WaPo's Booth Hails 'Half-Century of Revolution' in Cuba

Photo of Ken Shepherd.
By Ken Shepherd (Bio | Archive)
Fri, 01/02/2009 - 13:14 ET
  • Bookmark and Share

Filing his January 1 story from Santiago, Cuba, Washington Post foreign service staffer William Booth paid homage to the 50-year mark of the Castro revolution, pinning blame on "mostly hostile U.S. presidents" and a "decades-long trade and travel embargo" for the big 5-0 being celebrated as a "low-key event that was far removed from the triumphant displays and mass rallies of [Cuba's] socialist glory days."

Booth's 14-paragraph article failed to label either ailing despot Fidel nor ruling substitute despot Raul Castro as dictators, although the man they deposed in 1959, Fulgencio Batista, was tagged as a "despised dictator."

What's more, the word "revolution" to describe the Castro regime a total of seven times in the story, four of them by Booth himself, the other three in quotes from Castro. At no point did Booth quote a Cuban dissident or any Castro opponent, although he made efforts to paint the younger Castro brother as something of a reformer:

Castro spoke of the challenges ahead but did not offer any hints of possible reforms. Since taking office, Raúl has taken small steps to revive the economy and offer new opportunities to Cubans. He made it possible for farmers to work their own land -- a step seen as vital in a fertile country where many fields lay fallow and the government had to spend $2.6 billion in cash for food shipments from the United States in 2008.

The younger Castro also allowed ordinary Cubans to purchase once-forbidden DVD players, computers and cellphones. Unfortunately, many Cubans cannot afford the new luxuries. Purchasing a mobile telephone and setting up an account costs $150. The average monthly salary in Cuba is about $20, though the government provides food rations, medical care, housing and education.

—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters


Comments Policy

All comments are owned by whoever posted them and are subject to our terms of use. They should not be assumed to represent the views of NewsBusters.

Viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

And this is...

Fri, 01/02/2009 - 13:26 ET by AgentAmerican

...surprising?

Don't worry, fellow NBers, November 2010 will be here sooner than you think!

2010: A GOP Hill

A Preview Of MSM's False Beliefs

Fri, 01/02/2009 - 13:35 ET by rammingspeed

With Obama's victory and the full take over of the house and senate by democrats in the '08 elections, the MSM is making the mistake of believing that Americans have become sympathetic to creeps like Castro and others of that ilk; of leftism in general. The MSM is comfortable with promoting leftist angles. They will find out soon that they are mistaken.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but

Fri, 01/02/2009 - 16:48 ET by SpaceManSpiff

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the US the only country refusing to trade with Cuba?  I'm certain most, if not all of Latin America trades with Cuba.  And yet, it's still a worn out, decrepid, failed, hole of a Socialist Nation.  How is that the US' fault?

→ You're right Spiff

Fri, 01/02/2009 - 16:54 ET by Cool Arrow

Those Canadians and Venezuelans must be helping out a whole lot.

  • LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

Cuba - incapable of growing their own food.

Fri, 01/02/2009 - 18:23 ET by Gary Hall

All that should be reflected on, during this 50th anniversary, is the complete failure of the Castro regime to pull anything off but, oppression and desperation.

How this perfectly situated and constructed tropical island, with all it's humble servents working together under the strong hand of it's "visionary" leader, Castro, to develop an economy based on a model farming commune, can't even manage after 50 years to grow an raise it's own food, is more than a bit telling.

I grabbed this excerpt from the LA Times last spring.

"That Cuba produces so little of the food it needs despite a year-round growing climate is one of the nagging forces driving Castro to shake up the status quo in the countryside. Cuba imports more than 80% of the commodities distributed in the monthly ration basket, notes Paolo Spadoni, an expert on the Cuban economy who teaches at Rollins College in central Florida. He estimates that food imports cost Havana more than $1.6 billion a year.

In an effort to dramatically expand crop output, the leadership has begun making more land available to farmers and allowing them to sell fruit, vegetables, meat and milk at prices set according to demand, instead of government edict."

Any idiot can understand what went wrong.. well, perhaps not Booth. 

I could do better than that in my back yard. The problem is Castro - the problem is the system he chose - not ten "hostile US administrations."

It's W's fault, and every other POTUS before him.

Fri, 01/02/2009 - 19:01 ET by mizflame98

 Cubans continue to struggle daily through hard times brought on by a sputtering state-run economy and a decades-long trade and travel embargo by the United States.

     Well, if communism really worked well the Cubans wouldn't be affected by any trade and travel embargo, now would they?

Perfect Demotivator for the Obama Administration

http://www.despair.com/government.html

Well Senor Booth

Sat, 01/03/2009 - 06:34 ET by BobAnthony

Since you are in Cuba filing your "report"

 

WHY DON'T YOU STAY THERE PERMANENTLY!

 

The Constitution is NOT a conspiracy theory and the founding fathers are NOT conspiracy theorists!

Can there be any doubt as

Sat, 01/03/2009 - 18:48 ET by rbosque

Can there be any doubt as to the political leanings of the WaPo?

What the %#$@ is their infatuation with dictators and governments that enslave people???

Viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.