This reminds me of the reports behind the iron curtain years ago. When will liberal reporters ever learn to see the world through glasses which aren't so socialistically rose colored Mr Palau?
___________________________________________
CNN’s Kate Snow is the latest network reporter to parachute into Cuba for a few days and discover the wondrous benefits provided to Cuban citizens by their benevolent leader, Fidel Castro.
(For example, back in December of 1988 CBS’s Kathleen Sullivan declared: "[This] is a clinic, and it is the heart of a health care system which has been called a 'revolution within a revolution.' Of all the promises made by Fidel Castro in 1959, perhaps the boldest was to provide quality health care free for every citizen." And on NBC’s Today in February of 1992 Joe Garagiola promised: "Among Cuba's successes is its health care; it's progressive and it's free." Robert Bazell expressed admiration: "Cuba's health care system is world class. In a neo-natal intensive care unit; on a burn ward; or in a clinic to treat epilepsy one can find equipment and procedures equal to those in the U.S. and only a few other countries....the quality of care remains high and it is free. Health, a guarantee of socialism, billboards proclaim.”)
Co-hosting CNN’s Saturday Edition, Snow expressed awe at how youngsters get “incredible training” in athletics which leads the “small” nation to win “all kinds of medals at every Olympic Games.” She also gushed over “how every Cuban has a family doctor. You cannot go without health care here because there's a system set up, a safety net, where, if you live in a neighborhood, you're covered by somebody.”
In Snow’s Cuba you can even watch satellite TV while you wait for the doctor to drop by. She marveled: “I went to a house on Wednesday where they have DirecTV. They get more channels than I get at my home. It's not common, but if you have dollars, you can pay for that kind of access. And you really can get a lot of information from the outside world, if you've got the money for it.”
If Cubans with DirecTV use it to tune into CNN and catch Snow, if it weren’t for her blonde hair they may not be able to tell the difference from the official Cuban state TV.
From Havana, CNN's Kate Snow marveled at Castro's successes, including "how every Cuban has a family doctor"
Prompted by former President Carter’s then-upcoming trip to the communist nation, CNN dedicated the entire hour-long Saturday Edition at 10am EDT on May 11 to Cuba. Snow co-hosted from Havana with Jonathan Karl at the Washington, DC bureau.
At one point, at least, someone got a chance to correct Snow. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen explained that in a totalitarian nation you cannot always assume citizens speaking to you are doing so freely.
CNN opened that segment with two soundbites from Cuban citizens. A man said of Carter, through translator: “It is a very good visit. I believe in him.” A woman stated: “Jimmy Carter is a very good friend of Cuba and Fidel.”
Snow then recounted how Cubans told her they want the embargo lifted: “People here in Havana on the streets talking about the visit of President Jimmy Carter. He is going to arrive here tomorrow in Havana. We're talking about the state of U.S.-Cuban relation, and about that visits.
“I want to go to Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen about what you just heard. I’ve been down on the streets of Havana, Congresswoman, for the last few days, and everyone that I’ve talked to have said essentially what you just heard, that this is the moment, that this is a visit that they think is important, they think it can open things up between the U.S. and Cuba. I know you’ve been opposed to this visit from Jimmy Carter. So why not let him come, though, and allow an opening, the beginning of a first step, if that’s what the Cuban people want?”
Ros-Lehtinen replied: “For you to think that you can actually interview people in Cuba and that people can tell you the truth -- that's the same thing that happened in Nicaragua when they did a poll and they predicted that Daniel Ortega and the Sandinista government would win in Nicaragua when he was soundly defeated. Sometimes, people don't understand that there is a totalitarian communist dictatorship in Cuba, and the people are not free to speak their minds. So be careful about your so-called free interviews. This is a police state where everyone's thoughts are controlled.”
Snow countered: “Well, these are people off camera too.”
Ros-Lehtinen mocked Snow: “Okay. Oh, sure, yeah. I'm sure. Just whisper it in my ear; it's just between you and me.”
Toward the end of the hour, Karl went to Snow: “We are here with our Cuban roundtable, and we have Kate Snow in Havana. Kate, I wanted to get a question to you. You've had a chance to spend a few days down there. And we all know about what is wrong with Cuba, and we know about the dire economic situation down there and the political repression. But you've been doing some work about what is actually going on right in Cuba right now, which might sometimes be hard to find, but what have you found?”
Snow recited Castro’s achievements: “Well, we've been looking at a few things that, I mean, if you ask Cubans, and if you ask the government particularly, they'll point to these things as their big successes. Yesterday I spent a lot of time at a sports school where they train young people, mostly teenagers, sort of late teens, and they train them for everything from softball to archery to baseball to basketball, all kinds of sports. And the interesting thing is that they catch these kids when they're so young and they put them in a system unlike anything that exists in the United States, a very regimented system, but it trains them all the way through. They're still getting school and classwork, but then they're also getting this incredible training. And it leads to Cuba, a country of just, you know -- a small island, winning all kinds of medals at every Olympic Games. They sometimes come in eighth or ninth even in the Olympic medal count.”
Snow didn’t explain why if it’s so great the best athletes regularly defect.
Snow kept on going, gushing: “The other thing we were looking at is the health care system and how every Cuban has a family doctor. You cannot go without health care here because there's a system set up, a safety net, where, if you live in a neighborhood, you're covered by somebody. There's a doctor in your neighborhood who's your family doctor.”
How much would you bet that if Snow were injured in Cuba that Snow would want to fly back to the U.S. for medical care?
On the up side on CNN coverage of Cuba, the rest of the Saturday morning hour avoided such ridiculous promotion of Castro’s regime and, in addition to flying in Snow, CNN sent down John Zarrella. The reports that I saw filed by him and Havana bureau chief Lucia Newman during the day Sunday stuck to what Carter was doing and cited Castro’s suppression of rights.
> Monday night, May 13, at 8pm EDT CNN will air “Live from Havana.” CNN chose Kate Snow to host instead of the more experienced Newman or Zarrella. Tune in to learn what new wonders about Castro’s Cuba Snow has discovered to celebrate since Saturday morning.
> For the MRC’s Special Report by Rich Noyes released last week, “Megaphone for a Dictator: CNN’s Coverage of Castro’s Cuba, 1997-2002,” go to: mediaresearch.org |
