BBC: Fidel Castro hurt in fall during speech

[bigworld]

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3761748.stm>

Fidel Castro, Cuba's 78-year-old leader, is recovering after falling at the end of a public speech and possibly fracturing a knee and an arm. Aides were seen rushing to his assistance as he was leaving a stage in the city of Santa Clara where he had been making a televised speech.

He later appeared before the crowd in a chair to say he was "all in one piece".

...


The Cuban revolutionary leader said he preferred to leave the city in a jeep rather than an ambulance and urged people to continue their programme of events.

Mr Castro had been speaking at the mausoleum where the remains of fellow revolutionary Che Guevara are kept.

He delivered a one-hour speech to mark a graduation of arts instructors.

When he fell, some of those among the audience of 30,000 broke into tears, a Reuters correspondent reports.

[Redneck Socialist]

1. It was the shock of hearing that the Sox beat the Yankees

He was so stunned he toppled right over.

[Flammable Materials]

2. "some of those among the audience of 30,000 broke into tears"

Sounds like a Bush rally.

And both audiences are pre-selected.

[Judi Lynn]

3. As the article says, he fell several years ago, also, during a speech

It was noted at that time, also, that there was a substantial reaction of concern, then, with people weeping, as it was this time.
The people genuinely seemed worried, and to feel affectionate toward him.

Pretty easy to see the people who live in Cuba, who know FAR more about him than propaganda-educated Americans have a far different image of the man they call "El Commandante."

[Judi Lynn]

4. A Reuters article claims he tripped.......

Castro injures knee in fall after speech
Thu 21 October, 2004 05:25



By Anthony Boadle

SANTA CLARA, Cuba (Reuters) - Cuban President Fidel Castro has injured one of his knees and possibly an arm when he fell as he returned to his seat after making a speech at a graduation ceremony in central Cuba.

Castro, 78, was picked up by bodyguards who helped him into a chair after the fall at the graduation ceremony on Wednesday for art instructors in Santa Clara.

The Cuban president asked for a microphone and told the crowd of about 30,000 people, some of whom broke into tears when he fell, that there was no cause for alarm.
(snip)

Castro tripped suddenly after making the speech on the steps of the mausoleum which holds the remains of fellow-revolutionary Che Guevara.
The Cuban leader recovered rapidly to reassure the stunned crowd that he was "in one piece." He joked that the picture of his fall would be on front pages of the world's newspapers the next day.

Castro said he wanted no sadness and told organizers to continue the musical show, receiving a standing ovation and cries of "Viva Fidel."
(snip)

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=606629§ion=news

[Matilda]

5. Bush pushed him.

n/t

[seemslikeadream]

6. The fall of Castro

The fall of Castro



Cuban President Fidel Castro, center, trips after a speech at a graduation ceremony in Santa Clara, Cuba, on Wednesday night, Oct. 21, 2004, in this image taken from television video. An Associated Press photographer at the scene said Castro tripped on a concrete step after he finished walking down the stairs from the stage, then fell onto the ground on his right side, first hitting his knee and hip, and then his elbow and arm. Speaking live on state television less than a minute after his fall, Castro told television viewers across the island of 11.2 million people that he thought he had broken his knee "and maybe an arm ... but I am all in one piece.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-1021cas...


Algorem
where's his right arm?
I knew he was a lefty but this is ridiculous.



The Backlash Cometh
My mum is no Castro fan, but now in her 80s, and having taken
two falls of her own, she was very moved when she saw him go down.


Minstrel Boy
"Fidel Castro 'breaks arm, knee' in fall"
AFP

"Please excuse me for having fallen," Castro smiled, who was clad in his trademark olive uniform.

"Just so no one speculates, I may have a fracture in my knee and maybe one in my arm," he continued. "But I remain in one piece."

The audience, which gasped as it watched him fall, responded with cheers and thunderous applause.

...

Though poverty is rampant throughout the Caribbean island, most Cubans remain loyal to Castro and his revolution.

http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/361519.htm


bluedog

well bush
freaking fell off the sofa eating a pretzel..then a bike then a segway......did he ever say excuse me for looking like an idiot?

Whoever is detected in a shameful fraud is ever after not believed even if they speak the truth......phaedrus~


Say_What

OUCH!! Fractures are painful at any age!!

Radio Mambi and the other right-wing wacko exile radio stations are abuzz today. Like they did after he fainted a few years ago under a hot sun, Miami will be speculating when el Commandante will die. LOL This has been going on for decades.

Meanwhile, Fidel will soon be working on his 11th (count 'em eleven) US president. Hopefully Kerry will bring more sanity to the warped cold war Cuban embargo by getting rid of the POS political football.

"...Demonstrating he hadn't lost his focus, he noted the fact reporters from around the world had witnessed the fall.

"The international press has captured it and surely tomorrow it will be on the front pages of the newspapers."

Despite Castro's assurances, the fall has renewed questions that were top of mind when a fainting spell sent a stir through the island nation of 11.2 million three years ago.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/109...


A Cuban art graduate student kisses President Fidel Castro (news - web sites) on his forehead after receiving her diploma during a ceremony in Santa Clara, October 20, 2004. Castro, 78, injured a knee and possibly an arm on Wednesday when he fell while descending a flight of steps after making a one-hour speech. Castro was picked up by bodyguards who helped him into a chair after the fall at a graduation ceremony in Santa Clara in central Cuba, Reuters correspondent Anthony Boadle said. (Claudia Daut/Reuter

Minstrel Boy
wow, what a picture
Thanks for posting that. Brought tears to my eyes, it did.

Flame on, but I love the old man.


Say_What

Happens to be a favorite of mine as well.
Friends in Mexico tell me that when Fidel enters a room to speak he is greeted with a standing ovation, and I hear that most of the Third World responds to him in the same manner. Unknown to most 'muriKans is his long and very warm relationship with Nelson Mandela.

Viva Cuba!!


Minstrel Boy
One of the most heartening international relationships
is that between Cuba and South Africa.
Here's Nelson Mandela in Cuba:

"The real truth is that the West supported apartheid; they supplied it with technology, countless billions in investments, and vast quantities of arms; and they also gave it political support. No, imperialism did not break ties with apartheid, it did not blockade apartheid; imperialism maintained and continues to maintain excellent relations with apartheid. It was Cuba that had to be blockaded, Cuba where the vestiges of apartheid -- that is, racial discrimination -- disappeared a long time ago. Cuba had to be blockaded as punishment for its revolution, as punishment for its social justice -- but never apartheid.

"We come here with a sense of great debt that is owed to the people of Cuba. What other country can point to a record of greater selflessness than Cuba has displayed in its relations with Africa?

"Where is the country that has sought Cuban help and has had it refused?

"How many countries under threat from imperialism or struggling for national liberation have been able to count on Cuban support?"
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/1991/38/38p21b.htm


More than 300 South Africans studying medicine in Cuba
Granma, Aug 4

"THIS year we are celebrating 10 years of freedom, and it is thanks to the Cuban government and people, who have been with us through the difficult years of our revolution," affirmed Thenjiwe Ethel Mtintso, ambassador of the Republic of South Africa in Havana. She was speaking at a ceremony to bid farewell to 32 South Africans who have studying medicine for five years in Cuba and will do their internships at universities and hospitals in their country.

Mtintso emphasized that this was the third group of students to have completed the course, and urged them not to forget the sacrifices signified by Cuba’s internationalist aid to the revolutions in Angola and South Africa. "Remember who you are and where you were educated, and we hope that you will be revolutionary doctors who will serve the people," she added.

The ambassador announced that before 1994, more than 2,000 South African students had graduated in Cuba, and many others, "including myself, came for political education."

She quoted Che Guevara, who in addressing medical students in 1960 said, "we have the right, and even the obligation of being before all else, revolutionary doctors, who put their knowledge to the service of the Revolution and the people."
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2004/agosto/mier4/32sud.htm...


JitterbugPerfume
eleven presidents?
that takes you all of the way back to TRUMAN---right?


Say_What
Kerry will be #11
Truman??
The Cubans threw the US-supported Batista out in 1959.


Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)
Richard Nixon (1969-1974)
Gerald Ford (1973-1974)
Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
George Bush (1989-1993)
Bill Clinton (1993-2001)
George W. Bush (2001-


Algorem
wearing that green color seems to make people injury-prone somehow


robcon

Castro never stops lying...
His claim "Just so no one speculates, I may have a fracture in my knee and maybe one in my arm," ... "But I remain in one piece." is a typical piece of bluster, worthy of Kim-Il Sung or Kim Jong Il. In fact, since Castro apparently plans to install his brother if he dies before Raul, the connection to the Kim dynasty of North Korea is apt.


David__77
I don't think the comparison is apt.
I wouldn't even have to guess what the answer would be if you had a choice to live in North Korea or live in Cuba.


Aidoneus
"he never stops lying"
Um.. he seems to have been open enough about the leg & arm, so I don't see the lie; "I remain in one piece" is a pretty standard line. I don't think you need to drag any torturously random analogies in, unless the aim is to smoothly advance your obvious agenda. Which, if I may advise, isn't come off as smoothly.



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x921308

[Beaverhausen]

7. US refuses to wish Castro a speedy recovery after fall

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041021/pl_afp/us_cuba_castro_041021183343

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States refused to wish arch-foe Fidel Castro (news - web sites) a speedy recovery from bone fractures sustained in an accidental stumble, saying the Cuban leader's injuries were of "little concern" compared to the suffering of the Cuban people.


"We heard that Castro fell," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, professing ignorance as to which bones he may have damaged. "You'd have to check with the Cubans to find out what's broken about Mr Castro.

"We, obviously, have expressed our views about what's broken in Cuba," he told reporters, reiterating Washington's litany of complaints about Castro and his communist government which have been the target of a US trade embargo for more than 40 years.

Asked whether the United States would wish Castro a speedy recovery, Boucher replied: "No" and said Washington was far more concerned about the welfare of the Cuban people under what he called and undemocratic and repressive regime.

more at the link

[MisterP]

9. ooh, Doucher says Cuba's got an "undemocratic and repressive regime"

what the HELL does that make us?!

[hippiechick]

8. One of the Hollywood talking head shows had video

and they replayed it several times, the entire time mocking and fawning 'it's just not right to show heads of state like this' ...

:mad:

I'd love for them to break out the massive, massive amount of Bush Faux Pas footage and be as snide while it runs, over and over again ...


:hippie: