Fidel Castro suffered a stroke, Venezuelan doctor says

miaminewtimes.com

** Fidel's son stated that his father is okay - why would he lie? More likely the right wing in FL lies

ABC spoke to Dr. José Rafael Marquina, a Venezuelan native who has lived in Florida for the past 20 years. Marquina made a name for himself by publicly analyzing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's recent bout with cancer. He claims to have sources with information of Chavez's health, and now of Castro's.

ABC reports that Chavez traveled to Cuba yesterday to get a health check-up and to visit Castro (no other media appears to confirm this).

Marquina claims that Castro "has suffered a massive embolism in the right brain artery," and is "dying." It's unclear where exactly Marquina is getting his information, though it's the latest in a string of rumors that Castro's health has seriously declined. The fact he did not publicly congratulate Chavez on his reelection last week further spurred speculation.

Castro hasn't so much as released a public word since June. So, today, state-run newspapers published a letter supposedly written by Castro in which he congratulated doctors graduating from a medical academy. Not everyone is buying that Castro actually wrote the letter. The retired dictator hasn't been seen in public since earlier this year when he greeted the Pope.

Either way he is completely irrelevant. This isn't 1950. The Cold War is over.

Cuba is the colony that got away and then managed to survive on its own terms. Our leaders and their lackeys in the media will NEVER forgive Cuba for that.

And they'd do this even if the place had been a civil liberties utopia.

Men die, and so long as men die liberty will never perish.

... The Maine is best known for her catastrophic loss in Havana Harbor on the evening of 15 February 1898. Sent to protect U.S. interests during the Cuban revolt against Spain, she exploded suddenly without warning and sank quickly, killing nearly three quarters of her crew. The cause and responsibility for her sinking remained unclear after a board of inquiry. Nevertheless, popular opinion in the U.S., fanned by inflammatory articles printed in the "Yellow Press" by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, blamed Spain. The phrase "Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain!" became a rallying cry for action, which came with the Spanish–American War later that year. While the sinking of the Maine was not a direct cause for action, it served as a catalyst, accelerating the approach to a diplomatic impasse between the U.S. and Spain.

The cause of the Maine's sinking remains the subject of speculation. Suggestions have included an undetected fire in one of her coal bunkers, a naval mine and her deliberate sinking to drive the U.S. into a war with Spain...

/... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Maine_%28ACR-1%29

... Revolts against Spanish rule had been endemic for decades in Cuba and were closely watched by Americans. There had been war scares before, as in the Virginius Affair in 1873. By 1897–98, American public opinion grew angrier at reports of Spanish atrocities in Cuba. After the mysterious sinking of the American battleship Maine in Havana harbor, political pressures from the Democratic Party pushed the administration of Republican President William McKinley into a war he had wished to avoid. Compromise proved impossible, resulting in the United States sending an ultimatum to Spain demanding it immediately surrender control of Cuba, which the Spanish rejected. First Madrid, then Washington, formally declared war.

Although the main issue was Cuban independence, the ten-week war was fought in both the Caribbean and the Pacific. American naval power proved decisive, allowing U.S. expeditionary forces to disembark in Cuba against a Spanish garrison already reeling from nationwide insurgent attacks and wasted by yellow fever. Cuban, Philippine, and American forces obtained the surrender of Santiago de Cuba and Manila owing to their numerical superiority in most of the battles and despite the good performance of some Spanish infantry units and spirited defenses in places like San Juan Hill. With two obsolete Spanish squadrons sunk in Santiago de Cuba and Manila Bay and a third, more modern fleet recalled home to protect the Spanish coasts, Madrid sued for peace.

The result was the 1898 Treaty of Paris, negotiated on terms favorable to the U.S., which allowed temporary American control of Cuba and, following their purchase from Spain, indefinite colonial authority over Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. The defeat and collapse of the Spanish Empire was a profound shock to Spain's national psyche, and provoked a thoroughgoing philosophical and artistic reevaluation of Spanish society known as the Generation of '98. The victor gained several island possessions spanning the globe and a rancorous new debate over the wisdom of expansionism...

/... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish%E2%80%93American_War

He's retired.

Which other country converted most of their military barracks to schools / hospitals ?

CASTRO'S SPEECH IN CAMAGUEY ON 27 NOVEMBER 1959

We have come to this province today to deliver to the teachers of
Camaguey what was a military fortress, where in another time the soldiers
if the tyranny lived. And we have also come to inaugurate two hospitals,
that is to say, the revolutionary government has come to visit the city of
Camaguey today to inaugurate a school city and two hospitals.

We began by telling you the reason for our visit to Camaguey. We
have come basically to keep a promise to the people of Camaguey and to all
the people of Cuba, the promise to convert fortresses into schools.

The question we must ask ourselves following the ceremony this
morning, following this spectacle of thousands and thousands of children
with Cuban flags in the military parade ground of the former Ignacio
Agramonte Regiment, following this moving and unforgettable ceremony --
this is the question we must ask: what need did the revolution have for
this military fortress? For what does the revolution need military
fortresses? What governments needed military fortresses? Only governments
which do not work for the people, only governments which defend interests
opposed to those of the people, need military fortresses. But we, the
revolutionary government, the actions of which we all absolutely to the
benefit of the people, why do we need military fortresses? For what did a
military fortress serve? The fortresses were the refuge, the lodging of an
army which was not in the service of the people. What was the army in our
fatherland? What role did the army play in Cuba in the past? It was an
organization in the service of the great interests, an organization trained
and equipped to defend the great interests and the great interests needed
an army to defend them.

http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/castro/db/1959/19591130-1.html

It's silly to have a man who clearly has no idea what he's talking about pretending he knows anything about anyone. It's also silly the hysteria it causes on either side. Castro is neither saint nor sinner. Probably a good deal of both actually depending on whether you benefited from his policies or not. And as I said, whether or not he had a stroke is of little to no international consequence. The man is in charge of nothing. The 1950's foaming at the mouth gut reaction is silly. As is the deification of a man who despite doing some things which benefited his country, also did some things that distinctly hurt it, especially when looking at political opposition.

As I said he is neither saint nor sinner, but both. And this entire story is silly; the man clearly can't know or be privy to any special information and already proved himself wrong once before.

Predicting that an 86-year-old is going to die will turn out true, sooner or later.

I don't see that Cuba would hide his passing, I would expect a Raygun style sendoff for him with all the bells and whistles when that happens. He is like George Washington in Cuba (all the Tories have moved to Miami).

Castro had the humility and self-respect to step down, unlike so many we see around us, so they don't really need to cover his death up to protect "order".

It's always looked to me that Fidel and Raul had similar views, and was with Fidel throughout the revolution and the subsequent revolutionary government.

It must have given Fidel more peace of mind in stepping down than many in similar circumstances have had.

Also, as a brother, Raul may have been able to talk with Fidel about stepping down when Fidel's health started to fail in a way that others could not.

The Cuban situation is unusual in many ways, but one hesitates to discuss it, people still get pretty worked up and take sides. Which is OK, but does make a longer view of the situation annoying to them.

The story is obviously bogus.

Fidel Castro alive and well : Chavez aide



Marc Frank
Reuters
2:10 p.m. EDT, October 21, 2012

HAVANA (Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro is alive and well, according to Elias Jaua, a former Venezuelan vice president who says he met with Castro over the weekend.

Squelching rumors that Castro was at death's door, Jaua, a key aide to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, on Sunday showed reporters pictures of the Saturday meeting and said Castro, 86, was in good health and lucid.

Jaua, who is running for governor in Venezuela's contested state of Miranda, said Castro accompanied him to Havana's famed Hotel National early on Saturday evening after their meeting. He then chatted briefly with the hotel's general manager, Antonio Martinez Rodriguez, before departing.

Castro's long absence from the public eye has fueled blogger and Twitter rumors for weeks that he was dead or near dying.

More:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sns-rt-us-cuba-castrobre89k0do-20121021,0,2805359.story

and let the grudge go?