Cuba Condemns Criticism of China - Watch the Spin

[magbana]

(Karen Wald is a longtime observer of Cuba and has written extensively about it. Below she provides an overall comment about the article and then annotates the article with additional comments -- in parentheses).

(Major corporate media, such as the wire services, are twisting the essence of Cuba's message about the Olympic Games and China. Cuba is not here primarily condemning criticism of China (although it mentions the outside provocation related to the Tibet situation). It is protesting --as all of us should -- the politicization of the Olympics by the US, its allies and subordinates. I felt the same when the US organized a boycott of the Moscow Olympics. The whole idea of the Olympics was to engage in non-political, non-military competition, in the true spirit of sportsmanship. If political misbehavior is to be the criteria for canceling or boycotting participation in Olympic Games, the US should never have been allowed to host them. klw)


Cuba Condemns Criticism of China
13 hours ago
HAVANA (AP) -- Cuba on Saturday rejected criticism of China for its crackdown on recent riots in Tibet, which has led to calls for a possible boycott of this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing.

In an e-mail statement issued by the Foreign Ministry, Havana also accused U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia of being the principal voice behind talk of a boycott.

"The government of Cuba condemns with all of its energy attempts to organize a crusade aimed at undermining this noble undertaking," the government said.

Protests against Chinese rule in Tibet have drawn a harsh response from Beijing, and Chinese authorities say 16 people have died and 325 were injured. The Dalai Lama's exiled government says 99 Tibetans have been killed.

Havana -- one of five current communist governments including Beijing -- also is quick to reject international complaints about its own human rights record. (Guilt by association. The reader is expected to already be convinced that China is a gross violator of human rights; so by saying that Cuba "also is quick to reject international complaints about its own human rights record" the AP is sarcastically telling us that of course both of these repressive communist governments violate human rights and lie about it. There isn't even the slightest implication that Cuba's rejection of such charges might be based on fact.)


The government added that it believes the Tibet riots were "promoted from outside the country," and expressed opposition to "any attempt to meddle in the internal affairs of China." (Does anyone really doubt that the CIA was hard at work promoting unrest in Tibet, and that the US government was just waiting to jump at the chance to exploit the riots and the expected response???)


President Bush has long planned to attend the Beijing Olympics, and the White House said this week that the crackdown in Tibet is not cause for him to cancel.

The European Union also spoke out against a boycott, saying it would be counterproductive to efforts to improve human rights in China.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hlOzvzDfc-ZBKzZIdOtmq815pzCAD8VIO0V00

[Mika]

1. Did you follow the thread this morning in LBN on Chavez says US behind unrest.

A shitload of common sense posts (lol, a deleted sub thread) were deleted because you_know_who started in with the usual 'Chavez lovers', even so far as to accuse another DUer of performing oral sex on Chavez.

I can hardly wait to see the meltdown if this makes it over to LBN.

Why not post it over there? on edit: then brew some con leche for an all nighter.

:popcorn:


:hi:



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[Judi Lynn]

2. Coming back to read this later. Looks very interesting.

As a side note to Mika, I did spot that thread long after the massacre, apparently.

Sure wish these trolls would get the #### out of the way, but eventually we do get the information we're seeking, anyway.

[Bacchus39]

3. old news

was there any doubt that Cuba would support the Chinese government over the oppressed people of Tibet?