dominican Republic
gouletcolonial,

LOL you must have been one of those White Rich, Slave Master Cubans,that ran like a bitch to the states. Because obviously, you have a personal grudge against fidel. Its like you had been affected personally, cause you damm sure do not care about others. Let it go man.

No im not a fidel supporter.
Written by: Escott, 26 Apr 2008 12:06 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Cabrera and Sosua a 2 days a month for payday
Belial must be rolling over in his hole after reading this! LOL
Written by: Belial, 26 Apr 2008 1:29 PM
From: United States, Texas
"BURNT OUT"

p.1

"Burnt out" implies an unacceptable degree of weakness of will in the administration of Cuba's domestic and international educational programs. This in turn implies that Raul, Fidel, Jose, and Juan intend to step up the work in the educational field and doubted if Gomez, after 15 years on the job, has the energy and will for a bigger load or believe someone else could do better.

MAIN SHORT-TERM GOALS:

(1) Turning the Cuban people into a college-educated people. About 750,000 out 11 million Cubans now hold college degrees (mostly in the sciences, especially medicine) and over 350,000 are now in college. So, about 1 out 10 Cubans will soon be college educated. No other Latin American or Caribbean country even comes close. To put this in perpective, in the USA, there were about 40,000,000 college graduates in 2003 out of a population of about 300 million. So, the USA has reached this 10% plateau.
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf06304/

Con't

Written by: Belial, 26 Apr 2008 1:31 PM
From: United States, Texas
"BURNT OUT"

p.2

(2) Educating part of the intelligentsia of over 60 countries (On a small scale, DR is one of them. While some countries have thousands of students in Cuban colleges, the DR has a only few hundred, many in medicine.).

(3) Battling illiteracy in about 30 countries.

My guess is that "burnt out" disappointment with Gomez related to (3) or, in other words, Gomez didn't do enough to fight worldwide illiteracy mostly in the countries that have taken the senseless capitalist path of development.
Written by: BASTA, 26 Apr 2008 2:21 PM
From: Dominican Republic, =Ghetto/Legalize Drugs
Like Franco- They can keep Castro alive,dead and alive again and again.
Written by: ladronaso, 26 Apr 2008 2:32 PM
From: United States
This is one of the biggest problems of the exile community and the "Old Guard" in the U.S.

They just
Can't
Let it
Go.

Their hatred and deep seated animosity doesn't let them think rationally. When you are consumed with so much hate it is difficult to think rationally.

This has been only to Fidels advantage. Every opportunity the Exiles have had to make a plausible change in Cuba has always been derailed by passionate hatred for Fidel. Sad, because many opportunities have been missed.

Truth be it known Cuba will become free. But hopefully, freedom will come from within, not from the exiles and their interest groups.
Written by: Belial, 26 Apr 2008 2:33 PM
From: United States, Texas
"LOSING REVOLUTIONARY CONSCIOUSNESS"

p.1

Education is the cultivation of BOTH intellectual and moral virtues in humanity. The criticism that Gomez was "losing revolutionary consciousness" implies an over-concentration on the cultivation of intellectual virtues and a neglect in the cultivation of moral virtues.

Marxism-Leninism is a kind of nexus between the two kinds of virtues that clearly and concisely reflects the reality in which humanity struggles.

This ideology, of course, posits humanity and posits a product that humanity produces to sustain itself.

Part of the product is necessary to preserve humanity, at least, at a minimum level and another part is surplus over what is necessary to sustain humanity at a minimum level.

Intellectual virtues chiefly deal with how to produce a surplus and moral virtue with how to dispose of it.

Marxism poses the question who will chiefly get the surplus -- either more or less all of humanity or only some.

con't
Written by: Belial, 26 Apr 2008 2:39 PM
From: United States, Texas
p. 2 of "LOSING REVOLUTIONARY CONSCIOUSNESS"



Either the vast proletariat and the poor or a tiny class of privilege, the bourgeoisie.

Bourgeois ideology, in its infinitude of forms, doesn't deny the existence of humanity or of the surplus. It foolishly claim that "nature," not social convention, requires that a tiny class of privilege, the bourgeoisie, get all of the surplus.

Revolutionary consciousness argues that the surplus should be chiefly spread out, more or less on an even basis, to all of humanity. This is true moral virtue, not the very popular hypocrite divinity or bourgeois morality.

Sometimes education drops revolutionary consciousness or, much worse, substitutes bourgeois ideology or hypocrite divinity for the ethical ideology of the proletariat.

Con't
Written by: ladronaso, 26 Apr 2008 2:40 PM
From: United States
Belial, you should really stop the CUT & PASTE . It is getting old.

Written by: Belial, 26 Apr 2008 2:41 PM
From: United States, Texas
p.3 of "LOSING REVOLUTIONARY CONSCIOUSNESS"

To deny this revolutionary ideology, one must either deny the existence of humanity or of the surplus or the existence of the proletarian and bourgeois modes of distribution of the surplus or the superiority of the proletarian mode over the bourgeois mode.

There is no other reality, just bourgeois lies and tricks. When humanity holds back in any way or to the slightest degree from the ethical ideology of proletariat, humanity plunges into delusion and surrealism which strengthens bourgeoisie as it goes about stealing the surplus.

Since Gomez was only "losing," rather than "had lost" his revolutionary consciousness, he hadn't crossed over. Now, with more free time on his hands, he may perhaps revive his revolutionary consciousness. In any case, Gomez made a huge contribution to the revolution. Now, it's somebody else's turn.

THE END










Written by: Belial, 26 Apr 2008 2:50 PM
From: United States, Texas
"Belial, you should really stop the CUT & PASTE . It is getting old."

0000

When the truthful describe a reality, their comments independently bear similarities because the object they present is the same. These similarities mislead some to the conclusion that the truthful "CUT & PASTE."


Written by: ladronaso, 26 Apr 2008 2:59 PM
From: United States
The truth what ever it is, should always prevail. But it's time to hear originality. And It's a matter of hearing your voice, not some else's.
Written by: muchacho, 26 Apr 2008 3:08 PM
From: United States, New York City
ladronazo...

AGREED!
Written by: Belial, 26 Apr 2008 3:57 PM
From: United States, Texas
Ladronazo, since you're posing for us a profound epistemological question, I'll try again.

If two guys independently draw pictures of a duck and you compare the two pictures and find that they look alike, what going down?

Did one guy CUT AND PASTE the other?

Not necessarily. It's just that a duck looks like a duck.

[I see that Muchacho agrees with you. I'll bet Muchacho's duck is hideous and really frightful, something that has arisen from the pit of delusion and surrealism.]

Yes, I know what Marx says a duck looks like. But I can also see a duck with my own eyes and know what it looks like from personal knowledge. I refuse to misrepresent what a duck looks like just because the duck that I see resembles the duck that Marx saw.

If my duck looks like Marx' duck, it's not because I CUT AND PASTE Marx' duck, rather it's because a duck looks like a duck.

So, my duck is not CUT or PASTED.
Written by: ladronaso, 26 Apr 2008 4:57 PM
From: United States
The problem is:
The Duck Marx saw isn't the same Duck you are seeing. No two ducks are the same.

Written by: ladronaso, 26 Apr 2008 4:58 PM
From: United States
So quit quacking and start Talking!
Written by: ladronaso, 26 Apr 2008 5:29 PM
From: United States
Belial:
I sincerely think you should be expending your time in defense of a better system (perhaps a hybrid) than that of what you're proposing for Dom Rep. Certainly Marxism, Communism, is not going to work, especially in todays age especially considering the complicated societal structures that exist. I do think if you dedicated your time to another ideology that it would be best spent, and perhaps more fruitful. C'mon kid,............. really.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 26 Apr 2008 7:24 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
he is an imbecile
Written by: muchacho, 27 Apr 2008 1:26 AM
From: United States, New York City
My duck says that you are one of those last bearded, candle-lit, incense-burning, beret-wearing, communists who is still praying for the collapse of humanity so you can do the Marxist Macarena. Keep putting up your rambling posts from the public library's computer while you wait for the revolution.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 27 Apr 2008 6:48 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
the collaborators will all get amnesia.... "..I was only following orders " they will say
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 27 Apr 2008 6:54 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Capitalism is man is man exploiting man communism is the exact opposite only 10 times worse
Written by: Lautaro, 27 Apr 2008 3:07 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo
The thing, mr. GC, is that the exiled, landholding mafia colonists that you´re defending are no better than the apparachik currently in power. As mr. ladronazo says, it´ll be better if the transition would be left in charge of the cuban masses on the island and definitely NOT on the hands of the South Floridan sharks, as you´re naively suggesting. That is, if the cubans don´t want their country to be transformed (again) into the whorehouse of the Caribbean as it was during Batista´s dictatorship. As such, given the level of hostility that you have shown towards the current regime, I have reached the conclusion that you´re either one of those former landholders, or worse, you´re one of those sailors of the US Navy that, every time your ship touched Havana´s port, had one or two cuban jineteras at hand to have some drinks and an orgy with.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 27 Apr 2008 4:03 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
lautaro your mind moves to the cheap and physical .....cuba prior to castro was a great country ....it did not need castro...you have seen to many movies about havana in the 50s....It was by a very far distance the most important country in the caribbean and one of the most important in the Americas....that includes its schools and cultural institutions....so lautaro in your youth and inexperience if it was the brothel of the caribbean what were the rest of the Spanish Antilles of which Cuba was far far advanced.....the expatriate community is not just in Miami as you imagine .....Also look for a moment at their accomplishments ..Are you jealous of their power in culture or their economic might or that they and not Dominicans and to a lesser extent boricuas receive much more respect. ..Is this what bothers you? I think so...they have been important culturally and economically in America since the Dominicans were washing dishes in their restaurants but get over it...VIVA CUBA LIBRE
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 27 Apr 2008 4:05 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
i know the people who will be running cuba are living in cuba !
Written by: Lautaro, 27 Apr 2008 4:14 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo
The only thing that I see here is your hipocrisy and the one from the people that thinks like you, why don´t you attack the regimes of China and Vietnam, which are as communist as the cuban one? but I guess that as long as they keep selling your country cheap products and rice you won't say a thing. Shame on you!!
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 27 Apr 2008 4:15 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
but the freedom to think and speak must be returned to the people political prisoners freed and human rights be observed....there is nothing to be admired in the cuban system as it exists
Written by: Lautaro, 27 Apr 2008 4:40 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo
Again I ask you, why are you sustaining a double discourse regarding those communist countries? Don't they (China and Vietnam) deserve the wrath of your pen too? I'd wager that China have executed more people per capita than the Cuban regime, but then, you're all being bribed out by them. I guess that it is more easy to throw stones at little countries like Cuba than dealing with world superpowers like China (a country that not even the mighty imperial japanese army could conquer) or middle countries like Vietnam, who totally kicked your arse back in the 70's.
Written by: ladronaso, 27 Apr 2008 5:04 PM
From: United States
GC, relinquish your hate towards Fidel. Though I do feel for the Cuban people and their plight, all the suffering and all that has been lost, I do wish to see a free Cuba with liberalized freedoms, the anger that has been harbored for all these years has only benefited Fidel's regime. Admit that Fidel has been more intelligent and wittier than the exiles and the U.S OLD GUARD. Defeat is hard to accept, but sometimes we need to do so in-order to find closure and move on.


Written by: Belial, 27 Apr 2008 5:56 PM
From: United States, Texas
A lot people talk lovingly or hatefully about the relationship between Haiti and DR, but this narrowing of the identity question to only two countries seems incomplete and little-headed because Cuba, Haiti, DR, and PR seem to constitute a nebulous entity of some kind over which tragically the US imperialists maintain relative degree of fragmentation of the whole that transcends all spheres of activity among the parts.

Of course, PR is a colony demeaned by the US imperialists, institutionalizing the framentation.

The crackpot Nazarenes have a bizarre concept -- three is one and one is three.

But when we look a the relationships among Cuba, Haiti, DR, and PR, we discover that Nazarenes are wrong, for in reality four is one and one is four, except that the odious US imperialists block the fullest realization of the one.

The most amazing thing is the people of PR have preserved collective consciousness despite a century of uninhibited US colonial oppression and exploitation.
Written by: Belial, 27 Apr 2008 6:10 PM
From: United States, Texas
"My duck says that you are one of those last bearded, candle-lit, incense-burning, beret-wearing, communists who is still praying for the collapse of humanity so you can do the Marxist Macarena. Keep putting up your rambling posts from the public library's computer while you wait for the revolution."

oooo

You are a sorry philistine who is totally inapt in matters of philosophy -- whether it's epistemology, ontology, logic, ethics, or aesthetics.

The deceptive and fool-making capitalist media have brainwashed you, like a slobbering Pavlovian dog, from the moment of your undesired birth and will continue until the moment you make your final and belated departure from reality.

Philistine, the truth flows abundantly from Marxism-Leninism, not from the slimy capitalist press.




Written by: ladronaso, 27 Apr 2008 6:45 PM
From: United States
Belial:

I know who you are!


Yea, I got you pinned!

Your that kid.............. that crazy kid that was ticked off at Mr. Incredible.

What's his name?


Yea.................yea..................,

Thats it ! You're...............SYNDROME
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 10:13 AM
From: United States, New York City
"Are you jealous of their power in culture or their economic might or that they and not Dominicans and to a lesser extent boricuas receive much more respect."

You need to do research goulet. There is nothing for the puerto rican and Dominican community to be jealous of. It's not as if the playing field was level, which it was not. Luckily for you I managed to find a copy "Mambo Montage:The latinization of New York" online. I suggest you read page 111 and on so as to educate yourself on how much assistance cuban immigrants recieved from the American government in establishing their community here in the states, assistance, I might add, which has no parallel among any other immigrant groups that arrived here.
.http://books.google.com/books?id=....QNIfct-SKBIvcyDE&hl=en#PPA111,M1
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 10:23 AM
From: United States, New York City
"they have been important culturally and economically in America since the Dominicans were washing dishes in their restaurants but get over it"

Goulet, why then bother exchanging ideas with a bunch of dishwashers as you seem to do practically every day? I'm sure there are plenty of sites where you can have meaningful exchanges with enlightened cubans as opposed to uneducated dishwashers such as ourselves.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 11:06 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
how quickly you turn on the Cubans...your jealousy is showing....Oh if only I was a cuban I to could get a green card ...Why are they so special?...Listen the Cubans have been numero 1 #1 in the Caribbean for hundreds of years number one in all ...you name it Art, Literature,Economy ,Sciences, music you name it...That is a fact Jack...get over it.......When my beloved San Juan was a backwater and Santo Domingo was less,Havana was a great city of the world..get over it
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 11:13 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
and you are also jealous of the Boricuas and their prosperity and accomplishments with only 3 and a half million people....but you have an excuse for that also....dont you?
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 11:24 AM
From: United States, New York City
LOL.You seem to have an aversion to facts.Goulet, how am I turning on the cubans? By citing the fact that the American government gave the cuban exiles advantages over other incoming groups? I even provided a scholarly work to back up what I'm saying (it's not even as if I needed to, there is plenty of documentation on the many programs the cuban exiles have benefited mightily from). I made no comment as to what cuba was or wasn't in the past, I only made a referance to explain to the misinformed, which obviously includes you, as to why there are economic disparities among the different spanish speaking groups from the caribbean here in the states and it's not, as you are alleging, due to some sort of superiority inherent to cubans.
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 11:37 AM
From: United States, New York City
goulet, you need a serious history lesson as far as the caribbean is concerned. You would then realize that Dominicans and their descendants have made incredible contributions to cuban culture, not to mention the fact that Maximo Gomez was Dominican himself and Maceo was the son of a Dominican woman. A famous cuban composer of the 19th century once commented on the Dominicans that immigrated to his island. He said "las familias dominicanas.., como modelos de cultura y civilización nos aventajaban en mucho entonces”. I once had in my possession a wonderful biography on Maximo Gomez, printed in 1932 in havana, that outlined numerous things cuban culture is indebted to the Dominican Republic for. For now, take this link I found. Read it and learn, goulet.
http://www.bibliotecasvirtuales.c....letrascoloniales/Laemigracion.asp

Written by: Lautaro, 28 Apr 2008 11:46 AM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo
Also, backing what mr. cibaeño has said, I might add that a lot of the cuban accomplishments have been due, in a great part, due to the influence exerted by the dominicans and french inmigrants that went there after the events of the Haitian Revolution, specially the french ones, which would be the ones to start the sugar industry on that island. Needless to say, were the Haitian Revolution not to have happened, Havana would still have been a backwater fishermen's community, waiting for the mexican subsidy to survive, and the number#1 city on the Caribbean would have been Cap Francais (Cap Haitien), which was called at one time the "Paris of the Caribbean". In other words, a lot of the strides made by Cuban society are due in no small part to the hazards of luck and not for them having some special trait, as you, in your hatred, are naively suggesting, mr. goulet.
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 12:11 PM
From: United States, New York City
"and you are also jealous of the Boricuas and their prosperity and accomplishments with only 3 and a half million people....but you have an excuse for that also....dont you?"

Please, goulet, just show me where I made a comment that can be construed as diplaying jealousy toward the puerto rican people. I know I've made no such comment but I would really like to see how your reading comprehension functions, so again, please re-post the comment that I supposedly made that lead you to conclude that I harbor some sort of animosity toward the puerto rican people.
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 12:12 PM
From: United States, New York City
goulet picked up his logical thinking skills from the same place Elvis got his black belt.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 1:23 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
you guys are reaching for straws ...whos talking about exiles? the Cuban people for hundreds of years have been pre eminent in their accomplishments....you guys keep going back to getting hosed on green cards ....Cuba was always the dominant country of the Caribbean not since the beard but ALWAYS....how that for a history lesson
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 1:26 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Ricky Ricardo is spinning in his grave if you dont think so
Written by: muchacho, 28 Apr 2008 1:28 PM
From: United States, New York City
Very interesting. Especially given the fact that all three communities live in near perfect harmony in places like New York, New Jersey and Florida. I would suggest Mr. Goulet relocate from his distant outpost in Canada and observe the mainstream of Hispanic culture in the U.S. first hand. Particularly, Hispano-Caribbean culture in the U.S., which has flourished since the 1930's as a very real cultural triumvirate of all three Spanish-speaking Caribbean nations. We have a saying among some circles here in NYC, Cubano, Puertorriqueno, Dominicano...siempre hermano. There have been many, many attempts to divide our community among national lines. It has yet to materialize.

As for Cuba being the preeminent country in the Caribbean...I suppose that was the rationale behind the founding of the Audiencia Real in Havana initially...?
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 1:29 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
and lautaro you have never seen Havana bay or the San juan bay to know the backwater is Santo domingo.............are you kidding me
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 1:29 PM
From: United States, New York City
shh...goulet the historian is speaking...let's all listen attentively...it must be so if goulet says it is, so please shhh..
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 1:32 PM
From: United States, New York City
"whos talking about exiles?"

You were..
"the expatriate community is not just in Miami as you imagine .....Also look for a moment at their accomplishments .."
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 1:34 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
the dominicans are johnny come latelys Union City was Cuban when Balaguer was in short pants..Key west was cuban cigar town until surpassed by the great Cuban city of Tampa and produced more cigars than havana.....you guys know nuthin
Written by: muchacho, 28 Apr 2008 1:34 PM
From: United States, New York City
The San Juan bay? OK. You've lost all credibility. The Bahia de San Antonio and the Laguna de San Jose are stinking, filthy pools of water. The stench that wafts over those two bodies of water over Santurce is enough to make anyone sick.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 1:37 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
what do you think they made" West Side Story" about Dominicans .....Tito Puente god rest his soul was Born in NYC...go back to El Alto you just got there....you got a lot more dues to pay ...The Boricuas and the Cubans did all the heavy lifting in the 40s 50 sand 60s you are Rookies
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 1:38 PM
From: United States, New York City
"and lautaro you have never seen Havana bay or the San juan bay to know the backwater is Santo domingo.............are you kidding me "

Perhaps, but she is our backwater. But then my question to you goulet is the following: why waste your time among such primitive people in such a primitive place? Why have this connection that you do to this "backwater" known as the Dominican Republic? Why do you seek out Dominican voices and information online? Algo tiene mi tierra y mi gente que te fascina.
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 1:43 PM
From: United States, New York City
"you got a lot more dues to pay ...The Boricuas and the Cubans did all the heavy lifting"

The cubans did light lifting at best. Again, read the link I provided you. As for the puerto ricans I'll be the first to say that they were trailblazers for the Latinos here in NYC. Sorry, goulet, try again.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 1:45 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
San Juan bay is polluted but is still one ot the great natural harbours of this part of the world and like wise Havana .....Santo Domingo forget it...Puerto Plata was more important as a port for shipping..Santo Domingo was off the routes for ships ...Havana surpassed it in colonial times
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 1:46 PM
From: United States, New York City
"the dominicans are johnny come latelys "

All the more reason why your attempt to compare the different spanish-speaking groups from the caribbean here in the states is moot.
Written by: Lautaro, 28 Apr 2008 1:48 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo
Again, you're being willfully ignorant. Before Cuba made its strides, Haiti was the main country of the Caribbean (under the colonial rule of France), when it was the main producer of sugar in the world. The only thing that mr. cibaeño and I are trying to make your thick skull to comprehend is that, were not for Haiti's economical demise and the influx of people from the elites of that colony that Cuba ended up receiving it would still be a fishermen's village.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 1:49 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Cibaeno you are a smart guy not like those other morons have you ever heard of union city NJ you see the cubans had their own GIG in Tampa and Union city they went to nyc to go shopping or play music which they dominated
Written by: muchacho, 28 Apr 2008 1:50 PM
From: United States, New York City
Yup. He's right. West Side Story was done by Puerto Ricans. They came up with the capital. They owned the studio. They owned the distribution of the film. And it was Puerto Ricans who starred in the film.

Once again...no credibility. To use a piece of exploitation which featured a song..."I want to leef in Amereeca"...where Puerto Rico was depicted as "you ugly island"....well...that's just proof right there of the great contributions of Puerto Ricans.

A little history lesson, goulet. Prior to Operation Bootstrap, Puerto Rico was known as the "Poorhouse of the Caribbean". Puerto Rican sugarcane cutters were equally engaged with Haitians in the Dominican zafras. My little sister's godmother is the result of one Puerto Rican migrant cane cutter and a Dominican wife. He tells the stories of his countrymen in Santo Domingo who had to come over to cut sugarcane in the D.R. just to feed their families.

And lets not even discuss the Marine Tiger!
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 1:52 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Look up what William Jennings Bryan had to say about Haitans......Haiti was finished as soon as they had the slave uprising...never again to be economically viable...just like Zimbabwe
Written by: muchacho, 28 Apr 2008 1:54 PM
From: United States, New York City
Goulet...New YorK City...particularly Washington Heights, was the first major hub of Cuban emigration in the Northeast. The Cubans moved to Union City later on...around the late '60s and early 1970s. As the Cubans moved to Union City and Miami from Washington Heights, the vacant apartments they left behind became inhabited by Dominicans. Yet, there are STILL Cubans in the Heights to this very day.

Again, come down and take a look. I would be more than happy to provide you with a tour.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 1:56 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Puerto Rico was portrayed in the remake of romeo and Juliet the musical had the great Rita Moreno on film and on stage was Chita Rivera .....no Boricuas wrote it or choreographed it these two great actors was the Puerto Rican contribution.....to WEST SIDE STORY el alto
Written by: muchacho, 28 Apr 2008 1:56 PM
From: United States, New York City
Hmmm...now I understand his opposition to the Santo Domingo Metro. It's not in Havana!
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 2:00 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
you are all wet the cubans made cigars and embroidery in union city in the 30s and 40s
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 2:02 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
that is not counting Tampa which was huge for Cubans
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 2:03 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
muchacho where do you make that stuff up....Puerto Rico owned west side story...you are smoking dope
Written by: muchacho, 28 Apr 2008 2:04 PM
From: United States, New York City
The interesting thing is this...Puerto Ricans, Cubans and Dominicans have the highest rates of intermmarriage of any Hispanic groups in the U.S. We live side by side. We work side by side, we dance together, we eat together, we worship together. Look at Yankee's catcher Jorge Posada...his mom is Dominican, his dad is Cuban, he was born in Puerto Rico and lives in New York City. That's been our story since the beginning and continues to this day. Despite the divide and conquer techniques of all who have tried.
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 2:04 PM
From: United States, New York City
I'm aware of the cuban presence and history in the places you mentioned. What I'm trying to transmit to you, though, is that yes, cubans have made great strides in the economic sphere here in the States but what you have to understand is that their success is in no small part due to US government programs that were specifically designed for the betterment of the cuban exiles. C'mon, goulet, what other immigrant group here in the States have recieved the type of help from the government that the Cubans have had? None, that's who. By the way it's pretty much common knowledge that Afro-cuban music has its roots with the slaves the french haitians brought over from their island (all the musical genres from oriente province owe something to these people). I've heard none other than Cachao say as much in an interview with him that I saw a few years back. Nothing exists in a vacuum and caribbean culture in general is no exception.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 2:05 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
they owned the studio ....now you are really inhaling that dope
Written by: muchacho, 28 Apr 2008 2:07 PM
From: United States, New York City
And they still make embroidery to this day. My friend's girlfriends' uncle owns an embroidery factory in North Bergen, across the border from Union City. She's Ecuadorian by the way. So is her uncle. But he bought the factory from a Cuban who moved to Miami. Prior to that, the factory was located in the Soho area of NYC when it was still the textile district.
Written by: muchacho, 28 Apr 2008 2:10 PM
From: United States, New York City
West Side Story was owned by the MGM.
Written by: muchacho, 28 Apr 2008 2:11 PM
From: United States, New York City
Goulet...you're a clown. But I understand it gets very cold in Canada and summers are short and they come late. I guess this is your way of whiling away those long Canadian winters.
Written by: muchacho, 28 Apr 2008 2:13 PM
From: United States, New York City
Comparing upper class Cuban emigrees and other Latinos is like comparing Indian doctors and university grads with Bangladeshi cab drivers.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 2:15 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
muchacho I thought boricuas never married dominicans and vice versa.........................I thought they were afraid the children would be to lazy to steal.....................................A huge apology to all I could not resist repeating that old joke.........and yes alot of the cocolos came from P.R. and USVI and puerto rico was very poor....But they still had a very elegant culture and still do to this day among the educated ...Duques and Condes walked the streets 100 years ago in high Society
Written by: muchacho, 28 Apr 2008 2:16 PM
From: United States, New York City
And for the record...Cubans haven't done a thing in this country to help the lot of other Hispanics. Puerto Ricans, yes...they've helped the rest of us tremendously. They understand what is like to be poor. The Cubans who came after Fidel's take over didn't give much thought about the social conditions faced by other groups. They were too concerned in bettering theirs and to hell with anybody else.
Written by: muchacho, 28 Apr 2008 2:17 PM
From: United States, New York City
The Duques and Condes may have walked the streets, but they answered to the Real Audiencia in Santo Domingo.
Written by: muchacho, 28 Apr 2008 2:20 PM
From: United States, New York City
By the way...do the math...Columbus establishes the first colony in Santo Domingo in 1492. Sixty years later Juan Ponce de Leon is sent to subdue the Tainos in Boriken.

He departs from the port of Santo Domingo to carry out that mission. The mean lifespan was about 45 years in those days.

Unless there was a special detachment sent from Spain to subdue the Tainos of Boriken, that would mean that most of the men he took with him were born on Dominican soil.

Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 2:20 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
muchacho you are correct about Canada they only have two seasons winter and getting ready for winter......but I am only in Canada in winter when I want to remember what it was like to make snow balls.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 2:22 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
not in 1898 they did not answer to any one but the king of Spain..... you are talking ancient history even before you were ruled by the Haitans
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 2:26 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
and every body bailed out of Santo Domingo when they discovered silver and gold in Mexico........it was like a ghost town after that look it up
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 2:27 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
that was the end of Santo Domingos glory days...Havana was on the shipping routes S.D. was not
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 2:29 PM
From: United States, New York City
"not in 1898 they did not answer to any one but the king of Spain..... you are talking ancient history even before you were ruled by the Haitans"

So are you:
"Santo Domingo was off the routes for ships ...Havana surpassed it in colonial times"
"Listen the Cubans have been numero 1 #1 in the Caribbean for hundreds of years number one in all ..."
I don't understand the reprimand against muchacho on your behalf, then, goulet.

Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 2:34 PM
From: United States, New York City
"that was the end of Santo Domingos glory days...Havana was on the shipping routes S.D. was not "

As Santo Domingo has not ceased to exist I would not venture to say if her glory days are over or not. But what is the point you are trying to make goulet? It's a historical fact that Santo Domingo was a backwater of the Spanish Empire for most of her colonial history and that Santo Domingo was occupied by haitian forces for almost a generation. You are rehashing this history to us to what end?
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 2:37 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
cibaeno I understand your resentment I would feel the same way ,however......the first Exiles were an exceptional group of highly educated highly motivated people who faced the same predjudices that all Latinos felt in those years....by their own hard work and networking and because the had a higher level of education and sophistication they overcame and purchased south Florida and a political voice......if you scraped off the top 300,000 dominicans you would have a similar outcome.....but dont take anything away from these people ...The gringos learned to respect them and for that we should all be thankful for that
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 2:50 PM
From: United States, New York City
"The gringos learned to respect them "
It's obvious the "gringos" respected them from the very beginning or why else all those government programs to ease the transition of the cuban exiles into American society? I have no resentment toward any group, goulet. I'm college educated, I own property (I'm just about to close on my first home..well, the first home that I've owned that I'm actually going to live in), I have a very good job and other sources of income and I don't need anything from anyone. I'm not the son of elites. I'm the son of simple farmers from the cibao. I feel no resentment toward anyone that has made good for themselves here because I can honestly say the same. Only don't sit there and compare the plight of cuban exiles to the rest of us because it's apples and oranges. The cuban exiles were viewed differently and treated differently from the very beginning by the only organization that ultimately matters here, namely the US government.
Written by: muchacho, 28 Apr 2008 2:52 PM
From: United States, New York City
Actually, to be totally anal about it...Mexico (the port of Veracruz) was number one in the Caribbean. Were it not for the welfare received through the situado system for hundreds of years, all three islands would have starved.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 3:04 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
cibaeno are you familiar with peter pan and the early exiles lost everything they had..... you must be a little to young to remember this period ...and thus you also think castro is a nice guy and everything is cool in cuba...wrong...the hundreds of televised executions from the soccer stadium by the firing squads of minister of justice Che the phony doctor who sometimes administered the final shot with his pistol.....No you are talking about a later era....and the perceived advantages of immigration for these people trying to get out .......go watch the films of the people leaving east germany when they built the wall escaping for their lives it was no picnic
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 3:13 PM
From: United States, New York City
Goulet, everything you've mentioned is old news to me. Still doesn't change the fact that the cuban exiles recieved an unprecedented amount of aid from the American government which is in no small part responsible for the current levels of success being enjoyed by the cuban community as a whole here in the states.
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 3:14 PM
From: United States, New York City
"and thus you also think castro is a nice guy and everything is cool in cuba"

When did I say that? How does that even factor into what's being discussed on this thread?
Written by: Lautaro, 28 Apr 2008 3:18 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo
I'll spell it to you on four words goulet: wet-foot, dry-foot. Once the cubans step on US soil they get instant citizenship and other privileges, a privilege uttterly unavailable to the other inmigrants groups (excepting the israelies and the boricuas, of course, but those are another story altogether).
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 3:26 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
you are a wet head nobody gets instant citizenship...look it up...nor Israelis who get nothing and Puerto Rico is the United States and soon to be the 51st state..lautaro where do you learn this stuff drinking at the colmado with the other dropouts
Written by: Lautaro, 28 Apr 2008 3:29 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo
I have learned it from some cuban friends of mine which have profitted from the measure you clown. If not, why cuban inmigrants are not deported instantly like it's done with the haitian boat people in Florida or the dominican ones on PR, eh?
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 3:31 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
cibaeno that is their good luck .then.........stop showing envy.....they were always more successful look at Ricky Ricardo at the copa....just kidding.......stop begrudging the cubans their success they were always successful thus their nickname "Jews of the Caribbean" long before castro
Written by: Lautaro, 28 Apr 2008 3:32 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo
One of them that was living here only had to rent a boat, land himself on mayaguez, show his cuban papers and voila, he gets his american citizenship some hours later. Why do you insist in denying the obvious?
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 3:34 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
your cuban friends if you have any were pulling you leg.......have any friends that is.......they get political asylum status but they wait to be naturalized like everybody else
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 3:35 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
you are a fool if you keep repeating that canard
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 3:37 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
wwwhy bother to go all the way to Mayaguez when Mona is even closer
Written by: Lautaro, 28 Apr 2008 3:39 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo
You know what, believe what you want, old man. It's obvious that neither I, nor cibaeño, ladronazo or muchacho will ever get into that thick head of yours. Keep living in the Cold War with your friend Belial for all the good it would do to you. Sayonara, clown.
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 3:40 PM
From: United States, New York City
"Jews of the Caribbean"

I've heard them called that, too, but with a negative connotation. Believe me, goulet, I have no ill will toward the Cuban community. I'm just not going to give them the credit that is not deserved. Yes, they've worked hard, like everybody else. But they got farther then everybody else as a whole because of perks not enjoyed by other groups. That's all I'm saying and the historical record gives more than ample evidence to back up my conclusion. Hell, it's not even a conclusion. It's a fact.
Written by: Lautaro, 28 Apr 2008 3:56 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo
The fact that they're not instantly deported (or not deported at all) once they touch US soil shows your point with cristal clear clarity, mr. cibaeño. In fact, the only cuban being deported from the US that I have heard about is Elian Gonzalez, and that was a special case, one that costed the democrats the White House.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 3:59 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
what could be the negative? it was said because of the way they made a buck ...they had first pick of the European diaspora....Castros father and Franco "El Caudillo" were born about 30 miles apart....sorry the pool of culture and the arts is a little deeper there for hundreds of years...but that is no reason to go put your head in the oven....cheer up
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 4:07 PM
From: United States, New York City
"what could be the negative? "
I'm not saying you meant it that way, I'm just telling you that I've heard it used in a negative fashion, that's all.

"they had first pick of the European diaspora."
They belonged to Spain for almost a 100 more years than DR. It wasn't that they recieved their pick. It's that they still were a spanish colony. Cuba recieved over 800, 000 spaniards AFTER 1880. It doesn't take a genius to realize that Cuba's population would've looked radically different as far as race is concerned had the cubans acheived independence in the 1860s during their initial revolt against spain. Leave historical revisionsism to scholars who are more apt on following through on their hypothesis, goulet.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 4:15 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
being the first port after the crossing they had first choice so speak the DR was not even on most routes and likewise in the age of aviation havana was very important Pan Ams first flight was Miami to Havana.....the owner of that airline was Juan Trippe whos stepfather was Cuban thank you very much
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 4:18 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
just look up famous personages sorry to tell you how large the Cuban one is compared to DR from all Cuban history
Written by: FranktheTank, 28 Apr 2008 4:20 PM
From: United Kingdom
actually they have to be in the US for a year, and then they get the keys to the kingdom......... everything they could want.... all sorts of special programs...ect.......
Written by: Lautaro, 28 Apr 2008 4:25 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo
He's the only one that dares to deny the evident, Frank.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 4:25 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
et tu francois another whiner about the cubans say it aint so
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 4:27 PM
From: United States, New York City
Juan Trippe was a WASP. He didn't care for the name Juan and only resorted to letting people call him by his given name when he realized the benefits of doing business in latin america that his name would bring (I think he liked to be called Terry if I'm not mistaken). The fact that his stepfather was cuban and the man he was named after probably meant as much to him as it means to me right now, nothing. With that said I still don't understand the point that you are trying to make goulet, unless you're going to tell me next that Fidel's father somehow came over on one of Trippes' jets.
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 4:30 PM
From: United States, New York City
"just look up famous personages sorry to tell you how large the Cuban one is compared to DR from all Cuban history "

More power to them. Congrats to all the Cubans out there.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 4:33 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
they dont need it...they did it on their own
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 4:36 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
first flight was to Havana of the great Pan Am Airways not to Barahona airport get it
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 4:38 PM
From: United States, New York City
"they dont need it...they did it on their own"

Maybe those that have distinguished themselves outside of the US but those who reside here have their own hard work AND the US government to thank.
Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 4:40 PM
From: United States, New York City
"first flight was to Havana of the great Pan Am Airways not to Barahona airport get it"

Again, what on earth does that have to do with what we're discussing? That and 75 cents will get you a cup of coffeee here in manhattan.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 4:47 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
congrats but you say they could not have done it without Uncle Sugar......cibao do you know the song the peanut vendor from 1935 I believe.... bring it up on you tube it is the epitome of all thing latino to the American public...go ahead....have to go for a while it was nice talking to you
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 4:51 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
speaking of Le Gross Pomme have you read this tremendous article which is up for a James Beard writing award http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2007/09/elalto
Written by: FranktheTank, 28 Apr 2008 4:59 PM
From: United Kingdom
I have a home in south west Florida (I'm there right now) and know many Cubans. It was the elite that moved to Miami and these individuals where use to being (pardon the trivial aphorism) “ big fish in a small pond” when they got to the states and were reduced to nothing the fought tooth and nail to regain they’re status within society. But that was in no small in part to they’re allegiance to the Republican party (after the bay of pigs) and all the benefits and special allowances that were bestowed upon them is crazy. These people had extensive business contacts throughout the southeastern and Northeast US so it wasn’t that hard of a transition. But what is more crazy trying to compared elite political refugees to economic immigrants.
Written by: FranktheTank, 28 Apr 2008 5:07 PM
From: United Kingdom
Case in point the families that left Dr during the Haitian occupation are a who’s who of Latin American society. So Goulet, old dog relax! some us thieves and dishwashers aren’t doing so bad either with no help from uncle sam I may add
Written by: FranktheTank, 28 Apr 2008 5:13 PM
From: United Kingdom
Goulet, my god man, u turned in some belial like being, what is wrong. Me and my Cuban friends are going to be on the first flight back to a free Cuba we were joking this weekend at the Drays game and one told me that he had Blackwater on retainer for the event, I know it was cruel but I could not stop laughing lol.
Written by: ladronaso, 28 Apr 2008 6:27 PM
From: United States
I would like to make a correction only defense of the TRUTH. Cubans do not receive instant U.S Citizenship. Yes they get preferential treatment and immediate legal status, or as one would say a free pass to live in the U.S.

Cibaeño, Lautauro, Frankdatank, I agree with many if not all of your statements. However, I would also like to add that one of the reasons that Cubans excelled in the States specifically Miami is because at the time they arrived, the U.S. was dealing with a civil rights dilemma.
Written by: ladronaso, 28 Apr 2008 6:27 PM
From: United States
(Continued)... Considering that the majority of Cubans that arrived were white Cubans and elite with an education they had little problems integrating and getting jobs. During this time White Americans preferred to hire a "White or fair skinned" educated Cuban than a BLACK person, negro or ngr as it was said in those days.

This was pervasive especially in very skilled areas. These employers all of a sudden had access to highly skilled labor at a lower cost. It is for this reason why their exist so much resentment and racial friction in Miami among Blacks and Cubans.

Heck when Cubans arrived in Miami there were still white only restrooms. Yes, I concur many of these Cubans worked very hard to reestablished themselves in Miami lest without the benefits and the special privileges they received from Republican Administration.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 7:08 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
that is truly a lame brain theory
Written by: ladronaso, 28 Apr 2008 7:40 PM
From: United States
This is no theory. This is a fact. Just as it is a fact that most of the Black Cubans that arrived in Miami assimilated and socialized with African-Americans and not with Their own Cubans. This was because of the great racial divides that existed among Cubans.

Race was always and has always been an issue in Cuba. Don't forget that Cuba was the Last Spanish colony to emancipate the slaves. This is why even after assisting the Cuban rebels in their revolt against the Spanish they were still not fully accepted in mainstream society all which led to a black revolt in 1912.

Written by: cibaeño75, 28 Apr 2008 8:59 PM
From: United States, New York City
"bring it up on you tube it is the epitome of all thing latino to the American public."

Yeah.To the American public over 60 and who watched Johnny Carson when he was transmitting in black and white. You're out of touch. Bring up the word latino and you'll likely conjure up images of jlo or shakira rather than some peanut vendor in 1930s Havana..look those two up on youtube:)
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 9:18 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
largest selling Latino recording of all time........Buena vista social club,,,,,,,what do you know schmuck
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 9:23 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
show a little respect for class.... Merengue was not invented when peanut vendor was written it was latin music to the world...real musicians would laugh at you for talking that way.....you are a reggaeton jerk..thats real music
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 9:24 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
and now I know you are a know nothing jibarito
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 9:54 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
merengue being the least of and the most repetitous and boring of the Latin genres......salsa ,cumbia,mambo,son that is music on a higher plain
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 28 Apr 2008 10:14 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
and yes Marc Anthony probably has the best pipes of any Latino artist today
Written by: muchacho, 28 Apr 2008 10:32 PM
From: United States, New York City
Well, I'll say this much...if the Cubans are so great how'd the hell they end up with something like Fidel?

It couldn't have happened to nicer group of people. There's a reason why they are universally known as "come mierdas" throughout Latin America.
Written by: ladronaso, 28 Apr 2008 10:40 PM
From: United States
Muchacho: Look though I don't agree with with Goulet and his point of views, I do think that we really should try to rise above and maintain our civility.
Written by: ladronaso, 28 Apr 2008 10:41 PM
From: United States
Goulet, like much of his generation is set in his ways and we are not going to change it.
Written by: muchacho, 28 Apr 2008 10:53 PM
From: United States, New York City
No disrespect to the Cuban people on the island. My comments are aimed squarely at that illustrious group that fled Havana on the heels of Fulgencio Batista.

The same group that was so busy betting in the casinos and living the good life that they didn't have the forethought to prevent a washed up baseball player from taking control of the country.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 29 Apr 2008 6:04 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
for those of you living in delusions about how wonderful cuba is for those who live there....they would trade places with your whining complaining ----- this is what its like ...what are you gonna say this is CIA?....from inside http://desdecuba.com/
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 29 Apr 2008 6:09 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
this one is for people who want to know what is going on not granma BS http://cubantriangle.blogspot.com/
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 29 Apr 2008 6:21 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
remember this is the last year of the murderous castro brothers 2008 RIP.....mark my words Cuba will radically change to a free society not Viet Nam not China but free.....you guys will really have a problem with your Cuba complexes as they leap frog and pole vault to the head of the class....the statues will be coming down ....the nightmare is ending
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 29 Apr 2008 6:23 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
muchacho your inferiority complex is written all over you....it is so obvious
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 29 Apr 2008 6:27 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
The official uncertainty about how much freedom of speech may be too much was apparent last month. The website of young blogger Yoani Sanchez, desdecuba.com, was attracting so much foreign and domestic attention with its candid comments on everyday life that it was blocked, presumably by the government. Pages of the site recounting absurdities of life on the island can take more than half an hour to open..............they will never get the toothpaste back in the tube....they are doomed
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 29 Apr 2008 6:34 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me

"The anonymous censors of our famished cyberspace have tried to shut me in my room, turn off the light and not let my friends in," Sanchez wrote on her website after getting complaints from Cuban readers who couldn't reach her blog. She speculated that authorities felt her site was "a phenomenon that was getting out of their hands."

The state's information gatekeepers acknowledge that a broader consensus should be sought in managing the flow of communications.................................you losers should be ashamed of supporting a society that does not allow people to think what they want or to speak with freedom.Because the commies stand up to the gringo USA you think they are cool as you live vicariously through what you believe is their Cojones you are losers and enablers
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 29 Apr 2008 7:08 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
the opinions of the expatriate cuban community are very diverse as Frank the Tank is well aware....the rest of you jibaritos are living in your own dream world or dont get out much..................................
The reason for the shift is simple, experts say: These are not the Miami Cubans of yesteryear.

The political exiles who left Cuba after Castro's revolution triumphed in 1959 -- bringing with them a boundless hatred for the dictator that was stoked by painful memories of confiscated homes and slain relatives -- are dying off. They now make up less than 10% of South Florida's 800,000 residents of Cuban descent.
Written by: cibaeño75, 29 Apr 2008 8:05 AM
From: United States, New York City
"Merengue was not invented when peanut vendor was written"

merengue dates from the 19th century...look it up. For the record, I can't stand reggaetton, though I do like actual reggae music.
Written by: cibaeño75, 29 Apr 2008 8:17 AM
From: United States, New York City
dishwashers and jibaros..Now we all know how goulet feels about the dominican people..thank you for sharing your humble opinions,goulet. In doing so you have given us all deep insight into your character:)
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 29 Apr 2008 8:26 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
OK so it was the name given to a folkloric music known locally...Peanut Vendor was probably the introduction of Latino music to the world...incidentally the first latino record to appear on Billboard in 1961 the first....El Watusi by Ray Barretto the great percussionist of Fania All Star fame, its hypnotic beat was my first step down the yellow brick road...it was also used very effectively in movie Carlitos Way
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 29 Apr 2008 8:28 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
terms meant only for some of the people on this site...otherwise I would be including my daughter
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 29 Apr 2008 8:31 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
you may not have been aware in 1961 latin music never crossed over and there was no latin charts
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 29 Apr 2008 8:36 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndZDJIotfWM&feature=related an early masterpiece Barretto disdained it....... the public had never heard anything like it ...it was the time of West Side Story the movie not the play...61 or 62
Written by: muchacho, 29 Apr 2008 12:22 PM
From: United States, New York City
Amazingly, goulet has covered a gamut of topics on this thread. From Fidel being an imbecile to the Watusi.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 30 Apr 2008 6:37 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
my sincere apologies to all Dominicans for saying somethings that I do not believe...... this is no excuse for my behavior....I said them in context of argument and I am sorry...I reside in the DR and love it and its people
Written by: cibaeño75, 30 Apr 2008 9:52 AM
From: United States, New York City
"my sincere apologies to all Dominicans for saying somethings that I do not believe...... this is no excuse for my behavior....I said them in context of argument and I am sorry...I reside in the DR and love it and its people"

We love you too, goulet.:)
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 5 May 2008 10:39 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
"Raul Castro Is Bringing Hope & DVD Players and Rice Cookers To The Average Cuban...Or Those Who Can Afford them...Which Is No One" thank you Raul you are to kind
Written by: hectorvargas, 7 May 2008 11:25 AM
From: United States
Mr. Castro has been the best politician that has ruled Cuba. He can be credited for being an execellent speaker and an execellent leader for his people. Under fire with an embargo im,posed by the U.S., yet he survive it and every other plots directed at him. He has verbally attacked the U.S. for its imperialistics ambitions. Has practically erradicated illiterary even if some will claimed it a brain-washing education machine. There are others positives that can be attributed to that Great Leader. A part of the world will not give him his due credits cause a part of the world is also brain-washed. As one system does it to its citezens so does the other, so whats the different. In both system people need to re-educate themselves to free their minds from the graps of their leaders. All of these politicians are the destroyers of life but the most powerful pulls on the less powerful to react so as to present them as the next-evil. The ignorance of people is used and aroused as they are
Written by: hectorvargas, 7 May 2008 11:30 AM
From: United States
constantly reenforce by thier political machine to make the comments and opinions as stated above. Yes, Mr. Castro wants to replaced his Minister of education perhaps cause his been informed about something or some influence that the Minister may had picked up in his travels. Something that may cause some harmed to the Socialist State.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 7 May 2008 11:37 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Mr castro yet ......your Latino complex is showing....".He stood up to the gringos he is my hero " you are another bag of commie wind .......castro Great Leader ...you even capitalized it
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 7 May 2008 12:53 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Hectorvargas ... you are probably another hate cubans but love castro dominicans
Written by: hectorvargas, 8 May 2008 9:44 AM
From: United States
After 9/11 the word " Communism " was replaced by the word " Terrorism ", therefore, the word " Commie " has been substituded by the word " Terrorist ". To depend on political leaders for informations on what to say and how to criticised others is a demonstration of a mind that has been chained. You are living outside of the Castle giving and vowing to a system that does not care about you. I had said that " ALL POLITICIANS IN THE WORLD ARE THE DESTROYERS OF LIFE " AND " ALL RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD ARE ALSO DESTROYERS OF LIFE ". They have imprisoned, chained and shackled kwoledged. History has been falselly written to accommodate their powers and insured that the institutions which they create remained domininant. The Castle was a small one -- The King ( President), The Queen ( First Lady ). All the appointees lived inside the Caslte. They did nothing, no work while everyone else live outside of the Castle working to feed them, clothed them, fight for them and paid them Taxes.
Written by: hectorvargas, 8 May 2008 9:44 AM
From: United States
Continued... there were renegates like Robin Hood, who were not sastified with that arrangement. Today they are or resembled Mr. Fidel Castro. All these characters fight amongs themselves while looking for your supports and attentions. In a one party system democracy is a one way street but there's not much of a different in a two party system which give you the illusions that a least its given you two choices instead of one. You feel great about it and enjoy the proccess. You thing you're free cause you are allowed to do that, you thing you owned property but the day that you fail to paid your property taxes is taken away from you, so what do you really owned -- only the clothe on your back. This system has no mercy on the individual so it is no better than any other but you love it just the same - hey, it's better than nothing and we must live and be guided by something---- so Mr. President let me have your autograph, or Mr. Castro autograph. You can take your pick or free your mind.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 8 May 2008 11:26 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
capitalism is man exploiting man and communism is exactly the opposite only worse much worse
Written by: chillaxin201 This user is banned, 14 May 2008 5:20 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Boycott Dominican Tourism
Well Said Hector Vargas .... gouletcolonial your really Cuban aren't you ? your one of those I hate fidel and che cubans....i Have met alot fo cubans that Actaully believ they are better off due to Castro ...
Written by: chillaxin201 This user is banned, 14 May 2008 5:42 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Boycott Dominican Tourism
I would like the thank Fidel Castro & Raul, for helping Dominicans try to dispose of Trujillo and his regime. A regime the U.S. help put together, GC I yet do not understand why he comments here. We all know by now that he is a frustrated Cuban, it’s funny but he reminds me of those ill informed Cubans in Union City.
One Cuban from Union City stated to me that the United States save the Dominican people from Gen. Wessin Y Wessin. When is was the other way around.
That Caamaño was going to be another Castro.
I finally had to ask him who that F*ck he was talking to. I had to explain this pig, that I had family that was tortured and murdered by Balaguer regime.
Some Cubans are so single minded that they rather have anything then communism.
How many Black Cubans you know hate Castro? Ask your self?

Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 14 May 2008 5:53 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Chill ....when you come back in handcuffs you wont get one of those jobs in the call centers......they have an IQ test .....so be careful or you will be picking mangos in Bani...do you know how many thousands of people Castros thugs have murdered and tortured..are you Cuban ? did you come over with the marielitas
Written by: chillaxin201 This user is banned, 14 May 2008 5:58 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Boycott Dominican Tourism
CG ... your comments are Irrelevant ... your not even Dominican... my statement is more to do with how mis-informed people are about subjects. when it comes if Castro Has thugs roaming Cuba I don't know...... But your still Irrelevant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 22 May 2008 8:04 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
listen to what this cuban in havana has to say about rauls reforms....Cubans are like battered wives,'' said Eduardo, a 30-year-old Havana bachelor who spent a recent afternoon admiring the latest $5,000 flat screen TVs on sale here. ``The husband beats the wife every day. Then one day he doesn't beat her, and it's like, `He's so good to me; he didn't beat me today.'
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 3 Jun 2008 12:54 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
....A man dies and it is judgement day. "I am afraid you have not made it to heaven. But you can, as a special favour, have a choice of hells".

"What do you mean, a choice of hells?" "You can go to the capitalist hell or the communist hell".

"Ok, fair enough, but what's the difference between them?" "Well, the capitalist hell has fire and brimstone and torture." "And the communist hell?" "That has brimstone and torture and fire".

"I don't understand. They sound exactly the same. Which should I pick?"

"If I were you I'd choose the communist hell."

"Why should I do that?"

"Well, you know what these socialist places are like. Sometimes there's no fire, sometimes there's no brimstone, sometimes there's no torture......
Written by: chillaxin201 This user is banned, 3 Jun 2008 7:17 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Boycott Dominican Tourism
looks up, what? Irrelevant
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 12 Jun 2008 12:53 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me

Glorious news from our brothers in Zimbabwe. After Comrade Mugabe took the main means of agriculture and production away from the hated evil White Christian Male and redistributed them to the poor suffering hard working native population of Zimbabwe, glorious things have been happening! It is proof positive how the evil hated white kapitalist pig dog christian male scum have oppressed peoples for far too long, and how once liberated from this oppression, they can achieve more and be better workers and citizens than the evil hated white kapitalist pig dog chirstian scum.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 18 Jun 2008 9:26 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
In Cuba, 34 Cubans were arrested for trying to leave the country on-board a yacht. Of course, in Cuba, a yacht is five inner tubes tied to a king-size mattress.
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 18 Jun 2008 9:26 AM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
In Cuba, 34 Cubans were arrested for trying to leave the country on-board a yacht. Of course, in Cuba, a yacht is five inner tubes tied to a king-size mattress.
Written by: chillaxin201 This user is banned, 1 Jul 2008 6:05 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Boycott Dominican Tourism
Viva Fidel
Written by: gouletcolonial This user is banned, 3 Jul 2008 6:30 PM
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
An interesting report out today (English version here) by the Spanish news agency EFE that points out Fidel's "Reflections" columns are no longer running in Cuba's official Communist Party newspaper, Granma, which has hosted them for almost two years. Fidel's observations are on the web for foreigners and people with Internet access, which pretty much shuts out most Cubans.

Is it a sign that trouble is brewing between Raul and Fidel? Or perhaps even Raul couldn't stand reading his brother's diatribes any longer.
Written by: chillaxin201 This user is banned, 3 Jul 2008 10:21 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Boycott Dominican Tourism
Viva Fidel
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