More and More Militarization

From All Things Digital's interview with Cuban blogger Claudia Cadelo:

"It's a fact: This island is governed by madmen," [Cadelo] wrote in reference to the country's effective shutdown to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs. "We Cubans say we are paranoid, and, honestly, if we weren't we'd be really sick, because there is nothing more chilling than to stand on the balcony and see a squad of soldiers screaming obscenities and stomping the ground."

Meanwhile, author Alvaro Vargas Llosa observes in Canada's Globe and Mail:

The Castro brothers, ever the cunning tacticians, are ready to make concessions in many areas. But not on the definitive issue: the monopoly of power. One need only look at the Politburo to see that Cuba is not an ideological dictatorship, but a military one. Raul Castro, who now succeeds his brother as first secretary, has traditionally been the chief of the armed forces. The small clique of old-guard members who have been "elected" to the Politburo have proved their loyalty during decades of collaboration with him in the military.

And finally, Cuban punk rockers Porno Para Ricardo take a jab at Castro's military in their latest video (below), "La Hoz de Guadana."

The chorus is a popular (jovial) chant used by conscripts:

Un, dos, tres, cuatro.
Comiendo mierda y rompiendo zapatos.

One, two, three, four.
Eating shit and breaking my shoes.

(It rhymes in Spanish).