Castro Calls Bush "Deranged"-"the face of a deranged person"

[poe]

HAVANA Feb 2, 2005 - In his first public remarks since the United States dubbed Cuba an outpost of tyranny, Fidel Castro called President Bush "deranged" and belittled recent improvements in relations between Cuba and Europe.

In a televised address late Tuesday, Castro maintained his trademark go-it-alone attitude, saying his communist-run island is a paradise that is doing fine without the help of the United States or Europe.

Cuba "doesn’t need the United States. It doesn’t need Europe," he said. "What a wonderful thing to be able to say, that (Cuba) doesn’t need any assistance it’s learned to live without it."

Speaking at an international pedagogy conference in Havana, Castro referred only briefly to comments by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who last month identified Cuba, Myanmar, Belarus and Zimbabwe as "outposts of tyranny" that would require close U.S. attention. He said if the mission of Bush’s administration was to crush tyranny, "our mission is to defeat empires."

The Cuban leader, wearing his olive green military uniform, linked Bush’s government to corruption and torture. He said he closely watched the U.S. leader’s inauguration speech Jan. 20 and saw "the face of a deranged person."

"If only it were just the face," he said to roars of applause by educators from 52 countries at the conference.
Castro staunchly defended Cuba’s socialist system, which the Bush administration has openly said should be replaced with a democratic, free-market one.

"This country is heaven, in the spiritual sense of the word," he said. "And I say (to Bush), we prefer to die in heaven than survive in hell."
/abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=465212&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[brainshrub]

1. Castro knows a torturer when he sees one.

He's got the experience since he's done so much of it himself.

[JoshK]

2. What a silly crock.

It's sadly funny that you accept this aspect of US propaganda, and at the same time are on DU whining about, for example, how unfair the media is to Democrats, or how it's biased in favor of Bush. I suppose it wouldn't occur to you that it's the exact same kind of dishonest propaganda that makes you believe that BS about Castro. The same US media that now proclaims liberals to be the enemy of America, and that hails Bush as our Great Leader -- that's what gave you your mistaken notion about Castro.

[brainshrub]

4. What is there to be mistaken about Castro?

He's a dictator, he jails dissidents and his administration tortures people. He's a tryrant... tyrants are evil and should not be supported.

Period.

Having said all that; I think the embargo is unjustified and the average Cuban lives much better than most of the locals in "Democratic Capitalist" countries.

It's pathetic that Cuba has a lower infant mortality rate and everyone has access to healthcare... but we can't do that here in the US.

[pabloseb]

11. So what's so different from the US?

There are elections in Cuba. It's not a very open system, to say the least, but neither is the American system. So in a sense Castro is no more a dictator than * is.

As for jailing dissidents, for the most part those dissidents have broken Cuban law. Then again, those laws suck. But then yet again, there are many similar examples in the US.

I'm not aware there's any torture going on in Cuba. Unlike the US (Iraq is for all practical purposes part of the US).

Castro isn't an immaculate leader, but he's not a ruthless dictator either. The human rights situation is by no means perfect in Cuba, but it's not worse than in the US and not nearly as bad as in many countries which are close US allies (Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to give just two clear examples).

[Melodybe]

13. Damn straight, he handed Che Guevara over to the CIA

Che the only man that the CIA, the KGB, and Castro all wanted dead.

Screw Castro, while I can appauld any country with a 98% literacy rate, he is a bad man.

The enemy of my enemy is not MY friend.

[LynnTheDem]

5. That's deeply ingrained in most Americans, I believe

Growing up in Canada, I hold the Canadian view, which contradicts the US view.

Most Americans probably still believe we had to nuke Japan to "save millions of lives". Sure will be nice for the US & the rest of the world when America gets caught up on reality.

[JoshK]

9. Yes, it will be nice (or would be nice). But we should not be

holding our breath for the US to get caught up on reality.

Most Americans (probably like my friend from the above post who just sounded off about how Castro is supposedly a monstrous torturer) have no idea of what Cuba was like before Castro, nor of the US role in supporting that foul and corrupt regime. Castro is not without faults, but his revolution was eminently justified, & a tremendous change for the better for the Cuban people. The history of Batista's Cuba is just one of a long list of US crimes in Central America. The history of what the US has tried to do to Castro ever since 1959 is another chapter of that long list of crimes.

Americans are not on firm ground when they lecture other countries about "tyranny" and moral behavior. Americans have a great deal of looking in the mirror to do, before they are anywhere near ready to give lectures to anyone.

[HEyHEY]

16. Ask a Cuban

[poe]

6. Cuban Foreign Policy=Doctors & Teachers; US Foreign Policy=Weapons

:think:

[Syncronaut Seven]

12. Bingo!

I guess it's all about priorities.

[cliss]

3. Cuba's star is about to rise......

There are some undersea explorations going on right now. There was an article about it here at the DU about 1 year ago.

It seems that there are hundreds of shipwrecks around Cuba. Many of these galleons have $$loot$$ scattered about on the sea bottom, reputedly worth $$billions$$.

Because Cuba has such rotten relations with the US, Castro bypassed the US and went to Canada and Russia to arrange for underwater salvage crews to come vacuum up the sea bottom and $split the $profits.

Who knows? Maybe Uncle Sam will come knocking on Castro's door, asking for a loan.
------------------------

My point is, personal happiness is not always a linear equation, with income. Just because we might earn more than the average Cuban, what right do we have to claim that we're "happier" than they are? Or conversely, why do we arrogantly assume that we've got it made, and they're chopped liver?

A dangerous assumption. Because all we base happiness on here in the US is the almighty dollar.

[ComerPerro]

7. ha, coming from Castro, that's saying alot

[Octafish]

8. On this, Castro's right: Bush is a crazy monkey.

[NecrotizingE]

10. Takes one to know one, Fidel.

[Bees_Bees]

14. I like it when ELECTED government officials

criticize Bush and his administration. Castro is right but I wish someone else said it.

[HEyHEY]

15. Hey, he's got style (Castro)