Validity of Cuban propaganda – fact or fiction?

As Cuban-Americans discuss the “Cuba issue” with non-Cuban friends and colleagues, it does not take long before we hear something along the lines of:

“Yes, Castro was not ideal…but look what he managed to do for Cuban society! He eliminated income inequality, established a world class healthcare system, banished illiteracy, and generally rules over a content populace willing to sacrifice material ambitions for social harmony”

Needless to say, such third or fourth-person perspectives developed in the air-conditioned comfort of US living rooms irritates most Cuban-Americans, who have first hand experience and knowledge of reality on the island.

Pointing out the facts does not seem to help…inequality still exists, its just that the communists are now on top. That the much heralded low infant mortality rate is accompanied by one of the highest abortion rates in Latin-America. That Cuba was already a highly literate country before Castro took power. And that thousands risk life and limb to escape the island every year. No, this does not help. People still seem to want to believe that this is true.

Fortunately for Cuban-Americans, and unfortunately for Venezuelans, Chavez is providing a direct, clear, and unambiguous window on how dictators assume full control of a government and then use the levers of power to lie to, and manipulate not only their own citizens, but a good portion of the world at large.

In the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Rodriguez (former chief economist of the Venezuelan National Assembly) dissects the data and reveals the gulf between Chavez’s claims (i.e., he’s helping the poor) and reality (i.e., he’s helping himself).

For those interested in better understanding how you start systematically fudging the data and lying to the world, I urge you to read Mr. Rodriguez’s essay. If Chavez continues to gain power, the ability of third-parties to conduct this type of analyses will be greatly reduced, and all we will have is a general belief that “Chavez helped the poor, improved healthcare and education, lords over a happy populace”, etc., etc..

The article can be found at:

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20080301faessay87205/francisco-rodriguez/an-empty-revolution.html