State Department Reporting on Cuba

NPR is worse than worthless on the Cuba story (please see my two recent posts regarding NPR and Cuba: Aug. 3, 2006 and Aug. 4, 2006). NPR might as well just republish propaganda from the State Department instead of pretending to provide information. Today NPR promises to cover "the history and evolution of US relations with Cuba" by interviewing, Daniel Erikson, the Director of Caribbean Programs at the Inter-American Dialogue. Erikson's earlier paper about Cuba is fairly interesting reading in terms of Cuban economic policies in the 1990s and beyond, but in this interview the history of Cuba is reduced to the following: US is good; Castro came to power during Eisenhower's presidency and nationalized Cuban industry and property proving he was a bad communist who has to go. Nothing about Eisenhower's villanous role in overthrowing elected governments in Iran and Guatelmala and installing torture regimes in their place (which had to give the Castro government pause). Nothing about US-organized sabatoge, assasination, and terrorist attacks against Cuba over the years. And nothing about the bloody history of the US in Latin America.

What is sad is that NPR could use the current events in Cuba to investigate the complexities of Cuba: its dismal human rights record, the success of its medical and public education system, its emergency preparedness successes, and of course the violent crimes by the US against Cuba and horrific crimes against South and Central America by the US and especially by the current crop of criminals running the executive branch of our government.