A point of honor: Former Cuba
dictator Fidel Castro has taken umbrage
at a report from a Russian
newspapers that claims Cuba, pressured by
the U.S., refused to allow Edward Snowden
the right to land in Havana.
He takes the newspaper to task for
'purchasing the lie' for publication.
Castro: 'Who Was Paid to Lie' about Snowden Being Allowed in Cuba? (Cuba Debate,
Cuba)
Who told the Russian newspaper Kommersant that Cuba, buckling under pressure from the United States, had decided to forbid Edward Snowden from landing in Havana? In a rare emergence from retirement, the former Cuba dictator has come out to correct the record, saying that after 54 years of unflinching defiance of the 'empire', Havana did not, and would never, have refused Snowden permission to land there.
I feel compelled to write about the fact
that terrible events are fast approaching. In this day and age, no more than 10 or 15
years pass without our species running into a genuine risk of extinction.
Neither Obama nor anyone else can issue guarantees, I say in all realism, because
only with the truth will we achieve a bit more wellbeing or a whiff of hope. We
have come of age. We have no right to mislead or deceive.
The vast majority of the public knows
quite a lot about the new risks on our doorstep.
It isn't simply that cruise missiles are
aimed at military targets in Syria, but that this brave Arab country, situated
at the heart of more than a billion Muslims and whose fighting spirit is legendary
- has declared that until its last breath, it will resist any attack on the
country.
It is well known that Bashar al-Assad was not a politician. He studied medicine. He
graduated in 1988 and specialized in ophthalmology. He assumed a political role
on the death of his father Hafez al Assad in 2000, and after the accidental
death of a brothers before assuming his current role.
All NATO members, unconditional allies
of the United States, and a few oil producing monarchies in the Middle East
allied to the empire, ensure the global supply of plant-based fuels that have accumulated
for over a billion years. The availability of energy produced from the fusion
of hydrogen particles, on the other hand, will take at least 60 years. The
accumulation of atmospheric greenhouse gases will continue to grow at higher
rates even after colossal investments in technology and equipment.
On the other hand, it is said that by
the year 2040, just 27 years more, many tasks performed today by police, such
as imposing fines and other tasks, will be carried out by robots. Can the
reader imagine how difficult it would be to argue with a robot capable of
processing millions of calculations a second? This was really unimaginable years
ago.
Just a few hours ago, official agencies known for their classic sophisticated services to the United
States, disseminated news that Edward Snowden had been forced to establish
himself in Russia because Cuba had bowed to pressure from the United States.
I don't know whether someone, somewhere,
spoke or didn't speak to Snowden, as this is not my task. I read what I can of
news, opinion and books around the world. I admire the brave and just statements
made by Snowden, who in my opinion rendered a service to the world by revealing
the repugnantly dishonest policies of the dominant empire which lies and
deceives the world. What I do not agree with is that someone, whatever their
merits, can speak on behalf of Cuba.
Who was paid to utter this lie. Who said
it? Who uttered these libelous comments to
the Russian newspaper Kommersant?
According to Reuters news agency, the
newspaper quotes sources close to the U.S. State Department: “The Cuban government at the last minute notified the authorities, and that Havana had prevented Snowden from boarding the Aeroflot flight.”
“According to the newspaper, Snowden "spent
a couple of days in the Russian Consulate in Hong Kong to explain his intention
to fly to Latin America via Moscow.” If I wanted to, I could talk more about this,
which I have ample knowledge of.
Today, I watched with particular
interest images of President Nicolas Maduro of the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela during a visit to the flagship vessel of a detachment of
the Russian Navy visiting Venezuela, after his previous stops in Havana and
Nicaragua.
During the president’s visit to the ship,
several images caught my attention. One showed the range of motion of the
vessel's various radar arrays capable of controlling the ship’s operations in
any situation arises.
Moving on, let’s explore the mercenary activities
Kommersant.
In its time, it was one of the most perverse media outlets at the service of the
extreme counter-revolutionary right, which enjoys the fact that the sycophantic
conservative government in London is sending bombers to its air base in Cyprus,
ready to drop their bombs on the patriotic forces of heroic Syria, while in
Egypt, known as the heart of the Arab world, thousands of people are being
murdered by the authors of a disgusting
coup d'état.
Against this background, the empire’s navy
and air force, along with its allies, are preparing to launch genocide against
the Arab peoples.
It is absolutely clear that the United
States will always try and pressure Cuba, just as it does with the United
Nations or any public or private institution in the world. It is one of the
characteristics of this country’s governments and it would be impossible to
expect anything else of them. However, 54 years of resistance, defending
ourselves without a ceasefire and confronting the criminal economic embargo
imposed by the might empire, have not been in vain - and will continue as long
as necessary.
Our greatest mistake is not having been able
to learn much more in far less time.
