December 17, 2004

Christmas in Cuba - Apparently the Cuban government is so annoyed with the US embassy over their Christmas lights depicting the number "75" (which is the number of dissidents the Cuban government has detained this year), they have erected a billboard with swastikas and photos of prisoner torture at Abu Ghraib with the words "MADE IN USA" on it. Somewhere, Santa is crying...
posted by es el Queso 20 years ago
  • Cuba: Not afraid to go Godwin on your ass.
  • I heard they let a dissident out the other day. Have they changed the lights? Have they changed the lights?
  • The Cubans just don't get it. The number 75 is an obvious hommage to the Argus seventy five camera. It's a message to the Cuban people. What we're trying to say is "Smile, say cheese". It's a message of love and understanding.
  • Meanwhile, in Colombia the US Ambassador gave his traditional festive fat cheque to the death squads. Cuba - somewhat fucked up, but compared to some US friends in Latin America, positively peachy. My axe is now ground and I return you to your regularly scheduled shits-and-giggles.
  • Abiezer, that's an old site and old news. The right-wing paramilitaries are finally beginning to demob. [Subscriber-only Economist link] Keep that axe keen, though, as the demob could always collapse into some sort of Palestine-style clusterfuck. I'm sure that the 75 salutes Cuba's valiant tobacco industry, referring to the humidity level best for long-term cigar storage. How tragic, this misunderstanding.
  • Should have tried harder I know goetter, lazy google-fu. Just never understood how Cuba got to win 'pariah state of Latin America' against such stiff competition was my basic point.
  • Congratulations to the two of you. You've shown everyone what big jerks you are!
  • Heh, it's a snarkfest.
  • Hmmm ... they let one go, you say? The smart thing to do would be to release five more.
  • How can they escalate this, I wonder?
  • We got back from our Cuban trip a short while ago, and it was great. My wife's family has a number of Cuban friends, and we travelled about as well as anyone could ever expect: had a house loaned to us for a few days, got stuffed full of food, and toured around anywhere we might want to go. After growing up in the rabidly anti-Cuban U.S., it was quite the experience for me. As for the snark war, good on Cuba. Not only is the U.S. out of line in harrassing Cubans, but the crimes committed by both nations, if honestly contrasted, would show Cubans to be angels when compared to the U.S. people.
  • I just remembered this: an article in the Toronto Life magazine elaborated on this situation (scroll to bottom). What the linked article doesn't mention (that the magazine did), was that the travel agency is owned by Fidel Castro -- Fidel Ferrer Castro, Toronto resident, not Fidel Castro Ruz, Cuban leader. U.S. Treasury spokestwits, when asked whether they had made (yet another) stupid mistake in their insane zeal to attack Cuba, stated that the similarity of the names was just a coincidence, and not the reason for the edict.