Here comes the UN. Again.
What is it about United Nations senior officials and the Castro regime?
No sooner do these supposedly battle-hardened bureaucrats land at Havana’s international airport that they seem to lose all sense of proportion – and the ability to think for themselves.
Within hours, we have them happily parroting entire paragraphs from Granma.
Perhaps it’s the balmy climate?
Only the other day, the head of the UN Habitat program, Anna Tibaijuka, spent much of her visit to the island praising the great “achievements” of the regime in health and education.
An example to the rest of the world, Ms Tibaijuka concluded, to the visible delight of her Communist hosts, of course.
Now, we have the head of the UN Environment program, Achim Steiner, visiting Cuba to have a look at how the Castro brothers handle environmental issues.
His assessment?
According to this AP report, Mr Steiner is most impressed.
He is of the view that Cuba has managed to solve the crippling energy shortages that plagued the island for years (in fact, for decades), without in any way “sacrificing a long-term commitment to promoting environmentally friendly fuels”.
"In terms of a short term response, it is quite remarkable how Cuba, under its economic conditions, managed to solve that crisis," he said.
To be fair to Mr Steiner, he did point out one or two areas of concern.
He is worried about a gas reactor that throws a plume of dark smoke over much of Havana around the clock (oh, that reactor), and about the fact that most vehicles still use leaded gasoline and diesel.
No sooner do these supposedly battle-hardened bureaucrats land at Havana’s international airport that they seem to lose all sense of proportion – and the ability to think for themselves.
Within hours, we have them happily parroting entire paragraphs from Granma.
Perhaps it’s the balmy climate?
Only the other day, the head of the UN Habitat program, Anna Tibaijuka, spent much of her visit to the island praising the great “achievements” of the regime in health and education.
An example to the rest of the world, Ms Tibaijuka concluded, to the visible delight of her Communist hosts, of course.
Now, we have the head of the UN Environment program, Achim Steiner, visiting Cuba to have a look at how the Castro brothers handle environmental issues.
His assessment?
According to this AP report, Mr Steiner is most impressed.
He is of the view that Cuba has managed to solve the crippling energy shortages that plagued the island for years (in fact, for decades), without in any way “sacrificing a long-term commitment to promoting environmentally friendly fuels”.
"In terms of a short term response, it is quite remarkable how Cuba, under its economic conditions, managed to solve that crisis," he said.
To be fair to Mr Steiner, he did point out one or two areas of concern.
He is worried about a gas reactor that throws a plume of dark smoke over much of Havana around the clock (oh, that reactor), and about the fact that most vehicles still use leaded gasoline and diesel.
posted by Luis M Garcia at 2:41 pm
2 Comments:
When were you last in Cuba? You write so eloquently about what's wrong in Cuba, but it seems you, who live in Australia and could visit Cuba if you wanted to, haven't been there since you were a child.
When were you last in Cuba?
Thanks,
Walter Lippmann
(haven't been to Cuba in seven weeks and spent three months there on my last visit.)
Walter,
if you love the revolution and fidel so much, why didn't you extend your stay there and made it permanently? Dare I tell you why? Because Walter, you are one of those people who loves the revolution from afar. I have seen your type all over Europe. You sit in the restaurants with a good meal in front of you, (maybe with a black beret on your head) while praising and singing loas to a system that you could not live under for more than 3 months. If you love the revolution so much how come you did not seek permanent residency there in Cuba? Then you could enjoy those things you love so much like free education, free health care, freedom of speech, free elections, where you can travel to any place in the world you want anytime you want, etc. But no, you are brave enough to praise the system from afar, but not brave enough to stay there and "enjoy" its benefits. Why is it that I don't see many of you guys moving to Cuba in droves? Gee, I wonder why? Could it be you may be afraid you could not stand it for more than 3 months? I am willing to bet you do not live in a socialist society but in a capitalist one. What hipocrisy!
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