HAVANA — Former President Fidel Castro says Sen. Barack Obama's plan to maintain Washington's trade embargo against Cuba will cause hunger and suffering on the island.
In a column published Monday by government-run newspapers, Castro said Obama was "the most-advanced candidate in the presidential race," but noted that he has not dared to call for altering U.S. policy toward Cuba.
"Obama's speech can be translated as a formula for hunger for the country," Castro wrote, referring to Obama's remarks last week to the influential Cuban American National Foundation in Miami.
Obama said he would maintain the nearly fifty-year-old trade sanctions against Cuba as leverage to push for democratic change on the island. But he also vowed to ease restrictions on Cuban Americans traveling to Cuba and sending money to relatives.
He repeated his willingness to meet with Raul Castro, who in February succeeded his elder brother Fidel to become the nation's first new leader in 49 years.
Castro said Obama's proposals for letting well-off Cuban Americans help poorer relatives on the island amounted to "propaganda for consumerism and a way of life that is unsustainable."
He complained that Obama's description of Cuba as "undemocratic" and "lacking in respect for liberty and human rights" was the same argument previous U.S. administrations "have used to justify their crimes against our homeland."
Castro, 81, has not been seen in public since undergoing emergency surgery in July 2006, but he often publishes columns in state newspapers.
Obama's calls for direct talks with Cuban leaders differ sharply from a more hardline policy favored by current President Bush and Republican presidential candidate John McCain, whom Castro also has criticized.
Castro's column came three days after a prominent dissident group wrote an open letter to Obama suggesting that his idea of talking directly with Cuban leaders could help win freedom for prisoners.
"We have great hope that you can contribute to the immediate, unconditional liberation" of prisoners, wrote the Ladies in White, a group formed by relatives of people jailed in a government crackdown on political opposition in 2003.
"Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God" -Thomas Jefferson
"The tree of freedom must be nurtured from time to time with the blood of its patriots" -Thomas Jefferson
"When the Government Fears the People, There is Liberty; When the People Fear the Government, There is Tyranny." - Thomas Jefferson
Posts: 4749 | Location: Reggio di Calabria, Italy / New York United States | Registered: July 12, 2007
Originally posted by SHEEPSHEAD BAY: HAVANA — Former President Fidel Castro says Sen. Barack Obama's plan to maintain Washington's trade embargo against Cuba will cause hunger and suffering on the island.
Oblahma's "change" will leave many Americans starving too, so we'll have much more in common with Cuba if Oblahma's elected (which is not gunna happen).
In Ameica we don't elect Socialists.
--- You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
Originally posted by SHEEPSHEAD BAY: HAVANA — Former President Fidel Castro says Sen. Barack Obama's plan to maintain Washington's trade embargo against Cuba will cause hunger and suffering on the island.
Oblahma's "change" will leave many Americans starving too, so we'll have much more in common with Cuba if Oblahma's elected (which is not gunna happen).
In Ameica we don't elect Socialists.
Sure, "socialists"...whatever you say.
8 years ago I would have said "America doesn't elect morons", but look what happened.
When the facts change, I change. What do you do, sir? - Lord Keynes
Posts: 2341 | Location: the GTA | Registered: November 28, 2007
___________________ Santa Cabilla...patron saint of Quericæstan. VIVE COULTER (not Ann)! VIVE CPD! Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go...(Oscar Wilde)
Posts: 10308 | Location: Avenida de las Nalgas, Quericæstan | Registered: May 02, 2002
you gotta love it castro is 1 of the most brutal dictaters there is and yet he blames the u.s because cubans live in poverty. did i miss something here?
Originally posted by Belicoso_Fino: Oblahma's "change" will leave many Americans starving too, so we'll have much more in common with Cuba if Oblahma's elected (which is not gunna happen).
In Ameica we don't elect Socialists.
That is probably one of the most insipid political assesments ever... Obama is no more a socialist than Bush is a nazi...
Obviously, you wouldn't know a socialist if he collectivised your a$$...
________________________ "Tobacco is my favorite vegetable." --FZ
"Government is the Entertainment Division of the military-industrial complex." --FZ too
Originally posted by flashman: That is probably one of the most insipid political assesments ever... Obama is no more a socialist than Bush is a nazi...
Obviously, you wouldn't know a socialist if he collectivised your a$$...
Finally, somebody GETS IT!
---------------------------------
Some people see the glass half full. Others see it half empty. I see a glass that's twice as big as it needs to be.
Just because someone's opinion is different than yours, doesn't make them wrong.
A man who WILL NOT to reason is a bigot, A man who CANNOT reason is a fool, A man who DARES NOT reason is a slave
People in Cuba cannot vote for an American president. People in Florida can.
Ain't it the truth all those registered voters in Florida. They where the deciding votes in the 2000 election.Now i ask you what politician in his right mind would want to give those up.
"Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God" -Thomas Jefferson
"The tree of freedom must be nurtured from time to time with the blood of its patriots" -Thomas Jefferson
"When the Government Fears the People, There is Liberty; When the People Fear the Government, There is Tyranny." - Thomas Jefferson
Posts: 4749 | Location: Reggio di Calabria, Italy / New York United States | Registered: July 12, 2007
Originally posted by flashman: That is probably one of the most insipid political assesments ever... Obama is no more a socialist than Bush is a nazi...
Obviously, you wouldn't know a socialist if he collectivised your a$$...
Whenever I hear nationalized medicine, wealth redistribution, unequal taxation, and profit capping I think Socialism. I'm not alone in that view.
You can deny it all you like, but your boy is a closet Socialist.
--- You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
Originally posted by Belicoso_Fino: Whenever I hear nationalized medicine, wealth redistribution, unequal taxation, and profit capping I think Socialism.
You clearly aren't educated in the fields of economics or politics.
Those of us who are don't use blanket labels triggered by certain feared keywords (likely a result of watching too much fox news and a leftover instilled fear of socialism from cold-war propaganda). We examine political positions in terms of the intended and likely effects of each policy, and whether or not it benefits us and the nation.
So, whenever I hear of someone who is afraid of certain key words, I tend to learn exactly the type of person I'm dealing with.
When the facts change, I change. What do you do, sir? - Lord Keynes
Posts: 2341 | Location: the GTA | Registered: November 28, 2007
Originally posted by flashman: That is probably one of the most insipid political assesments ever... Obama is no more a socialist than Bush is a nazi...
Obviously, you wouldn't know a socialist if he collectivised your a$$...
Whenever I hear nationalized medicine, wealth redistribution, unequal taxation, and profit capping I think Socialism. I'm not alone in that view.
You can deny it all you like, but your boy is a closet Socialist.
Repeat afer me : a "social-democrat" is not a "socialist". They are as different as "conservative" and "nazi"...
Different concepts, totally.
________________________ "Tobacco is my favorite vegetable." --FZ
"Government is the Entertainment Division of the military-industrial complex." --FZ too
Originally posted by flashman: Repeat afer me : a "social-democrat" is not a "socialist". They are as different as "conservative" and "nazi"...
Different concepts, totally.
I won't repeat such hogwash.
The idea of "social democrats" have been superceded by socilaists in democrats clothing who want to rob from the rich to give to the poor and unfairly tax the rich (wealth redistribution), want to price and profit cap business that are unpopular, and implement social programs that are illustrative of Socialist governments.
These are not the policies of a democrat, they are the policies of a Socialist. Again, I am not alone in this view.
Sorry to hear you're unwilling to see the hand right in front of your face.
--- You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
