“The assassination of an unarmed human being while surrounded by his own relatives is something abhorrent. Assassinating him and sending him to the depths of the sea shows fear and insecurity, (and) turns him into a much more dangerous figure.” Fidel Castro, May 5th.
You’d like to think: “Come on, Humberto! Why bother? No one takes Fidel Castro’s blathering seriously!”
Alas, all evidence proves the opposite. Most educated people, for instance, based on the MSM’s dutiful dissemination of Fidel Castro’s blatherings, firmly believe the U.S. embargoes or even “blockades” Cuba.
When in fact; for most of the last decade the U.S. has served as Cuba’s biggest food supplier and fifth biggest import partner. The expenditures by 400,000 travelers from the U.S. to Cuba , combined with a blizzard of remittances from the U.S. to Cuba makes the annual cash-flow from the U.S. to Cuba $4 billion nowadays. While a proud Soviet satrapy Cuba received $3-5 billion annually from the Soviets. Some “U.S. blockade.”
Point is, never underestimate the gullibility and/or servility of the world’s media (particularly those bestowed Havana Press Bureaus) to Fidel Castro’s blatherings.
Sadly, lunacy on the subject of Fidel Castro is hardly confined to the lunatic fringe. Upon his illness in 2006, an editorial on Castro's legacy by the (Rupert Murdoch-owned, no-less!) London Times, considered one of the world's wisest and most respected newspapers, gave the "mainstream" or even the respectably conservative view on Fidel Castro.
"Castro has some real accomplishments to point to," starts the London Times. "Under his rule, the impoverished Caribbean island has created health and education systems that would be the envy of far wealthier nations…and there is near full literacy on the island."
For the record: in 1958 that "impoverished Caribbean island" had a higher standard of living than Ireland and Austria, higher per-capita income than Spain and Japan, more doctors and dentists per capita than Britain and lower infant mortality than France and Germany--the 13th lowest in the world, in fact. Today Cuba's infant-mortality rate-- despite the hemisphere's highest abortion rate which skews this figure downward-- is 48th from the top.
“Propaganda is the heart of our struggle,” (Fidel Castro in a letter to revolutionary colleague Melba Hernandez in 1956.)
"Foreign reporters — preferably American,” wrote Che Guevara in his diaries, “were much more valuable to us at that time (1957-59) than any military victory. Much more valuable than recruits for our guerrilla force, were American media recruits to export our propaganda." So has anything changed? History records few recruitment drives as phenomenally successful or as enduring as Castro and Che’s.
In fact, regarding Bin Laden’s offing, Castro is simply jealous. We got out man; he didn’t get (some of) his. Take Felix Rodriguez, happy family man and current President of the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association. Castro put a price on his head in Oct. of 1967, shortly after Senor Rodriguez played a key role in nabbing Che Guevara in Bolivia.
A little background: As a 19 year-old member of Brigada 2506 (the Bay of Pigs freedom-fighters) , Felix infiltrated Communist Cuba weeks before the Bay of Pigs invasion, organizing underground freedom-fighters, planning the sabotage of key roads and bridges, staying a step ahead of the Castro's secret police and their KGB handlers and coaches. Almost half of his Band-of-Brothers in the infiltration teams died in front of firing squads, after torture. Felix knew the odds. He volunteered anyway.
After the Best and Brightest stabbed the Bay of Pigs freedom-fighters in the back, Rodriguez again foiled the Communist dragnet by slipping into the Venezuelan embassy and escaping a year later to Florida. After the Best and Brightest stabbed them again and twisted the blade with the Kennedy- Khrushchev swindle (that pledged the U.S. to protect Castro) Rodriguez, along with hundreds of his Brigada Band of Brothers enlisted in the U.S. Army.
Later, as a CIA operative, Rodriguez played a key role in tracking down and capturing Che Guevara in Bolivia and was the last to question him. "Finally I was face to face with the assassin of thousands of my countrymen, of hundreds of my patriot friends."
On the day he gained his U.S. citizenship in 1969 Rodriguez celebrated the honor by volunteering for armed action in Viet-Nam. "I lost the country of my birth to Communism," he writes in his book, Shadow Warrior. "I know freedom must be protected. And I feel I owe it to my adopted country." Felix flew over 300 helicopter combat missions in Viet-Nam, and was shot down five times. He won the coveted Intelligence Star for Valor from the CIA and nine Crosses for Gallantry from the Republic of South Vietnam. Later he battled Communists in El Salvador using a helicopter "mobile strike unit" scheme he developed in Viet-Nam. He flew over 100 combat missions in Central America, captured the FMLF's top commander and helped crush those Communist- terrorists decisively. All this was volunteer work.
Castro really, really wants his head and has sent hit-team, after hit-team, after hit-team (including one lent to him by his late chum Yasser Arafat) to murder Felix and his family in Florida. All have been foiled.
You’d think Castro might be satisfied with the estimated 100,000 dead from his rule already.
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