Report: Castro in serious condition

[kskiska]

Cuban leader said to have diverticulitis complications, Spain’s El Pais says

HAVANA - Cuban leader Fidel Castro is in serious condition after complications following three failed operations on his large intestine for diverticulitis, the Spanish newspaper El Pais reported Monday.

Castro suffered an infection that worsened to peritonitis, the newspaper's Tuesday edition said, citing two medical sources at the Madrid hospital where a surgeon who visited Castro in December works. The report was posted on the newspaper's Web site.

(snip)

Also in December, a Spanish doctor who examined Castro said he does not have cancer and could return to govern Cuba if he recovered fully from his surgery.

Earlier Monday, a diplomat said the ailing Cuban leader "has problems with his stitches healing."

more…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16642456/

[BayCityProgressive]

1. For Cuba's sake

I hope he makes it. The Miami Jackals will be out for Cuba...

[partylessinOhio]

2. Viva, Fidel!

[IndianaGreen]

3. I saw nothing about this on El Pais website

Perhaps this story will be posted later. CNN's version of this story says that Fidel is having problems with his stitches. MSNBC is the one with the most alarming version of events.

Let's wait and see!

[Igel]

5. It's there now.

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/cadena/actuaciones/medicas/fallidas/agravo/estado/Castro/elpepuint/20070116elpepiint_16/Tes

Una grave infección en el intestino grueso, al menos tres operaciones fallidas y varias complicaciones mantienen al dictador cubano, Fidel Castro, postrado con pronóstico muy grave, según fuentes médicas del hospital Gregorio Marañón de Madrid. En este centro trabaja José Luis García Sabrido, jefe del servicio de Cirugía, que viajó a visitar a Fidel Castro en diciembre pasado. García Sabrido descartó que Castro sufra cáncer. Un diplomático cubano admitió ayer que Castro sufre "problemas de cicatrización".

Según las fuentes consultadas, Castro, de 80 años, sufría antes del verano (transfirió el poder en julio) una severa inflamación del intestino grueso denominada diverticulitis. Se trata de bolsas anómalas en el intestino inflamadas que pueden llegar a infectarse y sangrar, causando hemorragias, de forma parecida a una apendicitis. Según la periodista brasileña Claudia Furiati, autora de la biografía autorizada de Castro La historia me absolverá, publicada en 2001, Castro ya padeció diverticulitis hace más de 20 años.

.....

20 years? Ouch.

[roody]

4. Fidel is mortal. Viva la revolucion.

[brentspeak]

6. What's the health condition of Cuba's political prisoners?

We already know the health condition of Castro's executed victims.

[Bacchus39]

7. do they have Spanish surgeons treating them too?

n/t

[Judi Lynn]

9. They let some of them out, when they complained of health conditions.

This one, Marta Beatriz Roque, who's been on the US payroll for ages, as per her secretary of many years, who HAS THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS TO PROVE IT, and delivered them to her trial, was one of the first to go home.



The second one shows the beast over at her second home, the American Interests Section.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

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[High Plains]

47. Are you talking about Batista's thugs who went to the wall?

What was that, 45 years ago now?

[Judi Lynn]

61. You're likely to hear so few people droning on about the loss of death squads.

Their services are useful only to the morally disoriented, greedy, megalomaniacal right-wing.

[Say_What]

8. Fidel's Final Victory

As someone aptly noted above, Fidel is mortal--the Revolution will live on.

<clips>

Summary: The smooth transfer of power from Fidel Castro to his successors is exposing the willful ignorance and wishful thinking of U.S. policy toward Cuba. The post-Fidel transition is already well under way, and change in Cuba will come only gradually from here on out. With or without Fidel, renewed U.S. efforts to topple the revolutionary regime in Havana can do no good -- and have the potential to do considerable harm.

CUBA AFTER CASTRO?

Ever since Fidel Castro gained power in 1959, Washington and the Cuban exile community have been eagerly awaiting the moment when he would lose it -- at which point, the thinking went, they would have carte blanche to remake Cuba in their own image. Without Fidel's iron fist to keep Cubans in their place, the island would erupt into a collective demand for rapid change. The long-oppressed population would overthrow Fidel's revolutionary cronies and clamor for capital, expertise, and leadership from the north to transform Cuba into a market democracy with strong ties to the United States.

But that moment has come and gone -- and none of what Washington and the exiles anticipated has come to pass. Even as Cuba-watchers speculate about how much longer the ailing Fidel will survive, the post-Fidel transition is already well under way. Power has been successfully transferred to a new set of leaders, whose priority is to preserve the system while permitting only very gradual reform. Cubans have not revolted, and their national identity remains tied to the defense of the homeland against U.S. attacks on its sovereignty. As the post-Fidel regime responds to pent-up demands for more democratic participation and economic opportunity, Cuba will undoubtedly change -- but the pace and nature of that change will be mostly imperceptible to the naked American eye.

Fidel's almost five decades in power came to a close last summer not with the expected bang, or even really a whimper, but in slow motion, with Fidel himself orchestrating the transition. The transfer of authority from Fidel to his younger brother, Raúl, and half a dozen loyalists -- who have been running the country under Fidel's watch for decades -- has been notably smooth and stable. Not one violent episode in Cuban streets. No massive exodus of refugees. And despite an initial wave of euphoria in Miami, not one boat leaving a Florida port for the 90-mile trip. Within Cuba, whether Fidel himself survives for weeks, months, or years is now in many ways beside the point.

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20070101faessay86104/julia-e-sweig/fidel-s-final-victory.html

[killbotfactory]

27. Great Article

Anyone who is interested in Cuba should read it.

Thanks for posting it.

[Anon]

11. Castro reportedly in grave condition

MADRID, Spain - Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is in "very grave" condition after three failed operations and complications from an intestinal infection, a Spanish newspaper said Tuesday. The newspaper El Pais cited two unnamed sources from the Gregorio Maranon hospital in the Spanish capital of Madrid. The facility employs surgeon Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido, who flew to Cuba in December to treat the 80-year-old Castro.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070116/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/spain_cuba_castro

[MADem]

12. Not looking good, despite the cheery insistence from Cuba

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6348155,00.html

El Pais' report, which could not immediately be confirmed, was a rare detailed description from a major media outlet about Castro's condition.

The U.S. government had speculated that Castro could suffer from cancer - a supposition denied by Sabrido. Some U.S. doctors believed Castro was suffering from diverticular disease, which can cause bleeding in the lower intestine, especially in people over 60. In severe cases, emergency surgery may be required.

That idea was supported by El Pais, which reported that its sources said Castro had suffered a bout of the disease.

``In the summer, the Cuban leader bled abundantly in the intestine,'' El Pais reported. ``This adversity led him to the operating table, according to the medical sources. His condition, moreover, was aggravated because the infection spread and caused peritonitis, the inflammation of the membrane that covers the digestive organs.''

[Nezvanovich]

13. Lets wait

For the next "regime change". :-/

[bitchkitty]

14. Oro para usted, Fidel,

y oro para Cuba.

[Wilms]

15. What is Frist's tele-doctored opinion? n/t

[humbled_opinion]

16. I wonder how he would respond if they put Castro on a feeding tube

and then later want to pull the tube because he is in a vegatative state... hmmm will Conservatives show compassion to their enemies?

[Judi Lynn]

21. They'll be needing that. n/t

[Bombtrack]

17. It'll be a letdown if nothing interesting happens when he dies

I'm atleast flying to Miami to partake in the festivities and try and get some drunken tail. I have extra sky miles so Fidel better not die before Thursday.

[citygal]

19. Um, this is not in reply to the topic but

I love your CLARK/OBAMA sticker - those have been my thoughts all along...

[Say_What]

20. Fidel's Final Victory

The GUSANOS are gonna be disappointed bigtime. From the article:

...Fidel's successors are already at work. Behind Raúl are a number of other figures with the capacity and the authority to take the reins and continue the transition, even after Raúl is gone. Fortunately for them, Fidel has taught them well: they are working to consolidate the new government, deliver on bread-and-butter issues, devise a model of reform with Cuban characteristics, sustain Cuba's position in Latin America and internationally, and manage the predictable policies of the United States. That these achievements will endure past Fidel's death is one final victory for the ultimate Latin American survivor.

<clips>

Summary: The smooth transfer of power from Fidel Castro to his successors is exposing the willful ignorance and wishful thinking of U.S. policy toward Cuba. The post-Fidel transition is already well under way, and change in Cuba will come only gradually from here on out. With or without Fidel, renewed U.S. efforts to topple the revolutionary regime in Havana can do no good -- and have the potential to do considerable harm.

CUBA AFTER CASTRO?

Ever since Fidel Castro gained power in 1959, Washington and the Cuban exile community have been eagerly awaiting the moment when he would lose it -- at which point, the thinking went, they would have carte blanche to remake Cuba in their own image. Without Fidel's iron fist to keep Cubans in their place, the island would erupt into a collective demand for rapid change. The long-oppressed population would overthrow Fidel's revolutionary cronies and clamor for capital, expertise, and leadership from the north to transform Cuba into a market democracy with strong ties to the United States.

But that moment has come and gone -- and none of what Washington and the exiles anticipated has come to pass. Even as Cuba-watchers speculate about how much longer the ailing Fidel will survive, the post-Fidel transition is already well under way. Power has been successfully transferred to a new set of leaders, whose priority is to preserve the system while permitting only very gradual reform. Cubans have not revolted, and their national identity remains tied to the defense of the homeland against U.S. attacks on its sovereignty. As the post-Fidel regime responds to pent-up demands for more democratic participation and economic opportunity, Cuba will undoubtedly change -- but the pace and nature of that change will be mostly imperceptible to the naked American eye.

Fidel's almost five decades in power came to a close last summer not with the expected bang, or even really a whimper, but in slow motion, with Fidel himself orchestrating the transition. The transfer of authority from Fidel to his younger brother, Raúl, and half a dozen loyalists -- who have been running the country under Fidel's watch for decades -- has been notably smooth and stable. Not one violent episode in Cuban streets. No massive exodus of refugees. And despite an initial wave of euphoria in Miami, not one boat leaving a Florida port for the 90-mile trip. Within Cuba, whether Fidel himself survives for weeks, months, or years is now in many ways beside the point.

In Washington, however, Cuba policy -- aimed essentially at regime change -- has long been dominated by wishful thinking ever more disconnected from the reality on the island. Thanks to the votes and campaign contributions of the 1.5 million Cuban Americans who live in Florida and New Jersey, domestic politics has driven policymaking. That tendency has been indulged by a U.S. intelligence community hamstrung by a breathtaking and largely self-imposed isolation from Cuba and reinforced by a political environment that rewards feeding the White House whatever it wants to hear. Why alter the status quo when it is so familiar, so well funded, and so rhetorically pleasing to politicians in both parties?

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20070101faessay86104/julia-e-sweig/fidel-s-final-victory.html

[Judi Lynn]

23. This article is so worth keeping. It's excellent.

Cuba will undoubtedly change -- but the pace and nature of that change will be mostly imperceptible to the naked American eye.
(snip)

Good enough! Good luck to the Cubans. Hope a Democratic Congress will finally get some veto-proof Cuba legislation going, and it looks possible without Diaz-Balart and Tom DeLay in positions of power and capable of derailing Cuba amendments in committee any longer.

[Bacchus39]

37. appointed successor, nothing more

As the post-Fidel regime responds to pent-up demands for more democratic participation and economic opportunity, Cuba will undoubtedly change -- but the pace and nature of that change will be mostly imperceptible to the naked American eye.

[Mika]

41. A legal succession of Head of State..

.. as prescribed by their elected parliament.


http://members.allstream.net/~dchris/CubaFAQDemocracy.html

____


http://www.poptel.org.uk/cuba-solidarity/democracy.htm

This system in Cuba is based upon universal adult suffrage for all those aged 16 and over. Nobody is excluded from voting, except convicted criminals or those who have left the country. Voter turnouts have usually been in the region of 95% of those eligible .

There are direct elections to municipal, provincial and national assemblies, the latter represent Cuba's parliament.

Electoral candidates are not chosen by small committees of political parties. No political party, including the Communist Party, is permitted to nominate or campaign for any given candidates.

[Say_What]

48. There you go, taking things out of context again...

Taking things out of context and trying to twist it into something that it's not simply makes it Gusanarhea... Read my sig line.


...But that moment has come and gone -- and none of what Washington and the exiles anticipated has come to pass. Even as Cuba-watchers speculate about how much longer the ailing Fidel will survive, the post-Fidel transition is already well under way. Power has been successfully transferred to a new set of leaders, whose priority is to preserve the system while permitting only very gradual reform. Cubans have not revolted, and their national identity remains tied to the defense of the homeland against U.S. attacks on its sovereignty. As the post-Fidel regime responds to pent-up demands for more democratic participation and economic opportunity, Cuba will undoubtedly change -- but the pace and nature of that change will be mostly imperceptible to the naked American eye.

Fidel's almost five decades in power came to a close last summer not with the expected bang, or even really a whimper, but in slow motion, with Fidel himself orchestrating the transition. The transfer of authority from Fidel to his younger brother, Raúl, and half a dozen loyalists -- who have been running the country under Fidel's watch for decades -- has been notably smooth and stable. Not one violent episode in Cuban streets. No massive exodus of refugees. And despite an initial wave of euphoria in Miami, not one boat leaving a Florida port for the 90-mile trip. Within Cuba, whether Fidel himself survives for weeks, months, or years is now in many ways beside the point.

[Bacchus39]

54. you like Castro???

I don't. I don't support authoritarian governments.

[Say_What]

57. Taking things out of context and then changing the subject is a habit of yours...

The most you can do is regurgitate the same old tired propaganda we've been hearing for nearly 50 years. Got news for you--nobody buys it anymore.

:evilgrin:

[Judi Lynn]

25. Congratulations! That's big news. n/t

[Mika]

30. Miami has more hookers than Cuba does, so you'll have no problemo. n/t

Good :sarcasm: to see that there is some interest in Miami's tourism biz - even if its sexual tourism.

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

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

[Bridget Burke]

53. So, "drunken tail" is the only kind you can get....

Unless you pay?

[INDIA]

62. LOL! n/t

[SaveElmer]

18. Again?

Seems like this about the 100th time he was on deaths door...I'll believe it when I see it!

[muryan]

26. isnt it about time he kicks it

one less hostile world leader in the world suits me just fine

[maddezmom]

28. Doctor denies saying that Castro in serious condition

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/01/15/castro.condition/index.html?section=cnn_latest

[Say_What]

66. "Garcia Sabrido stood by his initial statement Tuesday"

I believe his initial statement was that Fidel was recovering slowly and that he did not have cancer.

However, all of the MSM articles continue to report on the so-called report that came from two unidentified *doctors* as if it were fact. Wonder when Frist will offer his opinion ;-)

[robcon]

29. Let's hope democracy has a chance in Cuba.

They've tried totalitarian dictatorship for 48 years of one-party rule. They deserve a chance for free elections.

[BayCityProgressive]

32. They have elections already

but because they aren't perfect, everyone seems to think a two party oligarchy controlled by corporations like we have would work out better.

[slackmaster]

46. Single-party rule hasn't worked out very well for the US either

At least not for the last six years.

And to be perfectly frank, it's been kind of lame here in California too.

[skipos]

33. Yes, FREE ELECTIONS would be nice. nt

[BayCityProgressive]

34. you mean like ours?

where everything is gerrymandered, we have the choice of 2 candidates, sometimes the person with the most votes doesnt get the office, and we have faulty voting methods and a media that doesnt give us any facts of the races? Yup free and fair..THANK GOD WE ARE SOOOO FREE!!

[Bacchus39]

38. when was Castro elected or re-elected?

and who were his opponents?

[Mika]

42. Castro was elected to his seat in parliament again in 2003.

He represents District #7 in the city of Santiago (his family home town), where he is overwhelmingly popular.

The Head of State of Cuba must hold an elected seat in the National Assembly (Cuba's parliament).

[Bacchus39]

44. ahhh OK, who was his opponent and from which political

party? what is Cuba's position on term limits?

[skipos]

39. No, I mean FREE ELECTIONS. Like the kind they don't have.

Understand?

[ProudDad]

63. As soon as you actually know anything

about the way things work in Cuba, we might listen to you...

[skipos]

70. FUNNY!

:hi:

[clixtox]

35. While we are hoping...

Let us hope for a democracy in the USA where everyone is represented, even workers and the poor. Then perhaps the 60+% who don't even bother to vote now will get involved when someone viable, not marginalized and demonized, is a candidate for all of the people.

[BayCityProgressive]

36. Thank you!

[BayCityProgressive]

40. we are such a democracy

that a clear majority want an end to war yet it is being escalated and expanded. Yes Castro is elected from a district in Havana, and I do not know if he had any competition. most members of the legislature do though. Everyone runs as an independant. It is split into districts like the US, so many probably go without challengers just like here. The onyl difference between us and them is this: ZWe only allow capitalist candidates to make it to congress, they only allow socialists. I don't agree with either position. To criticize Castro so vehemently for their situation and not Clinton, Carter, Ford, or Reagan for ours in unproductive. Let Cuba sort out their own issues and we can focus on ours!

[BayCityProgressive]

43. Here are some good and bad sides to cuba

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Cuba

This is a decent evaluation..it has some faults but you aren't going to find much better anywhere...if you click on the other political parties listed it will tell you that in 1992 other parties were made legal, however they cannot nominate candidates for office, just as the communist party supposedly cannot. This article shows Cuba has some good things and bad things, just like our democracy. Really, instead of wishing for death on a foreign head of state that has done nothing to us..we should use our time to strengthen our own democracy and reach out and find consensus with our Cuban brothers and sisters...not continue the propaganda that the Miami gangsters push.

[Mika]

56. Wiki is not a reliable source on Cuba

Anything about Cuba seems to get many Americans all riled up and red in the face. Wiki's Cuba pages have had to be purged many times and is under Wiki's special editing restrictions now because of the commie bating & Castrophobe entries.

Cuba entry in Wikipedia stirs controversy
http://www.miami.com:80/mld/miamiherald/14481721.htm

WASHINGTON - One editor complained that Havana sympathizers were transforming a scholarly enterprise into ''their own private Fidel Castro fan page.'' A user was tossed out after threatening to sue another for libel.

The fuss is over the Cuba entry in Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia created, edited and administered entirely by volunteers with the aim of becoming a web-based knowledge repository for humanity.

But the Cuba entry, like those on President Bush and abortion, has been snared in intense political divisions over everything from the impact of U.S. sanctions on the communist-ruled island to whether it should have a separate section on its human rights record. Russia and North Korea do not.

There have been so many dueling edits -- 30 entries on April 27 alone -- that the article has been placed off-limits to first-time or unregistered users. The article has notices alerting readers that the neutrality of four sections is under dispute.

A central tenet of Wikipedia is that articles must be written in a neutral point of view. But, as the debate on the talk page attached to the Cuba article demonstrates, neutrality is often in the eye of the beholder.

The debate over Cuba turned intense after Adam Carr, who identifies himself as having a PhD in history from the University of Melbourne in Australia and a gay rights activist, introduced this sentence high in the article: ``Cuba is a socialist republic, in which the Communist Party of Cuba is the sole legal political party, and is the only state in the western hemisphere that is not a democracy.''

This prompted responses that went from scholarly citations of political scientists with definitions of democracy, to accusations of not-so-hidden political agendas.

Bruce Hallman wrote that calling Cuba undemocratic is a ''logical fallacy'' because it applies ''capitalistic values'' in the context of a socialist society.

'Might it be possible to write the article without using the word `democracy' at all?'' he suggested.

''Sorry, comrade, no dice,'' answered Carr, one of the few writers who posts a description of himself. ``These comments show quite clearly that you are a communist, or at least someone who actively supports the Castro dictatorship, not just ... someone who is naïve about the realities of Cuba.''

With neither side giving in, on April 15 a ''mediation cabal''-- an informal mediator -- joined the discussion because the talk page had become ``huge.'' The cabal suggested citing reputable sources to back the Cuba-is-not-a-democracy sentence.

''If we need a citation that Cuba is not a democracy, then maybe we need citation that Cuba is in Latin America,'' retorts CJK, another user.

''Cuba is a dictatorship, plain and simple,'' says Carr, calling Castro's foreign supporters ``gullible idiots.''

Failing to produce an agreement, the cabal departed after complaining that several editors were being rude.

Others argued that if the article discusses human rights in Cuba, it should also point out U.S. human rights abuses. ''We will not be distracted by the well-known communist diversionary tactic of playing bogus moral equivalence games,'' Carr responded.

Scott Grayban, a talk page writer who identifies himself as a U.S. air force veteran, calls Carr ''nothing more than a pro-Bush hate-Cuba type person'' and in a separate email threatened to sue Carr for libel. An administrator promptly banned Grayban for life from editing Wikipedia.

Other users also have been banned, including ''Comandante'' who has changed the Cuba article more than 700 times. Another participant wrote that Comandante's internet address suggests he lives in Cuba.

''If he has a computer and free access to the internet, that makes him part of the privileged elite in Cuba,'' Carr wrote.

''If Congressional staffers are banned, certainly a propagandist for Castro deserves the same,'' wrote 172, who claims to be a history professor at a U.S. undergraduate institution.

A few years ago, online discussions of this sort would have gone unnoticed. But Wikipedia is now the 17th most visited site in the world and its traffic continues to grow at a fast pace, according to Alexa Internet, a web-ranking outfit owned by Amazon.com.

Created by web entrepreneur Jimmy Wales, who today heads the foundation that oversees the site, Wikipedia is an example of the power of ''social computing'' -- the ability of users to create their own content without relying on the filters of newspaper or hard-copy encyclopedia editors.

''We've got this whole movement of social computing and information of users, by users, for users,'' says Peter Kim, of the Internet research firm Forrester Research. ``The beauty of this sort of technology is that its editable and that the community will police itself.''

Type in ''Cuba'' or ''Fidel Castro''' into Yahoo! or Google and Wikipedia is one of the top hits. The encyclopedia has more than 1.1 million entries in the English language alone.

Wikipedia has had some widely reported stumbles.

A hoax entry wrongly implicating a journalist John Seigenthaler in the JFK assassination went unnoticed for seven months, and several U.S. congressional staffers were caught altering their bosses' entries.

But one study suggested that Wikipedia has only marginally more errors than Britannica, which disputes the conclusion.

Most articles are uncontroversial, said Kat Walsh, a volunteer administrator for Wikipedia. But ''where people are out fighting in the real world, they're going to have differences of opinion on Wikipedia as well,'' she said.

Despite all the revisions, the Cuba article contains some glaring omissions -- no mention of the Helms-Burton Act that tightened the embargo, for example -- some mangled syntax (''After two decades of government without elections, repetitive failures of economic experiments, lack of freedom and respect for basic human rights made discontent among Cuban population to grow'') and no agreement.

Walsh says this is all part of the plan.

She says Wikipedia already has more than 900 volunteer administrators patrolling the site to protect it from vandals and other troublemakers.

And contributors can ask for a non-binding mediation -- as the Cuba writers did on April 28. If that fails, a binding arbitration can be requested.

''There are some chaotic elements but on the whole, the community is developing ways to respond to it,'' Walsh said.

[Name removed]

58. Deleted message

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

[Name removed]

59. Deleted message

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

[Name removed]

60. Deleted message

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[Mika]

64. Hey there. At least I post some links..

.. for a little background on the subject at hand, and such.


:hi:

[Mika]

65. Re: post #56 & response #58 --> case made clear.

See? It really makes some people get all riled up.

[Judi Lynn]

69. So some of them have already determined the e-mail addresses of the participants

whose information they hope to remove. Interesting.

When I started reading the old US/Cuba Relations message board, which was WILDLY crowded and active around Elián's time as hostage in Miami, I saw instantly the unbelievable hostility, violent rage poured out by some of the Miami posters every single day, and learned they were trying to hack other posters, making threats on TWO boards I read, and I was too frightened to post for months and months, afraid one of those scums would find out where I lived and show up to pound me to a paste, or simply award me one of those done-to-death Miami plastic bombs.

So I just read and read, instead. After reading enough, I got bolder & started posting myself. I was never really sure, however, one of those psychopaths wouldn't try to harm me, just to stamp out any voice of opposition, just the way it was for decades in Miami until Jorge Mas Canosa died, and the power of his organization dissipated.

Seeing they are infesting Wikipedia is no big surprise, but it's a hoot seeing it written down and revealed to us in your post. (When I glanced at Wikipedia and Cuba once I knew they had gotten to it and ruined it, but I had no idea of the pushing and shoving it took to get there!)

Thanks for the post, Mika!

[slackmaster]

45. He's always seemed like a pretty serious guy

:argh:

[Eugene]

49. Castro recovery slow, involves health risk -Chavez

Castro recovery slow, involves health risk -Chavez
16 Jan 2007 18:51:29 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Ana Isabel Martinez

QUITO, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Cuban President Fidel Castro's recovery from surgery is slow
and has risks, his close ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday, but he
denied reports Castro's condition was serious.

Chavez, who regularly visits or speaks with his mentor Castro and gives frequent updates
on his health in speeches, was less upbeat than he typically is about Castro's recovery
from intestinal surgery last year.

Chavez said the United States was behind false reports exaggerating the illness, which
has forced Castro to temporarily hand power over to his brother on the communist-run
island.

"I'm not a doctor, I'm not at Fidel's bedside but he's not in a serious condition as some
say, nor does he have cancer," Chavez told reporters during a visit to Ecuador.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N16207779.htm

[eowyn_of_rohan]

50. Wouldn't be surprised if he is gone already...

...after Princess Diana's car crash they only said she was hurt, when she had already passed away.

[ronnykmarshall]

51. Should I prepare my ...

"Goodbye Daddy" tribute?

[tammywammy]

55. ...

:spank:

:P

[ronnykmarshall]

73. Yeah, baby!

Ain't I a little stinker?

[kestrel91316]

52. Here we go again.............is Francisco Franco still dead?

[ProudDad]

67. Tough news for the right-wing cuban assholes and bushies

"Washington must finally wake up to the reality of how and why the Castro regime has proved so durable -- and recognize that, as a result of its willful ignorance, it has few tools with which to effectively influence Cuba after Fidel is gone. With U.S. credibility in Latin America and the rest of the world at an all-time low, it is time to put to rest a policy that Fidel's handover of power has already so clearly exposed as a complete failure."

That's the way I read the situation when I visited Cuba. The Cuban people may not all like Fidel but they are nearly all Socialist. They won't put up with the kind of crap the sheeple here put up with -- the rich getting filthy richer and the rest of us getting it in the shorts...

They also have a much more directly representative system of governance than we do here...


On Edit: This from a representative of one of the two right-wings of the Business party:

"Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon responded in kind. Washington, he said, would consider lifting its embargo -- but only if Cuba established a route to multiparty democracy, released all political prisoners, and allowed independent civil-society organizations."

Yeah, right. What a laugh! He'd rather a system like here where the owners of the voting machines win...where ONLY those of the ruling Capitalist party can run (with one beautiful exception -- Bernie Sanders, but even Bernie is circumspect)...

------

Viva Cuba, Viva Socialismo -- Cuba will prevail!!!

"Fidel's successors are already at work. Behind Raúl are a number of other figures with the capacity and the authority to take the reins and continue the transition, even after Raúl is gone. Fortunately for them, Fidel has taught them well: they are working to consolidate the new government, deliver on bread-and-butter issues, devise a model of reform with Cuban characteristics, sustain Cuba's position in Latin America and internationally, and manage the predictable policies of the United States. That these achievements will endure past Fidel's death is one final victory for the ultimate Latin American survivor."

[Mika]

68. Yes indeed, ProudDad

Its all just as well, though. Imo. It's good that the Cuban people have had the chance to develop in their own way, without US/IMF "management " of their system. The Cuban people have built out a social system that they want in spite of the obstacles put up to hinder their efforts. Any US backed so called "transition" would be thrown out of Cuba in a New York minute. Its not like Cubans don't know what's up in the world, and what the US's past/present imperialist nature is. They won't return to the (US hegemonic) past voluntarily.

[robcon]

71. How the hell do you know if the Cuban people approve, Mika?

No competing politicians or political parties have been allowed to run for office. Printing a critical pamphlet will earn a Cuban 18 months or so in prison. Supporting the Varela Project will get you 20+ years in prison.

Your 'mind-meld' in the absence of competitive elections or legitimate polls is remarkable.

[Mika]

72. Go tell that to Paya and Sanchez. Both supporters of Varela. Both are free.

And then there is also Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo. He returned to Cuba from Miami to start up an opposition party there. He is free to do so - as long as he is not aiding and abetting the declared enemy state (the US gov) in attempts to overthrow the legal government of Cuba.

Oswaldo Paya, Elizardo Sanchez, and Eloy Gutiérrez all denounce the US's interference in Cuban domestic politics (creating false "dissident" parties, funding terrorists, etc) because that foreign/US supported activity taints the real & legitimate domestic political activities.

[robcon]

74. This is the second time you stated who WASN'T arresterd, Mika.

I'd call that a "knee-jerk response, Mika.

Your posts are getting more and more desperate. You know that the sentences of those who signed/developed the Varela Project were a signal to the opposition (mild as it was - just asking for freedoms, and more private-owned small businesses in Cuba) that they will be ruthlessly persecuted. But you want to emphasize, apparently for ideological reasons, two people who aren't in jail.

Pathetic.

[Judi Lynn]

75. Mika doesn't do "knee-jerk," as you well know.

You are lowering your standards by posting such eccentric remarks.

Don't have time to stick around, but will look back in later. Thought it would be worthwhile to post some realism here, as delusion grows in the absense of facts, which has been a godsend to the right-wing idiots who've flung all the propaganda around for years and years, secure in the knowledge ordinary Americans couldn't get to Cuba to find out the truth in person. That's probably going to change, and when it does, the game will be over for the opportunists in Miami.

April 26, 2003

Cuba Crackdown:
A Revolt Against the National Security Strategy?
By ROBERT SANDELS

~snip~
The much-praised Varela Project is an especially interesting case. According to the documents Perez Roque presented at the news conference, the Varela Project referendum was financed by the United States and organized with the help of Carlos Alberto Montaner, a Cuban exile based in Spain, assisted by Spanish officials.

In a letter in 2001 to Osvaldo Alfonso, one of those arrested, Montaner mentioned money sent to Cuba to underwrite the project and said, "Very soon, some high-level Spanish friends will call you to talk about the Varela Project." Montaner suggested several people, including Paya, to help set up the project.

The arrests generated nearly universal condemnation. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States was "outraged," and Secretary of State Colin Powell demanded that Cuba release the "prisoners of conscience." Neither Boucher nor Powell explained away the evidence that the dissidents were paid agents of the United States.

The Cuban government has always maintained that dissidents are created and funded by the U.S. government. Under that rationale, Cuban law makes collaboration with U.S. policy, especially the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, a criminal offense punishable with lengthy prison terms. In 1997, the National Assembly passed the Reaffirmation of Cuban Dignity and Sovereignty Law as an "antidote" for Helms-Burton, and in 1999, the Protection of Cuban National Independence Law, which criminalized any act of cooperation with U.S. policy toward Cuba. These laws are similar to U.S. laws governing activities of unregistered agents of foreign governments. Evidence supporting the Cuban claim that dissidents are mercenaries of the United States is available on U.S. government Web sites. The Web site of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) lists recipients of U.S. funds to support dissidents, independent journalists, independent librarians, and human rights organizations in Cuba.

For example, in 2000, USAID gave US$670,000 to three organizations to support "the publication abroad of the work of independent journalists from the island...and to distribute their writings within Cuba" (USAID report, Evaluation of the USAID Cuba Program, 2001).

The State Department's 2003 review of the Cuba Program, set up to carry out the regime change directive in the Helms-Burton Act, notes that the Cuba Dissidence Task Group "was created to support the activities of dissident groups in Cuba," especially the Group of Four--the group led by Marta Beatriz Roque. The task group received a US$250,000 grant in 1999.

US$280,000 went to the Cuba Free Press between 1998 and 2000, for "giving voice to independent journalists and writers inside Cuba."
(snip/...)

http://www.counterpunch.org/sandels04262003.html

[lanlady]

76. hard to believe--

--there are people on this board cheering for Fidel Castro, geriatric communist dictator. Did you cry when Leonid Brezhnev died too?