Fidel Castro

[jdobbin]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14131285/

The celebrations in Miami that he died were over the top.

If Cuba does become a democracy, hopefully some of the loudmouth Cubans will go back there.

[Shady]

The celebrations in Miami that he died were over the top

I thought they were funny and appropriate. Maybe you have to live under a murderous dictator to understand. Although, I haven't, and I did, so who knows.

[jdobbin]

I thought they were funny and appropriate. Maybe you have to live under a murderous dictator to understand. Although, I haven't, and I did, so who knows.

Its the stranglehold on American policy by this lobby group that is annoying. No other country has been the focus of such a long and complete embargo. It has probably strengthened Castro rather than weakend him.

I just wonder what a Cuba under these "democrats" might look like. I think Las Vegas must be quaking in its boots.

[geoffrey]

His brother is far more dictatorial. More of a communist. He warned the Americans to fix things with Castro because they'd never be fixed with him.

This is horribly sad news for the Cuban people. They were screwed before, now they are really screwed.

[no1important]

Castro says he's in good spirits after surgery

Cuba's President Fidel Castro declared himself to be in good spirits and stable condition following stomach surgery.

"I can say it is a stable condition," the 79-year-old said in a statement read out on state television on Tuesday. He did not appear. "I am in perfectly good spirits."

On Monday night, Castro startled his country when he announced he was temporarily relinquishing his leadership powers to his brother Raul. Fidel had underwent surgery to stop intestinal bleeding.

Earlier, a senior Cuban official said Fidel was "very far away" from death -- despite speculation to the contrary from Castro opponents in the Unite States.

Speaker of Parliament Ricardo Alarcon told a governmental news service that Castro is known for fighting to the very end but said that his "final moment is still very far away."

Venezuela's government said Castro's recovery was "advancing positively", citing information from the island's government without providing details.

A leftist Argentine lawmaker said Castro aides told him the surgery was successful and that Castro was resting peacefully.

Castro, who turns 80 on Aug. 13, had his celebration postponed from Aug. 13 to Dec. 2 -- the date of the 50th anniversary of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

That is good news.

Read the rest of this article here

It sure was despicable seeing people in Miami celebrating his illness. They seem to forget how bad things were before Fidel. Scanning the CNN footage, I was hard pressed to find anyone who resembled (i.e. was old enough) to be a Cuban exile. This crowd looked more like second or third generation gamberros who've seen Buena Vista Social Club a few too many times and believe the ancianos' right-wing fantasies of a pre-Castro paradise. For those of you scoring at home, I have never been to Cuba, nor was I alive in 1959. However, I still cast my doubts as to how much of a paradise a military dictatorship owned by the Mafia and United Sugar would be.

By no means are Castro's hands clean, but he has built impressive education and health care systems: how else could he still be running the country at his age? Until Hugo Chavez showed up, Cuba was the only counterweight to American hegemony in the Western Hemisphere. Why are the Republicubans so jubilant when there are no guarantees that a post-Castro Cuba would be better? What exactly do people in Florida know about free and fair elections, or for that matter, human rights abuses in Cuba?

[geoffrey]

What exactly do people in Florida know about free and fair elections, or for that matter, human rights abuses in Cuba?

Clever. But misguided.

[ponyboy]

What exactly do people in Florida know about free and fair elections, or for that matter, human rights abuses in Cuba?

Clever. But misguided

"clever but misguided"That your answer? That's what i like about you neo-cons,when you don't have an answer you just bail.Have you ever been to Cuba?I have, great country,great people.I've met more than enough to know that most are a little tired of the Miami Cubans telling them how great they have it in america.All america wants with Cuba is to turn it back into a playground.Never gonna happen.

[geoffrey]

What exactly do people in Florida know about free and fair elections, or for that matter, human rights abuses in Cuba?

Clever. But misguided

"clever but misguided"That your answer? That's what i like about you neo-cons,when you don't have an answer you just bail.Have you ever been to Cuba?I have, great country,great people.I've met more than enough to know that most are a little tired of the Miami Cubans telling them how great they have it in america.All america wants with Cuba is to turn it back into a playground.Never gonna happen.

Yup, I've been to Cuba. Oppressed, downtrodden. Have you ever left a resort? I took a Jeep out into real Cuba for a few days (got bored of the beach) and let me tell you these people live like shit. None of them are allowed to travel abroad or speak their minds in conversation without fearing oppression. Many don't have running water or even access to clean water. Food is what they can scrap together most of the time. Plantation farming has workers pressed to the max with no legal allowance to find other work outside the backbreaking labour.

You must forget there is no freedom in Cuba, no matter how well Castro can make his people look in the 10km around the resort.

It's awful high and mighty of you to tell a people they are living great when they have no freedom in their everyday lives. It's something you obviously take for granted.

[cybercoma]

Yup, I've been to Cuba. Oppressed, downtrodden. Have you ever left a resort? I took a Jeep out into real Cuba for a few days (got bored of the beach) and let me tell you these people live like shit. None of them are allowed to travel abroad or speak their minds in conversation without fearing oppression. Many don't have running water or even access to clean water. Food is what they can scrap together most of the time. Plantation farming has workers pressed to the max with no legal allowance to find other work outside the backbreaking labour.

You must forget there is no freedom in Cuba, no matter how well Castro can make his people look in the 10km around the resort.

It's awful high and mighty of you to tell a people they are living great when they have no freedom in their everyday lives. It's something you obviously take for granted.

Oh SNAP! Taken to school, son!

[ponyboy]

What exactly do people in Florida know about free and fair elections, or for that matter, human rights abuses in Cuba?

Clever. But misguided

"clever but misguided"That your answer? That's what i like about you neo-cons,when you don't have an answer you just bail.Have you ever been to Cuba?I have, great country,great people.I've met more than enough to know that most are a little tired of the Miami Cubans telling them how great they have it in america.All america wants with Cuba is to turn it back into a playground.Never gonna happen.

Yup, I've been to Cuba. Oppressed, downtrodden. Have you ever left a resort? I took a Jeep out into real Cuba for a few days (got bored of the beach) and let me tell you these people live like shit. None of them are allowed to travel abroad or speak their minds in conversation without fearing oppression. Many don't have running water or even access to clean water. Food is what they can scrap together most of the time. Plantation farming has workers pressed to the max with no legal allowance to find other work outside the backbreaking labour.

You must forget there is no freedom in Cuba, no matter how well Castro can make his people look in the 10km around the resort.

It's awful high and mighty of you to tell a people they are living great when they have no freedom in their everyday lives. It's something you obviously take for granted.

WHEN were you there,actually i was there for six months teaching them the tricks of the trade on their new Kiboda tractors.That was just over a year ago,there were all kinds of Ag people studying their production methods.David Suzuki was suppose to do a story on it.

Oh SNAP! Your an idiot son!

[geoffrey]

Yup, I've been to Cuba. Oppressed, downtrodden. Have you ever left a resort? I took a Jeep out into real Cuba for a few days (got bored of the beach) and let me tell you these people live like shit. None of them are allowed to travel abroad or speak their minds in conversation without fearing oppression. Many don't have running water or even access to clean water. Food is what they can scrap together most of the time. Plantation farming has workers pressed to the max with no legal allowance to find other work outside the backbreaking labour.

You must forget there is no freedom in Cuba, no matter how well Castro can make his people look in the 10km around the resort.

It's awful high and mighty of you to tell a people they are living great when they have no freedom in their everyday lives. It's something you obviously take for granted.

WHEN were you there,actually i was there for six months teaching them the tricks of the trade on their new Kiboda tractors.That was just over a year ago,there were all kinds of Ag people studying their production methods.David Suzuki was suppose to do a story on it.

Oh SNAP! Your an idiot son!

So a state sponsored program. I wonder how real those people really act when Fidel is looking over their shoulders?

The Soviets had amazing production methods in many manufacturing industries, I'm sure that makes them free and a model to the rest of the world in how oppression leads to supreme happiness.

[cybercoma]

Oh SNAP! Your an idiot son!

My what?

[Shady]

new Kiboda tractors

New Kiboda tractors! Well then, let's look the other way at all the political prisioners and lack of human rights and freedoms.

[geoffrey]

new Kiboda tractors

New Kiboda tractors! Well then, let's look the other way at all the political prisioners and lack of human rights and freedoms.

I'd take a Kiboda over freedom anyday!

[Wilber]

Never seen a Kiboda but there are quite a few Kibotas around here. Maybe they spell it different in Spanish.

[gnam]

hahahahahahahaha....

This whole thing is hilarious... I guess neo-cons just can't help hating a commie out loud.

True that Castro accomplished a lot with his education and medical systems

True Castro hasn't been a very nice guy for those who oppose him and he has maintained a significant interest in ensuring that cuban people buy into his government's propaganda... so I guess that makes him kind of a jerk but better than the old regime.

Hardly the kind of guy worth getting wound up over when you take a look at the nightmarish SOB's our gov'ts regularly agree to deal with over in Africa and some places in Eastern Europe. The only real difference between many of those countries and Cuba is that the africans let us N. Americans rape their natural resources and sell our goods there in exchange for a few guns and bullets.

In any case, we americans are hardly any better, NSA wire taps and jail time for those who don't like the way the US behaves in their ethnic home country... really is a guerrilla war conducted against us on our own soil truly that surprising? We have all the guns... who of our adversaries was going to march out to meet us on a battlefield?? God we are such idiots... heh... at least we've got some shweeeet rockets.

None of our outrage at actions of Catsro's government stops us from shipping people off to Guatanamo whenever we think we have resonable "suspicion" to believe so and so might or might not be a terrorist or have terrorist information... talk about hipocrisy.