Comandante Obama
21st March 2009
“But you don’t understand,” the Colombian said. “We’ve seen this before.”
“He’s right, my good friend,” the Cuban said. “We Latin Americans know the pattern. Believe me we do.”
“It starts with a cult of personality,” the Cuban explained. “One man declares himself the jefe, the caudillo, the big leader.”
“After the cult of personality,” the Colombian explained, “what comes next is nationalization.” Fidel had nationalized the Cuban sugar mills, Chavez the Banco de Venezuela, Morales the Bolivian oil and gas industries.
“The last step?” asked the Cuban. “Censorship. It won’t be obvious at first–they’re always too smart for that. But it will come.”
“Never,” replied the American. “We have the First Amendment.”
“And soon enough,” the Cuban said, smiling sadly, “you will also have the Fairness Doctrine.”