Political cartoons are effective propaganda weapons and for that reason the imperialists employ professional propagandists at high salaries to lie about world affairs via erroneous and perverted depictions of world events.  I just happened to view the imperialist version of recent events in Cuba when I picked up my local major newspaper with a circulation of hundreds of thousands and opened it to the editorial section.  A particularly repulsive, brazen, and large cartoon originating in Florida at the instigation of someone named Gamble and printed in the Florida Times-Union caught my eye.  I am only mentioning this piece of ideological trash because it highlights the degree to which the American people are being indoctrinated and brainwashed and because it helps explain why so many Americans are in an information fog when it comes to what makes the world tick.
         The cartoon is in four frames that reek with multiple lies.  The first frame shows Fidel shaking hands with Carter and both are smiling.  The first lie is not spoken but pictured.  It shows Fidel dressed as if he had just emerged from an all-week binge.  He looks dirty; his beard is a mess, totally untrimmed, and uneven; his eyes are dark, sinister, and recessed like some crafty con artist.  In reality, Fidel does not dress that way nor does he appear in that manner.  When Carter arrived in Cuba Fidel met him in a business suit and would have looked like any other government leader were it not for the beard.  Over the years he has made sure his clothes are neat, clean, and well pressed and that includes his army fatigues which are his trademark.  Carter says, "I'd like to talk freely with leaders of your opposition" and Fidel says, "Of course."
         In the next frame we see someone who looks like he had just been beaten half to death being dragged by the neck to Carter.  His clothes are a wreck with multiple tears, he is missing one eye, he has one tooth and a swollen nose, and he is covered with bruises.  He is being brought by an armed guard with a whip, sleazy dark eyes, and a no nonsense, sinister appearance.  Carter says to the individual, "Hi, I'm Jimmy Carter" to which the individual says, "Sir, this place is Hell on earth!"
         Second slander:  Does the cartoonist have any evidence whatever that prisoners are being beaten or mistreated in this manner in any Cuban prisons?  I know beatings occur in some American jails by the capitalists' own admission but we are talking about Cuban jails.  Since the capitalists repeatedly claim a man is innocent until proven guilty and no evidence whatever has been provided in this regard, the Cuban government deserves an apology.
         The third lie is that Cuba is "Hell on earth."  I would only ask the cartoonist to go to Cuba and take a survey of the Cuban people.  Ask them if, after having lived under socialism for over 40 years, they would prefer to retain what they have or return to the days of control by America's puppet, Batista.  Simple question: Do you prefer it the way it is now or would you prefer to go back to the way it was under capitalism.
         Fourth lie.  The individual said "This place is hell on earth."  What has happened to him, even while in prison, that warrants that comment?  Not long ago the Cuban people were told that anyone who does not want to live in Cuba can leave.  Some did and most thought they had lost their minds by doing so.  The actual procedure followed by the Cuban government is that after having been duly punished for their crimes people are to be released from prison and are free to leave the island as well.  Permission to leave has not been retracted in so far as I am aware.  Yet, most don’t.  If the place is a hell, then what is the problem.  Why don’t they leave?  I know of no one who is preventing the dissidents to whom Carter spoke from leaving.   Until evidence for this slanderous “hell” accusation is forthcoming Cuba is owed a second apology.
          In the third frame Carter says to Fidel, "As a humane gesture, would you mind freeing him of such misery?"  And it shows Fidel turning his head around to talk to someone behind him and saying, "You heard him."
 In the fourth frame we hear “bam bam” in the background clearly implying gunshots.  We then see a cigar-smoking Fidel looking straight into the camera smiling, while Carter is looking straight into the camera with a "that's not what I had in mind" expression.
         Fifth lie.  Fidel has not smoked cigars in decades.  A typical caricature.
         Sixth lie and very important.  Can the cartoonist/propagandist name one person who has been executed in Cuba in the last 40 years because of political beliefs or political crimes.  Just one.  Until such a name is produced Cuba merits a third apology.
         And while we are one the subject of executions, can the cartoonist/propagandist name one group or individual in the last 40 years who has been commissioned by the Cuban government to assassinate a president or any leading figure of the United States?  Of course not, but it is not hard to find groups and individuals specifically assigned by the American government through the CIA to assassinate Fidel.  Moreover, Cuban exiles, such as Bosch, are responsible for bombings especially the destruction of the Cuban airliner in 1976 which killed over a 100 people.
         And for our final lie we have the impression conveyed by the cartoon that the American imperialists don't oppress people for their political beliefs.  Really!  Well let's see what's been initiated just since Sept 11th and, again, some capitalist mouthpieces don't deny these facts or dispute the obvious.  The US was scarcely three months into the war when legislation had already been passed and executive orders signed that established secret military
tribunals to try non-US citizens; imposed guilt by association on immigrants; authorized the attorney-general to lock up indefinitely aliens on mere suspicion; expanded the use of wiretaps and secret searches; allowed the use of secret evidence in immigration proceedings that aliens cannot confront or rebut; destroyed the secrecy of the client-lawyer relationship by allowing the government to listen in; institutionalized racial and ethnic profiling, even though they do accuse others of doing so without proof, and severed all contacts between inmates and family members.
         And that ladies and gentlemen was all done merely because three buildings were either destroyed or damaged.  Imagine what you can expect to see happen if the system itself really was in danger.  The American ruling class has the potential and inclination of making Hitler look like nothing more than a kid throwing a temper tantrum.

for the cause,

Klo