RIP Fidel Castro August 13, 1926 – November 25, 2016

[two sheds]

Yep most respectful thread title also.

 

[StoneRoad]

RIP is the shortest of the many possible comments I have time to make as I'm about to set out on a journey

 

[bubblesmcgrath]

His open letter to "Brother Obama" was the work of a man who knew and respected the history and truth of his country in equal measure....no syrupy shit from him;.... unlike Obama.

I love the part where he pretty much said that Obama's comments were enough to cause a heart attack.

Here's the full letter...
http://en.granma.cu/cuba/2016-03-28/brother-obama

Here's a snippet from the letter....

"Obama made a speech in which he uses the most sweetened words to express: “It is time, now, to forget the past, leave the past behind, let us look to the future together, a future of hope. And it won’t be easy, there will be challenges and we must give it time; but my stay here gives me more hope in what we can do together as friends, as family, as neighbors, together.”

"I suppose all of us were at risk of a heart attack upon hearing these words from the President of the United States. After a ruthless blockade that has lasted almost 60 years, and what about those who have died in the mercenary attacks on Cuban ships and ports, an airliner full of passengers blown up in midair, mercenary invasions, multiple acts of violence and coercion?"

"Nobody should be under the illusion that the people of this dignified and selfless country will renounce the glory, the rights, or the spiritual wealth they have gained with the development of education, science and culture."


RIP Castro.

 

[Pickman's model]

There is hope then our own 90 year auld head of state may follow fc quickly to the grave

 

[butchersapron]

'Here is a conclusion I've come to after many years: among all the errors we may have committed, the greatest of them all was that we believed that someone ... actually knew how to build socialism. ... Whenever they said. 'That's the formula,' we thought they knew. Just as if someone is a physician.' Castro in 2005.

That and locking up or killing gays, trade unionists, socialists, anarchists, communists - any one that disagreed with him from the left or right, smashing the rural collectives, helping bring the world to the brink of nuclear destruction, imposing rigid authoritarianism, smashing any hint of independent working class activity or political initiative...

 

[tim]

There is hope then our own 90 year auld head of state may follow fc quickly to the grave

And land us with Charlie as our answer to Raul

 

[DownwardDog]

Surely May will have to attend funeral, in a way of respects to (former) Head of State blah blah. Interesting.

I doubt it. DC didn't go to Chavez's funeral when the CIA cancer rays finally ended him.

 

[danny la rouge]

That and locking up or killing gays, trade unionists, socialists, anarchists, communists - any one that disagreed with him from the left or right, smashing the rural collectives, helping bring the world to the brink of nuclear destruction, imposing rigid authoritarianism, smashing any hint of independent working class activity or political initiative...

Back when I was administrator for a tiny website a handful of comrades in my area put together, one of the comments I got from a US right libertarian was "why do you left libertarians never protest Fidel Castro". Quite apart from the fact that one of us (not me - a guy from Shetland originally) had written a piece on the site criticising his regime (along exactly those lines above), it made me laugh. It's like a bogey man for the US right: the facts don't actually matter - if you're against Ayn Rand, you're for Fidel.

 

[Pickman's model]

And land us with Charlie as our answer to Raul

He might cark it before the end of the year

 

[bi0boy]

He might cark it before the end of the year

They are currently minting 1,500,000,000 of the new 12-sided £1 coins with the Queen's head and "2017" on them. I bet they'd be well pissed off if they had to do a bunch with Charles and then scrabble about to find a suitable portrait of William.

 

[tim]

He might cark it before the end of the year

And then we get just William, and should his helicopter blades go wonky, Harry as regent with the kids in protective custody in the Tower, where, of course, some unfortunate accident will inevitably happen. So we'll live in a country under the rule of a ruddy faced bearded brute called Henry IX against whom the only effective resistance to which will be a band of armed Khazak funded perverts at the other end of the M4 led by Prince Andrew. Edward will have been allowed to drown in a fluid of his own choice.

 

[poului]

His "moderate" brother can go do one as well. Utter psychopath.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

His "moderate" brother can go do one as well. Utter psychopath.

Don't know about now, but Raúl was very hated back when he was head of the army.

Butchers left one thing off the list. Sent conscripts off to fight in a war few of them knew anything about.

Mixed feelings about Castro. Overthrew a tyrant and stood up to the US, but at great cost to his people, and yes, very very much of the opinion that 'if you're not with me, you're against me'. Really should have stepped aside some time back in the 60s, but did the exact opposite - he made the revolution all about him. Most Cubans will have mixed feelings about his passing too, I think.

 

[two sheds]

Interesting, hadn't realized about the degree of repression - how much was in response to the reaction against Cuba by the US?

And balanced somewhat you'd think by the record on education and (despite the blockade shortages) healthcare and helping third world countries by sending doctors.

 

[Idris2002]

That and locking up or killing gays, trade unionists, socialists, anarchists, communists - any one that disagreed with him from the left or right, smashing the rural collectives, helping bring the world to the brink of nuclear destruction, imposing rigid authoritarianism, smashing any hint of independent working class activity or political initiative...

All of which produced a new class in the party bureaucracy, which will put the pedal to the metal on the restoration of capitalism. . . and in a few years time we'll read about how the health and education systems in Cuba have been ripped up, and a new generation of homeless street kids are being killed by the police. . .

 

[Idris2002]

Cuba sent a lot of doctors to Sierra Leone to help with the counter-Ebola offensive.

When they got there, or so I heard, other countries' aid agencies refused to help them with transportation into the interior.

As for Castro himself, he was an essentially nineteenth century figure, cut from the same cloth as people like Garibaldi, who happened to be operating in the conditions of the twentieth century.

 

[Spymaster]

They'll be dancing in the streets of Miami.

And in Havana, although rather more quietly for fear of getting their bollocks wired to the mains.

Everyone I met in Cuba fucking hated him and his shit stinking regime.

 

[Idris2002]

Won't be long before Gorby's gone as well, by the looks of him:

 

[Raheem]

That and locking up or killing gays, trade unionists, socialists, anarchists, communists - any one that disagreed with him from the left or right

Few would claim Cuba has an exemplary record in protecting freedom of speech and association, but this seems a tad exaggerated. How many documented cases are there of people being executed for these offences in Cuba? Are there actually any?

 

[Idris2002]

And in Havana, although rather more quietly for fear of getting their bollocks wired to the mains.

Everyone I met in Cuba fucking hated him and his shit stinking regime.

And a few years from now, they'll be looking back and saying "yes, it was a shit stinking regime, but it had its good points".

 

[Pickman's model]

And in Havana, although rather more quietly for fear of getting their bollocks wired to the mains.

Everyone I met in Cuba fucking hated him and his shit stinking regime.

How many of them were Cuban, pa?

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

I doubt it. DC didn't go to Chavez's funeral when the CIA cancer rays finally ended him.

The ambassador did, and I'd expect the same for Castro's funeral.

 

[Spymaster]

How many of them were Cuban, pa?

All of 'em son. No point in asking tourists is there?

 

[Pickman's model]

All of 'em son. No point in asking tourists is there?

Who knows who you'd have asked after some of that fine Havana club, pa

 

[tim]

Won't be long before Gorby's gone as well, by the looks of him:

Yes, look at that big purple mark on his bonce, that can't be healthy

 

[Idris2002]

Yes, look at that big purple mark on his bonce, that can't be healthy

A relic of the Chernobyl disaster, IIRC.

 

[J Ed]

That and locking up or killing gays, trade unionists, socialists, anarchists, communists - any one that disagreed with him from the left or right, smashing the rural collectives, helping bring the world to the brink of nuclear destruction, imposing rigid authoritarianism, smashing any hint of independent working class activity or political initiative...

Very close relations, and an apparent mutual admiration, with the Spanish Franco regime too.

 

[butchersapron]

Few would claim Cuba has an exemplary record in protecting freedom of speech and association, but this seems a tad exaggerated. How many documented cases are there of people being executed for these offences in Cuba? Are there actually any?

Is this a joke?

 

[tim]

Who knows who you'd have asked after some of that fine Havana club, pa

I'm being distracted from mourning by images of Spymaster's seedy,noctural, Havanan misadventures.

 

[Pickman's model]

I'm being distracted from mourning by images of Spymaster's seedy,noctural, Havanan misadventures.

Havana 3am