Fidel Castro calls Obama U.N. speech "gibberish"

[The Northerner]

Source: Reuters

HAVANA, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro accused U.S. President Barack Obama of speaking "gibberish" in his recent address to the United Nations and called NATO's actions in Libya a "monstrous crime" on Monday in his first opinion column since early July.

Castro, 85, has been mostly out of sight the past few months, which combined with the absence of his usual steady flow of columns, had prompted rumors his health was worsening.

He wrote he was involved in work that occupied all his time and therefore he had not been writing what he calls his "reflections." But he said he wanted to comment on the U.N. General Assembly in New York and in particular Obama's speech last week.

The reflection was published on Cuban government website www.cubadebate.cu.

Read more: http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFS1E78P00720110926

[dipsydoodle]

1. English version of said Reflection / Essay here

Chávez, Evo and Obama
Part 1

I am halting the tasks which have been totally occupying my time recently to dedicate some words to the singular opportunity presented to political science by the 60th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The annual event demands a singular effort on the part of those holding the highest political responsibilities in many countries. For them, it constitutes a difficult test; for the aficionados of this art, more than a few given that it vitally affects everyone, it is hard to resist the temptation to observe the interminable but instructive spectacle.

In the first place, there exists an infinity of thorny issues and conflicts of interest. For a large number of participants, it is necessary to take a position on events which constitute flagrant violations of principles. For example: what position to adopt on the NATO genocide in Libya? Do some persons wish to place on record that under their leadership the government of their country supported the monstrous crime perpetrated by the United States and its NATO allies, whose sophisticated fighter planes, piloted or non-piloted, executed more than 20,000 attack missions on a small Third World state of barely six million inhabitants, alleging the same reasons as those previously used to attack and invade Serbia, Iraq, Afghanistan and which are now threatening to do so in Syria or any other country in the world?

Was it not precisely the government of the UN host state which ordered the butchery in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, the mercenary Bay of Pigs attack on Cuba, the invasion of the Dominican Republic, the "dirty war" in Nicaragua, the occupation of Grenada and Panama by the U.S. military forces and the massacre of Panamanians in El Chorillo? Who promoted the military coups and genocide in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, which resulted in tens of thousands of dead and disappeared? I am not talking about things which happened 500 years ago, when the Spaniards initiated genocide in the Americas, or 200 years ago, when the yankees exterminated native Indians in the United States or enslaved Africans, in spite of "all men are created equal," as stated in the Declaration of Philadelphia. I am talking about acts that have taken place in recent decades and which are taking place today.

onward http://www.granma.cu/ingles/reflections-i/26sept-40Reflex1a.html

[joshcryer]

2. Castro has no moral legitimacy given Angola, which lasted over a decade and killed 50k.

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

Angola had a http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=sp_pop_totl&idim=country:AGO&dl=en&hl=en&q=population+angola#ctype=l&strail=false&nselm=h&met_y=sp_pop_totl&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=country&idim=country:AGO&ifdim=country&hl=en&dl=en">similar population as Libya does today. It's directly comparable.

Let's be clear here. If Castro was supportive of the revolutionaries, his criticisms of NATO could be legitimate (we can criticize NATO while supporting revolutionaries, and supporting their right to self-determination even if that means NATOs involvement). But he's clearly shown no support to them in any way whatsoever.

The Angola intervention lasted 16 years. This one will be a short lived 1 year civil war, if that.

[Richardo]

3. He would know.

[a la izquierda]

4. K & R

A very interesting read. I skimmed it briefly, but I'm going to bookmark for my students to study later in the semester.

[geckosfeet]

5. Castro has accomplished a lot in his life. Not all good. He should retire to a quiet cabin.

[Vidar]

6. Bravo Fidel, though I prefer the term "gobbledy gook"!