Castro lashes out at EU Veteran Cuban leader Fidel Castro has dismissed the EU as an agent of the US or "the superpower's Trojan horse", as he put it. In a speech at the historic Moncada barracks in Santiago de Cuba to mark the 50th anniversary of the revolution which brought him to power, Mr Castro told a crowd of 10,000: "Cuba does not need the help of the European Union to survive". In 1953, as a 26-year-old revolutionary, Mr Castro led about 120 fighters in a raid against the garrison of about 800 soldiers at Santiago de Cuba. Fiftieth anniversary in pictures Mr Castro's forces were crushed and he was arrested, but Cubans still mark the date as the beginning of the revolution. In this anniversary year, the Cuban leader directed his thunder against the EU, which was until recently seen as an economic lifeline for the ailing Socialist state. Relations deteriorated rapidly in early June, however, when the EU raised the prospect of sanctions over the Cuba's mass imprisonment of dissidents. The EU was a "group of old colonial powers historically responsible for slave trafficking, looting and even the extermination of entire peoples", Mr Castro told his audience. Sparking a revolution National celebrations of the 50th anniversary include fireworks, cultural galas and an appearance by Elian Gonzalez - the child at the centre of a row between the US and Cuba three years ago. Hundreds of Cuban children have also re-enacted the attack on the barracks. A number of Mr Castro's ill-armed revolutionaries were killed or captured in the attack on the barracks and he was put on trial. "Convict me; it does not matter. History will absolve me," Mr Castro, a trained lawyer, told the court in a speech which became a manifesto for the Cuban revolution. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison but was freed in a general amnesty less than two years later. He went to Mexico and later returned to Cuba to oust the right-wing dictator Fulgencio Batista on 1 January 1959. He has since become the world's longest-serving head of government, outlasting nine US presidents and long-standing American hostility to his regime. Uncertain future His country has gone from being the third-richest in Latin America to one of the poorest. Its economy now relies heavily on funds sent from Cubans abroad and on tourism, much of which stems from the EU. Untold numbers of Cubans flee the island every year, trying to cross to nearby Florida - including via a truck turned into a raft this week. However, Cuba can still boast good healthcare and education: It has the highest life expectancy in Latin America and one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world It has one doctor per 166 people and one of the most extensive free public health systems in the world It also has one of the highest literacy rates in the world, with just over 95% of the population being able to read But as President Castro nears his 77th birthday in August, many Cubans wonder how much longer he will remain in power, and what may happen when he dies. "There is a sense of resigned expectation on the island because no one really knows how Cuba is going to get out of this hole," Eusebio Mujal-Leon, a Cuban-born professor now based in Washington, told Reuters news agency http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3099669.stm
Castro will go down in history as a murderous thug who deprived generations of Cubans of their inalienable rights. He is pond scum, and his death will brighten my day.
I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive." --Thomas Jefferson to J. Madison, 1787. John Heath, is like the Bush Cheney crowd, though they pretend otherwise at times. They like massive very energetic government involvement and expenditures if they profit by it. In fact most of the Bush family fortune has been made off schemes in which they profit from tax payer money. John Heath loves massive government involvment if it involves neocon imperialist adventures. Now energetic government to benefit the hoi palloi--- forget it.
The Cubans have had really rough time. First they are under one murderous oppressive thug who deprived them of their rights (Bautista.) Then it looks like they have a chance at freedom when Bautista is overthrown by Castro. It turns out that they don't have it then either. But, in all seriousness, they do have great health care.
Is there ever a thread in which you dont take pot shots at the Bush Family Try and stay on topic and use the other 25 Bush bashing threads to spew your crap
i like chili dogs...they're not very good for you, but they taste so good! i think the astros have a great chance to win the central division this year. still wondering if they'll make a trade. RM95 is going to see DMB in San Francisco this weekend! I'm so freaking jealous! What a great trip that would be!
I love Castro. I don't think it wise for him to alienate the EU like this, but I do appreciate his way of presenting the truth in stark clear terms.
that's pretty interesting madmax i didn't know you were a fan of pro bowling. wow i didn't know ice fishing in alaska was great this time of year! who else thinks that i should get a new car? ok now everyone else continue in the randomn off topic ranting started by glynch
'The truth?' The EU is not really acting like 'agents of the US.' If they are our underlings, someone needs to let them know, lol.
I've always had a soft spot for communist usurpers. When Kim Il Sung died, I had the sudden realization that Castro was the last one and I should send him a letter or something before he kicked the bucket. I'm too lazy to actually write the letter and besides I don't relish the idea of the Dept of Homeland Security parking a van across the street from my house. And, Castro is especially cool because he isn't quite the murderous b*stard that some of the others were. I think he was and has always been primarily motivated by a love of his country. Things haven't gone great for them but I ascribe that mostly to the US-Cuban relations. Admittedly, Castro brought it upon himself by seizing American assets. But the US really had that coming with the imperialist practices they pursued in Cuba. In short, I think he's a great Cuban hero for toppling a merciless dictator and expelling foreign exploiters. And, since he's lived so long now and managed to keep the Americans at bay, the window has mostly closed on the US reversing the revolution and taking back the land that was nationalized. Even if the Americans force democracy on Cuba after his death, they won't manage to revive the plantation system nor crush many of the socialist practices that have succeeded on the island -- like education and healthcare. Plus, he's funny. Remember when we had the recount in Florida because of the trouble with the ballots. Castro offered to send election monitors to help with the process. That was hilarious. Another example of his boldness in telling the truth.
That is some scary, scary stuff. First of all....he is goddamned murderer! He has killed more of his own people than all the tinhorn dicatators of Cuba combined. I double-dog dare you to go down there, speak out against and see what happens. You will be rounded up and shot just like the rest. Just try to leave Cuba and he orders the MIGs to blow up your unarmed tugboat! Wow.......what a humanitarian! There's nothing cool about Castro squirreling away money in Swiss bank accounts that belongs to his people. There's nothing cool about developing a bioweapons program. There's nothing cool about his failed repeated attempts at a command economy and now young Cuban girls all over the place are prostituting themselves to smelly Europeans just so they can make enough money to eat. Wow, what a cool guy he is! He took one of the richest islands in all the Caribbean and made it a bankrupt hellhole. Yeah.....he's a great one all right.
Before you put him on a pedestal and say he is a great leader have you been to little Havana and talked to the people who have suffered though his leadership he doesn't ever tell the truth and because of his leadership the Cuban people are not free here in America if most people don't like bush he will be a one term president in Cuba if you say you disagree with any of castro's decision will go to jail and sometimes be tortured in Cuba you as a person have no right to speak think for your self or run for high office the Cuban people don't like Castro they are afraid of Castro and what his thugs will do if they say anythingagents him. Castro's government needs to go and Castro needs to learn to shut up he doesn't have Moscow to protect his but anymore. Cuba has a very weak military with 40 year old weapons. And if anybody ever invaded Cuba the war would end quickly, because most of the Cuban people would welcome the invaders as liberators. Castro is a thug and about the argument that he is a great leader because of the free healthcare and 95% literacy so did NAZI Germany before WW2 you wouldn't call Hitler a great leader would you?
Holy cow. Dude, I just found out about this great invention. It's called a "period". Care to take one for a test-drive?
The gross human rights violations that the EU was objecting to was the arrest of 75 dissidents and the execution of 3 men who tried to hijack a ferry. While both are examples of oppression, it isn't as bad as dropping napalm (supplied by the Americans, btw) on your own citizenry, as Batista had. I'd point out the 75 dissidents were not shot, only incarcerated. I've never heard of Castro blowing up boats fleeing to Florida; I'd like to see an example, if you have one. They did shoot down a couple of planes of an anti-Castro movement that was violating their airspace in 1996. I think 4 died in that event. I did some searching to find online accusations that Castro had Swiss bank accounts, but I couldn't find anything. I'll grant that it is possible; I never said he was a saint. Still, probably doesn't rise to the level of the wealth that was siphoned from the country through American companies that owned land and resources in Cuba before the revolution (for example, American companies owned 2/3rd of the farmland in Cuba). Oh, and the US' own man, Batista, fled the revolution with $40 million in government funds. I know you're not arguing that Batista was a great guy, but one of the reasons why Castro is awesome is because he kicked that b*stard out of power. Researching prostition in Cuba from work without getting in trouble was interesting. Before the revolution, Cuba had a reputation as a sex-industry destination and the country was apparently permeated by American mafia bosses that prospered with gambling and prostitution (funded by the Batista govt). Castro cleaned up prostitution considerably after the revolution. However, it is true that with opening up to foreign tourism recently has caused an increase in prostitution, with smelly Europeans being able to easily pay a whole lot more than a Cuban can earn with an honest job. But, prostitution is still less pervasive than other Latin American countries (I couldn't find statistics though). In any case, is the disparity in wealth the result of bad economic leadership or of a strict embargo imposed by the US? I would say mostly the latter. And, even while the embargo was brought on by their own actions, I think it is still preferable to the economic exploitation by the Americans they had been under and the really brutal dictatorships the Americans propped up. If you want to see what a real dictator is like, and why it is that Castro's revolution was necessary, read this short history on Batista. He's not evil like Stalin though; he's more like a mafia boss: http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/batista.htm
Here's Amnesty International's report on Cuba: http://web.amnesty.org/report2003/cub-summary-eng They obviously have some troubles. There has been some intimidation and harrassment of dissidents. But, not a very scathing review of how Castro treats his people.
