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Historians Have Absolved Fidel Castro Humberto Fontova Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2006 "You may pronounce me guilty," declared Adolf Hitler during the trial in 1924 for his failed Rathaus putsch, "but the eternal court of history will absolve me." "Condemn me, it doesn't matter," declared Fidel Castro during the trial in 1953 for his failed Moncada putsch. "History will absolve me." The young Fidel Castro was a keen student of Nazi pageantry, often seen around campus with his well-thumbed copy of "Mein Kampf" alongside his pistol. His title of Lider Maximo perfectly mimics the German term Fuhrer. Over the years a...

IF IT’S BAD form to speak ill of the dead, it seems to be even worse form to speak ill of the almost-dead tyrant. When I’ve written before about the monstrous regime of Fidel Castro — one of the longest-standing abusers of human rights on the planet — I’ve been deluged with e-mails and letters accusing me of everything bar incest. Despite the pictures of him that appeared on Monday, it’s clear that he is on his last legs. And when he does finally pop his clogs, the mourning of left-liberals will be intense. Such hero worship of so brutal...

The Drudge Report posed an important question today: "Read or Fake?", referring to the recent photo of Castro holding a copy of a current Cuban newspaper. I decided to find out since the link to the article didn't answer the question. I saved the photo and ran it through my well-trained Photoshop eye. Upon initial review, the photo appears legitimate. However, after zooming in 400% on the photo, the truth is revealed - the photo is a fake.

HAVANA (Reuters) - A Cuban minister said on Friday President Fidel Castro was recovering as the country, anxious to see him reappear almost two weeks after undergoing surgery, prepared to celebrate his 80th birthday on Sunday with or without him. "We are waiting for new messages but I can say with complete confidence that he is recovering," said Culture Minister Abel Prieto upon opening a photo exhibit of Castro in Havana. "The people are waiting. Fidel asks us to be patient because what's at stake is more than the health of one person," said Prieto, who sits on the powerful...

HAVANA - It was supposed to be the ultimate tribute, several days of parties and concerts to mark Fidel Castro's 80th birthday. But instead of listening to folk music and attending conferences on his legacy, Castro is expected to spend his birthday Sunday in bed, recovering from surgery for intestinal bleeding. Cubans have cultivated a myth over the last half-century that Castro is invincible, but now confront the fact that he is an octogenarian — and frail like other elderly mortals. A few Cubans say it won't be long before Castro is giving five-hour speeches once again, but many believe...

Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, 77, is ailing, and we don't mean just mentally. "He seemed very sick to me," Bogota Mayor Luis Eduardo Garzon, a former communist union organizer who met with the tyrant in December, told Caracol Radio today in Colombia. "You could tell he had physical limitations, especially in his speech." Garzon expressed disappointed with Castro's dictatorship. "One expects debate ... but in Cuba, everything is driven and controlled by one party," he admitted. "That's not right." Garzon, however, has threatened to oppose the efforts of President Alvaro Uribe, one of the few U.S. allies left in Latin...