Fidel Hopes For Peace

But Expects Conflict
Updated: Monday, August 17th

      Fidel Castro turned 89-years-old last week -- on Thursday, August 13th. The next day, for the first time since January of 1961, the U. S. flag was raised at a new U. S. embassy in Havana. But Fidel -- the legendary revolutionary who had booted the U. S., the Mafia and the Batistiano dictatorship off the island in January of 1959 -- mostly celebrated his birthday this week. A small gathering attended his birthday party in his Havana home. Clockwise from the left in this photo are: Cilia Flores, the First Lady of Venezuela; Nicolas Maduro, the President of Venezuela; Dalia Soto del Valle, Fidel's very devoted wife since 1980; Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia; and David Choquehuanca, the Foreign Minister of Bolivia. This photo was taken by Alex Castro, one of Fidel's five sons with Dalia, and distributed by Estudios Revolution/cubadebate.cu. The state media last week devoted more time and space to Fidel's birthday than to the flag-raising at the U. S. embassy although state television carried the ceremony, including Secretary of State John Kerry's speech, live to the nation. Thursday, the day before John Kerry became the first U. S. Secretary of State to visit Cuba since 1945, Granma, Cuba's main newspaper, featured an essay in which Fidel claimed the U. S. needed to repay Cuba for what the embargo, in effect since 1962, has cost the island. More pointedly, at his birthday party, Fidel told Ms. Flores and Mr. Choquehuanca what he thinks the "end result" of the flag-raisings last month in Washington and this week in Havana "will portend." He said: "Obama and Kerry mean well. So do a lot of other good Americans. But the good Americans, the majority, have never made the decisions regarding Cuba, at least since 1898. The bad Americans, the ones who benefit from war and chaos, will prevail again. It took much work to get those flags raised in the capitals again. But it won't require much work at all to tear them down. America may have a democracy, but not when it comes to Cuba. A few exiles in Miami and a few counter-revolutionaries in Cuba control the U. S. Congress. Even if a Democrat administration replaces Obama, an incident even with Obama in office will leave Cuba with a surrender or fight alternative." Ms. Flores asked, "Which alternative will Cuba take?" He replied, "Fight, I think, but I don't know. I wonder too." 

Quotes above are recollections of Mr. Choquehuanca.

Meanwhile, three more of Alex Castro's photos on his father's 89th birthday:

      Flag raisings, like birthday parties, are celebratory and symbolic. But when it comes to a toxic mix involving the U. S., Cuba, and Fidel Castro, many more adjectives are needed to adequately describe history and current events. And, of course, anyone trying to predict the future is only guessing, and that includes the sage insider Fidel Castro. But he's probably right. U.S.-Cuban relations are more of a tinderbox now than they were prior to the flag-raisings. One key act by one dissident, quickly supported by Miami and the U. S. Congress, can instantly undo all that has been done. The type and degree of confrontations and fireworks that eventuality will spark is unknown but fairly predictable based on U.S.-Cuban history.

              A lot of people love Cuba. That is largely based, I believe, on the tenacity with which Cuba has always fought to attain sovereignty as opposed to foreign domination. Cuba had just waged two courageous Wars of Independence against imperialist Spain before the U. S. in 1898 recognized it could easily defeat Spain and fulfill its longtime wish -- control of Cuba, strategically located and the largest Caribbean island. The easy victory in the Spanish-American War also gained the U. S. control of Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam -- helping establish the U. S. as an imperialist power. But the prize in the Spanish-American War was and is Cuba. Yet the tenacious island has been more of a tar-baby than a possession for the U. S., except for the U. S. occupation of Cuba's Guantanamo Bay since 1903. An above normal thirst or passion for sovereignty made legends of Jose Marti and Antonio Maceo, two titans who died on Cuban soil fighting Spain prior to the Spanish-American War. But Cuba's all-time most famed titan, Fidel Castro, fought the U. S. on Cuban soil...and lived. Americans today honor Marti and Maceo because they died fighting imperialist Spain. Americans today revile Fidel Castro because he has lived fighting imperialist America. As with America's Revolutionary War against England, sovereignty is worth dying for...or living for. That's why people loved David vs. Goliath. And...that's why they love Cuba so much!

Jose Marti died in 1895 fighting Spain.

Antonio Maceo died in 1896 fighting Spain.

Fidel Castro, still a U. S. fighter at age 89.
And by the way...........

           ............I believe enhanced memories and knowledge of Anne Frank are more important than ever. Each day the news includes powerful men waging war and mayhem against helpless masses, particularly young women or girls. Anne was born June 12, 1929 in Germany just as Adolf Hitler and his Nazis were gaining power. She was four when Hitler took over in 1933. Her father Otto moved his family to the Netherlands because it had stayed neutral in World War I. By the time Anne entered her teens, the Nazis had conquered most of Europe, including Holland. Persecutions of Jews like Anne were commonplace. Her family hid in a secretive annex for two years till they were betrayed. In February of 1945 Anne watched her older sister Margo die at the infamous and hideous Bergen-Belsen prison. Then Anne died. She was 15. She had wanted to be a writer. She would have been world-class too. Her diary made that clear after its discovery and publication, conclusively proving her talent although she never knew her writings would become among the most famous in world history. The quotation above was included in her diary entry of July 15th, 1944. It is one of her most famous sentences, but just one of many. Over six million Jewish children and adults were murdered by the Nazis before the Russians and then the Americans began liberating the Nazi death camps. One of the last children murdered was Anne Frank.

 

         A modern-day Anne Frank, I think, is Malala Yousafzai. Malala turned 18 on July 12th. She was shot in the head and left to die in Pakistan because, although just a girl herself, she was a powerful and vocal advocate for the education of girls. Flown to England, she miraculously survived. Today at 18 -- from her base in Birmingham, England -- she is a brilliant writer and speaker, and the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Prize. Her foundation helps girls in Pakistan and elsewhere get educations. Malala was shot when she was about the same age that Anne Frank died. Anne, had she survived, also would have improved the world...and probably also won a Nobel Prize, for Peace or for Literature. Anyone who helps targeted girls like Anne and Malala survive and thrive also helps improve the world.

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