If you have to be poor...

If you have to be poor in the Caribbean (and let's face it if you are living in the Caribbean, you'll probably be as poor as your neighbours), it's better to be poor in Cuba than anywhere else.

In the last five years I've vacationed in Mexico, Dominican and Cuba. Without a doubt the people of Cuba have it the best of all three. Healthcare, education and housing are available to all.

Before someone responds about the "freedom" of democracies like Mexico and Dominican, let me say that freedom is a luxury of the rich in any country. Ask yourself how free a homeless person is in New York or Washington? That homeless person is free to write a book, or vote in elections. But in 2004 only about 60 percent of eligible voters in the U.S. even bothered to vote.

So what is the value of democracy to the poor when the daily necessities aren't met?

But why do Cubans wash up in Florida? Does it mean that Fidel Castro is as hated as the US State Department would have you believe? Mexicans trek through the desert to get to America to. It doesn't mean they hate their country. In both instances folks are just looking to try their luck in a richer nation. And as despised at the U.S. seems to be around the world, it's still the number one destination for anyone who still believes in the "American Dream."

From what I saw in Cuba - Havana in particular - Cubans are not as oppressed as some folks would like you to believe. And when the transition to democracy happens - and it will happen - the population will be healthy, educated and ready to succeed in a way no other Caribbean democracy can.

Castro eliminated foreign ownership of his island's wealth, and redistributed it amongst his people. It's hard to find another country in the region where the citizens are in such control of their own destiny. Cuba is an good instance of Socialism paving the way for a successful transition to first-world status in a country that would otherwise have a super rich with no middle class to hide it's poor.

If you are curious to see my pictures from Cuba, I've got them posted on Flickr.