Cuba frees prisoners, but Fidel steals spotlight

[Billy Burnett]

The old codger is still at it. He really knows how to piss off the Miami gusanos. :applause:

Cuba frees prisoners, but Fidel steals spotlight
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66D0DE20100714

(Reuters) - As Cuba shipped off more freed political prisoners to Spain, former leader Fidel Castro stayed in the spotlight on Tuesday, making his third public appearance in the past week after four years in seclusion.

The 83-year-old comandante met with economists in Havana's Center for Research on the World Economy to ask them to think about how to create a "new civilization" after the coming nuclear war he has predicted for several weeks, according to state-run website www.cubadebate.cu.

It published photographs by his son Alex Castro of the white-bearded, blue-shirted Castro sitting at the head of a table presiding over the meeting. Unlike in most recent photos, he was not wearing an athletic jacket.

He has been writing in Cuban media that nuclear war will soon break out when the United States, in alliance with Israel, tries to enforce international sanctions against Iran for its nuclear activities.

Before the past few days, Castro had been seen only in a occasional photographs and videos since undergoing intestinal surgery in July 2006.

But on Saturday, first a blogger, then the government said Castro had appeared on Wednesday at the National Center of Scientific Investigations and ran photographs to prove it.

Then on Monday, Castro appeared in a videotaped interview on Cuban television talking about his predicted war.

VP Richard Nixon politely telling Fidel Castro to screw himself

[Judi Lynn]

1. Love that photo, Billy Burnett. What a historic item. History would have been so different

had the U.S. played straight with Cuba.

Thank you!

[Judi Lynn]

2. The writer should pay more attention to his subject, you'd think.

Fidel Castro has been on tv at least two other times during these years, one of them had something to do with an interview related to La Mesa Redonda.

Really! What are they paying him to do there at Reuters, anyway? Duyyhhhh.

[rabs]

3. Today (Thursday) Fidel paid a visit to the Acuario Nacional

AFP/Cubadebate photos

Fidel was at the Cuban National Aquarium for about two hours, watched a dolphin show, talked with workers and the public, inquired about the internal situation at the Aquarium in the Miramar residential neighborhood of La Habana.

It was Fidel's fourth public appearance in the past eight days.

---------------------

Naysayers in Little Havana will clamor again that the Fidel-look-alike really resembles Fidel when he was alive. :rofl:

[EFerrari]

4. Someday we're going to find out that the first tea bagger

was a gusano or at a minimum, that they have the same PR people.

[Mika]

5. Photos show how hated Fidel is in Cuba.

Whether or not they are fully aware of it, the bravery and determination of this man and his cadre of friends -all determined to liberate Cuba from the death grip of Tio Sam- has affected each and every Cuban to the core.




Viva Cuba!

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[Judi Lynn]

8. Great photos, Superb. I've seen that look on the people's faces in picture after picture,

over the years.

He is truly loved by so many Cubans.

Do you remember the first time he collapsed after giving a long speech in the firey sun in a large plaza in Havana? People in the audience screamed, or yelled, and many wept, thinking he had bought the farm.

It was all duly noted by members of the foreign media who were covering the speech. Pictures, too, of people sitting in their folding chairs crying.

It's something idiots just don't understand, but who cares, anyway?

Thanks, again. They are GREAT. He looks fragile, but in very good form considering what he's endured the last few years.

[Mika]

9. I hope he gets a few years to relax and enjoy some retirement.

All Cubans (in Cuba) know he's earned it.

Judi, as you note, people on the streets and going about the business of their day have always greeted Fidel with the utmost of pleasure. When he was younger he used to drive himself around in a soft top (usually open) jeep. No heavily armed guards, maybe a junior officer of some sort riding in the passenger seat taking copious notes that Fidel would dictate as he met people and discussed their issues and concerns directly with them.

He would make random stops at local markets, or farms, or small shops to get a little something, but mainly to make contact with the people. All would greet him very personable and with smiles and offerings of blessings and profound thanks in awe of his history. Everyone wanted to shake his hand or get an autograph.



Everyone wants to know if he's OK. They all check him out on TV to see for themselves. The Round Table Show appearances he made were the most watched shows on Cuba TV (although the Round Table Show is a big hit in Cuba).

Cubans don't hate the Castro brothers. They revere them as the national heroes that they are.

It will be a VERY dark day in the hearts of all Cubans in Cuba when his time comes to pass.

There will be mass celebration in Miami, but in Cuba and across most of the Latin Americas there will be a mass outpouring of deep grief and honoring of a true people's hero.







And graffiti signs, reminicent of the signs of support for the young cadre of revolutionaries in the 50's, like these will pop up all over the countryside in memoriam....

http://thumb10.shutterstock.com.edgesuite.net/display_pic_with_logo/3525/3525,1255539704,7/stock-photo-wooden-propaganda-sign-viva-fidel-in-cuban-countryside-38863390.jpg











http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PYy7ZXsIol4/SVZEsNLLooI/AAAAAAAAAgA/FsPTSqgcSJ0/s400/viva+fidel.JPG




.... in memoriam of one of the greatest Cubans - who credited all of the good works of Cuba to the Cuban people.

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[Judi Lynn]

10. Great photo of the group watching Fidel Castro during his recuperation on TV!

That look is genuine. Can't fake it.

The photo of the revolutionary figures walking together shows the President of Cuba between Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, and I think Camilo Cienfuegos is the 2nd to the left of Che Guevara, and I think the very fair guy is an American who fought in the rvolution but I can't remember who he is. Just spotted Raul behind Che.

I had no choice but to bookmark this thread to keep access to these wonderful photos.

There was a poster at CNN, and another couple of Cuba message boards who met a Cuban man who lived near her who had cards with the photos of the Cuban revolutionary fighters on them, similar to baseball cards! They were made in Cuba. She said they were a big item there, that people wanted to know all about them.

[dipsydoodle]

6. Reminds me of

Liam Neeson in that picture. Prolly be a good chap to play Fidel sometime.

[Judi Lynn]

11. You're right on that! He greatly resembles him in that shot. Interesting. n/t

[Peace Patriot]

7. I haven't yet read Castro's statement about a U.S. nuclear war involving Iran

but he has been so right on, on so many subjects, that it's certainly worrisome.

I thought we had passed that horrid danger point, with Rumsfeld's resignation in 2006. But our corpo-fascist rulers' continuation of the bullshit against Iran has made me wonder about it, somewhat. It's so like the long buildup to the Iraq War, over several Republicrat administrations. Did they oust Rumsfeld because he was being too precipitous (maybe hadn't done the ground work with nuclear powers China and Russia?)? I remember all kinds of rumblings from the U.S. military uppermucks at the time, the gist of which is that they thought his plan to nuke Iran was nuts. But maybe they just thought it wasn't ripe yet?

My scenario for those events goes like this: The Bushwhacks (with chief perp Rumsfeld (in my opinion)) had outed the CIA's entire WMD counter-proliferation project and the CIA was on the warpath. (Summer '03, height of the phony 'hunt' for WMDs in Iraq; Fitzgerald began his investigation of the CIA outings in Fall '03). Bush Jr was in deep doo-doo. Rumsfeld-Cheney had planned to extend the Iraq War right into Iran, then and there, possibly with a plant of phony WMDs in Iraq, 'traceable' to Iran, during the summer of 2003 (when Judith Miller seemed to fully expect them to be 'found'). But somebody foiled them. (The CIA? The Brewster-Jennings network? David Kelly?) Enter Daddy Bush, with his "Iraq Study Group" (remember that?). Daddy Bush put together a committee of old CIA hands (like Leon Panetta) and intervened, to save Junior's ass. This committee joined forces with the military brass and possibly some others (corpos, politicos) and offered Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld a deal: No nuking of Iran and they would relinquish power when the time came, in exchange for immunity from prosecution (and any other consequences the CIA might have had in mind). And Rumsfeld had to go. Rumsfeld resigns. Nancy Pelosi announces that "impeachment is off the table." And all the talk about nuking Iran (virulent at the time--late 2006) goes away. Iran smilingly returns the British sailors that they had captured in Iranian waters (the 'Gulf of Tonkin' incident that was to have triggered this later version of the war on Iran?), and Pelosi takes off for the Middle East (as that is occurring) to notify Israel and other allies that the attack on Iran is off.

Horrendously undemocratic as all this was ("impeachment is off the table"--I mean, really), I figured it might have spared us Armageddon in the Middle East, possibly martial law here (continued Bush Junta) and maybe the end of the world.

And I also figured that the Republicrats now intended to destroy Iran in other ways (riots? internal destabilization? economic sanctions?). But I've only held out as a remote possibility that nuclear war is still "on the table." I thought cooler heads had prevailed. Can't deny, though, that it looks like the Bush-Clinton-Bush scenario on Iraq. (And we also have something similar going on, with the Pentagon surrounding Venezuela with war assets, on Obama's watch.)

Deregulating deep-water oil drilling is bad enough. An induced Great Depression is bad enough. Two horrendously unjust wars is bad enough. Are we to also see nuclear war--the complete triumph of evil? I hope Castro is wrong this time.

[Zorro]

12. That Fidel will steal anything

Hopefully Raul will give him an exploding cigar soon so that Cuba can finally start moving in to the new century.

[Billy Burnett]

23. It's going to take more than that to get the US out of the cold war mode.

Especially revealed in your post is the phobia that slows real progress.

Thanks for posting a perfect caricature of it.


Cheers

[Zorro]

24. Cold war mode? Exhibiting the phobia that slows real progress?

And who's been blathering on about an impending nuclear war recently?

Here's a hint: read your OP.

[rabs]

13. Appearance No. 5 in nine days

Meeting with Cuban ambassadors at the Foreign Ministry in Havana today (Friday).








With Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez



Xinhua/Reuters Photos

[Mika]

14. Saw some more fresh footage on Miami WSVN Fox station.

He looked very good. Not as frail as I'd thought. Lots of people taking pictures and lovingly greeting him as he arrives and leaves.

Footage is not on their website yet. I'll check now and then.


:hi:

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[Judi Lynn]

15. The photo of the lady meeting Fidel Castro, the impact of her emotional outpouring

is itself so moving. There's no way anyone could fake that.

The people in the picture absolutely love him.

The level of attentiveness in the room where he's speaking is impressive. He clearly still has great presence.

It's wonderful getting the chance to see these images.

[Mika]

16. She's giving the old guy a fist bump

:fistbump:

They're just glad to see him upright. I know a lot of Cubans and I know they all wish him a long and peaceful retirement.

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[Judi Lynn]

17. Wondered if that was a fist bump, but wasn't sure I saw it right. She is absolutely overwhelmed

with feeling for the man. Genuine, human, sweet. He seems very much in the moment, as well.

The photos are phenomenal.

Thinking of living space, I've reflected on what I've learned before: in the largest houses the common space between people who can't stand each other can NEVER be far enough. You can be absolutely overwrought, wild with rage being confined in a very large house with someone who's cruel.

I've noticed people in small homes often develope a sense of real respect for "the other" with whom they share space, which is often missing in more elaborate settings. Looking back through one's one life, no doubt there is good evidence for that belief. It certainly has applied in my life.

Thanks for your comments, observations, always.

[Billy Burnett]

18. Judi, I found this. I know you'll enjoy the blast from the past.

You might remember from the old CNN days the Miami lawyer who kissed Fidel on the cheek in a greeting line in Cuba, Magda Montiel Davis.

As you might remember, the clip went viral in Miami and on Miami TV. So many death threats to her and her junior high school age children that her family had to hire full time security and eventually move from Miami.

Here's this little find. Enjoy.

MY MOM KISSED FIDEL
http://wlrnunderthesun.org/2009/06/my-mom-kissed-fidel/

:hi:

[Judi Lynn]

20. God, I loved the Kurzbans and their hard, HARD work for the Cuban father

and his ex-wife who wanted so much for the little daughter to return to Cuba instead of being permanently made to live with the wealthy, but crooked Joe Cubas and wife in Florida.

That event is so haunting. The child's mother, who immigrated here, and grew depressed, and father who stayed in Cuba, wanted her to go back to Cuba. The only time she had been vulnerable to adoption was when her mother was so unhappy here she tried to kill herself.

Florida manipulated and deceived these people so maliciously just to be able to score a political victory to compensate for their loss with Elian! I'll never forget it.

Had NO IDEA Magda was Cuban! How interesting. Fantastic people, those two, aren't they?

http://3.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_cwZLGEEcogE/Rtc5nZKkI5I/AAAAAAAAADE/D-iSDObaJ6Y/s320/La+abogada+Magda+Montiel+Davis+conversa+en+privado+con+Rafael+Izquierdo+el+padre+biol%C3%B3gico+de+la+ni%C3%B1a+a+la+salida+de+la+corte+Al+Diaz++Miami+Herald+Staff.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_YV2gEA9DNhw/RtdXN9q9T0I/AAAAAAAAF9U/0DYDR32Gk9g/s400/ElenaPerezMagdaMontiel.jpg

http://cache.daylife.com.nyud.net:8090/imageserve/053H8vQ26i1Xr/610x.jpg
The only immigration lawyer in Miami whose name I have heard is Hillary Clinton's sister-in-law Maria someone, that horrendous reactionary monster.

I'll bet Magda and her husband have to have eyes in the backs of their heads walking around South Florida!

Thanks for the articles by mom and daughter. Very interesting.

[Mika]

22. Thanks for posting this, Billy.

I've admired Magda and Ira for a long time. Ira had been representing Aristide after the coup.

:hi:

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[Mika]

19. Hey, rabs.

I just wanted to say thanks to you for posting all of the pictures to this thread.

As is often said, a picture tells a thousand words.

Thank you. :hi:


Fidel Castro is pictured with screen stars Maureen O'Hara (L) and Alec Guinness (R) at Havana's Cathedral Square
on May 13, 1959 during visit to set of Columbia Pictures Film "Our Man in Havana," which is on location in Havana.

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[Judi Lynn]

21. Ha ha. Two excellent, great actors, too. Great one. He looks so YOUNG, like a kid!

By then, however, he had already lived through hell. Amazing.