Scuke Cuba News Today

The kpeem health care and education, but certainly not political freedom. theres none of that down there yet. and i think that time is coming. i think we can all hope that in the next five or ten years theres doing to be a dimini diminishing effort to deny people their democratic rights down there. all americans believe that cuba could be a diplomatic country. it could well remain as a socialist country but all would like to see it as a democratic socialist country. >> you think of castro, that ...

Freedoms that chris was just referring to. ive interviewed castros over the years, first met him in 1999 when i went down there over the controversy of elian gonzalez. and there were demonstrations from the streets and we started a long series of conversations which led to a numb were of interviews and a long documentary that we did for msnbc back in 2002. but ive traveled down there when jimmy carter went in 2002 on a human rights mission and also, you know, of course more recently under raul c...

There is still a lot to celebrate for cubans in the health care, the educational reforms that he brought to the country. the social services in cuba were not to be denied, even though once the special relationship with the former soviet union passed, he suffered tremendous -- and his people suffered tremendous because they no longer had the subsidiesubsi >> hes going to be remember ased ed as one of the last cold war leaders. what was the impetus for him to actually change his leadership and the...

As well for the younger generation, even though his time had certainly passed by the time -- in his frailty by time he had died. >> well, we do know that his passing, he is 90 years old and hes passed his power on to his brother. so hes in effect not been a leader in cuba. however the cuban people, what can you predict their reaction is going to be now that fidel has passed? >> i think it will depend on the generation, certainly. the loyal followers of the revolution, and there are many, and cer...

The attempt to isolate him never worked. he could always say it was the sanctions against him that caused the failure of cuba to develop economically. and i think theyre all going to be removed thanks to president obama. president obama has been the innovator in our relationship with castro. clearly he wants to move to very normal relations, diplomatically and socially as well. clearly in his administration obama would like to end the isolation of cuba completely. but the communist government do...

Political oppositions certainly and a big question as to what will be achieved under the new presidency of president-elect trump. there has been some controversy over whether or not trumps business managers had visited cuba under the embargo when they were potentially in violation of the u.s. trade embargo because they did not have treasury licenses to do it, seeking the possibility of building hotels and casinos down there and that had been denied during the campaign. that has not been unravell...

In cuba. that was a big issue with him. at the same time he was passionate about getting elian gonzalez back and gave elian gonzalez a great, a great reception home. and he had a very privileged life as a young man as he -- h was of course the 6-year-old who on thanksgiving weekend, ironically, washed ashore with his mother having died and was claimed by both his father in scuke cuba and his miami relatives and eventually was returned with a great deal of controversy, of course, returned to his ...

Matthews on the line. not a surprise, fidel castro was 90 but he has passed now. what does this mean for cuba? >> theres a communist dpoft there which will continue to hold power for a while. of course raul is in charge, his brother. but you know, i think theres going to be -- things are going to happen. cuba is going to open up. its going to happen. the pressure from the cuban americans in our country, that live in havana and other places in the country are going to put tremendous pressure to b...

Assassination. and theres always been evidence that we tried to knock him off. a big threat to our country and here he is in our old age, im looking at these pictures like everyone else, hes not the dangerous looking young figure that he was in his heyday certainly. >> right. and we know that he gave power over to his brother. and since then the doors have opened politically between the united states and cuba, which is a complete change of where it started with castro when he took the communist ...

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