Cuba

Thursday marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution, when Fidel Castro and a group of guerrillas toppled a longstanding U.S.-backed dictator. In the first days of 1959, Castro and his bearded thugs rolled into Havana on tanks and other captured vehicles, they talked of sweeping changes - an end to corruption, justice for the poor and independence from foreign domination. Half-century later, their achievements are a mixed bag.

As always, communist ideology still fill with great political rhetoric and slogan of big promises which can never be fulfilled in a real world except in theory. In actuality, only a few selected elites in communist party including their family members are reaping huge benefits from the limited resources in Cuba. Castro’s promises to the masses remain a distance dream for majority of Cubans. The regime often points to free health care and education as a measure of its success. Literacy rates are among the world's highest, and access to higher education is widespread.

Most Cubans can barely make ends meet, and while high ranking government officials are enjoying high flying living from their arms revolution and often blamed economy hardship in Cuba on U.S. trade embargo imposed in 1962. Some say it's just bad management, they say the gains of the revolution have come at too heavy a cost.

Television, radio and newspapers are all controlled by the state. This year, Cuba faced three devastating hurricanes, rising prices for food imports and plummeting prices for nickel, one of Cuba's most important exports. Cubans -- who on average earn the equivalent of less than $20 a month, were urged by their president to prepare for belt-tightening in this anniversary.

In reality, that pragmatic approach is a far cry from the idealism in the early days of the revolution led by Fidel Castro. Change is about the last thing people here can expect from a half century’s revolution and Castro's regime where personal liberty and political freedom are restricted and lacked.