"In the West much of the time if you’re not allowed to vote by putting the ballot in the box and choosing an administrative person, if this does not take place, then we’re inclined to say there’s no democracy. This is not necessarily true, if democracy is defined as all of the people getting a fair share and a fair deal of whatever wealth there is and some control over their administrators. But here you can only vote within the scope of the definition of the institutions and the authorities that control them. (…) For instance, in the west, as well as in Latin America, people say there’s no democracy in Cuba because they’re not putting the ballot in the box. So therefore the people are not consulted. On the other hand, Fidel Castro says that the people are consulted in an even more severe way; that the authority is put to the acid test. The acid test is that for a long time the people can be fooled, but they can’t be fooled and misused all of the time. The test would be the doom of authority through armed revolution. That is the way the people are consulted in the final analysis."