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The coming crisis in Cuba
Washington Times ^ | Friday, May 2, 2003 | Ernesto Betancourt

Posted on 05/02/2003 12:32:08 AM PDT by JohnHuang2

Edited on 07/12/2004 4:02:58 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

During the week the war in Iraq ended, Fidel Castro sentenced 75 dissidents to a total of 1,454 years in prison for owning faxes and computers, writing unapproved reports, meeting with American diplomats and surfing the Internet.

He finished the week executing three men for hijacking a motorboat in Havana harbor. It was no accident, or sheer coincidence. It was the culmination of a deliberately planned operation aimed at setting the stage for Mr. Castro's grand finale, his Goetterdaemmerung: a conflict with the U.S.


(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...


TOPICS: Cuba; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: carlosfuentes; castro
Friday, May 2, 2003

Quote of the Day by Liz

1 posted on 05/02/2003 12:32:08 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
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To: JohnHuang2
Bump! Great article.

Cuba's Castro Says U.S. Is Provoking War *** HAVANA - Fidel Castro accused the United States of wanting to attack Cuba, speaking at a May Day celebration on Thursday that aimed to defend the island's socialist system against criticism from abroad. "In Miami and Washington they are now discussing where, how and when Cuba will be attacked," the Cuban president told a crowd of hundreds of thousands gathered for the celebration in Havana's Plaza of the Revolution.

"I want to convey a message to the world and the American people: We do not want the blood of Cubans and Americans to be shed in a war," he said. The crowd responded with cries of "Whatever it takes, Fidel!" while waving handheld Cuban flags. One group hoisted an effigy of President Bush that read, "Bush: Don't mess with Cuba." ***

2 posted on 05/02/2003 12:45:21 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
G'morning, my friend
3 posted on 05/02/2003 12:45:52 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
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To: Cincinatus' Wife; Luis Gonzalez; Victoria Delsoul; William Wallace; Ragtime Cowgirl
Ping...
4 posted on 05/02/2003 12:46:57 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
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To: All
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/665733/posts
Fidel Castro - Cuba
various LINKS to articles | April 14, 2002
Posted on 04/14/2002 7:36 AM EDT by Cincinatus' Wife

5 posted on 05/02/2003 12:47:08 AM PDT by backhoe (Just an old keyboard cowboy, ridin' the trackball into the sunset...)
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To: JohnHuang2; backhoe
Bumps!!
6 posted on 05/02/2003 12:55:16 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
The crowd responded with cries of "Whatever it takes, Fidel!" while waving handheld Cuban flags.

Yeah, I know a Cuban who came to America two years ago, and he's told me about those rallies. They're mostly a staged event, as you'd expect. The government notifies the employers, who give the employees the day off. It's risky not to go, and if you go it's risky not to cheer -- there are government agents sprinkled in with the crowd. So, while their mouths say "Whatever it takes, Fidel!", their minds are not so enthusiastic.

7 posted on 05/02/2003 1:28:12 AM PDT by Yardstick
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To: JohnHuang2
Mr. Castro's high-ranking spy at the Pentagon, Ana Belen Montes, the top Cuban analyst at the Defense Information Agency, had managed to sell to the Southern Command and the CIA the idea of a succession by his younger brother Raul. This was advanced, and accepted under President Clinton, as the formula most likely to satisfy basic U.S. security needs in a post-Castro Cuba: no mass migration, no civil war requiring a U.S. intervention, and cooperation in drug interdiction. The fact that it ignored completely the interests and possible behavior of the Cuban people, seemed irrelevant to its advocates.

According to Dick Morris, Clinton was deathly afraid of another Mariel type boatlift. Back when that happened Clinton agreed to a Carter adminsrattion plan to "temporarily" relocate thousands of people released from Cuban jails and mental hospitals to Arkansas. Most of them ended up staying, and it became a major issue in his re-election campaign--the only election Clinton ever lost. That's why he bent over backwards to placate Fidel, including sending Elian Gonzales back and refusing to implement sanctions called for under Burton-Helms.

Hopefully regime change in Cuba is on the Bush agenda.

8 posted on 05/02/2003 1:30:13 AM PDT by Hugin
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To: Yardstick
They're mostly a staged event, as you'd expect. The government notifies the employers, who give the employees the day off. It's risky not to go, and if you go it's risky not to cheer -- there are government agents sprinkled in with the crowd. So, while their mouths say "Whatever it takes, Fidel!", their minds are not so enthusiastic.

It's the same on polling day - you go and vote for one of only communists candidates on the ballot.

9 posted on 05/02/2003 1:34:44 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: JohnHuang2
the firm and determined attitude of President Bush in ignoring the United Nations in the case of Iraq persuaded Mr. Castro that he faces a serious challenge to his political control inside Cuba

I'm convinced that the world's dictators and scumbags must go into a worried funk when America elects a Republican -- especially one like Bush 43. It must be especially worrisome now that the UN's dictator protection power has been diminished.

10 posted on 05/02/2003 1:51:02 AM PDT by Yardstick
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To: Yardstick
Bump!
11 posted on 05/02/2003 3:49:17 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: JohnHuang2
bttt
12 posted on 05/02/2003 2:45:46 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
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