[Marxism] Cubans Believe Kerry Victory Would Benefit Island Nation

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

(The article here accurately reflects the feelings of
Cubans I speak to. The billboard looks like a large
e-mail and the text is a bit more than the AP report
says. It is, literally W.bush.genocidio@xxxxxxxxxx

(Most of the meaning is obvious, but the "hp" at the
end wouldn't be familiar unless you knew the kind
of Cubanism it represents. "HP" does not refer to
Hewlett-Packard but to "hijo de puta" or "son-of-a-
bitch". Dislike for Bush is intense and while this
country has and can put up with anything, people
here would definitely prefer a Kerry victory. My
more political friends simply say that neither of
the two is good, but Kerry is simply less worse.
I realize that this offends some of the posters to
the Marxmail list, but Marxists should base their
activity on the facts, and these are the fact on
the ground here in Havana, and unmistakeably so.)
=================================================

Cubans Believe Kerry Victory Would Benefit Island Nation

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
October 28, 2004 11:34 a.m.

HAVANA (AP)--A general dislike of U.S. President George W.
Bush permeates daily life in communist Cuba , where the
U.S. leader is mocked as a fascist at government rallies
and called a belligerent bully by the state-run media.

So it's no surprise that Cubans who follow the U.S.
presidential campaign clearly prefer Democratic challenger
John Kerry in hopes he would ease the current U.S.
administration's hardline policies toward the island.

"Kerry would be better than Bush, any day," 65-year-old
textile worker Arnaldo Negrin said in his one-room Old
Havana apartment, where he listened to the government's
nightly political discussion show on a small radio because
his television was broken.

"He is defending the lower classes, working for social
issues," Negrin said of Kerry. "And he has a better
understanding of developing countries."

The general dislike for Bush heightened on the island this
summer when his administration implemented new measures
aimed at squeezing the Cuban economy in an effort to
undermine President Fidel Castro.

U.S. authorized visits by Cuban-Americans to the island
were slashed from one annually to once every three years
and the amount they can bring on each visit cut from $3,000
to $300. Remittances sent from abroad to the island were
restricted to include only the closest family members, but
the annual $1,200 annual cap was left intact.

The measures, which critics said pandered to right-wing
Cuban exiles in Miami, provoked outrage here and among some
Cuban-Americans as well.

Negrin, a self-described "militant communist," said he
thought Kerry would be more likely to eventually ease U.S.
restrictions on trade and travel that date to the 1960s and
have been steadily strengthened under Bush.

Kerry's foreign policy approach, Negrin said, seems to
"look to improve relations, instead of making situations
more difficult. He has much more comprehension than the
other one, who is quite radical and not very intelligent."

"If Bush wins, it'll be a catastrophe for humanity," Cuban
singer Amaury Perez said last June when the Bush
administration's new restrictions took effect. "We all want
Kerry."

Perez and other Cuban musicians held a news conference then
to protest the new rules, complaining that the tightened
restrictions were preventing many of them from obtaining
visas to perform in the U.S.

Although Kerry supports the U.S. trade embargo and efforts
to bring democracy to the island, he also has said he wants
a full review of U.S. policies toward Cuba, including the
ban on most U.S. travel here.

In an apparent reference to the upcoming U.S. elections, a
government billboard on a central Havana street shows a
fake Internet address: "w.bush.genocide" and two boxed
options: "save" or "eliminate." An arrow points to the
"eliminate" box.

Still, Cuban officials haven't publicly endorsed Kerry,
saying they expect little change in U.S. policy from either
man.

"First, one has to know what Kerry thinks and what he will
do," Cuban parliament speaker Ricardo Alarcon said during a
recent Internet forum. "Given what he's said already, it
seems like with him it would be more of the same."

Nevertheless, many Cubans say they believe Kerry would be
more likely to listen to U.S. lawmakers - particularly
those from farm states - who want to ease travel
restrictions and further open limited trade with the
island.

Under an exception to the trade sanctions, U.S.
agricultural goods can now be sold to the island on a
cash-only basis, and some U.S. business interests would
like to export other products here as well.

But the Bush administration has repeatedly blocked
congressional efforts to ease remaining restrictions on
trade and travel.

"I don't think Kerry would have any problem with supporting
the lifting of the embargo," said Eloy Gutierrez-Menoyo, a
government opponent and former exile.

Gutierrez-Menoyo said he believes Kerry is open-minded,
intelligent and knows most Americans want "to end the path
of confrontation with Cuba ."

Still, many Cubans are convinced that Bush will be
re-elected and that discussion of a Kerry presidency is
moot.

"Bush's discourse is the discourse of the sheriff, not the
discourse of the philosopher or the professor, like that of
Kerry," said Fabio Hurtado, a Kerry fan and editor of the
independent Catholic quarterly Espacios. "And in times of
violence, the sheriff's word is heeded more than the
professor's."






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