#2546: a Caribbean comparison : Bellegarde comments (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: P D Bellegarde-Smith <pbs@csd.uwm.edu>

Cuba had a popular and national revolution in 1959. Haiti's revolution --
the first in the Americas, 1791-1806 was essentially spent two years after
independence was achieved, after 13 years of struggle and about 100,000
deaths, when the former affranchis and mostly mulatres erected themselves
into the new bourgeoisie. The United States never had a real revolution,
but reacted vociferously and with acrimony to both. The second revolution
in this hemisphere, was Mexico's in 1910.  
	The Cuban Revolution had in mind, as all revolutions, the
restructuring of Cuban society and social goals in education and health
applied to all Cubans which it has fulfilled. Cuba is way ahead of all
other Caribbean countries by these measures, save perhaps for the small
nation of Barbados. Size was a factor there. Cuba is ahead of many Latin
American societies as well.