= new reply since forum marked as read
Welcome to DU. Keep fighting those commies; they're only 90 miles from our Homeland! I'm so scared!
You are most certainly not speaking for millions of Cubans in Cuba who revere their Revolutionary heroes - knowing that they put their lives on the line, risked all for the liberation and defense of their nation.
Been there. Seen it.
{The triumph will be the sum of the efforts of all.}
Pretty much all in your post is utter, over the top, cold war era nonsense.
It might help one's understanding of any particular topic to inform oneself of it.
Although, your comment - "Cubans that are "Cuban Exiles", who fled. Mostly upper and middle class people... leaving vulnerable and malleable lower class people to "change the system" on their own." - is an interesting variant of the muddled anti Cuba rhetoric.
I'll give you a B+ for creative writing on that! 
The VP is elected (as is the President) to the Council of State, which is much like the POTUS's cabinet in the US, except they are elected by the National Assembly from their elected seat in the Assembly.
You really should take some time to inform yourself. Asking a question like "who takes over" is like asking the same question about the USA. Basic. Elementary.
If you want to inform yourself as to the actual structure of Cuba's gov't, then I suggest this as a good starter ...
It can be had @ Amazon for around $12-$15 (the price fluctuates).
When I was very young I used to fall for much of this crap w/o knowing shit.
Until I went there as a young teenager. What I saw completely changed my entire (false) perception of Cuba.
Since then, after many many trips including many working trips with the Venceremos Brigades, marriage to a wonderful Cuban woman, and living in Cuba for about 2 years, I have dedicated significant portions of my life to the betterment of the lives of Cubans, and to the improvement of relations between Americans and Cubans. We have a lot to learn from each other.
I live in the US now. My heart resides in Cuba, and always will.
We used to have a couple of DUers posting from Cuba, and many others who have been there - but they got frustrated with being shit-on over and over with the stoopid "communista communista come mierda" crap, so they quit wasting their time here.
The uninformed red baiting still goes on here... in 2016. 
Feels rare to have a civilized conversation around here!
Kudo's to you! 
I have been abroad (Australia, Canada, Ireland - Mom is a dual citizenship) so I am 'aware' of the US and outright propaganda (Healthcare, wars, etc) which is somewhere between sickening, to down right, 'I feel like apologizing for my country'.
The Russians love their children, too:
Universal health care for all
Universal higher ed
A gross reduction in military expenditures (something that Raul should be praised for)
Effective gun control
Real national sovereignty (rather than sovereignty captured by corporations)
Public financing of political campaigns
and, most importantly - PAPER BALLOTS COUNTED & RECOUNTED IN PUBLIC
All of the above have worked very well for Cubans, despite their poverty. 
and none of the US wingers ever wanted to whine for a moment about a fascist guy in charge for 35 years, a guy who murdered the Ache population, (genocide) even sold the surviving women and children into slavery, even gave haven for years to one of the Nazi's most evil monsters, Dr. Josef Mengele, the "Angel of Death," "todesengel."
Some details of the life of this US-funded, supported, beloved fascist Paraguayan dictator, Alfredo Stroessner:
Paraguay: indigenous Aché people charge genocide
Submitted by WW4 Report on Wed, 04/09/2014 - 20:41 Southern Cone
The Aché indigenous people of Paraguay on April 8 brought suit in a court in Argentina demanding reparations for "genocide" carried out under the late Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner. The Aché are being represented by Spanish jurist Baltasar Garzón, and chose to bring the case in Argentina under the doctrine of "universal jurisdiction" for crimes against humanity, asserting that justice is not possible in Paraguay's own courts. "We still feel enormous pain in our hearts and minds," said Aché leader Ceferino Kreigi Duarte in a press conference announcing the suit. "For this reason we today demand the Paraguayan state must answer for all this damage, not only to our community but to all the peoples of Paraguay who were victims of the dictatorship." Under Stroessner's 1954-1989 rule, the Aché people, who live in the riverine forests of Paraguay's east, saw their population diminish by 60% due to forced relocations, seizures of their traditional lands, and abduction of the young to serve as virtual slaves in domestic labor. Most of the population plunge took place during five years in the early 1970s. (AP via Excélsior, Mexico; EFE via Radio Caracol, Colombia, April 8)
http://ww4report.com/node/13135
[center]~ ~ ~[/center]
Thumbnail history:
ALFREDO STROESSNER
President-for-Life of Paraguay
Alfredo Stroessner came to power in 1954, but European correspondents who visited Paraguay during his rule used the term the "poor man's Nazi regime" to describe the Paraguayan government. The parallels may have been more than a coincidence, for many Nazi war criminals, such as Joseph Mengele, had settled there with Stroessner's blessing.
From the Nazis the Paraguayan military leamed the art of genocide. The native Ache Indians were in the way of progress, progress represented by American and European corporations who planned to exploit the nation's forests, mines, and grazing lands. The Indians were hunted down, parents killed, and children sold into slavery. Survivors were herded into reservations headed by American fundamentalist missionaries , some of whom had participated in the hunts.
Between 1962 and 1975, Paraguay received $146 million in U.S. aid. Paraguayan officials seemingly wanted more, however, for in 1971, high ranking members of the regime were implicated in the Marseilles drug ring, with Paraguay their transfer point for shipments from France to the U.S. In the 1980s America finally condemned Paraguayan civil rights abuses and drug trafficking. Stroessner still looked as if he'd be dictator for life but in 1988 one of his closest generals, Andres Rodriguez, a known drug dealer, took over after a coup. Rodriguez promised to restore democracy, and President Bush called the 1989 elections "a democratic opening," but opponents declared them "a massive fraud." Rodriguez's Colorado party won 74% of the vote.
http://home.iprimus.com.au/korob/fdtcards/SouthAmerica.html
[center]~ ~ ~[/center]
Wikipedia:
Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (also Strössner or Strößner; November 3, 1912 – August 16, 2006) was a Paraguayan military officer who served as President of Paraguay from 1954 to 1989. He ascended to the position after leading an army coup in 1954. His 35-year long rule, marked by an uninterrupted period of repression in his country, was the longest unbroken rule by one individual in the history of South America. His rule is ranked 14th-longest among other non-royal national leaders since 1870, and made him one of the world's longest-serving non-Communist heads of state.
~snip~
During Stroessner's rule, Paraguay became a sanctuary for smugglers in arms, drugs and everyday goods such as whisky and car parts. Stroessner provided refuge for French-born international heroin dealer Auguste Ricord; strongmen such as Argentina's Juan Perón and Nicaragua's Anastasio Somoza Debayle (later assassinated in Paraguay); and war criminals, including Dr. Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor known as the "Angel of Death" who performed genetic experiments on children. Stroessner was forced from power in 1989 in a military coup led by strongman General Andrés Rodríguez. Stroessner was forced into exile in Brazil, where he spent the last 17 years of his life. Following a bout of pneumonia, he tried to return to his homeland to die, but was rejected by the government. He died in Brasília on 16 August 2006 of complications from a hernia operation.
~snip~
Paraguay enjoyed close military and economic ties with the United States and supported the US invasion of Dominican Republic.[2] The Stroessner regime even offered to send troops to Vietnam alongside the Americans.[3] Between 1962 and 1975 the United States provided $146 million to Paraguay's military government and Paraguayan officers were trained at the US Army School of the Americas.[4] Although the military and security forces under Stroessner received less material support from the United States than other South American countries, strong inter-military connections existed through military advisors and military training. Between 1962 and 1966, nearly 400 Paraguayan military personnel were trained by the United States in the Panama Canal Zone and on US soil.[5] Strong Paraguayan-U.S. relations continued until the Carter Administration emphasized a foreign policy that recognized human rights abuses. The Reagan Administration boycotted the country as well.[6]
[center]~ ~ ~[/center]
Operation Condor[edit]
Paraguay was a leading participant in Operation Condor, a campaign of state-terror and security operations officially implemented in 1975 which were jointly conducted by the right-wing military governments of six Latin American countries (Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil). Human rights violations characteristic of those in other Latin American countries such as kidnapping, torture, forced disappearance and extrajudicial killing, were routine and systematic during the Stroessner regime. Following executions, many of the bodies of those killed by the regime were dumped in the Chaco or the Rio Paraguay. The discovery of the "Archives of Terror" in 1992 in the Lambaré suburb of Asunción, confirmed allegations of widespread human rights violations.
More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfredo_Stroessner
[center]
Mariscal Estigarribia, the US-built airbase in Paraguay. [/center]
Mariscal Estigarribia airbase
"The Estigarribia airbase was constructed in the 1980s for U.S. technicians hired by the Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner, and is capable of housing 16,000 troops," Dangl wrote. "A journalist writing for the Argentine newspaper Clarin, recently visited the base and reported it to be in perfect condition, capable of handling large military planes. It’s oversized for the Paraguayan airforce, which only has a handful of small aircraft. The base has an enormous radar system, huge hangars and an air traffic control tower. The airstrip itself is larger than the one at the international airport in Asuncion, the Paraguayan capital. Near the base is a military camp which has recently grown in size."
Criminal Immunity
"On May 26, 2005 the Paraguayan Senate granted the U.S. troops total immunity from national and International Criminal Court jurisdiction until December 2006. The legislation is automatically extendable. Since December 2004, the U.S. has been pressuring Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela and Paraguay into signing a deal which would grant immunity to U.S. military. The Bush administration threatened to deny the countries up to $24.5 million in economic and military aid if they refused to sign the immunity deal." Dangl wrote.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=U.S._military_presence_in_Paraguay
But, its not done as it is here. Personal swipes, family, and lifestyle choices are usually out of bounds. Candidates who "go there" are usually booed and laughed off of the stage @ a nomination session & where they might get one or two votes only from their family or friends.
Questions to the candidates are not carefully vetted by corporate honchos, nor are they asked by millionaire nooze celebrities. Rather, questions are asked, unfiltered, by the citizens who might nominate them, or who might support other candidates. Not a lot of room for dodging, no 30 second answer time limit, etc - filibustering is unappreciated by voters, so they can't get too long winded w/o some booing and hissing.
Once candidates have been nominated and verified as eligible, they can print and post their campaign propaganda @ the local municipal office at no charge and distribute it within their constituency.
They generated amazing results in both places, unfortunately. The people in those places were hoping for something far different, where people would be left in peace. Not quite what they got, was it?
[center]
[/center]
So cool. Spending billions of dollars on elections, how admirable in a country with so many homeless people.
I wonder what José Martí meant when he described his time living in the United States as being in "belly of the beast."
I also wonder where people got the idea he fought against US American imperialism.
Adding a little note from an interesting article on José Martí:
More:Ultimately, Martí became convinced that
the “worms in the heart” of the United States could not be extracted, but he did not
renounce his commitment to distinctively American ideals of domestic and international
politics. Rather, he argued that that the nations of what he famously called “Our America”,
that is, Latin America, should build political institutions capable of resisting North American
influence and realizing the shared ideals of the American independence movements more
fully than the United States itself had done.
http://www.joshuasimon.net/uploads/2/4/9/3/24931233/marti_immanent_critique_for_apsa.pdf
[center]
"If you do not fight, at least have the decency to respect those who do." [/center]
I believe he ran off, along with Cuba's National Treasury, around New Year's Eve, 1959, right?
Here's his mini-biography for those who haven't had the time to know who this little monster was:
FULGENCIO BATISTA
President of Cuba
Cuban Army Sergeant Fulgencio Batista first seized power in a 1932 coup. He was President Roosevelt's handpicked dictator to counteract leftists who had overthrown strongman Cerardo Machado. Batista ruled or several years, then left for Miami, returning in 1952 just in time for another coup, against elected president Carlos Prio Socorras. His new regime was quickly recognized by President Eisenhower. Under Batista, U.S. interests flourished and little was said about democracy. With the loyal support of Batista, Mafioso boss Meyer Lansky developed Havana into an international drug port. Cabinet offices were bought and sold and military officials made huge sums on smuggling and vice rackets. Havana became a fashionable hot spot where America's rich and famous drank and gambled with mobsters. As the gap between the rich and poor grew wider, the poor grew impatient. In 1953, Fidel Castro led an armed group of rebels in a failed uprising on the Moncada army barracks. Castro temporarily fled the country and Batista struck back with a vengeance. Freedom of speech was curtailed and subversive teachers, lawyers and public officials were fired from their jobs. Death squads tortured and killed thousands of "communists". Batista was assisted in his crackdown by Lansky and other members of organized crime who believed Castro would jeopardize their gambling and drug trade. Despite this, Batista remained a friend to Eisenhower and the US until he was finally overthrown by Castro in 1959.
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/US_ThirdWorld/dictators.html
[center]
Batista and Eisenhower
Batista and Nixon
Having a wee toot with Nixon
Batista with Secretary of State Cordell Hull in 1942
Fidel Castro forcing little children to grow beards. Oh, the humanity. [/center]
On what planet?
FYI, I lived there. I only make claims about what I know. and having witnessed and attended many of the events related to an entire election cycle in Cuba, I know this.
I do not know about Soviet elections nor N Korean elections. A very weakly baited straw man attempt. 
on edit: good to know that the USA came out of dictatorship after FDR.
I have posted candidate lists in prior Cuban elections with several people running for the same seat as Fidel Castro ran for reelection.
Do you even know what City and District that Raul Castro represents in the parliament? Or Fidel's when he ran every 6 years?
You should. After all, you're the "expert" here on Cuban electoral processes.
Cubanet.org and CubaCenter.org get millions from USAID to subvert Cuba regime
http://havanajournal.com/politics/entry/cubanetorg_and_cubacenterorg_get_millions_from_usaid_to_subvert_cuba_regime/
Then the Judases wonder why people hate them....
They apparently are too stupid to know that this very same behavior, were the shoe to go on the other foot, would be illegal here, just as it is in Cuba. It has always been illegal here for US Americans to be paid by other countries to try to subvert this government.
It's logical for those who give a fig. What country WOULD look the other way for this dirty business?
Thanks for the article, Mika. It's possible, from time to time, to hear about it when Congress allocates more money to be used to support these peculiar people in Cuba who actually work as US agents.
(I think it's funny we don't hear about Martha Beatriz Roque so much any more. It must mean there is a power squabble going on among the professional dissidents, as she was ALWAYS top dog in the past.
[center]
[/center]
I should have used "outlast" Thanks for the clarification.
Hmm, perhaps I was thinking "outlived" politically. 
Maybe you should allow your "people" to choose their own government, like the people of Cuba have done.
They had a revolution, did you know?
Their system is different from ours, it's from the ground up, you should stir yourself to research it, instead of swallowing what idiots who don't know have claimed.
[center]
[/center]
My family fled a similar "glorious people's government" in Latvia.
But hey, I'm sure you probably read about socialism once in a sophomore political science class, so I'll defer to you.
I mean, the case you present is so strong ... there surely must be photos of the labor and death camps on the evil island of the evil Dr Castro?
The US could have made that case decades ago with spy plane/ satellite photography. Makes one go ... Hmmmmm.
How is it you've missed Islam Karimov, a US ally, who boils his political prisoners alive?
[center]
Islam Karimov, George W. Bush
Islam Karimov, Hillary Clinton [/center]
For a cool look at some of Islam Karimov's late political prisoners, please do take a look at google images:
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=970&bih=446&q=Islam+Karimov+boiled+prisoners&oq=Islam+Karimov+boiled+prisoners&gs_l=img.12...4624.11329.0.15904.30.16.0.14.1.0.273.2759.2-12.12.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..5.11.2470.KIiLW6VserI#imgrc=_
Warning, graphic.
You will note other US dignitaries also getting familiar with dictator Islam Karimov.
Did a quickie to see an ailing relative.
Brought back a couple of these ...
Banning = light language for dictate... violating our constitional rights.
Not a lot of interest in this from those wanting to reinterpret the Cuban constitution.
?1420490815
Reporters without borders free press ranking: Cuba 171 out of 180 countries
https://rsf.org/en/ranking
Internet Censorship:
The Cuban internet is among the most tightly controlled in the world. In 2004 the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions expressed deep concern about continuing violations of the basic human right to freedom of access to information and freedom of expression in Cuba. Cuba has been listed as an "Internet Enemy" by Reporters Without Borders since the list was created in 2006.
Internet in Cuba has some of the lowest penetration rates in the Western hemisphere, and all content is subject to review by the Department of Revolutionary Orientation. ETECSA operates 118 cybercafes in the country. The government of Cuba provides an online encyclopedia website called EcuRed that operates in a "wiki" format. Internet access is limited. The sale of computer equipment is strictly regulated. Internet access is controlled, and e-mail is closely monitored
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Cuba
2004 internet stats. How helpful. 
" "
Poster seems to be here to spam or is forum sliding this thread, it looks like.
Look at the brevity, cluelessness, and lack of any supporting evidence of many of the posts.
I'm done with the spammers in this thread.
What has been revealed is that some anti-Cuba posters' actual information is extremely shallow, and seems far more like the gibberish we've both been hearing for so many years from right-wing people who've never stirred themselves long enough to start thinking things through, and doing things intelligent people feel they HAVE to do to get to the truth.
Yep, you definitely hit the target. I had been wondering about it upwind in this thread, too.
[center]
You remember the bird decorations
across the streets in Santiago de Cuba,
during a certain time of the year.
I have never forgotten how beautiful
it looks, never will. [/center]
to this conversation. Where'd you get that? Guantanamo?
[center]
[/center]
I'd like to go to Cuba to find out IF Cuba is an "open air prison," like a propagandist might say, but the US Gov't won't let me. Why is that?
You aren't free and it's a prison
Everyone has always been scared spitless any time they think of them. They put up pictures, sometimes, just to remind themselves to keep on being afraid.
Don't know how they do it, poor things.
If they only knew how much fine citizens like you worry about them, it might just make their days!
[center]
Different Cubans.
Thousands of Cubans fleeing while pretending to be
running in the annual Terry Fox "Marathon of Hope." [/center]
I guess that it would be fair to say that Cuba accomplished that fully in far less time - about 26 years - when Cuba enshrined the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into their constitution in 1976.
Although, I'm kinda glad I get to debunk the bullshit you post so regularly here.
That way, other DUers can discover for themselves that you constantly post lies here.
Freedom Flights Bring Thousands to Miami
The Freedom Flights, negotiated in 1965, symbolized a turning
point in the hopes of exiles for an imminent return to Cuba, as
described by historian Maria Christina Garcia.