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Fidel Castro angry at accusations that Cuba snubbed Edward Snowden
Last week a small Russian paper named Kommersant (Businessman) spread the fabrication that Snowden celebrated his birthday at the Russian Consulate last week. That part of story turned out to be totally false. So does the rest of it.Fidel Castro angry at accusations that Cuba snubbed Edward Snowden
Former president responds to reports in Russia's Kommersant newspaper that Cuba bowed to US pressure over NSA leaks
Reuters
theguardian.com, Wednesday 28 August 2013 13.42 BST
Retired Cuban president Fidel Castro has criticised a report in a Russian newspaper that his country buckled to US pressure and blocked former NSA contractor Edward Snowden from travelling through Cuba to exile in Latin America.
Castro, who ceded power to his brother Raul in 2006, and is rarely seen or heard from in public, said the article in the Kommersant newspaper on Monday was a "lie" and "libel".
Castro, in a column on various international issues, from Syria and Egypt to robots doing police work and Snowden, and carried by official media, hailed Snowden and lashed out at US spying as repugnant.
"It is obvious that the United States will always try to pressure Cuba ... but not for nothing has (Cuba) resisted and defended itself without a truce for 54 years and will continue to do so for as long as necessary," Castro wrote.
...
Castro, in his column, criticised Kommersant as a well known "counter-revolutionary" and "mercenary" newspaper.
"I admire the courageous and just declarations of Snowden," Castro wrote.
"In my opinion, he has rendered a service to the world having revealed the repugnantly dishonest policy of the powerful empire that is lying and deceiving the world," Castro continued.
...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/28/fidel-castro-edward-snowden-cuba-us
13 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
So I yelled out
"I like Fidel Castro and his beard"
Well said.
I think that refers to the latest Reflection / Essay but I can't get to it in English - won't open ?
Can you ? Try link here http://www.granma.cu/ingles/
Cuba's own page does open http://www.granma.cu/espanol/reflexiones/28agosto-reflexiones.html but I can't read it. 
Translation mine. You now have the only human translation on the web. Sorry it took me so long. It took longer than usual to translate stream of conscious reflections.
"The Tariffed Lie"
I am moved to write about serious events that will occur soon. Ten or fifteen years won't pass before our species runs the real danger of extinction. Neither Obama nor anyone else can guarantee anything else, I say this realistically, because only the truth we could offer us a little more comfort and a breath of hope. We have reached the age of reason. We have no right to mislead or deceive.
The overwhelming majority of the public knows enough about the new risk on its doorstep.
It is not just that cruise missiles are aimed at military targets in Syria, but that that valiant Arab country, located in the heart of more than one billion Muslims, whose fighting spirit is legendary, has said it will resist, to the last breath, any attack on their country.
Everyone knows that Bashar Assad was no politician. He studied medicine. He graduated in 1988 and specialized in ophthalmology. He assumed a political role following the accidental death of his (older) brother and assumed his duties when his father, Hafez al Assad, died in 2000.
All NATO members, unconditional allies of the United States and a few petroleum ally countries in the Middle East region, ensure the global fuel supply, a product of vegetable matter that accumulated over more than one billion years. The availability of energy from nuclear fusion of hydrogen particles, however, is about 60 years off. Global warming from the accumulation of greenhouse gases will continue and grow at high rates because of huge investments in technology and equipment.
On the other hand it is stated that in 2040, in just 27 years, many tasks the police performs today such as imposing fines and other tasks would be performed by robots. Can you imagine, dear readers, how difficult it will be to argue with a robot capable of doing millions of calculations per second? This was something unimaginable a few years ago.
Just a few hours, on Monday August 26, field offices of agencies well known for their sophisticated services on behalf of the United States, dedicated themselves to spreading the news that Edward Snowden had had to establish himself (settle down) in Russia because Cuba had ceded to pressure from the USA.
I do not know if someone somewhere said something or not to Snowden, and that's not my task here. I read what I can of the news, reviews and books published in the world. I admire the courage and judiciousness of Snowden's statements which, in my opinion, rendered a service to the world by revealing the repugnantly dishonest politics of the powerful empire lying to and deceiving the world. We can not accept that anyone, whatever their merits, speaks on behalf of Cuba.
The tariffed lie. Who says so? The Russian newspaper “Kommersant” What is this libel? According to Reuters, the newspaper quoted sources close to the U.S. State Department: “The reason for this was that at the last minute Cuba told officials to stop Snowden from boarding the Aeroflot flight.
“According to the newspaper, (...) Snowden had spent a couple of days in the Russian consulate in Hong Kong to declare his intention of flying to Latin America via Moscow.”
If I wanted to I could talk about these subjects that are widely known.
Today I watched with particular interest the images of President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, during his visit to the flagship of the Russian detachment on a visit to Venezuela after its previous call at the ports of Havana and Nicaragua.
During the Venezuelan President’s visit of the ship, several graphical images impressed me. One was the range of motion of his many radars capable of controlling the operational activities of the ship in any situation that arises.
Moreover, we explored the rotary mercenary activities of “Kommersant”. In its time, it was one of the most perverse media at the service of the extreme counter-revolutionary right, which serves the conservative and lackey government in London which sends its bombers to the air base in Cyprus, ready to drop their bombs on the patriotic forces of the heroic Syria, while in Egypt, described as the heart of the Arab world, thousands of people are killed by the authors of a Coup d'Etat.
In that atmosphere the naval and air forces of the empire and its allies are preparing to start a genocide against the Arab peoples.
It is absolutely clear that the United States will always try to put pressure on Cuba as it does with the UN or any public or private institution in the world. It's one of the characteristics of the governments of that country; it would not be possible to expect anything else from their governments, and it was not in vain that we relentlessly resisted for 54 years - and any additional time necessary- while under the criminal economic blockade of the mighty empire.
Our biggest mistake is not having been able to learn much more in much less time.
Fidel Castro Ruz
August 27 de 2013
8:34 p.m.
"The Tariffed Lie"
I am moved to write about serious events that will occur soon. Ten or fifteen years won't pass before our species runs the real danger of extinction. Neither Obama nor anyone else can guarantee anything else, I say this realistically, because only the truth we could offer us a little more comfort and a breath of hope. We have reached the age of reason. We have no right to mislead or deceive.
The overwhelming majority of the public knows enough about the new risk on its doorstep.
It is not just that cruise missiles are aimed at military targets in Syria, but that that valiant Arab country, located in the heart of more than one billion Muslims, whose fighting spirit is legendary, has said it will resist, to the last breath, any attack on their country.
Everyone knows that Bashar Assad was no politician. He studied medicine. He graduated in 1988 and specialized in ophthalmology. He assumed a political role following the accidental death of his (older) brother and assumed his duties when his father, Hafez al Assad, died in 2000.
All NATO members, unconditional allies of the United States and a few petroleum ally countries in the Middle East region, ensure the global fuel supply, a product of vegetable matter that accumulated over more than one billion years. The availability of energy from nuclear fusion of hydrogen particles, however, is about 60 years off. Global warming from the accumulation of greenhouse gases will continue and grow at high rates because of huge investments in technology and equipment.
On the other hand it is stated that in 2040, in just 27 years, many tasks the police performs today such as imposing fines and other tasks would be performed by robots. Can you imagine, dear readers, how difficult it will be to argue with a robot capable of doing millions of calculations per second? This was something unimaginable a few years ago.
Just a few hours, on Monday August 26, field offices of agencies well known for their sophisticated services on behalf of the United States, dedicated themselves to spreading the news that Edward Snowden had had to establish himself (settle down) in Russia because Cuba had ceded to pressure from the USA.
I do not know if someone somewhere said something or not to Snowden, and that's not my task here. I read what I can of the news, reviews and books published in the world. I admire the courage and judiciousness of Snowden's statements which, in my opinion, rendered a service to the world by revealing the repugnantly dishonest politics of the powerful empire lying to and deceiving the world. We can not accept that anyone, whatever their merits, speaks on behalf of Cuba.
The tariffed lie. Who says so? The Russian newspaper “Kommersant” What is this libel? According to Reuters, the newspaper quoted sources close to the U.S. State Department: “The reason for this was that at the last minute Cuba told officials to stop Snowden from boarding the Aeroflot flight.
“According to the newspaper, (...) Snowden had spent a couple of days in the Russian consulate in Hong Kong to declare his intention of flying to Latin America via Moscow.”
If I wanted to I could talk about these subjects that are widely known.
Today I watched with particular interest the images of President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, during his visit to the flagship of the Russian detachment on a visit to Venezuela after its previous call at the ports of Havana and Nicaragua.
During the Venezuelan President’s visit of the ship, several graphical images impressed me. One was the range of motion of his many radars capable of controlling the operational activities of the ship in any situation that arises.
Moreover, we explored the rotary mercenary activities of “Kommersant”. In its time, it was one of the most perverse media at the service of the extreme counter-revolutionary right, which serves the conservative and lackey government in London which sends its bombers to the air base in Cyprus, ready to drop their bombs on the patriotic forces of the heroic Syria, while in Egypt, described as the heart of the Arab world, thousands of people are killed by the authors of a Coup d'Etat.
In that atmosphere the naval and air forces of the empire and its allies are preparing to start a genocide against the Arab peoples.
It is absolutely clear that the United States will always try to put pressure on Cuba as it does with the UN or any public or private institution in the world. It's one of the characteristics of the governments of that country; it would not be possible to expect anything else from their governments, and it was not in vain that we relentlessly resisted for 54 years - and any additional time necessary- while under the criminal economic blockade of the mighty empire.
Our biggest mistake is not having been able to learn much more in much less time.
Fidel Castro Ruz
August 27 de 2013
8:34 p.m.
That's much appreciated.
I'm wondering if the reason that page was not available in English was that they had yet to do the translation.
