CNN AND THE WHITE HOUSE CONFLATE LAISSEZ FARE ECONOMICS AND DEMOCRACY

One of the assumptions in Obama’s justification of his decision to reestablish diplomatic relations with Cuba is that the liberalization of the Cuban economy is part of the process of democratization. The assumption is also part of the narrative of the corporate media. This line of thinking implies that Washington is only concerned about democracy when, in fact, its main interest is that the Cuban economy has moved sufficiently in the direction of capitalism as to allow U.S. investors to reap handsome profits, as in pre-1959 days. Another implication is that socialism and democracy are incompatible. It may be argued that the opposite is true, that true democracy and capitalism are incompatible. Considering the enormous influence that monopoly corporation lobbies wield in Washington and how they distort democracy, the latter assertion would appear to contain more than a small element of truth.