Cuba calls Obama visit 'an attack' as Communists defend ideology

[Zorro]

Source: Reuters

U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Communist-led Cuba was an "attack" on its history and culture aimed at misleading a new business class, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Monday, the latest sign of blow-back after the ground-breaking trip last month.

"In this visit, there was a deep attack on our ideas, our history, our culture and our symbols," Rodriguez said at the Communist Party congress.

Cuban leaders have hardened language against the United States since Obama became the first U.S. president to visit the island in 88 years, with Fidel Castro accusing him of sweet-talking the people.

President Raul Castro referred to the United States as "the enemy" in the opening speech of the party congress over the weekend and told Cubans to be alert to U.S. attempts to weaken the revolution.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/cuba-minister-calls-obama-visit-attack-communists-defend-174532222--finance.html

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Sounds as if Cuban leadership feels threatened by Obama's modest attempt to normalize the relationship between the two countries.

[SkyDaddy7]

1. They don't like how well he was received...

by the people & the effect he had! Castro would rather have the Republicans doing their thing it far easier for him to deal with & makes him look like the good guy. He does not know how to handle President Obama's open hand approach.

[mdbl]

2. That's gratitude for ya

Oh well, old dogs have a problem learning new tricks.

[pampango]

6. Isolation works well for authoritarian leaders. Just ask Mr. Kim in NK.

It's even better for authoritarians when the isolation is imposed by the big bully next door. They can plausibly tell their people that their problems should not be blamed on their own leaders but on the foreign bully. (Mr. Kim can't do this because NK's isolation s self-imposed.)

Authoritarians must begin to worry when the bully relents and appeals directly to their people. If problems persist, people may not blame the foreign bully in the future. That is bad for longevity of continued authoritarian rule.

[Baobab]

9. Well put. I think Americans can learn a lot about what political paths must be avoided by studying

dictatorships of all kinds.

An interesting free book I read recently on North Korea and the recent past there -

http://www.reachdc.net/book2/KimJongIlHiddenWar.pdf

Also, the video testimony to the UN COI in 2013 is very interesting and a unique look into North Korea you wont find anywhere else in quite this level of detail.

http://webtv.un.org/search?term=dprk+seoul

http://webtv.un.org/search?term=dprk+tokyo

http://webtv.un.org/search?term=dprk+london

http://webtv.un.org/search?term=dprk+washington

[SkyDaddy7]

25. YES! +1000 nt.

[GulfCoast66]

3. The only question

Is when the defenders of the glorious Cuban Revolution will show up and start explaining to us how opening up to Cuba is a western, corporate plot and that maintaining the boycott is the key to keeping the Revolution pure.

[GummyBearz]

4. wtf? Freakin cold warriors

Find yourselves a new enemy to scare your people with

[tabasco]

5. "Cuba" is an island and can't speak.

What a stupid headline.

Journalism is dead.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

12. That's called "metonymy."

The journalist who wrote that remembers his middle school or high school grammar.

Metonymy

Not to be confused with meronymy or meronomy.

Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is called not by its own name but rather by the name of something associated in meaning with that thing or concept.
....

Examples
....

Toponyms: A country's capital city is frequently used as a metonym for the country's government, such as Washington, D.C., in the United States. Similarly, other important places, such as Wall Street, Madison Avenue, Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and Detroit are commonly used to refer to the industries that are located there (finance, advertising, high technology, entertainment, and motor vehicles, respectively). Such usage may persist even when the industries in question have moved elsewhere - for example, Fleet Street continues to be used as a metonym for the British national press, though it is no longer located in the physical street of that name.

[tabasco]

13. Accuracy is most important in news journalism

Figures of speech, not so much.

HOPE IT HELPS!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

14. Variety is the spice of life.

[anigbrowl]

16. This is a long-established journalistic standard

The government of a country is commonly treated as synonymous with the country itself when reporting international news. Any literate person is aware of this and able to distinguish between the two. Maybe it's you who need the help.

[tabasco]

18. So, you are claiming that the foreign minister = the government of Cuba = Cuba.

Nice standards for accuracy you have there. No, it's not me with the problem. It's me with the high standards of accuracy.

The headline should have read "Cuba foreign minister," not "Cuba."

[anigbrowl]

19. No, I am not claiming that

I'm claiming that such ambiguities are the norm in newspaper headlines and have been for almost as long as we've had newspapers. The headline isn't supposed to be a complete summary of all the facts in the story, it's meant to get your attention to the story. If you are evaluating headlines for perfect accuracy then you are not fully literate, because metonymy, metaphor and other devices are facts of everyday language use. Yes, it is you with the problem, and I say that as an autistic person who's a natural pedant and is fully aware of the distinction between all the different entities, but who also understands that headlines aim for brevity.

[tabasco]

20. The foreign minister called the visit an attack, not "Cuba,"

rendering the headline inaccurate and misleading. Apparently, that's okay with you because of reasons.

[anigbrowl]

21. The FM is speaking as a representative of Cuba's government

It's OK with me because I'm literate and I can infer the reality behind the ambiguous headline. You, apparently, are not and I think you should work on that instead of throwing a tantrum about long-standing linguistic conventions that are perfectly understandable to the vast majority of people.

I'm pretty sure your real name isn't 'tabasco' so by your standards I should be calling you a liar every time you post under it because it's deliberately inaccurate and misleading. Would you like me to apply your standards of headline writing to all your DU posts from now on?

[Throd]

22. You are willfully trying not to understand this.

[tabasco]

28. Just because a figure of speech has a name doesn't mean it is always used correctly,

especially in a journalistic context.

Someone needs to re-take English 101.

But be assuaged that we know that you know the meaning of "metonymy," professor.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

29. Isn't "English 101" an example of metonymy?

Doesn't it represent "introductory courses in English grammar"?

I'm asking for a friend.

[snooper2]

7. Bunch of losers holding onto their power...Maduro is proud!

[NobodyHere]

8. Obama must've stolen the good silverware or something.

[Arkana]

24. And those little bottles of shampoo.

[Throd]

10. I give the commies about 5 years before the whole thing collapses.

I have always maintained that the best way to get rid of the Castros is to lift the embargo and have the Cubans do it themselves.

[maxsolomon]

11. beware Obama's omnipotent niceness!

maybe they'd be happier with Raphael Cruz in the White House, but it's too late: the floodgates are open.

[Adrahil]

15. They can't justify their hold on power without a boogeyman. NT

[anigbrowl]

17. LOL communists

If they weren't so fixated on conformity they could have made hay out of this and improved their long-term prospects. If they disliked Obama so much perhaps they should not have admitted him in the first place.

[Arkana]

23. That's disappointing. I was hoping Cuba would be open to finally mending this stupid feud.

The embargo is bad policy and it should be gone--and the leadership is threatened by the idea of American cultural influence.

[GOLGO 13]

26. Not only will we drag your into the 21st century

We have many nice, shiny things to sell you. Regime change without firing a shot

[FLPanhandle]

27. Cubans will eventually follow the path of East Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, etc.

Given a free choice, people have not chosen to live in a communist system.