Why Cubans vote Repug??

[Sad4world]

I am not making a statement rather an experience.

I have lived in South Florida the majority of my life. One of my best friends when I was in my 20's was first generation(born in the US) Cuban.

My neighbors who are moving and having a baby(Cuban and Argentinian) are wonderful people.

A fellow Cubano of my neighbor has been helping with the moving and I got into a conversation with him about politics.

This is the part I find remarkable.

He explained to me that he would rather have the rich(which he is not) get government money instead of tax payers giving money to the people who are lazy and want a free government ride.

He told me that is why Cubans vote Republican.

Am I missing something here or is this a symptom of the ignorance of other American thinking?

I have been around this person during this move and he seems like a regular person.

I think I know the answer but what do you think?

[Radical Activist]

1. I would imagine

conservative Cubans from a rich background are more likely to have moved to the US after the revolution. Just a guess.

[Hav]

2. .

I'm not an American so I can't answer that question but I wondered about that too when I read that they apparently vote overwhelmingly for the Repubs.
Because I just don't see how the Repubs legislate in the interest of those people.

Could it have something to do with their heritage or the political systems in their former countries?

[Sad4world]

5. I think you are close.

But that is my point.
Why can't the people "Think"?

What happened to(if there ever was) logically thought?

[Zybelline]

6. to understand, you have to know their history, their grudges

To understand this guy, you have to know Cubans' history, understand their grudges

Cubans are a very very enterprising and hyperactive people

Cubans in south florida all hold down two jobs they are super achievers they jump to the head of the class they are smug

they are also essentially the white Cubans with business or education or some skill who left the island

go to Cuba today, blacks and whites there are all victims of Fidel's stifling of any enterprise that doesnt bring in hard currencies to prop him up but maybe in your Cuban friend's mind, blacks are not as good at business, they are like other carribeans, and this guy doesnt want to subsidize them Cubans refer to blacks not by saying anything, but by touching the skin giving you a "read between the lines" look
there are no blacks ever in positions of real power in Fidel's cuba

also remember : Cubans hate Janet Reno for sending Elian Gonzalez back to that island ( which IS an open air prison )
so they have that grudge, added to grudge against JFK who screwed up the bay of Pigs invasion 40 yrs ago

but Bush pandering to get votes in So Florida, p'd them off by making the embargo even more stringent. so they can't go to the island except 1/3 yrs ( before it was 1/year ) so family members die, it is very hard on people, Bush was super cynical in doing that ... it backfired with some people

most of the 2nd 3rd generation cubans I know are not voting for Republicans any more

[Sad4world]

8. I do understand "this guy" and you

And I will tell you how.

Enough was said in the conversations with this person that I realized that there was some bigotry towards blacks. I eliminated this in my post not that you should have as I am worldly enough to not miss the point.

However, racism, bigotry, etc. is not an excuse to vote for more of the same no matter what your previous circumstances were

One can use any and all the rational thought one wants to justify the aforemention.

Remember what has happen and think what could be.

[Union Thug]

18. "open air prison" Please, drop the hyperbole. n/t

[Union Thug]

3. Because they are or are the family of rich cubans. n/t

[MADem]

4. Most of the Cubans who made it here right after Castro took over were rich

as Roosevelts. They came out with diamonds in orafices, and everything they could carry. I had many friends in my youth who were children of these type of folks. They have (or should I say HAD) property back home that was nationalized, and they don't think a Democrat would get it back for them. And make no mistake, they want it back, or they want serious compensation. The hatred for Castro has as much to do with his screwing with their privleged place in a society where the rich got richer and the poor worked gratefully for peanuts as it does his taking their lands and factories and homes.

That was their reality--you're rich by the grace of God, because you are "better" than others. The poor deserved their lot, because they're lazy, they are genetically inferior, or they lack character, or what have you. Your fairer skin was also a gift from God, an outward symbol of your superiority, whilst the negritos weren't sufficiently educated or refined, by and large, to mingle in the upper reaches of society. Sound racist? It is. I've heard it from more than a few Cubanos who were the first on the boats and planes and who are stalwart GOP voters, though. They believed that shit.

It was quite the tumble when the engineers and professors and whatnots who ran through their fortunes (which weren't as great as those of the SUPER rich) like Sherman through Georgia had to go looking for work, though. A lot of them didn't have english language skills, so the high-toned white collar workers ended up having to work in factories and lose fingers because they didn't know what the hell they were doing. High school teachers ended up changing bedpans in hospitals and nursing homes, or scrubbing stairs in public buildings. The menial jobs often didn't bring empathy with the peasantry left behind in Cuba, though, instead it increased resentment. "See, I have to work like a peasant because of YOUR lousy uprising!!!"

Now that google earth exists, they can look at the plantations they left behind, and dream of the day they go back and reclaim their properties.

Dream on...

[Sad4world]

10. Thats as close as it gets

.

[Union Thug]

14. Spot on assessment. Thx!

[Aviation Pro]

7. Making a blanket statement here....

...most non-wealthy people (you know the one's without a Palm Beach address off of Worth Ave.) live vicariously through the rich because they believe that with hard work they have the opportunity to move into that lofty perch. The joke on them is that in spite of their best efforts, movement into that strata is closed to them, but those at that level continue to promote the illusion that they can be there to enjoy the perks of the latter. You see this kind of mentality at any pyramid-scheme convention (think Amway/Quixtar, a wholly owned subsidiary of the DeVos/Van Andel crime family).

Bottom line for the wealthy is that incestuous wealth is good, spreading the treasury is bad. (Anyone who believes that Paris Hilton deserves to inherit the Hilton fortune is a nutcase who deserves the misery of his or her life).

[Union Thug]

16. Paris Hilton - You Nailed it. So those who are rich worked for it and

are worthy of their great fortunes. Right. Okay. Whatever.

So, if these people believe the bullshit, they will refuse to introduce their own children to the social circles that provide access, provide no help in paying for their childrens' education, and leave them with no inheritance whatsoever. Let's see if they (as we say in my trade) will eat their own dogfood.

[pretzel4gore]

9. the usa don't need these people...

cuba won't have them either (remember the mariel boatlift? few americans realized castro screwed regan real good by emptying the islands prisons/insane asylums, giving anyone wanted to go a seat in a boat! not to mention the drug terrorists and get rich quick schemers)
someday, ordinary people will see fascism as a burden on the taxpayer, alot more then single moms....and these dupes who support their enemies are doubly a burden, they breed like rats and their filthy spawn thinks like they do, w/out the excuse of having suffered...
a fascist isn't a citizen, heshe's a tapeworm...

[Joe Chi Minh]

11. Brilliant diatribe. And hilarious!

[pretzel4gore]

20. :)

if a cow died in your bathtub, wouldn't you drag it outside?

[VC2]

12. A lot of Cubans

have "the illusion of inclusion."

[ellenfl]

13. i think their catholicism has something to do with it too.

i would imagine they are all anti-abortion.

as for aspiring to wealth . . . most american do that. that's why they vote against their own financial interests. they think that some day they will be rich. the wsj knucklehead on bill maher said that in bill's last show. i have always believed that to be part of reasoning for voting as some do.

everyone thinks that some day they are going to be on american idol or survivor or that ed mcmahon will come knocking on their door and they will win a million dollars. it's just a matter of time. what they don't know is that one million dollars is chump change nowadays.

ellen fl

[Sad4world]

15. Vote your religion

and you will win the lottery.

What happened to the brain?

[Union Thug]

19. Welcome to the new Middle Ages (to borrow from the SCA)

[rman]

17. Anti-Castro Cubans do because that's what they're supposed to do

Pro-Castro Cubans probably stay in Cuba.

[peacetalksforall]

21. Their politics are 43 years old. Some were supporters of

Batista, some lost plenty, some claim to have lost plenty - the playground days of the CIA and Mafia and some of the Batista people ended.

Castro expected? to establish relations with the U.S. The U.S. said no. The USSR stepped in - to help and spread the doctrine in the Western Hemisphere. Castro needed help in absence of the non-support from the U.S. and the blackage by all the countries that the U.S. threatened (with the help of the threat of communism). Many, many people immigrated here (Batista people and other rich/poor) mostly under the guise of being communist refugees - there were more reasons then that single issue, however. See below for money inventives.

The Catholic Church joined the U.S. Govt and took up the rhetorical fight against Communism on behalf of the Cuban emigrants. Castro ended up being a convenient communist.

This is the key to understanding: Love for Republicans is more of a Hate for Democrats because of John F. Kennedy. He was sold a lie by Cuban-American militants and the CIA. Based on an intelligence CLAIM that the Cuban people (in Cuba) would rise up and overthrow Castro if the U.S. sponsored an invasion, JFK gave an OK. The intelligence was faulty and a cluster of other things didn't go right (for whatever reasons). JFK backed off from further attempts. Some say he was betrayed by the CIA and the Cuban refugees. The CIA and Mafia and banks and corporations, plus rich and poor people wanted to get back there.

It didn't happen. The hate grew. There was lock step non-support for Democrats. It would be better to call it utter hate. A stubborn position was taken and held.

In 43 years, Cuban-Americans have received more government benefits than any group of immigrants anywhere - the U.S. people went all the way in helping Cubans who came here - the methods of receiving checks was many and the amounts were generous. Legislations kept getting written that prejudically favored Cuban-Americans over Mexicans, Haitians, Guatemalans and every other ethnic group anywhere for all those years - including legislation that CANF wrote - including legislations that Clinton signed. Learn about how taxpayer money ended up in the pockets of our legislators who have favored Cuban-Americans - for 43 years.

To have any of them knock Democrats proves lack of logic, but that's what you get when you hate as emotionally as they have hated Castro and Kennedy. And it didn't help that the Mafia hated Bobby Kennedy.

In other words, there are contemporary reasons, but the main reason is a 43 year old hate that has gotten in to the genes of many Cuban-Americans. It is heavy, antique, emotional politics that most Cuban-Americans still find tasty and that can set them off in a nano-second.

Straight up words to match never die radical positions and activism.

Ask those you talk to if they think Carriles should go free?

The part about them helping out - very credible. Warm generous family oriented - creative inventive industrious - ultra accepting (except to Democrats). Yes, I think it's in the genes now.

[peacetalksforall]

22. And all that hate rant we hear on WJ about immigrants not

learning English? Go to Miami and start counting the people who still don't speak English after 43 years and all the jobs that require Spanish. You will be amazed.

The dung about Mexicans and Guatemalans, etc. not learning English is a lot of complaining and very unscientific.

The next time someone complains ask them if they they think they should have to learn Polish, Portueguese, Russian, Chinese, etc. to get a typical job working for the county or state they live in.

The U.S. government and the State of Florida have bent over backwards for Cuban-Americans - both Democrats and Republicans. And the reasons have varied with each long decade of a stubborn position taken and held like an iron gate at a working castle.

[MADem]

23. You aren't gonna believe how Posada is making his money nowadays

http://www.cubacollectibles.com/cuba-Posada.html

Pintura al oleo, ORIGINAL, 20" X 16", enmarcada en precioso marco dorado de madera, de aproximadamente 28" X 24" exacto al que se muestra en la imágen.
Luis Posada Carriles realizo estas obra a principios del año 2006, durante su detencion en Texas.

[onenote]

24. anti-communist

A significant part of the reason is that Cubans who have moved to the US after Castro came to power tend to be rabid anti-communists. During the latter part of the 20th Century, the repub party was viewed as more anti-communist than the Demcorats.