Fidel Castro, the soon to be late dictator of Cuba, proclaims what most Cubans have known since he took over Cuba two years after my birth. Journalist Jeffery Goldberg of the Atlantic asked him if the Cuban economic model was something he believes should be exported. The failed baseball player said that the Cuban economic model didn’t even work for Cubans. Go here to read the story.
The “Cuban economic model” as far as I can tell basically consisted of reducing most of the population to the status of state slaves to support the nomenklatura of the Cuban Communist party. The system only “worked” because huge subsidies from the Soviet Union propped it up. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the elimination of the subsidies, the Cuban economy went into freefall as detailed here.
In regard to the video at the beginning of this post, for our readers whose Spanish may be rusty, here is a translation from the Simpson’s episode the Trouble With Trillions:
Fidel Castro: Comrades, our nation is completely bankrupt! We have no choice but to abandon communism!
Castro’s Aide #1, Castro’s Associates: [sigh]
Fidel Castro: I know, I know, I know… but we all knew from day one this mumbo jumbo wouldn’t fly! I’ll call Washington and tell them they won.
Castro’s Aide #1: But presidente, America tried to kill you!
Fidel Castro: Ah, they’re not so bad. They even named a street after me in San Francisco!
[Aide #2 whispers something into his ear]
Fidel Castro: It’s full of what?
Update: I found a portion in English of the Castro Simpsons video:
The failed baseball player
Havana Sugar Kings!
Your comment gave me a chuckle.
Okay, that Spanish-voiced Homer was just creepy.
I read the interview.
Couldn’t avoid wondering what the dolphins think of him.
M