Down goes castro!
Down goes castro!
Down goes castro!
Posted on 11/18/2005 8:24:35 AM PST by FerdieMurphy
In an hours-long speech at the University of Havana, Fidel Castro defiantly blasted President Bush, derided the CIA's belief that he has Parkinson's and likened himself to El Cid.
Fidel Castro said he would step down if he became too ill to govern but he insisted he feels ''better than ever,'' a day after The Herald reported that the CIA is convinced he suffers from Parkinson's disease.
In an hours-long speech broadcast live on Thursday night on Cuban state television to commemorate the 60th anniversary of his entering the University of Havana, the 79-year-old blasted President Bush and the CIA for the war in Iraq and the use of secret jails to house terror suspects.
''They've said Parkinson's; what do you think of that?'' Castro told the audience of students and academics. ``I don't care if I get Parkinson's. The pope had Parkinson's, and he spent a bunch of years running all around the world.''
Showing no visible signs of health problems and dressed in his fatigues, Castro said he would not insist on remaining in power if he ever became too sick to lead the country.
''If I don't feel I'm in condition, I'll call the [Communist] Party and tell them I don't feel I'm in condition . . . that please, someone take over the command,'' he said.
But Castro also indicated such a scenario was unlikely to occur soon, saying he exercises regularly ``and don't neglect myself in any way.''
He said those who report his death will be let down.
''Disappointment follows disappointment,'' said Castro, in a speech peppered by occasional slurring and stuttering.
The Herald reported Wednesday that Central Intelligence Agency analysts are so certain Castro has Parkinson's disease that the agency last year began briefing U.S. policy makers. Reports that he suffers from the nonfatal but debilitating illness have swirled for nearly a decade, but this was the first time the CIA was reported to be convinced they are true.
Two longtime government officials familiar with the briefings said the CIA believes Castro was diagnosed around 1998. Both asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Parkinson's symptoms include tremors, stiffness, difficulty with balance and muffled speech, although it varies according to the patient.
Castro fainted during a speech in a Havana suburb in 2001 and was seen almost collapsing during the inauguration of Argentine President Néstor Kirchner in 2003. He broke his knee and arm when he fell in public last year, and former Ecuadorean President Lucio Gutiérrez wrote in his recent book that he had to prop up a dozing Castro several times while sitting next to him at an international event.
The president of Cuba's national assembly, Ricardo Alarcón, was quoted in the Mexican paper El Sol de México, saying that he doesn't believe the reports came from the CIA.
Castro spoke for more than 4 ½ hours to his alma mater.
''I could be like El Cid Campeador,'' Castro said, referring to the medieval Spanish warrior. ``I would recommend that the [Communist] Party put me on a horse -- like Bush -- winning battles even after death.''
For one thing they don't know when to shut up.
Of course he said this as he firmly grasped the podium with one hand and then rubbed his other across his chest after it started flopping a bit.
Either parkinson's, carpal tunnel, or they've run out of toilet paper in Cuba again.
how Castro has managed to stay alive all these years is a mystery to me...and I understand his brother Raul, I think that's his name, is a even worse...if that's possible!
Castro needs to get lead poisoning by direct injection of a short, quick, blunt 9mm needle to the brain.
I wish he'd get hit with one of those Israeli AIDS Rockets like Arafat did.
Owl_Eagle(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
Castro's doing fine but the audience is reported on a suicide watch.
Excerpt from a bio of El Cid which sounds like Fidel:
"We must, at the same time regard him as a dual personality, and distinguish between the historical Cid and the legendary Cid. History paints him as a free booter, an unprincipled adventurer, who battled with equal vigour against Christians and Moors; who, to further his own ends, would as soon destroy a Christian church as a Moslem temple; who plundered and slew as much for his own gain as from any patriotic motives."
Someone should clue Fidel in to the fact that murdering Communist dictators don't retire. They are generally deposed and then executed!
The staff at the New York Times will be greatly relieved to learn that "Doctor" Castro is in fine fettle.
Castro's media allies can't comprehend their savior being ill
Better send in Joe Wilson to check it out.
"I feel happ---py."
"I feel happ---py."
The Devil takes care of his own.
If Richard Speck can die of old age then so can Fidel Castro.
An assassin's bullet (as oposed to cowardly suicide or a formal execution) would only serve to make Castro immortal in the eyes of some.
Even he thinks that everyone who reports his death will be celebrating.
Personally, I think that the fact he's obsessed with refuting these rumors of late probably means he knows that his time is about up.
``and don't neglect myself in any way.''
We can be pretty certain of that. It's his people he neglects.
''I could be like El Cid Campeador,'' Castro said, referring to the medieval Spanish warrior. ``I would recommend that the [Communist] Party put me on a horse -- like Bush -- winning battles even after death.''
Dang! I'm glad I did not have to sit thru that speech.
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