Cuba vs. Puerto Rico: A ‘Great Lesson for All of Our Peoples’ …

This morning in Honduras, people woke up, opened their morning newspaper, and read this comparison between Communist Cuba and Democratic Puerto Rico. According to Luis Pazos writing for the newspaper La Prensa, ‘Beyond dogma, demagoguery, rhetoric, sympathies and antipathies and based on an objective and dispassionate analysis, the difference in living standards and the level of political freedoms achieved by Cubans and Puerto Ricans in the past 58 years, offers us all a great lesson.’

By Luis Pazos

Translated by Miguel Guttierez

February 27, 2008

Honduras – La Prensa – Original Article (Spanish)

Beyond rhetoric and dogmatic positions, if we analyze the economic and political situations in Cuba and Puerto Rico, we can uncover profound lessons for the future of our peoples.

In 1950 Cuba, the average inhabitant had an annual income of $344, which was 23 percent higher than in Puerto Rico, where the average annual income was $279. But starting in the 1950s the two islands took different paths. In 1953 Cuba, during the time of dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, Castro launched a guerrilla movement in an attempt to overthrow the dictator’s government, and by the end of the decade he had succeeded. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico held its first democratic elections in 1949.

In 1950, Puerto Rico became part of the U.S. as the “Associated Free State of Puerto Rico.” Since 1950, Puerto Ricans have held 11 free elections, and Puerto Ricans have chosen their leaders from four existing parties which have traded power six times. Its governors can only be re-elected once.

Puerto Ricans have far more power to remove and select their leaders than people in Cuba, where there is only one lawful party, the Communist. All others are considered illegal.

For the past 49 years, Cuba has been ruled by the same person. Along with North Korea, the Cuban regime is the oldest dictatorship in modern history. Politically, Puerto Rico is a democracy; Cuba is a dictatorship. In the economic sphere, one need only visit the two islands to see the tremendous difference in living standards. In 2005, the latest data available, per capita income in Cuba came in at around $4000; in Puerto Rico this year it was $19,300, almost five times higher than Cuba.

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