Chavez: Castro unlikely to return to public stage

[WriteDown]

Source: AP

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday it is unlikely that ailing former Cuban leader Fidel Castro will ever appear in public again.

"That Fidel in his uniform who walked the streets and towns late at night, hugging the people, won't return," Chavez said during his Sunday television and radio program. "That will remain in memories."

He did not discuss the 82-year-old Castro's current medical condition or say why he thought Castro would not return to the public stage....

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28617829/

---

Surprise, surprise. He's been dead for months. Guarantee there will never be any video or audio of him either. We're more likely to get a new recording from Elvis.

[Mika]

1. You've been saying this for about a year now.

So, these pictures taken by Castro and Lula about a month ago are bullshit?

[WriteDown]

2. Yes, they are....

I would say these are from long ago. You notice there is never any audio or video. Nor is there ever anything that can indicate a date.

The more that comes out, the more that it looks like I nailed it. Also, some quotes in the article sound like a eulogy.

[Flanker]

35. You have got to be shitting me

"I would say these are from long ago."

So the worlds most difficult conspiracy theory (one involving multiple heads of state from faraway lands such as China, Russia, Venezuela and Brasil, plus the russian orthodox church) is taking place in order to show that an ex head of state is living past his 80's? Do you honestly think the costs are worth the gains? what does Lula gain by this?

Come on dude, a little bit of humility.

[EFerrari]

3. When Castro dies, millions of people will mourn him. It will not be a secret. n/t

[WriteDown]

7. When its officially announced...

of course.

[originalpckelly]

14. It's odd how people try to get to the USA each day from Cuba, when they have it so nice.

But of course, the number of people trying to get to the USA pales in comparison to the number of people trying to get to Cuba each day. I don't know how the Cubans can handle the massive amounts of Americans building makeshift rafts out of anything they can find to get to Cuba.

[High Plains]

15. Just wait a few months, perhaps that tide will turn...

Yes, and it's odd how many people try to get to the USA each day from a number of other countries, too. If the Cuban emigrants are refugees from communism, I guess the others are refugees from capitalism in their own countries, no?

[originalpckelly]

21. Political instability caused by dueling fascist/communist interests...

tends to do that to economies.

[Mika]

36. Cuba has been stable since 1959.

Aside from an occasional US invasion and terrorist incursions.


When the USSR collapsed (aka: when ST. Ronnie Raygun saved the world from dangerous commies) and Cuba's #1 trade partner went belly up, Cuba's economy all but collapsed for about 5 years while they had to completely revise their economy.

Do you know how many Cubans lost their homes and went homeless due to forclosure? Zero. In fact Cuba has near zero homeless, period.

During this austere time (the "special period") Cuba managed to build-out its social infrastructure just when its needed most - education, health care, clinics, housing, day care, etc.. That really hasn't happened in other Lat Am nations during crisis, nor has it happened during US economic downturns - in fact the social infrastructure is slashed first just when its needed most.

---

[EFerrari]

20. Iirc, something like 175K Americans visit Cuba every year.

:)

[originalpckelly]

22. And every last one of them goes by makeshift raft.

[ngant17]

30. If Cuba offered the same perks

as the US doles out to Cuban balseros who make it to S. Florida, I would not be surprised if there would be mass migrations of US citizens into Cuba, given that they would be awarded jobs, housing, welfare above and beyond that which the ordinary citizens are receiving.

Most of those noveau-rich Cuban-Americans never earned the money when they got to the US, although the first ones like Batista had raided the Cuban banks for its gold so they were filthy rich emigres in that regard, but the ones who came later, they were given fantastic jobs and juicy contracts such as Mas Canosa who was awarded lucrative telecommications contracts in S. Florida by his CIA handlers. They never worked for a living like you or I have had to do. Absolutely not one day of their lives. They were worthless exploiters and some of them were idle drug addicts, none of whom could make an honest living in Cuba and they would have not had any more luck here. But they got instant status as favorites from US government insiders once they arrive here. They used the money to start terrorist organizations to try to destablize the country which they had originally forsaken because of their immorality and disgusting vices, and their continued refusal to contribute to the welfare of Cuban society since then, it has only reaffirmed the kind of character they had developed from the very beginning.

[MADem]

4. Last time Hugo said "Stick a fork in him" he came back, though.

Of course, I will agree with that crap about him never strolling the streets in UNIFORM ever again.

The guy has been favoring "El Track Suit Cubano" for the last several years. That's been his new uni of late!

He didn't show up at this shindig: http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2009/01/09/america/OUKWD-UK-CUBA-REVOLUTION.php

More at the link:

With music and dance, but absent Fidel Castro, Cuba marked on Thursday the 50th anniversary of the former leader's triumphant arrival in Havana after ousting a U.S.-backed dictator in a guerrilla uprising.

President Raul Castro, accompanied by Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, attended a ceremony at the former military base where a white dove landed on Fidel Castro's shoulder as he spoke to thousands of jubilant Cubans on January 8, 1959.

But Fidel Castro, not seen in public since undergoing intestinal surgery in July 2006, was a no-show, as he has been throughout the week-long celebration of the revolution's anniversary that began with a January 1 speech by Raul Castro, his brother, in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba.

His absence from crowning events of his long rule has fuelled speculation that the 82-year-old Fidel Castro's health is worsening, but the government has stayed mum on the matter.

[bitchkitty]

5. Dead for months?

Um - think people might have noticed? Like sfexpat says, millions will mourn him.

[WriteDown]

6. Noticed how?

No audio, no video, etc.

[bitchkitty]

8. You don't have audio or video of me,

and I'm certainly here.

There's this process called decomposition. When you die, your body decomposes. And it smells. People would have noticed.

[WriteDown]

9. Uh....

so you are Fidel? The death is being covered up to enable a smooth transition of power in Cuba. Wouldn't be the first time that a death has been covered up.

Although, I would like to see the movie, Weekend at Fidel's.

[kevinds13]

10. His death needs to be covered up to enable a transition

to his brother? That seems a bit overboard. It's his brother.

[WriteDown]

11. He is an unusual leader....

with devout loyalty. Any transition away from him will be tough.

[democrat2thecore]

12. The transition has been made! -nt

[bitchkitty]

16. And you have some proof of this, of course.

Some insider information perhaps? Or anything beyond speculation?

I'm not sure how old you are, or how old your oldest relative or friend is, but someone in their 80s doesn't have the get up and go they used to. Someone like Fidel, a powerful man, might not want people to see him as old and feeble, but as the revolutionary who transformed Cuba.

That, to me, is far more likely than some conspiracy fairy tale.

Unless, as I said, you have something behind your theory besides your imagination?

And it seems to me that there has been a smooth transition of power in Cuba.

[WriteDown]

18. You have any proof of newtonian mechanics?

No, of course not. Its a theory based on observation. Like I said, no video OR audio leads one to conclusions. Look for an announcement within this year or the next that he died in his sleep or died while working on one last proposal.

[bitchkitty]

32. Leads one to conclusions

if coupled with a vivid imagination and a desire to put the left in as bad a light as possible.

[Mika]

34. Seriously. Get a grip.

Look for an announcement within this year or the next that he died in his sleep or died while working on one last proposal.

Fidel Castro is 84+ year old. How do you expect an 84 year old post colostomy surgery patient to die, if not in his sleep or while reading/writing? I think the percentages of this happening to 84+ year olds are pretty high.

[harmonicon]

24. there is a purple panda that rides on a unicycle 200 light years beyond the orbit of Pluto

I promise. Unless you show me video proving otherwise, I know that I'm right.

[originalpckelly]

13. I think he just decided to retire, after all being a dictator is hard.

Deciding who should disappear today is not an easy business to be in. Plus, you have to make a lot of public appearances to keep people thinking you're always there and all-powerful. And to make matters worse, those little uniforms chafe. Anyone notice how he's wearing Adidas? It's probably the first time in decades his boys have had a chance to air out.

[High Plains]

17. Write Down has been dead for months.

Replaced by someone who hacked his account to post idiotic shit.

[WriteDown]

19. Ha, funny....

Might give me some rest though if I was.

[harmonicon]

25. no, you're dead

Show me dated audio and video that I can believe in. Yeah, you can't, because you're dead, sucka!!

[WriteDown]

26. Haha....

I'll post something on youtube.

[harmonicon]

27. it's obviously old

[harmonicon]

23. nice crystal ball you have there

can I have a peak some time?

[Judi Lynn]

28. World leaders from other countries who go to Cuba, who have spoken with him are lying?

They are all helping to keep some great illusion in place?

They are putting their own credibility on the line to keep some stupid stunt in place thought up by a drooling right-wing idiot in the U.S.?

Probably NOT.

Not the leader of the Russian orthodox church who just visited him a few months ago, while the story and photo appeared in their own church publication and in Russian newspapers, not the President of Brazil, not African dignitaries, not Chinese leaders, not Latin American leaders are all going to go to Cuba then have bogus pictures published and bogus stories printed in their own newspapers.

That won't be possible. A vast conspiracy of the left? Right.

http://english.people.com.cn.nyud.net:8090/200609/18/images/0917_B66.jpg http://cache.daylife.com.nyud.net:8090/imageserve/03GR45GaH946w/340x.jpg http://cache.daylife.com.nyud.net:8090/imageserve/05K70gfgLSeyC/610x.jpg http://www.swamppolitics.com.nyud.net:8090/news/politics/blog/FidelCastro.jpg http://cache.daylife.com.nyud.net:8090/imageserve/06FK5n8d2HdKC/610x.jpg http://cache.daylife.com.nyud.net:8090/imageserve/0cWTdb52QNckf/610x.jpg http://www.tehrantimes.com.nyud.net:8090/News/10234/07_BRAZIL.jpg http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com.nyud.net:8090/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080115/080115-castro-inacio-vmed-9p.widec.jpg http://a.abcnews.com.nyud.net:8090/images/International/ap_castro2_080116_ssh.jpg Apparently this claim was in full bloom in 2007, as well, although many of us have heard crap like this for years and years and years.

Alive and Well and Reading Alan Greenspan
Huffington Post | Rachel Sklar | September 22, 2007 02:53 PM

http://images.huffingtonpost.com.nyud.net:8090/2007-09-22-Castrolives-thumb.JPG

Rumors of his death have been greatly exaggerated: Fidel Castro appeared on Cuban television Friday afternoon, alive and well — despite repeated claims that he was muerto made by blogger Perez Hilton.

Hilton, as you may recall, swore up and down that Castro was, in fact dead — something he was ABSOLUTELY SURE ABOUT thanks to his super-secret high-level "exclusive" and "impeccable" intelligence sources — you know, the ones that no other news organization had.

Castro has not been seen live for fourteen months and was last televised back in June. However, this video was clearly shot yesterday because, as reported by the Chicago Tribune, "Castro noted that the euro was trading at $1.41 and that the price of petroleum is $84 a barrel, proof that the interview was recorded earlier Friday." Castro also held up a copy of a number of books, including the just-released book by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, "The Age of Turbulence" from which he read aloud. Upshot: Yep, he's alive!

Even so, today Hilton stubbornly stood by his story:

We've seen him wearing that outfit soooo many times. We're not going to believe he's still alive until he takes a nice stroll through Havana. Live. Not in some pre-taped video. And only if he's accompanied by an independent news organization, like the Associated Press.

Oh, sure, now he's picky about where he gets his news.

Update, and photo evidence: We just received this AP photo of Castro holding Greenspan's book, forwarded by HuffPo reporter Max Follmer. So! We shall see what Perez has to say about that. But also, look closer: There's a 30% off sticker on the cover. Castro loves sales! Capitalist sales! Viva la Cuba libre — and other things for libre, too! This may be the best photo of Castro taken ever. We can't wait to see what Perez Hilton draws on it.

http://images.huffingtonpost.com.nyud.net:8090/2007-09-22-CastrolovesAlanGreenspansales-thumb.jpg

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/09/22/castro-lives-cuban-dicta_n_65457.html

Apparently Argentina's President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will contribute to this vast lie when she visits Cuba this week. Who would have expected her to lie to the world, as well? Only a delusional right-winger.

http://a.abcnews.com.nyud.net:8090/images/International/rd_kirchner_070703_ssv.jpg http://newmexico.indymedia.org.nyud.net:8090/uploads/2007/06/fidel-castro-hugo-chavez-1.jpg

[WriteDown]

29. You mean the doctored photo of the orthodox church?

Notice you haven't seen too much of that lately. Judi, you are a "true believer." No audio or video, but you "want" to believe he is still alive. The evidence you cite is from 2007.

[Mika]

31. Funny that this thread remains on LBN, while other real LBN Cuba stories are sent over to Lat Am..

.. post haste.

DUers really need to know WD's delusions about the existence of Fidel Castro.


Weird. :crazy:

[UTUSN]

33. Can HE join HIM?!1