Yoko Ono Flying In For Castro's Gulag Fiesta- VIP's Welcome*** La Fiesta de la Gulag: Why are a group of high-powered "New York-based VIPs" -- as reported in A.L. Bardach's Newsweek International "Global Buzz" column -- joining Yoko Ono in traveling to Cuba to meet with Fidel Castro in the middle of Castro's repressive campaign to throw scores of dissidents in prison? ... It's one thing to go to visit Cuba. It's another to go now, when Castro will use the publicity as cover for his anti-democracy drive. It's especially ironic that press and publishing executives are paying an apparent premium to meet with a man who is busy jailing journalists and writers for being journalists and writers. (The trip's cost, -- a reported $6,500 per person -- is inexplicable, unless you consider that Ono's presence guarantees an audience with Fidel.)***
MUM'S THE WORD: Hollywood celebs may not quite be pro-Saddam, but there's one tyrant they love.***Talk about "shock and awe"! It is indeed shocking to note the ease with which the Castro Faithful shy away from protesting his actions or correcting their sycophantic statements--or, in Mr. Spahn's case, put forward a blame-the-victim theory. Shocking too are the products of fawning tribute that continue to materialize, such as Estela Bravo's adoring documentary "Fidel" and the documentary "Comandante," directed by Oliver Stone and Fidel Castro himself, who was given the power to stop filming at will.
The Stone film, set to be broadcast on HBO in May, will supposedly show the human side of Castro, a man who is "one of the Earth's wisest people," as Mr. Stone said at a press conference in February. In "Comandante," we are told, Castro finally reveals his true views about shaving, his love of recent films such as "Titanic" and "Gladiator" (just don't ask how he got a hold of copies of the films under the U.S. economic embargo), and his great appreciation for Brigitte Bardot and Sophia Loren. Shocking indeed. Given the harshness of the recent dissident crackdown, the release date of the film seems awkward at best. If it wasn't so sad, it would be funny.
Why is this thug still the darling of the media elite? Why is it so unwilling to protest his dictatorial moves? As Marxist ideologue Groucho would say, a child of five would understand this; send someone to fetch a child of five. Perhaps Castro represents a wish-fulfillment fantasy. A romantic, intellectual revolutionary achieves iconic status, absolute power, great wealth and a 40-year-plus reign--quite an appealing vision to ambitious people in industries with high career mortality rates. But who knows? The Faithful aren't talking.***