ebackhus

The US is "unhappy" with a man who sends pianos to Cuba, the pianos may turn communist!

Clicky.

Fox

Ridiculous...

I wonder when Castro will die or be succeeded...But really, as far as dictators go, he didn't really seem that horrible. Especially considering all the crazy diplomatic mistakes the U.S. made throughout the 50's and 60's.

In any case, the embargo has gone on way too long. Cubans are still driving American cars made during the 1950's, and keeping them alive with junkyard parts! But you can't overhaul a cigar

Glaswegian

A Communist piano could be a dangerous thing you know. It might start playing Communist tunes.........and turn all the other musical instruments into Communists as well. Then what would happen? The US would be next and eventually, the world. It's just too big a risk.

bry623

I have moved this to the Political Scene where it can be properly discussed. No where in this story has it said anything about the U.S. being unhappy. Nowhere did it say anything about communist pianos. All of this talk of communist tunes is way way way off of the point.

It's all about the principles. He is violating the law. Is his cause worthwhile? Absolutely, but are his intentions completely honorable? It says when he first went down he hoped that he could break the embargo. And naming his company after Jesse Helms is real magnanimous. If we were in a declared war with Cuba, I would be calling for his execution. His actions undermine the governments attempts to get Cuba in the same neighborhood as the rest of the countries in the world. When he sees their suffering I wonder if he ever ponders that his action would have adverse affects??

Once again, he is breaking the law.

Fox

The whole embargo is a farce. All it did during the cold war was create an atmosphere of paranoia- yeah I've heard the numbers stations, so I know they had spies in the country. I remember tuning in even three years ago late at night with my shortwave and hearing "Atención! Atención! 164876, 846135", etc.

And then idiot Kennedy and his idiot friends go and start blowing things up- that went over really well in long term foreign policy...

mgoldb2

You mean when the Soviet Union was trying to build missile bases that could launch nukes in cuba and Kennedy set up a naval quarantine that eventurally made khrushchev back down?

Some how I dont think things would of been better for long term foreign policy if we did nothing and let them build there nuke bases in cuba.

bry623

Kruschev said "We will bury you". Now his son is an American citizen. As TR said, "Speak softly and carry a big stick".

Fox

So you're calling the Bay of Pigs invasion a success?

It could be argued that we never would have had to go through the cuban missile crisis if we hadn't screwed with cuba in the first place.

mgoldb2

No it was not a success but even before the Bay of Pigs Cuba was armed with USSR tanks and other weaponry. Most likely USSR would have continued with there military build up in Cuba regardless of if the Bay of Pigs happened or not.

Fox

I see where you're coming from, but when you have a "Mexican standoff" like you had in that situation, it's very unwise to put a blockade in and even have the remotest possibility of invasion on the drawing board. That was just plain stupid.

Anyway, what's done is done and I'm happy Kruschev was smart (or dumb) enough to back down.

bry623

Or as I always say, the ends justified the means.

On Cuba, if IKE and JFK were smart, none of us would know who Fidel was and we'd be watching MTV Spring Break from Santiago or Havanna.

Fox

I'm not so sure that phrase would apply here, or to a lot of things. We're lucky we didn't turn them (and vice versa) into a radioactive smoldering crater... and I don't think out 'means' really accomplished anything. It was only by the grace of god that it didn't plunge into all-out nuclear war.