Fidel admits he was was virtually dead

[rabs]

in interview published Monday with Carmen Lira, director of the Mexican newspaper La Jornada.

-------------------------

Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro told an interviewer there were times during his long illness when he was at death's door but now he is mostly recovered and trying to avert nuclear war.

Castro, 84, told Mexico's La Jornada in an interview published on Monday that he was in such bad shape after falling ill four years ago that he no longer "aspired to live, much less anything else."

He said he asked himself "if those people (doctors) were going to let me live in those conditions or if they were going to let me die.

"Then I survived but in very bad physical condition," said Castro, who underwent emergency surgery in July 2006 for a still-undisclosed intestinal illness, and then endured several following operations



http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67T51A20100830

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Reuters leaves out this:

Comentó que cuando "resucitó" vio un "mundo de locos". "Llegué a estar muerto, pero resucité (...) Quiero decirte que estás ante una especie de resucitado".

He say that when he "resuscitated," I saw "a world of madmen." "I reached the point of being dead, but resuscitated ... I want to say to you that you are before a resuscitated specimen."

----------------------------
a lot of other omitted details here in Spanish

http://www.telesurtv.net/noticias/secciones/nota/77418-NN/fidel-castro-dice-que-no-quiere-ausentarse-de-un-mundo-que-esta-en-fase-peligrosa/

and a lot more here in Spanish too

http://www.cubadebate.cu/especiales/2010/08/30/entrevista-con-fidel-castro-i-parte-hay-que-persuadir-a-obama-de-que-evite-la-guera-nuclear/


--------------------
Wonder if any other former world leader has such a spartan office. A painting of Jose Marti and a vase from somewhere and that is it. Check out the desk, it looks like a packing box.

[Judi Lynn]

1. Wow. It did seem he was just that sick, too, at the time. He looks so much stronger today.

Concerning his austere surroundings, don't doubt it a bit.

I recall learning he donated his family's plantation to the revolution: it was the first private estate to go to the cause of the new life in Cuba. It has been converted to a tourists' area now, and people visit it apparently daily. His dad built a railroad on it long, long ago, when the former President was a child, to carry the tobacco or whatever they grew, after it had been gathered.

I'm sure that is his office, as I have seen other photos taken with that picture of Jose Marti on the wall behind him, even though they didn't show the desk. The desk looks REALLY inexpensive.

I do remember seeing photos before he was ill, and remember at the time thinking the stuff really looked old, like that '50's Danish Modern junk or whatever, as if they had never gone nuts and bought new furniture.

This desk he has could be the smallest one I've ever seen! Kinda interesting! Thanks.

Recommending.

[bherrera]

2. Fidel Castro is not a world leader

He is a retired senile old man.

[Judi Lynn]

3. More people in the world recognize his name than they recognize the name of the Spanish King. n/t

[bherrera]

4. The Spanish King is not a world leader

But King Juan Carlos is not a world leader. He has a ceremonial role, and that is as it should be. The point, my dear friend, is that Fidel Castro is hardly a world leader. I am sure Bono is recognized by many people, and he is not a world leader. If we look at Latin America, the only leader they have which qualifies as a world leader is Jose Ignacio Lula da Silva. In Europe, we should be honest, only Merkel and possibly Sarkozy count. In the USA, President Obama. And of course there is Putin in Russia, and Hu Jin-tao in China. Castro? he is senile, his claims about nuclear war and Osama bin Laden are suitable for a comic book.

[Judi Lynn]

5. He's more significant than Aznar. WILDLY more respected.

You should not waste your time trying to tell leftists at a message board created for Democrats and other progressives how much you hate leftists.

I think you must simply be confused. This is NOT the forum for anti-leftist gibberish.

[bherrera]

9. What is anti-leftist gibberish?

I am a member of the Socialist party. I don't like Aznar at all. I can't stand ABC, and I like socially liberal causes. I also see how these Latin American leftists are giving socialism a bad reputation. They are, in a sense, the enemies of socialism.

[Judi Lynn]

11. They are Latin American citizens who have been through hell. Whatever your "take" is on socialism

is simply inconsequential to their situation. They are dealing with real problems in their real world, not performing a stylized dance step.

It's real life for them, not a game.

Whatever you perceive as lacking in their style or manner or what the corporate media says, always striving to misinform, NOT ONE BIT OF IT MATTERS. What matters is what works for them, gets the job done. They have aspects to consider far beyond your awareness, and it's THEIR BUSINESS.

Who could be silly enough to think anyone cares how you judge Latin American socialists?

http://www.cartoonstock.com.nyud.net:8090/lowres/mly0706l.jpg

[bherrera]

17. I obeserve Chavez' coarse manners on youtube and TV

Chavez does the damage himself, the way he speaks on TV, which is shown in Spanish TV, and CNN, and repeated on Youtube. The man is a coarse, uneducated, arrogant speaker. An emerging megalomaniac, Caligula dressed in red shirts, surrounded by swooning men who look more like weaklings and courtesans than people with their own minds. Those TV shows Chavez puts on are classics of the Latin American autocrat. They look like something Borat could have included in his movie, or content for Monty Python or Cantinflas to imitate. Your hero, my friend, is a porcine cartoon character.

And it is also evident the man isn't a socialist. He has too many fascist tendencies to be called a true socialist. His aim is his own self-worship, and the creation of a society of oligarchs wearing red shirts, corrupt to the core, who steal all the money, abuse the working class, allow crime to flourish, and destroy the economy while singing glorious songs to the great Chavez.

A cartoon character, but a tragic one, because he is ruining the possibility of true socialism emerging in Venezuela. And after people elsewhere see this disaster he brings on the Venezuelans, it will be more difficult for socialists to win. The only thing we can do is pray that Lula's influence does indeed allow Rousef to win in Brazil, so she can show how it is done properly, rather than use this obscene socialism of the 21st century, which is just fascism in disguise.

[Billy Burnett]

18. Chavez wears red because ...

... you can't see the blood when he wipes his knife blade on it, after dining on babies with Castro.


President Chavez, heading out to dine.




edit ... (just in case) :sarcasm:

[bherrera]

19. Chavez wears red because he has poor taste

I suppose he tries to send a message that he is a communist, but it makes him look like he has very poor taste, that shade of red is very sick. he also demeans the office of the presidency. Even Mr Castro has the common sense not to dress like a clown.

[EFerrari]

12. "These Latin American socialists" have brought a wave of democracy

to Latin America that must have Spain grinding its teeth.

Yes, it's difficult to watch as the traces of a dead hegemony are thrown off.

[bherrera]

20. I am not Spain

I am not Spain, and I am not griding my teeth. I also notice these so called socialists like to perpetuate themselves in power. This is a sign of weakness and autocracy, immature politics, and also a sign of worship of a single individual - it is Stalinesque in its nature, and a very bad sign. These immature political developments in Latin America are to end in failure, because they are led by flawed individuals whose tendencies are more fascist rather than true socialist.

In Spain, we are much more mature. We have a socialist government, which sometimes wins, sometimes loses elections. I happen to be a socialist because I really like the way they promote social causes and fight the power of the Catholic church, and because they have a foreign policy completely opposed to the Partido Popular's theory that being a US lackey is good for Spain, when anybody can see that Spain should be allied with France and Germany, as leading members of the European Union. I also like the emphasis on the environment, and the pragmatic reforms of the labor laws, which do protect workers' rights while at the same time moving us towards a more competitive position within the European labor market.

But I am sure these are thoughts which are too far beyond your worries, and this is not a Spain forum (I do wish we had one in English because I want to become very good at it).

There is no traces of a dead hegemony involved in my thoughts. Latin America became independent many years ago, and it has made a mess of itself for 200 years. It is up to them to fix their own problems, which they themselves create. I believe the Brazilians have the right path, I like their biofuels industry, their economy grows, there are excellent developments in improving the life of the poor, but at the same time they avoid the nationalization and confiscation practices used by the radicals in Venezuela, which are very counterproductive. Thus Brazil is growing while Venezuela's economy is collapsing. And everybody knows Cuba is already a basket case.

[EFerrari]

23. How lucky for Spain.

:)

[EFerrari]

6. LOL. That's hilarious.

Castro is, if anything, more influential today than ever.

[naaman fletcher]

22. just curious,

as a world leader, what major world event has he helped shape since he stopped sending troops to fight in africa? I suppose the issue here might just be what the definition of world leader is. At the time there seem to be very few world leaders. For example, for good or bad Tony Blair was a world leader, but his successor is not much of one.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Joe Chi Minh]

15. That's why the third International Seminar on Nanoscience an Nanotechnology is to

be held there between September 6-10: physically, a little rundown country.

[Judi Lynn]

16. Didn't know! Cool. Thanks for the news.

Yes, it IS a shame about Cuba, after all.

[bherrera]

21. Cuban organized meeting

The seminar is organized by: Office of the Scientific Advisor to the State Council of the Republic of Cuba and the Center for Advanced Cuban Studies. Now all they have to do is figure out how to run an economy where workers have the right to form free unions not controlled by the state.

[Joe Chi Minh]

24. You mean, like in the US? Sounds to me like the freedom to dine at the

Ritz or sleep under a bridge.

[EFerrari]

7. That room looks like it has been stripped of information. n/t

[Mika]

8. There's a whole library in the man's head.

We've always read reports from amazed officials (including American officials/politicians) after meeting him or negotiating with him, that Fidel's knowledge base on virtually any topic at hand is encyclopedic.

---

[EFerrari]

10. I meant, information about its occupant.

I've often wondered about the measures the Castros took to avoid becoming casualties. Taking cues out of a backdrop might have been one of them.

But I hear what you're saying, Mika. In my family, having a well stocked memory is something people compete over and brag about a little. lol

[Mika]

14. Gotcha!

:thumbsup:

Castro's appearances/interviews are the anti-model of backdrops. LOL

:hi:

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