Dave L. Wegner

Sioux Falls

Fidel Castro’s governing model was tailored to protect Cuba from American aggressions. He saw how the openness of Guatemala’s democratic society made it easy for the CIA to overthrow that country’s elected president. Therefore, Fidel determined to disallow such openness by suppressing freedom of expression. He balanced those restrictions by ensuring availability of life and health benefits. How might Fidel’s governing model compare to that of Donald Trump? Trump wants to clamp down on freedom of speech in radio, TV and Internet because people denigrate or mock him. Other First Amendment protections may also get suppressed. Donald Trump’s power base will be a well-oiled military-industrial-financial-evangelical complex.

What other particulars might warrant comparison between the two governments during the next four years. For one thing, Cuba has no evangelicals who infiltrate the government for the express purpose of denying women’s health and freedoms of choice. Secondly, Donald Trump is an extreme psychopath whose intentions are opaque and ominous. His erratic behaviors are worrisome. In contrast, Fidel focused on improving the lives and health of all of Cuba’s people.

Cuba’s constitution now guarantees free health care and housing, education through college, social security, unemployment insurance, paid maternity leave, union rights to participate in management and to strike. Money in political campaigns is disallowed. Ballot boxes are guarded by school children. Cuba has the highest ratio of doctors to patients in the world; its infant mortality rate is one of the lowest. Cuba is the only country in the world to have achieved sustainable environmental energy. Poverty and extreme wealth are both non-existent. People are respected so long as they don’t commit criminal acts.

Will America get as much love from Donald Trump as Cuba got from Fidel? Most of us understand kindness, but Republicans encourage us to forget it. Ayn Rand’s weird philosophy became Republican gospel.