Narco Rubio: https://en.granma.cu/mundo/2026-01-20/narco-rubio
Protests Erupt in Cuba
- Thread starter newyorkguy
- Start date
Interesting, but considering the source (Granma: The Official Voice of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee), I give it low credibility.
Gulliver Foyle
Philosopher
Imagine a world where Eisenhower didn't immediately fall in love with every far right mass mudering dictator he met. Castro may have been able to establish the normal relations with the US he so craved and, as a result, not have been driven into the USSR's orbit.
Then you should look up the claims in the article, using sources you give high credibility.
What is it you don't think is true?
Otherwise, it's fairly uninteresting to hear how high or low you rate the source.
U.S. politicians with Cuban roots tend to lie about everything Cuban. See posts 258 and 261.
If you know about any lies published in Granma, I'd like to hear about them.
That there exists other sources with low credibility has no influence on my evaluation of a particular source.
I already explained why I give it low credibility, but to make it absolutely clear: I don't think that a mouthpiece for a dictatorship has much credibility. I may be wrong in this case, but that is my default position when dealing with dictatorships.
I would still like to see actual examples of lies in Granma to back up your idea that its credibility is low. You're the one who made the claim:
"I give it low credibility."
And what makes you think that Cuba is a dictatorship?
I have noticed that almost nobody knows anything at all about Cuba's system of government. You probably don't even know the name of the current Cuban president. When I mentioned his name to a group of Danes visiting Cuba in late-2022, only one knew who I was talking about, and he happened to be the former chairman of the Danish-Cuban Friendship Association.
See posts 206, 208 and 211.
"I give it low credibility."
And what makes you think that Cuba is a dictatorship?
I have noticed that almost nobody knows anything at all about Cuba's system of government. You probably don't even know the name of the current Cuban president. When I mentioned his name to a group of Danes visiting Cuba in late-2022, only one knew who I was talking about, and he happened to be the former chairman of the Danish-Cuban Friendship Association.
See posts 206, 208 and 211.
How did the Cuban people choose their president? (Yes, you are right, I don’t know the name of him, just like many other dictators).
How many opposition candidates were there? How big was the support from the government? (A sure sign of unfree and unfair elections is huge support for the government).
lobosrul5
Philosopher
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_freedom_indices
Cuba not looking so good according to various international rankings.
I'm sure their own publication would disagree, that'd be like taking Karoline Leavitt's word that ICE agents only shoot people who are domestic terrorists.
I am pretty sure that you know the names of Mohammed bin Salman or Kim Jong-un. You may even know the name of Lukashenko.
But for some reason, nobody knows the name of the alleged dictator Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.
Since you are the one who claims that Cuba is a dictatorship, let me ask you:
How do Cubans elect their president? (Or, since you claim that Cuba is a dictatorship: How did Cubans not elect their president?)
And how on earth can support for the government be "a sure sign of unfree and unfair elections"?
Unlike in the USA, Cuban politicians aren't bought and appointed by oligarchs but by the Cuban people at elections. That you know nothing about how those elections take place is a very poor argument for your claim that Cuba is run by a dictator.
Again: You are the one who claims that Cuba is a dictatorship, so why do you ask me how Cubans elect their allegedly dictatorial president?
See posts 206, 208 and 211.
There are lots of dictators around the world that I don't know by name. Like the Tunisian dictator, the other dictators in Africa, or the dictators in Central Asia.
Because dictators always manipulate the figures to show how they are backed by a huge majority of the people.
The question you avoided answering was "How many parties are there in the election?" The answer is of course "just one".
There are many that I also don't know. But I don't usually claim that they are dictators when I know absolutely nothing about them.
They do indeed, so why don't you tell us which numbers were faked in Granma?
I didn't avoid answering that question. You didn't ask it till now. You answered it yourself, and your answer is wrong.
The answer, which you would know if you had read up on Cuban elections, is none! There are no parties in Cuban elections because Cuban elections aren't about parties.
Yes, I know, it's hard to believe! (See posts 206, 208 and 211.)
Cubans elect candidates, and you don't have to be a member of or affiliated with the Communist Party of Cuba to do so.
And the candidates present themselves to the voters at public meetings instead of on publicity campaigns financed by oligarchs.
And you still haven't pointed out a single thing published in Granma that was untrue. All you've done is help Trump and his goons by sowing doubt about the reliability of Granma without a single fact: "I give it low credibility."
Yes, you do!
You act like a loyal, subservient citizen of the West. As such you have a vague idea that Cuba must be one of those authoritarian dictatorships, which is what you've been told by Western media, but i's factless credulity, which is why I'll continue to ask you to come up with examples that show your reason fo giving Granma low credibility.
I mean, you're a skeptic, aren't you? We don't usually base our arguments entirely on hearsay.
I also know next to nothing about those other dictatorships I mentioned.
I never that anything Granma says is wrong, I said it had low credibility for the reasons mentioned. Regarding the poll figures, I said "A sure sign of unfree and unfair elections is huge support for the government", and I stand by that. I also just looked up the support in Cuba, and it was about 70% which is not unbelievably high.
I must admit that I thought I had asked that question, so I must apologise.
And yet, the Communist Party has almost the entire parliament. No, I don't think the elections are free, but they may be fair — for the candidates that have made it to the ballot.
Before I respond to your new post, and just to make sure: Do you understand that you were wrong about the U.S. blockade of Cuba?
So on your list of freedom indices, the USA scores 7.85, Cuba only 2.58.
The USA, the country where protesters are killed, elections bought, the media (as well as the social media) owned by oligarchs , is supposed to be "mostly free" (Economic Freedom), "problematic" (Press Freedom), and a "flawed democracy" (Democracy), whereas Cuba is "repressed" (Economic Freedom), "very serious" (Press Freedom) and "authoritarian" (Democracy).
As for the social media:
Cubans can go online nowadays, so they probably see a lot of those lies, too, but as long as Cuba's news media tells them the truth, they are not as susceptible to those lies as people in the Western world. This is probably the reason why antivaxxers are more or less unheard of in Cuba, and why Cubans don't fall for the absurd lies about U.S. diplomats in Cuba being attacked by Cuban (Russian, Chinese) secret service agents with ray guns.
The freedom index appears to be an index of rich people's access to get and do whatever the hell they want, a freedom that they are cut off from enjoying in Cuba, which is why the country is a thorn in the side of the U.S. dictator.
That's OK. That can happen to all of us, but next time you should make sure before you use quotation marks.
No, the Cuban Communist Party doesn't have the entire parliament, but a majority of the MPs are communists (as is the president) - much like the majority of Cubans, who, for the most part, aren't actual members of the party.
I don't know if that includes members of the Young Communist League (Wikipedia).
See also: 2019 Cuban constitutional referendum (Wikipedia)
lobosrul5
Philosopher
It was not wrong at the time I stated it.
Eta: and its still not a blockade. The USN is not preventing cargo vessels or planes entering or leaving Cuba at this time. That is what a blockade is. Of course with Trump that could change at anytime.
Do you have any credible sources that Cuba has freedom of press, or free and open elections? Saying the USA sucks too is a deflection not an argument.
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lobosrul5
Philosopher
Since youve established wikipedia as a source you trust, since I see you quoted it.
en.wikipedia.org
Elections in Cuba are held at the municipal, provincial, and national levels. Cuba is a one-party state, with the Communist Party of Cuba being described as the "superior driving force of the society and the state" in the Constitution of Cuba. Because the communist party is the only official political party, elections in Cuba are not considered democratic because the government does not allow free and fair voting.[
Elections in Cuba - Wikipedia
Elections in Cuba are held at the municipal, provincial, and national levels. Cuba is a one-party state, with the Communist Party of Cuba being described as the "superior driving force of the society and the state" in the Constitution of Cuba. Because the communist party is the only official political party, elections in Cuba are not considered democratic because the government does not allow free and fair voting.[