'A PASSING FAD?'
[El Nuevo Diario, Nicaragua]
Granma, Cuba
Fidel Castro
Suggests that Obama Listen to the Kennedys
Since
President Obama entered office, former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro has been
mounting a campaign to have Washington's decades-old embargo and other
restrictions on the island lifted. In this edition of 'Reflections of Fidel'
from Havana's government run Granma, Castro speaks admiringly of John F.
Kennedy, describing his assassination and 'the strange way it was carried out' as
'extremely sad,' and he lauds Kathleen Kennedy's campaign to have the ban on
travel to Cuba lifted for all Americans - not just Cuban Americans.
By Fidel Castro
Translated By Miguel Gutierrez
April 24, 2009
Cuba - Granma - Original Article (Spanish)
I confess that I often meditate
on the dramatic story of John F. Kennedy. I was lived through the period when Kennedy
was the greatest and most dangerous adversary of the Revolution. It was
something that wasn't part of his calculations. He saw himself as the
representative of a new generation of Americans confronting the old, dirty
politics of men in the mold of Nixon, who Kennedy defeated with a blizzard of
political talent.
His history as a combatant in
the Pacific and his agile pen spoke well of him. He was committed by his
predecessors to the Bay of
Pigs adventure because he trusted too much, as he had no doubts about their
experience and professional skills. This was a bitter and unexpected failure, barely
three months after his inauguration. Although he was at the point of attacking
the island with that nation's powerful and sophisticated weapons, he didn't at the
time do what Nixon would have done: deploy fighter-bombers and send in the Marines. Rivers of blood would have run in our homeland, where
hundreds of thousands of fighters were ready to die. He exercised self-control and
spoke an immortal phrase that is not easy to forget: "Victory has many
fathers, defeat is an orphan."
His life continued dramatically,
like a shadow that accompanied at every moment. Wounded pride won out and once
again, he was coerced into the idea of invading. This brought about the October
Crisis [Cuban Missile Crisis] and the greatest risk of a thermonuclear war that
the world has known to date. He emerged the winner after that test thanks to
the mistakes of his principal adversary. He wanted to talk seriously with Cuba
and decided to do just that. He sent Jean Daniel to talk to me and return to
Washington. Daniel was fulfilling that mission when news arrived of the
assassination of President Kennedy. His death and the strange way it was planned
and carried out was extremely sad.
Later, I met some of his close
relatives who visited Cuba. I never commented on the disagreeable aspects of
his policy against our country, nor did I allude to his intent to deprive me of
my life. I met his son as an adult, who was very young when his father was
president of the United States. We conversed like we were friends. He too died,
in a sad and tragic accident. Kennedy’s brother Robert was also assassinated, thus
multiplying the drama that surrounds this family.
So many years later, a piece
of information has emerged about a very impressive gesture.
In these times, when the long
and unjust blockade against Cuba is so talked about, I read a piece of news in La
Jornada of Mexico: "In late 1963, the then
Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy sought to repeal the ban on travel to Cuba,
and that now his daughter, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, has stated that President
Barack Obama should take that into account and support legislative initiatives [the Free Travel
To Cuba Act] to allow free passage to the island for all U.S. citizens.
Read
the recently released Robert F. Kennedy
documents at the National Security Archive.
CLICK HERE OR CLICK PHOTO.
"In official documents
declassified by the National
Security Archive, it was recorded that on December 12, 1963, less than a
month after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy
sent a communiqué to Secretary of State Dean Rusk urging that regulations
prohibiting travel by U.S. citizens to Cuba should be withdrawn …
"Robert Kennedy argued
that the ban was a violation of American freedoms. According to the document, he
affirmed that the existing restrictions on travel are inconsistent with traditional
views of American liberty.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
"… That position didn't
win the debate inside the Lyndon B. Johnson government, and the State
Department believed that lifting the restrictions would be perceived as a
weakening of a Cuba policy that was part of a joint effort of the United States
and other American republics to isolate Cuba."
SEE ALSO ON THIS:
Gazeta, Russia:
Castro and Chavez Split Over Obama
El Mundo, Colombia:
Obama: A Man Who Takes His Promises Seriously
La Razon, Bolivia:
President Morales Suspects U.S. Behind Attempt on His Life
Granma, Cuba:
Castro: Easing of Cuba Restrictions 'Positive', But Not Nearly Enough
Granma, Cuba:
Bay of Pigs Led 'Inexperienced Kennedy' to Make 'Misguided Decisions' …
El Espectador, Colombia:
Cuba in Obama's Sights
Merco Press, Uruguay:
Lula Vows Not to Embarrass Obama Over Cuba Embargo
"In an opinion
piece by Kathleen Kennedy published today in the Washington Post, the
daughter of Robert Kennedy expressed the wish that her father’s position be
adopted by the government of Barack Obama, and that this should be the position
advocated by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., as the Obama government
considers its next step with Cuba, which should go beyond allowing Cuban
Americans to travel freely to the island and address the rights of all U.S. citizens,
few of which are free to go there.
"Kathleen Kennedy writes
that, as Obama learned at the [America's] Summit last weekend, Latin American
leaders have adopted a coordinated message on Cuba: this is the time to
normalize relations with Havana. … As he continued trying to isolate Cuba, they
essentially told Obama that Washington has only succeeded in isolating itself.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
"Thus, the niece of a
president who tried to invade and overthrow the revolutionary government of
Cuba and impose a blockade, now joins the growing chorus in favor of reversing these
policies established half a century ago."
An honorable article from
Kathleen Kennedy!
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 24, 2009
CLICK HERE FOR SPANISH VERSION
[Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US April 28, 3:09am]
