You Gotta admire the Guy

Fidel is a bastard no doubt. 47 years after the revolution and all I can see is that he has managed to prove that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Cuba is the biggest lie in the world next to North Korea, Havana is a broken-down, filthy toilet and people eat dog food to keep from starving. Although no one in Cuba will talk about it things have gotten amazingly bad since the Soviets stopped pumping 6 Billion dollars a year into the economy to prop up Cuba.

But it’s hard to argue with success. And amazingly enough I believe Fidel Castro is the longest serving head of state in the history of the world. What’s truly amazing is that he’s been doing this for so long and never had to deal with an uprising from his own people (no, the Bay of Pigs does not count). And I guess that’s because Fidel has pretty much written the book on how to hold on to power.

Step one, don’t be an egomaniac. This is no Saddam Hussien. There are no statues of Fidel that I’ve seen anywhere. His face isn’t on the currency, not much of anything is named after him. It’s all Che and Jose Martin. He stands behind those icons, and encourages the people to defend the revolution in their names.

Step two, let them eat cake. The people don’t need much, just enough to keep them satiated. He let the Pope visit and Catholicism subsist, he opened up the economy to tourism and allows the black-market to thrive. It’s not much, but it’s enough to keep the peasants from revolting, and allows them to have hope for a better life. A man without hope is a scary thing indeed.

Step three, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you. There are literally two policemen on every street corner. The Committee for the Defense of the Revolution has a presence everywhere. Brother is forced to spy on brother, if you’re not providing info you’ve obviously got something to hide.

Step four, trust no one. Anyone who has every played a significant role in the government in the past, no longer does, with the exception of Fidel’s brother Manuel, who runs the military. Anyone who has ever been too ambitious or too successful has disappeared.
Even Fidel’s apparent senility hasn’t really slowed him down. Yesterday there was a 45 minute speech mostly about the importance of rice cookers. It might have had something to do with the increasingly close relations with the Chinese, but Mad Cow Disease seems like a better explanation.