BBC: Ailing Castro misses Cuban parade

[Eugene]

Last Updated: Saturday, 2 December 2006, 14:12 GMT

Ailing Castro misses Cuban parade

The Cuban capital, Havana, is staging a military parade in honour
of Fidel Castro but the ailing leader was not present at the start
of events.

The parade, on a key date in the Cuban revolution, is part of delayed
80th birthday celebrations for Mr Castro.

-snip-

He could still appear as the parade continues, but his apparent absence
is fuelling more doubts about his health.

Events are being led by the acting president, Raul Castro, Fidel's
younger brother and the island's defence minister.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6201148.stm

[pooja]

1. I wonder how much Amerika will screw them once he does die?

[brazos121200]

2. It will not be long after Castro is out of the picture

that the administration will be clamoring for "free"
elections in Cuba, and once these are held the Halliburtons et
al will move in. 

[BruceMcF]

3. This makes it all the more necessary to ...

... investigate Iraq invasion and occupation profiteering. They need to be so badly damaged in the public eye to build up the political capital to frustrate their profiteering.

Of course, any progress will only be temporary until campaign finance reform is put in place, but if the temporary progress is in place when Castro kicks the bucket, and the US Congress can partly stymie the corporate specialists in the rape and pillage of less developed economies, the US will save itself a world of trouble ten and twenty years down the track.

[Mika]

4. Hey, Cuba does have a government - an elected parliamentary system.

Cubans won't just allow foreign/US companies to barge in and set-up shop. The Cuban constitution doesn't allow any such thing. ALL foreign biz/operations in Cuba are mandated to be joint ventures with at least 51% ownership belonging to Cuba.

It never ceases to amaze me at the amount of (sometimes unintended) degrading assumptions that DUers have of the country of Cuba.

The Cuban people are not politically lazy and igonorant, they are as activist a populace as there is. They have open elections. Paper ballots counted and recounted in public.

http://www.poptel.org.uk/cuba-solidarity/democracy.htm

This system in Cuba is based upon universal adult suffrage for all those aged 16 and over. Nobody is excluded from voting, except convicted criminals or those who have left the country. Voter turnouts have usually been in the region of 95% of those eligible .

There are direct elections to municipal, provincial and national assemblies, the latter represent Cuba's parliament.

Electoral candidates are not chosen by small committees of political parties. No political party, including the Communist Party, is permitted to nominate or campaign for any given candidates.

Been there. Seen it.

Cuba does have a government that regulates business.

The Cuban revolution of 1959 wasn't Castro's revolution. It was the people's revolution against US corporate control. They haven't forgotten that, as many Americans seem to ignore.

The Cuban government IS NOT Castro.

Too bad that so many Americans are completely ignorant of this little detail.

[BruceMcF]

5. Yeah, so did Mexico ...

... and from its establishment to the 90's, the same party always won.

The main thing to remember, though, is that if the Halliburton's of the world decide its time to try to break into a new market, it doesn't matter to them what the reality on the ground is, because they are expecting the US military and paramilitary to do the hard work for them. A bigger slice of pie for them out of less to go around for everyone is fine by them. What matters to them is precisely US public opinion, and the less well informed, the better.

That's why the Republican Rubber Stamp Congress did not do their job ... oversight would have risked spreading information to the American public, and the corporate yellow bellied surplus suckers simply do not want to see that happening.

[Mika]

6. So, when did Mexicans form a revolution the kicked US hegemony out?

Seems to me that the Mexicans never did what the Cubans did.

[BruceMcF]

7. 1910-1917. The Mexican Revolution.

You don't think they were just handed those oilfields, do you?

[malaise]

8. Sadly Fidel won't be around for

much longer. His legacy will live on forever - healthy, literate citizens.
The Cuban people are way more intelligent than Bushco et al estimate.