You had me at hello.

Mexican mothers and sons risk their lives every day to come to the USA, it's called greed. People want cash, hard cold cash. Look at all immigrants to the USA, to Canada, to Europe, they come because they want big salaries. These people are not refugees, they're just greedier than their fellow citizens left behind. Greed is the ruin of a country. Life in Cuba may be basic, but it's better than the criminals and violence in the rest of the Caribbean. Western countries deserved whatever immigration problems we have because our imperialism in those poorer Southern countries was despicable.

The West went South to steal resources, now the South comes West to get cash. It's fair.

***So I've seen 4 movies/wk in theatre for a 1/4 century, call me crazy?**

She left because she wanted to leave her husband and take their son with her. And anyway, Cuba is a developing country. Did you happen to see the part about the Special Period? Fidel himself acknowledged that life was hard in Cuba. Isn't that kinda to be expected in a country under blockade that just lost all its trading partners, particularly when it's a small developing country with few resources? Is Fidel a god? Does he have supernatural powers? He can't just flip a switch and make Cuba a first world developed industrial country, especially since Cuba has faced half a century of vicious U.S aggression in the form of blockade, sabotage and terrorism. It's a miracle, and a testament to the resilience of the Cuban people, that they've even held out under this assault, let alone the accomplishments they have made in this situation. And the accomplishments are many. UNICEF recently declared Cuba the first country in the Western hemisphere to have completely rid itself of child malnutrition. They're doing the best they can with what they have, and they're doing great things. Obviously life isn't all sunshine and candy, but no one ever claimed it would be.

If you want to see the success of Cuba, look at all the countries that surround it. Mexico, Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Guatemala. Countries plagued by poverty, homelessness, hunger, crime, drugs, racism, illiteracy. Countries where a small clique of elites lives behind its high walls and U.S corporations have free reign and take all the country's wealth back to New York while the locals are left with nothing. Cuba is nothing like this. It may not be a paradise but does it really have to be? Should the Cuban people abandon their struggle just because it's been an uphill battle? There are no children laboring in sweatshops in Cuba. Every child goes to school. No one sleeps in the streets. No one goes without medical care. Violent crime is extremely rare; you can walk around Havana at any time of the day or night without being mugged. It may not be perfect, but again, no one ever claimed it would be, especially under blockade. But if the socialist revolution had never happened, the trickle of economic migrants leaving Cuba would be a flood just like it is from all the other countries of Central America.

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