User:Zleitzen/1

Introduction
All editors who mean to contribute significantly to the Wikipedia article on Cuba should read entries in other mainstream encyclopedias. This can serve as a guide to encyclopedic writing styles, and may help to find NPOV solutions for depicting difficult content.
 * Encarta entry for Cuba

Wikipedia editors should agree to present each of these views fairly, and not make our articles assert any one of them as correct.

Republic Of Cuba

 * Cuba's official name as identified by all nations and international bodies is "The Republic of Cuba". The first Republican administration began on May 20, 1902.


 * The United Nations invariably refer to Cuba as The Republic Of Cuba in official documents. This differs from other United Nations official definitions such as  Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Socialist Republic of Viet Nam , Lao People's Democratic Republic  or Islamic republic of Iran.

Socialist Republic

 * The Cuban constitution states that Cuba is an independent and sovereign socialist state [Article 1]... the name of the Cuban state is Republic of Cuba [Article 2]. In 1961


 * European Union official documents describe Cuba as "one of the last committed Socialist republics in the world"


 * Encyclopedia Britannica describes Cuba as the The socialist republic of Cuba


 * Encarta encyclopedia states that Cuba is a Unitary Socialist Republic


 * Atlapedia encyclopedia states that Cuba is a Unitary Socialist Republic

Communist State

 * The United States CIA Factbook states Cuba's Government type as: Communist state

The term "Communist State" is often used as shorthand for a state where the Communist Party are the sole political organisation. The term is most commonly in use in the United States. However there are particular issues with this description.
 * 1) The definition of a Communist State is in itself difficult. This term is technically an oxymoron, because Communism's theoretical goal is "the creation of a society that is stateless". See Communism.
 * 2) According to Marxist theory the intermittent stage where the state assumes near total authority as is the case in Cuba, is known as the construction of socialism.
 * 3) Constitutional amendments of 1992 in Cuba recognised forms of non-state owned property (joint ventures between Cuba and foreign entities, corporations, other economic associations). These liberal amendments meant that Cuba moved away from Communist goals and towards a more multi-tiered society.

Dictatorship/Castro as Dictator
Castro's lasting dominance over Cuban political life has been described by some observers as a de facto leadership, or dictatorship. For instance, see Condoleeza Rice’s statement here


 * “The time had come to end 46 years of cruel dictatorship".

Another example comes from the appointed US transition co-ordinator for Cuba, Caleb McCarry,  who refers to Cuba’s


 * “47 years of brutal dictatorship".

These are notable views that could be considered for inclusion in Wikipedia if souced and attributed. It would be advisable to cite sources and quotes from notable figures, which appear in mainstream media outlets, rather than media opinion pieces. This will help minimise potential charges of bias. It could be deemed less controversial if the statment can be found in a news source from outside the US. It may also help to cite a non-US political figure, for example former Czech Premier Václav Havel, who wrote an open letter on the matter here.

By following Wikipedia policies and guidelines, it should be possible for a discussion on these matters to take place within the article if deemed relevant by an editor. But the following must be stressed;


 * The editor should not assert the above quotes as fact.

They should be clearly attributed and identified as opinions. This is because there are different interpretations of what the term dictatorship means.

Respected analysts Carl Friedrich and Zbigniew Brzezinski outlined their criteria for describing a state as a "Dictatorship" here. The criteria would appear to support the opinion that Cuba is a dictatorship. On the other hand Venezualan President Hugo Chavez replied when asked the question “how I can support Fidel if he’s a dictator,” with “But Cuba doesn’t have a dictatorship — it’s a revolutionary democracy.”