“Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has a long history of praising Cuba’s regime, which is currently cracking down on protesters demanding freedom after decades of communist rule.
Sanders faced scrutiny for initially remaining silent on the protests that erupted across Cuba over the weekend, before issuing a statement late Monday night. His statement urged the government to refrain from violence, but also criticized the U.S. for its trade embargo on the island country.
The protests could put Sanders in an awkward spot, given his consistent praise for the communist regime.
Sanders defended his past praise for deceased Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in an interview he gave last year as he was leading the Democratic presidential primary.
“We’re very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba but, you know, it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad,” Sanders said in a “60 Minutes” interview. “You know? When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it?”
Video footage unearthed last year showed Sanders recalling his excitement for the communist revolution during a speech in the 1980s.
“I remember, for some reason or another, being very excited when [former Cuban dictator] Fidel Castro made the revolution in Cuba,” he said, while speaking at the University of Vermont in 1986. “I was a kid … and it just seemed right and appropriate that poor people were rising up against rather ugly rich people.”
During that speech, Sanders said he almost had to “puke” when he saw former President John F. Kennedy push his opponent at the time, former President Richard Nixon, to be tougher on Cuba. “For the first time in my adult life, what I was seeing is the Democrats and Republicans … clearly that there really wasn’t a whole lot of difference between the two,” he said.”
Comment: Yes, the communist government in Cuba has done a few good things. One that comes to mind is their development of an effective treatment for diabetic foot ulcers. I could come up with a few more if I bothered to try. This is impressive but Sander’s embrace over decades of communism and its endlessly oppressive regulation of life and his idiot behavior in such acts as his Intourist conducted honeymoon trip to the USSR contrast nicely with his ownership as landlord of several properties in Vermont. The only way to explain Comrade Bernie’s continued election in Vermont is the political triumph and dominance of the Ben and Jerry crowd. pl
Bernie Sanders’ long history of praising Cuba’s communists | Fox News
His wife destroyed Burlington College. It was in the black financially until she started racking up stacks of IOU’s illegally with PBS style pledges that never existed. In the end the only person that came out on top was her;. 200K buyout. Everyone else lost. The students, faculty, Church, the town. All losers. And Bernie stood by her side knowing damn well she hit everyone involved with a CAT5 hurricane and laughed.
Sanders voters are hippy spawn (children of the 60’s – 70’s counter culture invasion which Vermonters welcomed by selling off many, many worthless small farms), guilty white trust funders who won the DNA race, not the IQ race and a sizeable contingent of millennial transplants who are attracted to the prevalent far left looney tunes.
Many of these migrants are artists, bakers, furniture makers, food service, musician wannabes and other cottage industry types – certainly not a conservative element.
For example, Vermont is the second whitest state (Maine is the whitest) in the country, yet the BLM, “systemic racism,” anti-police diversity craziness is at full throttle.
This far left, often outright hate America (any doubts about Sanders?) BS is out in the
open although, ironically, the National Guard is a major employer.
One of the “advantages” of such a tiny state is that you probably know your State Rep.
My rep is a lefty and a good guy (fellow Yankee fan) and whenever I call him a “communist”, he tells me that he’s the “moderate” in the legislature.
“Gen X” is the accepted term, but “hippy spawn” works for me.
Its a bit of an uneven struggle, Cuban and its socialism vs the might and World domination of the US.
With decades of sanctions in place they really had little to no chance of improving their lot. So it is rather hypercritical of the US Gov to accuse Cuba of failing when US actions are a prime cause of that failure.
It has been strange watching over the years the US deploy the classic left wing/Socialist beliefs of ‘we know better than you how you should live’ on actual socialist countries. Not a lot of capitalistic laisse faire going on.
JohninMK
Yes, hypocritical and this would be a good opportunity to crush this cockroach.
The saying is that the older you get, the more you come to appreciate conservatism, but Bernie only gets commier and his affection for communism grows even stronger! How come?
And one more thing, before bombing Cuba(!) as Mayor Suarez suggested the military to consider as an option on the table in an interview yesterday, it should send Sanders, AOC, Bass, and the rest of the ‘Democratic Socialists USA’ back to where they belong in Cuba….their natural habitat….on a banana boat.
“Bernie only gets commier and his affection for communism grows even stronger! How come?”
Polish Janitor, maybe because he’s kind of a phony??? He folded in 2016 and again in 2020 even though he was the candidate with momentum – was he bought off, as many suspect? I remember reading about a lakefront property he purchased, not long after he caved in to Clinton. I wonder, was he paid off again when he gave up against Biden? After all, HE was the candidate racking up primary victories, not Biden (at least until Super Tuesday – did Biden cheat then too???). Inquiring minds would like to know! If true, Sanders’ MO seems to be a lucrative tack to take. Rentier…
Journalist Glenn Greenwald was initially a big supporter of AOC but in recent essays he’s pointed out how some of her votes in the US House are in direct conflict with her rhetoric. There are just too many phony politicians to single out, but it seems even the “socialists” are among them.
Yes I do remember back in 2020 and at the beginning of the primaries he was up in many if not all the polls, but all of sudden the order came down on him from the DNC to fold like a cheap $10 suit and he did what he always does. It is not surprising. Bernie el.al don’t have any skill to create capital and generate value that’s why they become communist, it is the realization that they can’t contribute positively to the society, so instead they devolve into an ‘attitude’ against everyone and everything and become a tool of their masters for political purposes. This is the natural human condition of the commies and their ilk. They are all talk, but when it comes to real action, they fold like nothing you’ve ever seen in your life. We had several of these useless commies always taking parts in protests and expressing themselves as mere ‘attitude’ against racism, discrimination, etc, but life itself was a real challenge for them. My friends and I would describe them as “people always at the scene”. The fact was and still is that for them actually doing things and completing tasks always posed an existential threat. They never properly passed their courses, always late to classes, always borrowing money and change from everyone, improperly dressed, always cheated in exams and fill in the blank. But somehow the college administrators and a few professors always had affection and pity for them and had very good relationship with them….
The biggest tool is lack of government control and regulations. Get working on that, Bernie.
I’m sure he’ll warmly welcome the Cuban and Chinese members of the UN Special Rapporteur commission Blinken is going to bring in to tell us how racist America is.
https://mobile.twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1415122665321508869
Superficial traveler observations from around most of the “independent” Caribbean islands, including Cuba, lead to a rather surprising conclusion.
Compared to the almost total dirt bag, environmentally-degraded, crime-riddled, drug-infused islands, Cuba is a virtual paradise. The cracks now appearing in Cuba come with any third generation history removed from its revolutionary origins, and the introduction of cell phones, internet and exposure to more international tourism and an allowable hints of private capitalism.
End of the Castro family charisma and dying off of the generation who had institutional memory will bring change, good bad or indifferent. If it changes like the rest of the dirt bag “independent” Caribbean islands, I say heaven help them. Cayman Islands, since they are still part of the UK, appears to be the only viable operation among the whole pack and only because of the eternal allure of a safe harbor for money laundering.
These are pragmatic observations only, and in no way a political endorsement. And as previously admitted, superficial impressions only. Maybe the only difference is Cuba keeps its human carnage hidden, where it is in plain view in the other islands.
Much beauty in all these islands. Simply do now know where this collective land mass is heading under current circumstances, as it sorts out its long exploited history. It is a dysfunctional blot. I can only wish America did not have such an insatiable appetite for illegal drugs. With so much money to waste, flushing down the drug traffic highway that moves across these islands.
In college once upon a time, I had a professor from Brazil. She told the class that she was a socialist by belief and preference. She also owned a beach house in Brazil, seemingly inherited, and she was indignant about Brazil’s squatter laws. At that time, by law, if a house remained unoccupied for some number of months, then anyone was allowed to move in and claim it.
Well, squatters did move into her house, in her absence. She told the story of how she dealt with the problem. She returned to Brazil, and her house. With a shotgun. She announced that she would shoot anyone who had not left in the next few hours. The squatters cleared out. Having observed her firm and spirited character, the story is credible.
She was well aware of the contradiction between her socialist beliefs and her actions. Her explanation: Brazil is running a capitalist, market economy, which recognizes private property. In the logic of such a system, private property has to be legally protected. If the government won’t do it, the property owner should be entitled to enforce her own property rights.
If Brazil were to make itself a socialist state, with communal entitlements, then her rights and actions would be different, she said.
I did wonder whether temperamentally she could have acted differently, even under an actual socialist state, but it was an interesting argument.