Democratic Underground - Before 1959, Cubans Had Highest Living Standard in Latin Amer

You must really stop cutting and pasting. I am sure that even you must know more about Cuba than Dr. Merciera. "As a matter of fact," he begins. But, of course, there are no "facts" in his commentary. The retired professor should know that during the 1950s his home state of Alabama, not Cuba, was one of "the poorest and most desolated on earth."

Before the Revolution, Cubans enjoyed the highest standard of living in Latin America; a standard of living that was the equal, and in many regards the superior, of many European countries. Pre-Castro Cuba's literacy rate was 78 percent, one of the highest in Latin America; higher, in fact, than what many experts put the U.S. literacy rate at today. Not even Castro has ever claimed that only 10 percent of Cuba's population was could read and write, as this clueless academic from the hinterlands does. In 1958, Cuba devoted a higher percentage of its national income for public education than did any other Latin American country (3.4 percent). This compares favorably to the U.S.'s 4.3% and the state of Alabama's 2.1%. In 1958, the number of students attending higher education in Cuba was 17.7 per thousand inhabitants. The rate for the U.S. was 13.5 per 1000. For your beloved Soviet Union, 9.5 per 1000. For the U.K., it was 1.9 per 1000.

As for infant mortality before the Revolution, Cuba had the lowest rate in Latin America (see the chart that I have posted on this thread). In fact, Cuba's infant mortality was lower than the comparable rates for Italy, Spain and Japan in 1958. Cuba also had one physician per 1000 inhabitants, exactly the same rate as France and higher than Great Britain (0.83 per thousand).

The Cuban Revolution, which was waged by the upper and middle classes, was not predicated on the redress of social inequities but on the restoration of democracy. When Castro seized power, he buried the ballot boxes and declared Cuba a Third World country and then proceeded to make his fantasy a fact. The truth is that pre-revolutionary was actually the first Latin American country to belong to the First World.

Here are two statistics about Castro's Cuba that I am sure you would rather not discuss: it has the highest suicide rate in the world and one of the lowest birth rates. More children are aborted in Cuba every year than are born. Castro's legacy to his countrymen may well be the extinction of the Cuban people.

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