Washington v. Cuba After Castro by Stephen Lendman

[Joanne98]

On February 18, at 5:30PM in Havana an era ended when Fidel Castro’s written statement announced it. It was read on early Tuesday morning radio and television and reprinted in the Cuban newspaper Granma as follows:

“….I will neither aspire to nor accept, I repeat, I will neither aspire to nor accept the positions of President of the State Council and Commander in Chief….it would be a betrayal to my conscience to accept a responsibility requiring more mobility and dedication than I am physically able to offer….Fortunately, our Revolution can still count on cadres from the old guard and others….who learned together with us the basics of the complex and almost unattainable art of organizing and leading a revolution.

The path will always be difficult….We should always be prepared for the worst….The adversary to be defeated is extremely strong; however, we have been able to keep it at bay for half a century….

I was able to recover the full command of my mind (and am able to do) much reading and meditation. I had enough physical strength to write for many hours….My wishes have always been to discharge my duties to my last breath. That’s all I can offer.

This is not my farewell to you. My only wish is to fight as a soldier in the battle of ideas. I shall continue to write under the heading of ‘Reflections by comrade Fidel.’ It will be just another weapon you can count on….

Thanks.

Fidel Castro Ruz”

The world press reacted, and here’s a sampling:

The New York Times cautioned that “Castro May Not Be Exiting the Stage Completely….but whether the surprise announcement represented a historic change or a symbolic political maneuver remained unclear….It was not clear what role, if any, Fidel Castro would play in a new government (because) he signaled that he was not yet ready to completely exit the stage….There was little evidence in the streets of the capital and in other cities to suggest that a monumental change was taking place in the Cuban hierarchy.”

The Washington Post.com was almost passive in stating: “Fidel Castro retires….he said on Tuesday that he will not return to lead the communist country….Cuba’s National Assembly, a rubber-stamp legislature, is expected to nominate….Raul Castro as president (who’s) been running the country since emergency intestinal surgery forced his brother to delegate power on July 31, 2006.” The Bush administration earlier announced it would not negotiate with any Cuban government headed by either Castro brother. More on that below.

The Wall Street Journal was vintage Murdoch on its editorial page. It called Castro’s legacy “ruthless….but less widely appreciated is that he was also an economic incompetent….the island is a malnourished backwater….staples are rationed, severe shortages exist in the medical system and electricity is a luxury….Cuba begs at the feet of Venezuela….young Cubans routinely take their chances with the security police and shark-infested waters rather than face life under the Castro brothers.”

The shame is that readers believe this because the Journal and the rest of the major media suppress the truth about Cuba, Venezuela and other regimes that successfully challenge Washington. In Cuba’s case, it defeated a US invasion, a 49 year economic embargo, over 600 attempts to kill Castro, repeated US state terrorism to destabilize the country, and relentless efforts to isolate the island politically and economically.

In spite of it, Castro survived. He’s now 81, an icon and living legend throughout Latin America, and most world nations have normal diplomatic and trade relations with him. In addition, Cuba is a member of the Latin American Economic System (SELA), the Organization of American States - OAS (but excluded from active participation since 1962), the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and in September 2006, it assumed leadership of the 118 member nation Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) that states it’s united to ensure “the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security (of its members) in their “struggle against imperialism, colonialism, neocolonialism, racism, and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony….”

Latin American expert James..Continued>>>
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2008/02/25/washington-v-cuba-after-castro-by-stephen-lendman/