Did you know that Fidel Castro will be 90 years old this year? Both
Castro and the Cuban government he helped to establish and lead, have
out lasted most of those who swore to give Cuba back to its rightful
dictator. Well, that's not exactly how they said it, but that was
their intention.
My first presidential vote was cast for Stevenson, back in 1956. Of
course we all know that Father Ike won his second term. But beginning
with Eisenhower, I have been a casual observer of what we call,
"Presidential Campaigns".
Regardless of the Party they represent, every single campaigner has
demonstrated the ability to lie convincingly.
Leaving Trump, the consummate liar aside, I have heard Ted Cruz twist
the truth, Hillary Clinton "arrange" her facts in order to show that
she has said something she never said.
And Bernie Sanders is no stranger to shading facts in order to place
him in a better light.
It seems that all candidates must have signed an affidavit stating
that they will not allow a good story to come between them and their
political goals.
Carl Jarvis
On 3/28/16, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Fidel Tells Obama: 'We Don't Need the Empire to Give us Anything.'
Leader of the Cuban Revolution refutes the U.S. President's account of
their
countries' shared history
by
Lauren McCauley, staff writer
Former Cuban President Fidel Castro delivering a speech in Havana, Cuba in
2010. (Photo: Adalberto Roque/AFP/Getty)
Former Cuban President Fidel Castro had a few things to say about U.S.
President Barack Obama's recent visit to his island nation, writing in the
state-run newspaper Granma on Monday, "We don't need the empire to give us
anything."
The column, entitled "Brother Obama," takes aim at statements made by Obama
during his historic visit to Cuba last week.
"I have come here to bury the last remnant of the Cold War in the
Americas,"
the U.S. president said during a speech at Havana's Grand Theater. "I have
come here to extend the hand of friendship to the Cuban people."
In the column, Castro offered alternative versions for some of the historic
anecdotes that Obama recounted during his address-which the Communist
leader
referred to as "a deluge of concepts entirely novel for the majority of
us."
"My modest suggestion," writes Castro, who did not visit with Obama during
the trip, "is that he reflects and doesn't try to develop theories about
Cuban politics."
Castro recounts half a century of U.S. aggression, including the 1961 Bay
of
Pigs invasion, which he describes as "a mercenary force with armored
artillery and infantry, backed by aircraft, trained and accompanied by U.S.
warships and aircraft carriers, attacked our country by surprise." He adds,
"Nothing can justify that perfidious attack which cost our country hundreds
of losses, including deaths and injuries."
Responding to Obama's statement that Cuba and the U.S. both supported the
effort to end apartheid in South Africa, Castro counters that "Reagan and
Israel" were responsible for bringing nuclear weapons to "racist South
Africa."
At one point, Obama compared the two nations, telling the Cuban people, "We
both live in a new world, colonized by Europeans. Cuba, like the United
States, was built in part by slaves brought here from Africa. Like the
United States, the Cuban people can trace their heritage to both slaves and
slave-owners."
Castro rebuked that statement, saying that "the native populations don't
exist at all in Obama's mind," and credits the Communist revolution with
"[sweeping] away racial discriminations...before Mr. Barack Obama was 10
years old."
Castro warns against the likely tide of tourism, which is expected to rise
under the new diplomatic agreements, saying it "in large part, consists of
viewing the delights of our landscapes and tasting exquisite delicacies
from
our seas, and is always shared with the private capital of large foreign
corporations, whose earnings, if they don't reach billions of dollars, are
not worthy of any attention whatsoever."
"Obama made a speech in which he uses the most sweetened words to express:
'It is time, now, to forget the past, leave the past behind,'" writes the
aging Cuban leader. But, he adds, after half a century of U.S. efforts to
overthrow Cuba's Communist leadership, "I suppose all of us were at risk of
a heart attack upon hearing these words from the President of the United
States."
"After a ruthless blockade that has lasted almost 60 years, and what about
those who have died in the mercenary attacks on Cuban ships and ports, an
airliner full of passengers blown up in midair, mercenary invasions,
multiple acts of violence and coercion?" he continues. "Nobody should be
under the illusion that the people of this dignified and selfless country
will renounce the glory, the rights, or the spiritual wealth they have
gained with the development of education, science and culture."
Promising "legal and peaceful" efforts, Castro concludes that the Cuban
people "are capable of producing the food and material riches we need with
the efforts and intelligence of our people. We do not need the empire to
give us anything."
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License
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Fidel Tells Obama: 'We Don't Need the Empire to Give us Anything.'
Published on
Monday, March 28, 2016
by
Common Dreams
Fidel Tells Obama: 'We Don't Need the Empire to Give us Anything.'
Leader of the Cuban Revolution refutes the U.S. President's account of
their
countries' shared history
by
Lauren McCauley, staff writer
. 13 Comments
.
. Former Cuban President Fidel Castro delivering a speech in Havana,
Cuba in 2010. (Photo: Adalberto Roque/AFP/Getty)
. Former Cuban President Fidel Castro had a few things to say about
U.S. President Barack Obama's recent visit to his island nation, writing in
the state-run newspaper Granma on Monday, "We don't need the empire to give
us anything."
. The column, entitled "Brother Obama," takes aim at statements made
by Obama during his historic visit to Cuba last week.
. "I have come here to bury the last remnant of the Cold War in the
Americas," the U.S. president said during a speech at Havana's Grand
Theater. "I have come here to extend the hand of friendship to the Cuban
people."
. In the column, Castro offered alternative versions for some of the
historic anecdotes that Obama recounted during his address-which the
Communist leader referred to as "a deluge of concepts entirely novel for
the
majority of us."
"My modest suggestion," writes Castro, who did not visit with Obama during
the trip, "is that he reflects and doesn't try to develop theories about
Cuban politics."
Castro recounts half a century of U.S. aggression, including the 1961 Bay
of
Pigs invasion, which he describes as "a mercenary force with armored
artillery and infantry, backed by aircraft, trained and accompanied by U.S.
warships and aircraft carriers, attacked our country by surprise." He adds,
"Nothing can justify that perfidious attack which cost our country hundreds
of losses, including deaths and injuries."
Responding to Obama's statement that Cuba and the U.S. both supported the
effort to end apartheid in South Africa, Castro counters that "Reagan and
Israel" were responsible for bringing nuclear weapons to "racist South
Africa."
At one point, Obama compared the two nations, telling the Cuban people, "We
both live in a new world, colonized by Europeans. Cuba, like the United
States, was built in part by slaves brought here from Africa. Like the
United States, the Cuban people can trace their heritage to both slaves and
slave-owners."
Castro rebuked that statement, saying that "the native populations don't
exist at all in Obama's mind," and credits the Communist revolution with
"[sweeping] away racial discriminations...before Mr. Barack Obama was 10
years old."
Castro warns against the likely tide of tourism, which is expected to rise
under the new diplomatic agreements, saying it "in large part, consists of
viewing the delights of our landscapes and tasting exquisite delicacies
from
our seas, and is always shared with the private capital of large foreign
corporations, whose earnings, if they don't reach billions of dollars, are
not worthy of any attention whatsoever."
"Obama made a speech in which he uses the most sweetened words to express:
'It is time, now, to forget the past, leave the past behind,'" writes the
aging Cuban leader. But, he adds, after half a century of U.S. efforts to
overthrow Cuba's Communist leadership, "I suppose all of us were at risk of
a heart attack upon hearing these words from the President of the United
States."
"After a ruthless blockade that has lasted almost 60 years, and what about
those who have died in the mercenary attacks on Cuban ships and ports, an
airliner full of passengers blown up in midair, mercenary invasions,
multiple acts of violence and coercion?" he continues. "Nobody should be
under the illusion that the people of this dignified and selfless country
will renounce the glory, the rights, or the spiritual wealth they have
gained with the development of education, science and culture."
Promising "legal and peaceful" efforts, Castro concludes that the Cuban
people "are capable of producing the food and material riches we need with
the efforts and intelligence of our people. We do not need the empire to
give us anything."
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License
