Posted on 02/01/2003 12:38:57 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
HAVANA - Cuban President Fidel Castro warned that the U.S. government faces widespread disapproval and risks harming the world economy if it launches a military attack on Iraq.
"The vast majority of the world's public opinion opposes this already announced war," Castro told a packed audience of foreign visitors at Havana's convention center in a Wednesday night speech broadcast live on state-controlled television.
"The threat of a war in Iraq has been looming considerably over the world economy, which is currently affected by a serious and deep crisis," said Castro.
The Cuban president said Venezuela's current political turmoil had already affected world oil prices, pushing them to intolerable levels, especially for poor nations.
"It's a general opinion that the aim of the war against Iraq is to take possession of the world's third oil reserve, which worries Europe as it imports 80 percent of the energy. On the contrary, the United States imports between 20 and 50 percent," Castro said.
Castro, wearing an elegant black suit and tie, spoke at the end of an international academic conference dedicated to independence hero Jose Marti on the 150th anniversary of his birth.
The Cuban leader was responding to U.S. President George W. Bush's State of the Union speech Tuesday night, in which he pledged to use the "full force and might of the U.S. military" if needed to disarm Iraq.
Bush's statements are especially dangerous, said Castro, because "they are not pronounced by a mad man from a dark corner in a mental hospital," but a leader with access to nuclear weapons.
Among those in the audience were former French first lady Danielle Mitterrand; ex-Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid; Aleida Guevara, daughter of the late revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, and Elian Gonzalez, the boy at the center of an international custody battle three years ago.
He drops in from time to time to bask in the beauty of Castro's paradise.
"And finally, we have that which makes it all possible, a listless, docile, dumbed-down public who gape mindlessly at all of the above phenomena without the slightest glimmer of comprehension, and prattle the latest propaganda cliches dumped into their empty heads by the mainstream media."
"The Elian affair has truly given us a... glimpse---into the abyss of tyranny."
"The message that comes through loud and clear is that the system isn't working. The question that remains to be answered is whether we still possess the intelligence and fortitude necessary to fix it."
Edward Zehr(deceased...nov--2001) can(not) be reached at ezehr@capaccess.org
Published in the May. 22, 2000 issue of The Washington Weekly(defunct)
Copyright 2000 The Washington Weekly.
Now Free Access to All Stories at http://www.federal.com
Hundreds of people took part in the March of the Torches, which started at the university of Havana, in honor of the birthday of Jose Marti, National Hero of Cuba, in Havana, on Monday, Jan. 27, 2003. This year is the 150th anniversary of Marti's birth. (AP Photo/Cristobal Herrera)
Who were these "foreign visitors" and why did AP run this straight pro-Castro propaganda piece?
Castro calls President Bush a Nazi
Goebbel's Own Words, Nazi propaganda archives.
Castro Decimated Jewish Community
The Baghdad-Havana Axis of Jewish Hatred
Bio-weapons Lab in Venezuela for Saddam and Castro
Castro, the Carribean and Terrorism, backhoe's terrific list of links.
Cuba - our terrorist neighbor to the south.
Feb. 15 "Peace" protests brought to you by Castro groupie
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