Castro

What's crap, roses?
The facts are accurate.
I like the phrase that it does not compete for the world doormat cup.

so much for the Huffington Post....what utter crap.

This was in Huffington Post:

"Fidel
His enemies say he was an uncrowned king who confused unity with unanimity.
And in that his enemies are right.
His enemies say that if Napoleon had a newspaper like Granma, no Frenchman would have learned of the disaster at Waterloo.
And in that his enemies are right.
His enemies say that he exercised power by talking a lot and listening little, because he was more used to hearing echoes than voices.
And in that his enemies are right.

"But some things his enemies do not say: it was not to pose for the history books that he bared his breast to the invaders’ bullets,
he faced hurricanes as an equal, hurricane to hurricane,
he survived 637 attempts on his life,
his contagious energy was decisive in making a country out of a colony,
And his enemies never mention that Cuba is one rare country that does not compete for the World Doormat Cup.
And they do not say that the revolution, punished for the crime of dignity, is what it managed to be and not what it wished to become. Nor do they say that the wall separating desire from reality grew ever higher and wider thanks to the imperial blockade, which suffocated a Cuban-style democracy, militarized society, and gave the bureaucracy, always ready with a problem for every solution, the alibis it needed to justify and perpetuate itself.
And they do not say that in spite of all the sorrow, in spite of the external aggression and the internal high-handedness, this distressed and obstinate island has spawned the least unjust society in Latin America...."

On the issue of democracies, I am in Mauritius at the moment, to which island all Chagossians were forcibly re-located from their home in the Chagos Islands. This was by collusion of one democratic country, the UK, with another, the US - who seized this area to facilitate the Diego Garcia military base. Whilst the majority of people would probably wish for a democratic political system, I suspect they would not wish the word democracy to be used like a magic spell to somehow validate all sorts of very questionable behaviour.

re Guantanamo Bay, Cuba has no jurisdiction there.

Wikipedia says:

"The base is on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the south eastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas U.S. Naval Base. Since the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the Cuban government has consistently protested against the U.S. presence on Cuban soil and called it illegal under international law, alleging that the base was imposed on Cuba by force. At the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2013, Cuba's Foreign Minister demanded the U.S. return the base and the "usurped territory", which the Cuban government considers to be occupied since the U.S. invasion of Cuba during the Spanish–American War in 1898

"Since 2002, the naval base has contained a military prison, the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, for unlawful combatants captured in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places during the War on Terror. Alleged cases of torture of prisoners and their alleged denial of protection under the Geneva Conventions, have been condemned internationally."

The man is dead...no more...gone. Whatever people think about his legacy, a human being is dead. It is not respectful or disrespectful to attend his funeral. It would be rude not to send any representative

How Cuba develops from now on is up to Cuba. It would be great to think that a Cuba without American vilification could develop. but with the current President-elect, I fear that won't be a healthy relationship0.

Definitely time for bed. It has been a long and humourless day.

Perhaps? I thought it was when, he has much chance as we have of seeing Elegrans flying pigs

I have, roses, but I see parallels to the way we in Oceania bomb all other countries, testing out our weapons and the rightwing news outlets tell us what the government wants us to know. We have just had a law imposed on us for the thought police.

Orwell's other choice of title was The Last Man in Europe. Cuba is just one small island off the coast of a superstate, just like the one in 1984, which, by the way, I have on my bookshelves. This superstate can wage wars anywhere it wants, from a distance now, using drones. Very 1984.

1984 was published in 1949, and could not have been a warning about Castro's Cuba, because Castro did not become prime minister until 1959. Orwell died in 1950.
Even Batista wasn't leader until 1952.

Perhaps if Corbyn gets in, we wouldn't need threads on saving the NHS,or grammar schools.
Well, there wouldn't be so many people to use the NHS if 2/3rds of the population have fled/been assassinated/thrown in the dungeons.
So all should be well.
Although, wait a minute, there wouldn't be so many people to pay tax either so that wouldn't work.

I'll have another think.

That is funny Elegran, we need a laugh I think

Sorry, previous post was stream of consciousness. It is getting late. I should go to bed.

All pigs are equal but some pigs are more equal than others? Bay of pigs? Flying pigs taking off from airstrip one?

I don't think you can have actually read 1984 djen

Jalima, Blair sent prisoners to Cuba to be tortured. We don't have to wait for Corbyn to do it.
As far as 1984 is concerned, we are Airstrip One for the US.
While all this stuff about Brexit, etc., has been going on, our government has passed the most draconian law regarding snooping on us.
Tony Blair says the one thing he regrets is giving us the Freedom of Information Act, because it means we can find out what has been going on.
Perhaps if Corbyn gets in, we wouldn't need threads on saving the NHS,or grammar schools.
Without freedom of information requests, the information about how poorly the ambulances are performing wouldn't be on the news now.

Following Castro’s death Corbyn was quick to share his sentiments to the Castro family, describing the former Cuban president as a “huge figure of modern history, national independence and 20th Century socialism.

“From building a world-class health and education system, to Cuba’s record of international solidarity abroad, Castro’s achievements were many,” he added.

So, if Corbyn becomes PM can we look forward to that type of 20th century socialism, including political assassinations, torture and imprisonment or is that rather passé now in the 21st century?
National independence? Sounds rather like Brexit to me

Good grief Petra, jailed for listening to the Stones and that much wealth, it's obscene

In 2006 Forbes magazine estimated that Castro was worth $900 million.

Exactly niggly I think some posters should read or re-read both Animal Farm and 1984 before they sound off about how marvellous Castro and Cuba is.He was a ghastly dictator who murdered thousands and thousands of his own people, and kept his people poor whilst living the life of Riley.

Did anyone see the Rolling Stones concert in Cuba? ( last week, I think ) They interviewed an old man who had spent time in prison for listening to the Stones music.
That's democracy for you, isn't it?

Well, torture and executions wouldn't have worried Castro. I expect he too approved of water boarding or something similar. Like all Dictators left or right, human rights and other niceties are of no interest or worry to them, and hypocrisy a word they don't understand.

Read what I said, niggly. It's about the UK and the US having the use of another country to police their borders.
Guantanamo is worse, as the UK connived in the system, too, using extraordinary rendition.
On the other hand, those in Guantanamo had better living conditions than those in Calais. If, of course, you forget about the waterboarding, which Trump thinks is a good idea, and all the other torture.

FGS dj, it's not even remotely like Calais! Castro was living a life of luxery, own island, Marina, yacht, while pretending to be a man of the people! All the while hiding behind American protection! How on earth is that comparable with a refugee camp at Calais?

Read it Jalima

It's a bit like us having a border in Calais. Suited both countries, until we decided we wanted to leave the EU. Now we don't like the French wanting to give us our border back.

You have read Animal Farm I take it, anniebach

(everyone's read it! but the lessons are never learned)