Talksport caller on dogs, Cuba and universal healthcare.

[beardedcollie39]

pity that doberman didn't finish the job

[jrobertsoneff]

He thinks everyone should live in a pisshole ,so a few peaple can live in palaces.

[mindhunter09]

Fact: Cuba in 1958.. was the SECOND best economy in latin america. Today is Haiti-like.

Fact: People from all over the world (mostly europe) emigrated TO CUB(because it had great living standards) A . Now.. cubans die trying to leave the island.

fact: in 1958 cuba had TWICE the income per capita than spain. Today doctors make $15 dollars a month.

DO i go on...Mr. Galloway? by the way... mortality rates ad life expectancies were LOWER all over the world 50 years ago...

[Harvey6972]

@mindhunter09 bull shit! Most Cubans did not benefit from the great economy as you say. Also according to the US census Bureau, more Cubans left Cuba to go to the US before the Revolution then they did after the revolution and this is critical in spite of the fact that The US has a law that Im sure you are aware of (Wetfoot Dryfoot policy that encourages Cubans to take to the sea. Take your fabricated "facts" somewhere else.

[mindhunter09]

@Harvey6972 those are facts. not fabricated at all. again, im cuban i know more about cuba than you and galloway put together ever will. get real. by the way MANY cubans left to the us and came back as well. also, MANY americans settled on the island. it was a two way street. Now.. cubans arent allowed out. so they have to escape. big difference. of course, you will never get it. get lost with your ignorance.

[lcfcsam92]

@mindhunter09 those facts you talk about do hold some truth, but are still fabricated with information withheld

Cuba's so called vibrant economy in1958 was reserved for a select few people,with high levels of poverty,mortality,illiteracy for the vast majority of Cubans, which is not the case today

average wage in Cuba is around $15 a month,but that doesnt take into account the free education,health care,food rations,housing,culture that the Cuban people today receive,making them much better off

[mindhunter09]

@lcfcsam92 Free education? You mean free, government censored, communist, one-party, education right? If you as much as say something agaisnt the government you will not be able to get into university. IS that free? No its not. It comes at a terrible cost : Mental and spiritual slavery to a system that tells you what to read and what not to read (or else). Free healthcare? You mean filthy hospitals, no medicine, and an apartheid between tourist hospitals (cubans banned) and cuban hospitals?

[mindhunter09]

@lcfcsam92 Let me put it in a way you can understand: Before 1959 there were social classes, YES. Like ALL developed countries. The richest people are going to be, of course, the minority. That is the way the world works. Now in cuba there is only 1 social class: POOR and Oppressed. Everyone fits in that category. Now everyone is poor. Excuse me, i made a mistake. There is another class: The government elite. They get to travel, be millionaires, etc, like the people they so criticize.

[mindhunter09]

@mindhunter09 Newsflash, Fidel castro is a millionaire, owns mansions, lives a life of luxiry while cubans have NO chance of advancing. They have no choice but to live off the scraps thrown at them by the government or black market. That is NOT an improvement over pre-1959 cuba. You can shove your life expectancy where it dont shine. I'd take self determination any day. There is a worse kind of elitism in cuba NOW than pre 1959. Fidel castro and his cronies live like kings while ppl starve.

[lcfcsam92]

@mindhunter09 also,people did emigrate to Cuba,but because they were allowed and encouraged by Batista to exploit Cuba,leaving the majority of the Cuban people in poverty

you also talked about life expectancy being lower all over the world 50 years ago,which is true but does not explain why Cuba today has a higher life expectancy than the USA today,which wasnt true 50 years ago

you have fabricated the facts,despite the great things the revolution has achieved.Viva Fidel.Viva la revolucion cubana

[mindhunter09]

@lcfcsam92 So you are saying 1 men encouraged millions of inmigrants? hmm no, those inmigrants obviously saw an opportunity to thrive in cuba and they did, until fidel castro stole their property in 1959. Nowadays cubans are looking for ANy way to get out. Life expectancy? How about suicide rates? Cuba ranks among the very top world wide. Why is life expectancy an argument agaisnt freedom, self determination, safety, dignity, and rule of law, rather than dictatorship. There are no excuses.

[mindhunter09]

@lcfcsam92 The only thing the revolution achieved was make a prosperous country, poor, make happy people, sad and raggedy, make a normal country, a prison. It effectively isolated cubans from the rest of the world. You are telling me thats a good trade off for teaching you how to read and write for free? No, it is not. Cubans were not cave people or uneducated before the "revolution" cuba was well ahead (for its time) in latin america. Anyway, you dont fix that at gunpoint and imposing things.

[mindhunter09]

@mindhunter09 I'd love to see you live 1 year as a regular cuban in cuba, under the same economic and political pressures. I;d love to see you try to change the status quo and make your voice heard OVER THERE. I'd just love to see you....but that, we both know, will never happen.

[mindhunter09]

@Harvey6972 Which universe are you living in? There are currently 4 million cuban exiles around the world that have left to leave permanently outside cuba. In 1958 cuba was not a nation of emigrants, but if immigrants. People dont emigrate to countries if they see no benefit in it. Obviously cuba was in better economic shape then than it is now. A blind person could see that. I think you are the one that needs to learn a lesson in not fbricating facts. You are defending the indefensible.

[Reqrezentin]

The guy talking to GG is a stupid motherfucker, that's a fact, just a fact.

[novasigma]

I'd much rather see Galloway banned from the UK than dogs. And Val needs to get over whatever weird childhood trauma has caused his irrational and ignorant outlook.

I have a Doberman whom I trust as much as any of my other family members; I have slept soundly with her lying next to me in a tent. The dog problem is caused by dangerous humans, just like the 'knife problem', the 'laser pen problem' and anything else which can be abused and turned into something dangerous.

[Eye0fTheStorm]

I'm surprised George forgot to mention the most crucial fact:-

That the US put an embargo on cuba for the last 50 years

Kinda hard to become a sparkly rich country when no one in the world can trade and do buisness with you because big daddy America doesn't like you and put an international embargo on you

[mindhunter09]

@Eye0fTheStorm The most crucial fact: Fidel castro and his brother have a 50+ year old embargo on the cuban people. They are not allowed to travel freely, own private businesses, trade, speak their mind, participate in political debates, choose their leaders or their way of government. All of this is maintained at gunpoint and threat of destroying your life. Lets stop blaming the USA for FIdel's horrible actions. He is a military dictator, not one has ever elected him or his brother into power.

[hamza1947]

viv revolution!!!

[yington]

So if you are so sure he has the support of the people, why does he not put himself to the people in a free and public vote?

Why does he not allow the people to decide whether he remains leader or not?

He's been there 50 years, and not once has he done this. Why will he not do it?

And why do you not think the Cuban people should be able to have the choice?

Do you think the Cubans are inferior to others, that they should be denied a basic freedom?

[yington]

You have serious verbal diarrhea.

I would like people to have the freedom to elect their own leader & have freedom of speech.

If you do not want to see other people to have those freedoms, then you are a tyrant.

[yington]

I think the Cuban people should have the right to choose their own leader.

Do you not think that they should?

[yington]

Fool.

Cuba was one of the wealthiest nations in Latin America before Castro, and as wealthy as Italy.

Now it is one of the poorest in Latin America, and Italy is 10 times wealthier than Cuba.

Why? Because Cuba has been ruled by a corrupt dictator for 50 years, and held the great Cuban people back.

[yington]

Why is having the freedom to choose who runs your country something that I should value and not the Cuban people?

If he has the support of the people, why exactly does he not prove it by asking the people if they would like his rule to carry on.

MY values are freedom of speech, freedom from dictatorship, freedom of political choice.

Would you like a say in who governs your life?

You daft person.

[yington]

Firstly , relative to Cuba, Brazil & Mexico, Chile, are very wealthy countries.

The reason they are finally prospering, is because they are liberal democracies, which has embraced trade and the free market.

The Cuban people are just as capable as them. In 1959 they had the same wealth per capita as the Italians - now its 10 times less.

They are poor and backward because of Castro and his communist dictatorship.

GG refers to them as 3rd world, as if they could be no other way.

[yington]

George says is Cuba comparable to other poor countries.

He completely misses the point, that Cuba is a poor country because of the Communist Dictatorship.

[reyesjaen07]

Viva la revolucion cubana. Viva el socialismo. Viva Fidel Castro. Viva Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

[navijatt]

long live fidel castro ..i admire cuba greatly

[yington]

I bet you live in the free world.

Thank god you never have to live there mate.

[Alexopolux]

It is awful to be pressured in the direction of supporting a dictator such as Castro. However, putting this in perspective and in historical context, it seems to me that I would prefer Cuba over "democracies" like Colombia or Haiti. It is striking that the caller says something like "no food, no education, no health care system but hey, you have hope and freedom!" It must be a joke.

[basooome]

I'd prefer Castro any day than over successive U.S capitalist administrations if I was living under the poverty line in the United States or if I was black or a minority in the U.S or if I didn't have health care and had to rot and die or see my kid rot and die because I wasn't rich enough to afford my basic human rights. The U.S belongs to the rich, that is all...Cuba belongs to all!

[basooome]

what an inspiration the humane revolution of Cuba is to the world!

[yington]

Why then in 50 years has Fidel Castro not submitted himself to an election by the people?

[tooyjfwn]

i think the irish fella has a chip on his shoulder about Castro's stance on his 'lifestyle choice'

[brett18uk]

Way to go again George!