Castro asked embassies in Venezuela to stop Chavez from immolating himself, Bolivarian cadre and Honor Guard*** HAVANA - During the confused first hours of last week's coup in Venezuela, Cuba asked diplomats from Spain and 21 other countries to help prevent President Hugo Chavez and his supporters from sacrificing themselves, Fidel Castro said in a statement Friday.
Castro said in the note appearing in the Juventud Rebelde newspaper that his foreign ministry contacted representatives of foreign missions in Cuba and Venezuela early April 12 to "prevent Chavez from immolating himself in the Miraflores Palace, as he was proposing, with the 300 Bolivarian cadre (supporters) and the Honor Guard accompanying him."
Chavez considers Castro a friend and at one point during the crisis did talk with him on the telephone, Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque confirmed last week. He refused to give details. Castro's statements appeared to be in response to news reports from Spain, citing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar about contacts with Cuba during the Venezuelan crisis.***
Cuba after Castro ***The Boons of Communism-- Although the exile community in Miami includes rightwing hardliners who'll vehemently oppose any form of Socialism. These groups will never negotiate with Castro. But there are also more moderate elements within the younger generation who seek a dialogue with dissidents on the island. These contacts are essential to attempts to reform Cuban society, emphasises Raul Rivero. Like many other Cubans, he also has relatives who live in the US, "They have a right to return, Cuba is their country, too," says Mr Rivero. All Cubans agree on one thing; there must be no repetition of what happened in the former Soviet Union, where communism was replaced by crime and corruption and a wide gap between the rich and the poor. Cubans would hate to lose the positive achievements of the revolution - social justice, free health care and free education - achievements that Che Guevarra fought for.***
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Freedom isn't free. Either they're free or they remain slaves, begging for crumbs.