Rumor Control: Fidel Castro had died

[Jayems]

Boy hes looking rough.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Jayems

Boy hes looking rough.

Wow, I seriously had no idea he was THAT old.

[habernac]

there's widespread speculation that he is indeed dead, as it is very strange that Fidel wouldn't make an announcement like this himself. I've talked to an ex-Cuban pal and he has also heard he is indeed dead. Hopefully we find out for certain in the near future.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americ...tro/index.html

[Lanny_MacDonald]

^^^^ Interesting article Habi. Seems to me like America is circling over the corpse just waiting for the plug to be pulled. Interesting that they admit they have stepped up efforts to break the back of Cuba, tightening the embargo and increasing propaganda broadcasts. I feel bad for the Cuban people. They are going to be flooded with people who want to make over Cuba into a country of their liking, and that will only lead to corruption.

[habernac]

the transition, if/when it happens, will certainly not be pretty. As much as the US says they want to stay out of it, how can they if Hugo and his cronies start meddling? I wish the little island nation lots of luck.

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by Lanny_MacDonald

Interesting that they admit they have stepped up efforts to break the back of Cuba, tightening the embargo and increasing propaganda broadcasts.

Interesting that the article Habbi mentions doesn't include details listed in HelloHockeyFans' article:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americ...tro/index.html

Originally Posted by CNN

The United States and Cuba, which have no formal diplomatic relations, are constantly at odds, but tensions between the two countries have increased in the past year.

Earlier this month, the Cuban government cut off electricity to the U.S. interests section in Havana, the capital. The State Department said requests to have the power restored went unanswered for several days.

Cuba was accused by the State Department of engaging in "bully tactics" to thwart pro-democracy efforts in the country.

The Bush administration already has tightened the four-decades-old U.S. embargo of the island, increased Radio Marti news broadcasts into Cuba, curtailed visits home by Cuban-Americans and limited the amount of money Cuban-Americans can send to relatives.

Another article on the Cuban's actions - Miami Herald - June 13 2006:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...s/14804224.htm

Cuba is by no means innocently standing by in this... but my question is what came first? Did the American sanctions come first or these actions by Cuba? Haven't yet been able to find that out yet.....

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by habernac

the transition, if/when it happens, will certainly not be pretty. As much as the US says they want to stay out of it, how can they if Hugo and his cronies start meddling? I wish the little island nation lots of luck.

They better have a smooth transition planned out or Bush won't be able to keep his greedy hands in his pockets.

If they did something like Franco did in Spain to push the country into democracy, while keeping the vultures at bay, I'd be happy. Raoul better get busy.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by calculoso

Interesting that the article Habbi mentions doesn't include details listed in HelloHockeyFans' article:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americ...tro/index.html



Another article on the Cuban's actions - Miami Herald - June 13 2006:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...s/14804224.htm

Cuba is by no means innocently standing by in this... but my question is what came first? Did the American sanctions come first or these actions by Cuba? Haven't yet been able to find that out yet.....

The sanctions came before Castro declared himself a communist. Castro was pushed into a corner to align himself with the USSR. Their are links in previous posts.

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

The sanctions came before Castro declared himself a communist. Castro was pushed into a corner to align himself with the USSR. Their are links in previous posts.

Try reading my mind...

I'm not talking about actions in the 60's, 70's, 80's or 90's. The news I linked to listed additional sanctions, and additional actions by Cuba.. all in the past year.

My question was which of these additional actions or additional sanctions occurred first.

Sorry for not being clear.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by calculoso

Try reading my mind...

I'm not talking about actions in the 60's, 70's, 80's or 90's. The news I linked to listed additional sanctions, and additional actions by Cuba.. all in the past year.

My question was which of these additional actions or additional sanctions occurred first.

Sorry for not being clear.

Guess I should have read the article. Calling Castro a bully while ignoring what the US is doing to Cuba kind of seals it for me. A one sided article won't tell us much.

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

Calling Castro a bully while ignoring what the US is doing to Cuba kind of seals it for me. A one sided article won't tell us much.

I'm assuming you are talking about the Miami Herald one... It's one of the few that actually DOES mention what Cuba is doing.

The CNN link from Habernac is calling the US a bully and ignoring what Cuba is doing.

The CNN link from HelloHockeyFans has info about what both countries are doing. I guess that this is the only article worth our time?

[Vulcan]

I agree both sides are up to no good but it seems to me that Cuba is hardly in a postion to instigate. They would want the US to normalize relations, but who knows what really goes on in these political intrigues.

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

I agree both sides are up to no good but it seems to me that Cuba is hardly in a postion to instigate. They would want the US to normalize relations, but who knows what really goes on in these political intrigues.

Which is why I want to know which happened first....

I don't get why Cuba would want to start something, which leads me to believe the US jumped first and Cuba responded. That said, I'm not going to jump to conclusions. It wouldn't be the first time that a sick man (a physically ill Castro) has made a poor decision...

[RedMan12]

so is he dead?