A lot will be written about the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution. I would like to concentrate on what Cuba was before the Castro brand of communism became the status quo. And what Cuba may have been over the decades.

Looking at present-day destitute Cuba, it is easy to forget or be unaware that Cuba and its capital city Havana was once a thriving place.

The American middle-class would often summer along Cuban beaches, and during the era of prohibition, Havana’s liquor-soaked restaurants, clubs, casinos, and, of course, bars provided relief for alcohol dehydrated couples.

Havana was a center of commerce and culture. It was this city that gave birth to “the son,” a Cuban dance that has enjoyed a revival as of late. In 1958, Havana had 135 cinemas, more than New York City.

Although Cuba has a history of severe poverty, by 1958 it was among the five most developed Latin American nations with a life expectancy near America’s and more doctors per head than Britain and France.

It was this that Fidel and his rebels inherited. And this Cuba that they destroyed with their authoritarian leftism. Castro’s nationalization, alliance with the USSR that bequeathed a crippling U.S. embargo still in effect, outlawing private property, and ruthlessness destroyed what was becoming an ever more prosperous economy. With his reneging on a election promise and declaring himself a community, hundreds of thousands of the most entrepreneurial and educated Cubans left the country for the United States; mostly settling in Miami.

Where is Cuba today, 50 years after the Rebel Army marched through Havana deposing the similarly autocratic army Sargent Fulgencio Batista?

Cuba stands an living, sad example of the dismal failure of central planning. The nation imports 80% of its food. Its population is incredibly poor, most of them living on a minimal ration system. A great many Cubans are dependent on remittances sent from relative aboard. All of this just 90miles [145km] from the coast of the world’s richest nation.

Fidel cannot even seek refuge in at least pointing to an egalitarian Cuba. Inequality in the nation is rising and, although mainly , Cuba is run almost exclusively by White officials. The nation runs a $11 billion trade deficit, relies heavily on Venezuelan aid [which could decrease given Chavez’s declining oil revenue, and, as a proof that the economy is under more strain, the state has raised the retirement age by five years. In all of this, Fidel, unlike the Chinese and Russians, has not seen the horror we has installed in his country. He shall remain defiant until his last breath.

This is the Cuba of today. The question now is the future: What can a libre Cuba be?