Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Congratulations to our presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden!
Democratic Primaries
In reply to the discussion: What did Bernie's comments on Cuba at the last #DemDebate mean? Here's where he (and Obama) stand [View all]ehrnst
(32,640 posts)36. The program ended after 8 months...
Obama was talking about progress towards an agreement 50 some odd years later. But if a false equivalence makes people feel less anxious...
FYI:
Supporters of Castro's revolution say the eight-month long campaign helped hundreds of thousands of Cubans learn to read and write. However, government opponents say the 1961 literacy campaign was actually an indoctrination program that eased the way for Castro's complete takeover of Cuba.
Literacy and education had been pillars of Fidel Castro's agenda even before he swept Cuba's military dictatorship out of power in January 1959. In Castro's 1957 manifesto, he wrote about the need for an "intensive campaign against illiteracy, and civic education emphasizing the duties and rights of each citizen to his society and fatherland."
When Castro ousted the military dictator Fulgencio Batista, 23.6% of the population over the age of 10 were illiterate, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Many Cubans living in cities like the capital Havana were literate, while those from the countryside often lived in abject poverty with no access to education.
Castro set about improving literacy with a program that launched in April 1961 and ended about nine months later, according to Bill Leogrande, a professor of government at American University.
.....................................................................
According to Cuban government statistics, nearly 100% of the communist-run island is now literate and access to free education is one of the cornerstones of the Cuban revolution. The World Bank puts Cuban adult literacy rate at 99.8%.
But Leogrande adds that, "the program had as much a political purpose as it was educational."
For Castro it was a way to get young people "who hadn't participated in the revolution against the Batista Dictatorship to participate directly in this program by the revolutionary government and it really did change people's lives," Leogrande said.
Literacy and education had been pillars of Fidel Castro's agenda even before he swept Cuba's military dictatorship out of power in January 1959. In Castro's 1957 manifesto, he wrote about the need for an "intensive campaign against illiteracy, and civic education emphasizing the duties and rights of each citizen to his society and fatherland."
When Castro ousted the military dictator Fulgencio Batista, 23.6% of the population over the age of 10 were illiterate, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Many Cubans living in cities like the capital Havana were literate, while those from the countryside often lived in abject poverty with no access to education.
Castro set about improving literacy with a program that launched in April 1961 and ended about nine months later, according to Bill Leogrande, a professor of government at American University.
.....................................................................
According to Cuban government statistics, nearly 100% of the communist-run island is now literate and access to free education is one of the cornerstones of the Cuban revolution. The World Bank puts Cuban adult literacy rate at 99.8%.
But Leogrande adds that, "the program had as much a political purpose as it was educational."
For Castro it was a way to get young people "who hadn't participated in the revolution against the Batista Dictatorship to participate directly in this program by the revolutionary government and it really did change people's lives," Leogrande said.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/25/politics/sanders-cuba-literacy/index.html
You're welcome.
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
39 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
What did Bernie's comments on Cuba at the last #DemDebate mean? Here's where he (and Obama) stand [View all]
Donkees
Feb 2020
OP
On the contrary, I had a Bernie supporter today unequivocably tell me that Bernie was a Marxist
sweetloukillbot
Feb 2020
#27
Sanders' comments were made in the 1980s when Castro was still running rampant....
George II
Feb 2020
#3
Link what, prove what? We've all seen the comments of both and when they made them.
George II
Feb 2020
#6
More Democrats are women than men. They don't have "cahones" (cojones), they have persistence.
George II
Feb 2020
#19
Nah, I think I'm good. You might want to let go of Cold War Propaganda, though.
Cuthbert Allgood
Feb 2020
#30
Bernie and Barack know Cuba. What they say about it is the truth Americans need to hear.
ancianita
Feb 2020
#4
Yes they do, NOW. But Sanders' comments in the 1970s and 1980s show that at the time he did not....
George II
Feb 2020
#9
Niggling. It's the double standard of "the perfect being the enemy of the good." Bernie and many
ancianita
Feb 2020
#13