Posted on 07/26/2005 3:01:26 PM PDT by FormerACLUmember
For the first time in 46 years there was not going to be an outside mass rally to celebrate the 26 of July, the date in 1953 when Castro and a group of his followers attacked the Moncada barracks in Santiago de Cuba. And now the rumors have been officially confirmed. It seems that Castro is afraid to hold a mass rally under the present conditions in the island, where there have been many protests taking place during the last few days. He feels more secure inside a theatre, where no one can get in without an official invitation.
Record heat and power cuts of 12 hours or more a day led to scattered protests, vandalism and rare anti-Castro graffiti this summer, veteran human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said. Authorities have responded by mobilising rapid deployment brigades of militant supporters to disperse pockets of protest with batons, he and other dissidents said. "I have not seen such widespread discontent in four decades," said Mr Sanchez, head of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights.
(Excerpt) Read more at therealcuba.com ...
I wouldn't get my hopes up yet. That SOB has more lives than a cat. I thought he would be gone when the USSR dried up, but didn't. He will likely kill and lock up anyone who gives him trouble and the Europeans will come to vacation and Chavaz will give him free oil.
I got your point about the Leftist media, but govts. have interest in the property. USSR had it last, right? Russia's economic woes hurt Cuba and last time I looked it was foundering. Why don't we take it, or someone else, or the Russkies fix it?
By all appearances, tourists and cubans are kept well away from each other, so people passing through don't have a clue as to what's going on.
Get a load of these suckers.
CUBA: HARD CURRENCY DEBT* (Dec. 2004)
CREDITORS BY COUNTRY DEBT (in US$)
Japan (1) $2.331 billion
Argentina (2) $1.967 billion
Spain (3) $1.765 billion
France (4) $1.316 billion
Venezuela (5) $992 million
China (6) $682 million
Mexico (7) $480 million
Italy (8) $447 million
United Kingdom (9) $371 million
Germany (10) $317 million
Netherlands (11) $295 million
Russia [post-Soviet era debts] (12) $235 million
Czech Republic (13) $226 million
Belgium (14) $221 million
Panama (15) $200 million
Canada (16) $90 million
Austria (17) $79 million
Brazil (18) $40 million
Trinidad & Tobago (19) $30 million
Uruguay (20) $30 million
Sweden (21) $22 million
Undisclosed Foreign Financing (22) $258 million
Other Historic Debt (23) $893 million (est.)
*On the basis of Nov. 2004 exchange rates and rounded to the nearest million.
TOTAL $13.288 billion (est.)
II. CUBA: NON-CONVERTIBLE DEBT (2004 Est.)
CREDITOR GOVERNMENTS DEBT (in Transferable Rubles)
Russia [Soviet-era debt] (24) 20.848 billion
Romania (25) 951 million
Hungary (26) 200 million
Poland (27) 70 million
TOTAL 22.069 billion
Whoa!! Keep us informed as you find information, please.
What is astonishing (not) is that CNN has a Havana office and is reporting none of this!
Because CNN depends on Castro's government to keep its Havana office open.
Yep, that and the coming Iranian revolution. I wouldn't hold my breath for either one.
Nobody down there has any guns...except the gov't.
ping
Maybe if the MSM covered this they might actually help in a small way, which is why they won't cover it. They probably "don't want to inflame an already volatile situation" or something.
"....Communist Cuba marked the 52nd anniversary of the start of President Fidel Castro's revolution without a traditional outdoor mass rally and under a cloud of growing social discontent.
Castro planned to address supporters in a Havana theatre to commemorate the 1953 assault he led on a garrison to launch a revolutionary movement that brought him to power six years later.
His critics say there is little cause to celebrate for Cubans who face persistent economic hardship, dilapidated housing, low wages and food shortages.
Record heat and power cuts of 12 hours or more a day led to scattered protests, vandalism and rare anti-Castro graffiti this summer, veteran human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said.
Authorities have responded by mobilising rapid deployment brigades of militant supporters to disperse pockets of protest with batons, he and other dissidents said.
"I have not seen such widespread discontent in four decades," said Sanchez, head of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights."
Castro Marks Cuba Revolution Anniversary
"Tuesday July 26, 2005 7:46 PM
By ANITA SNOW
Associated Press Writer
HAVANA (AP) - President Fidel Castro marked the 52nd anniversary of his revolution Tuesday, gathering his staunchest supporters around him amid growing public discontent aggravated by sweltering heat and breakdowns in the communist island's aging electrical system.
Castro was to address the nation during an event of select government faithful inside the capital's Karl Marx Theater - a controlled gathering in contrast to the usual mass assemblies organized for the July 26 celebration.
Temperatures in the 90s and hours-long blackouts have increasingly irritated Cubans, sparking small, sporadic protests and scattered anti-government graffiti around Havana.
While occasional blackouts are common every summer, Cubans say these are the most frequent and longest of recent years, stopping fans, water pumps and refrigerators, and causing food to sour...."
Cuba will mark Castro's revolution amid growing public discontent
"..But the event galvanized the nation and planted the seeds of a revolution that brought Castro to power in 1959. The anniversary usually is marked by large public events, but this year's planned celebration appears more subdued.
Castro is expected to give a speech, but as of late Monday, the location had not been announced. Other events were planned to take place indoors, at the 5,000-seat Karl Marx Theatre in Havana rather than the Plaza de la Revolucion, the traditional venue for politically historic celebrations..."
2005: The Year of Rather and Castro. The year when these two corrupt deceitful tyrants lose power.
Expect much sobbing from CNN the day Fidel buys, er, nationalizes the farm.
Castro fears the fate of Rumania's dictator, Nicholae Ceausescu. Crowds began to spontaneously denounce him, and he was dead several DAYS later.
Wow, Ted Turner and Dan Rather must be ill with concern for their hero Fidel.
but the Hollywood left says they have free health care!
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