Posted on 03/07/2002 9:02:31 AM PST by Luis Gonzalez
TEHRAN, May 10
A three-day landmark visit to Iran by Cuba's revolutionary leader Fidel Castro ended Thursday with both sides determined to bolster ties in the face of US-imposed unilateral embargoes.
The 74-year-old Cuban president, making his first-ever trip to the Islamic republic, was received with the greatest of honours by top Iranian officials for high-level talks aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation. Just hours after the red-carpet welcoming ceremony in the former imperial Saad-Abad palace in northern Tehran, Castro said he felt "at home," in Tehran "among the revolutionary people of Iran."
Before leaving the Iranian capital Thursday, Castro and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Khatami, affirmed during a press conference that the trip had been "very constructive."
In a final statement, both nations vowed to continue with their efforts for the establishment of a fair economic regime in which third-world countries are permitted to take steps towards attaining affluence and social and economic development.
"Iran and Cuba consider the imposing of economic pressures as well as sanctions against independent countries to be against human rights, and (we) condemn measures by certain nations which aim at imposing their power on other countries."
During Castro's meeting with Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday, Khamenei proposed an "Irano-Cuban cooperation" against the United States.
Referring to "US hegemony," Khamenei said Tehran considers the "American regime as an arrogant power, seeking a unipolar world, to which we seriously object."
"The United States is weak and extremely vulnerable today," Khamenei stressed, adding that "US grandeur can be broken, and if this takes place, it will be a service rendered to mankind and even the American people."
"Our resistance against US hegemony is based on our Islamic beliefs, since in Islam, resistance against injustice is considered a value."
Castro for his part said Havana is not "afraid of America, and the Cuban nation, 40 years after its revolution, is now stronger then ever.
"Iran and Cuba, in cooperation with each other, can bring America to its knees. The US regime is very weak, and we are witnessing this weakness from close up," Castro affirmed.
During his trip, the Cuban leader also held meetings with Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, parliament speaker Mehdi Karubi, as well as former president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani.
He also received an honorary doctorate from a Tehran university for his "contributions to justice, humanist ideals and the fight against discrimination."
Castro told journalists before leaving Tehran that he was "totally reassured about Iran. There is great hope for the future of relations between Cuba and Iran. I am leaving with many unforgettable memories."
Iran and Cuba, both under a unilateral embargo by Washington, have had close relations since the 1980s, notably in the medical and farming sectors.
But the two nations, which have been branded terrorist states by Washington, have weak trade links running under 20 million dollars a year.
The Cuban president headed for Malaysia, and is due to visit Qatar on his return journey to Havana.
Castro frequently says his one-party communist system is more democratic than the Western model and denies the existence of political prisoners or repression of freedom of expression.
The signatures, gathered by activists across the Caribbean island of 11 million inhabitants over the last year, will be presented to the National Assembly in a few weeks, once all 10,000 signatures have been checked and ratified, Paya said.
"This has never been done before, it has no precedent," he added. "It shows Cubans not only want changes, but also are ready to face the risks to show they want changes." [End Excerpt]
Bump!
I'm skeptical. The international "Left" is toothless. It now primarily consists of: the bureaucratic power elite who profit from and broker activity in a top/down economic spoils and patronage system; the idle and affluent young who have adopted pagan or secular belief systems to rebel against their health, prosperity and well-being; the mostly insane intelligensia and gentry class. You know the cast of characters from the Seattle and Genoa protests: Daddy's little headstrong girl from Monterey; the angry son of a CEO from Skokie or Bridgeport; the trust fund malcontents from Bonn, Venice or Stockholm. Bored rich kids looking to get laid, bored rich and tenured intellectuals, greedy gatekeepers of tax receipts. Boredom or lust for money, that's what it comes down to with the "Left" in our world today.
Even the most ardent ALF or anti-capitalist adherent, however, isn't strapping on a corset of dynamite and blowing himself/herself to bits in service to their greater cause. That's one of the things about being a secular acolyte, dying has no upside.
That's the sole purview of the religious zealots. Islamic these days. They are medieval butchers and ignorant soldiers of martyrdom, and they scare EVERYONE! The European left just chooses to pretend they don't really live in THEIR countries, among them - and even if they do: "they're really only mad at the U.S. and Israel, and so are we, we swear! Please?!!!!"
The Brits get it, the Russkies get it, the Turks get it, so do the Scandanavians and the ever dependable Aussies. The Germans and French are infested with these bad guys, and they're paralyzed in fear and leaderless dishonor. Radical Islamism is a dynamic, lethal and dangerously compelling force of violent upheval - the International "Left" are merely useful infidels and idiots they will exploit before they are to be killed too.
Time to shuffle the cards---cut the deck!
(A lefty actually said this to me in defense of Castro)
I'm not exactly a speedy one when it comes to all the 'what-ifs' and implications of such things. But I DO have many prayers for those who will be on the receiving end, if the two cretins take some sort of action FROM cuba. The innocent ones who are trapped in kastrol's 'paradise' need MUCH prayer covering.
Did that same group send any more airplanes on that same mission after the shoot downs?
If you're a Cessna jockey in Nome in 1977, don't be flying into Soviet airspace to make a political point about their illegitimate and oppressive system. You might be ushered out alive ... once. Don't take off from Beirut in a Piper Cub with an intent to buzz the roof tops of Tel Aviv. Don't fly a private plane from Tehran to drop leaflets on U.S. soldiers.
There's dedicated, and there's stupid.
I hate Castro, our defensive assets and economic sanctions aimed at him are valid, but I'm not concerned about the Cubans plotting a chemical or germ assault on us. They want our gambling and tourism business, or at least to retain the Canadian and European business they already have.
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