On Any Given Saturday
well... more precisely, on December 2, 2006, the Cuban army, better known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Revolutionarias, or FAR in Spanish) will parade in Havana to celebrate its own 50th birthday as a fighting force and its Founder and Commander in Chief, His Revolutionary Highness King Fidel's belated 80th birthday.
FAR's parade will consist of obsolete Soviet-era armored vehicles, MiGs, and quite a few of the estimated 60,000 soldiers in its ranks, an 80% drop from the days where FAR fought the South African army to a standstill in Angola.
alas, how times change.
or do they?
who is the intended audience for this parade? Cuban propaganda says it is to show the United States how strong Cuba still is.
yeah, right. FAR doesn't stand a chance against a sincere US invasion, and they know it.
who is the intended audience, then?
first, the Cuban people. for them, the parade says: we still have the guns and the planes to blow you to kingdom come if you should rise against us. look how strong we are. there is no point in fighting us. your only course of action is to remain passive.
second, its trading partners and economic benefactors. for them, the parade says: look, there is continuity in Cuba. King Fidel may pass away, but Prince Regent Raul has things well under control. look at our parade. look at how stable this nation is.
King Fidel, of course, was supposed to maybe, perhaps, attend the parade in his honor, if possible ... but chances are he is much to ill to attend.
it really makes no difference.
meet the new boss, same as the old boss...
FAR's parade will consist of obsolete Soviet-era armored vehicles, MiGs, and quite a few of the estimated 60,000 soldiers in its ranks, an 80% drop from the days where FAR fought the South African army to a standstill in Angola.
alas, how times change.
or do they?
who is the intended audience for this parade? Cuban propaganda says it is to show the United States how strong Cuba still is.
yeah, right. FAR doesn't stand a chance against a sincere US invasion, and they know it.
who is the intended audience, then?
first, the Cuban people. for them, the parade says: we still have the guns and the planes to blow you to kingdom come if you should rise against us. look how strong we are. there is no point in fighting us. your only course of action is to remain passive.
second, its trading partners and economic benefactors. for them, the parade says: look, there is continuity in Cuba. King Fidel may pass away, but Prince Regent Raul has things well under control. look at our parade. look at how stable this nation is.
King Fidel, of course, was supposed to maybe, perhaps, attend the parade in his honor, if possible ... but chances are he is much to ill to attend.
it really makes no difference.
meet the new boss, same as the old boss...
posted by Yimboro | 8:26 PM
1 Comments:
After reading about King Fidel, tractor confiscation and other stuff I am confused. I thought Castro was "President" and CUBA was the shining jewel of the success of communism?
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