Cuba's Castro blasts United States on 60th anniversary of revolution

By Sarah Marsh and Nelson Acosta

 

FILE PHOTO - Cuban First Secretary of Communist Party Raul Castro Ruz gives a speech, on January 01, 2019, during the celebration of 60th Anniversary of Cuban Revolution at Santa Ifigenia Cemetery in Santiago de Cuba. Yamil Lage/Pool via Reuters

 

HAVANA (Reuters) - On the 60th anniversary of Cuba's revolution, ruling Communist Party leader Raul Castro blasted the Trump administration for returning to an outdated path of confrontation with the island nation and of intervening in Latin America.

 

Castro and his late, elder brother Fidel Castro led the rebel band that in 1959 overthrew a U.S.-backed dictator and installed a Communist-run country on the doorstep of the United States, setting the scene for decades of Cold War hostility.

 

At the time, their revolution inspired leftist movements throughout Latin America, but the celebrations on Tuesday came as the region is shifting rightwards, coinciding with the inauguration of Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

 

Some of Cuba's closest allies, Venezuela and Nicaragua, are mired in political crises, and U.S. President Donald Trump has tightened the decades-old U.S. embargo on the island, after his predecessor, Barack Obama, had sought to normalise relations.

 

"Once again, the North American government is taking on the path of confrontation with Cuba," Castro said in the southeastern city of Santiago de Cuba where Fidel Castro proclaimed victory six decades ago.

 

The speech by Castro, who stepped down as president in April but remains head of the Communist Party until 2021, was part of a solemn, sunset ceremony in a cemetery where both Fidel Castro and independence hero Jose Marti are buried.

 

"Increasingly, high-ranking officials of this administration are ... trying to blame Cuba for all the region's ills," he said, adding that they stemmed instead from "ruthless neoliberal policies".

 

Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said in November that Washington would take a tougher line against Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, calling them a “troika of tyranny.”

 

Clad in military fatigues and cap, the 87-year old Castro said on Tuesday that Cuba had proven throughout six decades of revolution it could not be intimidated by threats. Instead it remained open, he said, to a peaceful and respectful coexistence.

 

Cuba's true battle this year was an economic one, he added, reiterating comments made at the national assembly in late December by his successor, President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who announced increased austerity for the fourth year running in 2019 in the face of a cash crunch.

 

"We need first of all to reduce all non-necessary expenses and to save more," said Castro.

 

A decade ago, as president, he introduced a series of reforms to liberalize and boost the centrally planned economy, yet it remains heavily state-dominated and bound in red tape.

 

A series of external shocks such as a decline in aid from Venezuela and devastation wrought by hurricanes have also dented growth, which is sluggish at best.

 

Nonetheless, the Cuban revolution is on a secure footing thanks to the transition to a competent younger generation of leaders such as the 58-year old Diaz-Canel, Castro said.

 

"It is opportune to express the fact that the Cuban Communist Party decidedly backs the words and actions of Diaz-Canel since he took office," Castro said.

 

"The revolution has not aged, it remains young," he said.

 

(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-01-02

Step down and shut up you old Marxist knucklehead.

As bad as the US is and was, Communism as an alternative is much worse.

3 hours ago, MisterTee said:

As bad as the US is and was,

But all Cubans have a health insurance...

Cuba is a reasonably well-governed country and has been since the New York mafia were kicked out. Better run than the US under present mismanagement. US embargo stupid and unnecessary. Obama was right.

2 hours ago, flossie35 said:

Cuba is a reasonably well-governed country and has been since the New York mafia were kicked out. Better run than the US under present mismanagement. US embargo stupid and unnecessary. Obama was right.

Where do you get your history from, The Godfather movie? If things were so great, why have thousands of people risked their lives trying to escape this island prison. Why is food and nearly every basic commodity severely rationed. If Cuba is such a paradise, why are the only people flocking there for "free healthcare and great educations" criminal fugitives. I don't see Danny Glover, Sean Penn, Bernie Sanders, Liz Warrren and their ilk moving to Havana.

Obama was a fool to make that deal with Castro, because he got absolutely nothing in return. No relaxation of the repression of dissidents, no repatriation of criminal fugitives like cop killer Joanne Chesimard. Just one of the many foolish Obama foreign policy adventures.

3 hours ago, Ralf61 said:

But all Cubans have a health insurance...

Regarding US/Cuban relations, the first step in remedial education is learning the stark fact that hundreds of thousands - possibly a million or more Cubans risked their lives in the treacherous and shark-infested waters of the Gulf to reach the USA.

Where they were coming from was so poverty-stricken and the Communist leadership so inept that government healthcare probably seemed to them poor compensation for the low wages they got.

8 hours ago, MisterTee said:

Step down and shut up you old Marist knucklehead.

As bad as the US is and was, Communism as an alternative is much worse.

Missed the dateline, Bozo. Reuters the Burger King of news, ie cancer a la carte. Rubbish.

8 hours ago, Ralf61 said:

But all Cubans have a health insurance...

That's why all these Cuban refugees, who often risked their lives to get away from Dreamland Cuba, try everything to return... for the free health Insurance... ( and medical facilities at level 1960 USA ) 

If Cuba was a successful state it would not need relations with the USA.  Trade with other countries would be plentiful. More open relations with the USA should not be a necessity for a successful state. All Cuba really wants from the USA is the tourist dollar.  The US is not impeding Cuba's ability to trade with other Latin American countries. The problem with Cuba is it's leadership and it's communist run system.  It has failed everywhere else and Raul doesn't get it.

On 1/2/2019 at 3:05 PM, Ralf61 said:

But all Cubans have a health insurance...

Great, it really helps with being 5 decades behind in every way. 

12 minutes ago, mcambl61 said:

Great, it really helps with being 5 decades behind in every way. 

Isn't that what the Trumpists actually want? The good old times back.

 

 

Having lived in Cuba for two years albeit in 97/99. Prior to the opening of Russia they were reasonably well off with exchange of sugar at inflated rates for hard goods. This of course sadly came to an end and their economy even though opened up to tourism is a faltering one. However everyone has a roof over their head, healthcare, education and minimum food allowance by way of the "particulares" system, I cant think of another country that takes care of its citezens a well. The revolution was not just that, it was a war and of course their will be casualties on both sides.

Baan is right. Cuba was a lot better off when they could count on Soviet support to prop up their failing and horrid system.  Since the Russians left, Cuba has been in a downward spiral. They are trying to "ride the tiger" without getting eaten- in other words trying to gradually loosen the government's stranglehold on economic activity while making sure that the Communist Party's geriatric set stays in power. 

Troll post removed.

 

20 hours ago, oilinki said:

Isn't that what the Trumpists actually want? The good old times back.

 

 

more vacuous unfounded blather, well done

23 hours ago, oilinki said:

Isn't that what the Trumpists actually want? The good old times back.

 

 

off topic vacuous blather, with a large dose of ignorance

I still feel a sense of eternal sadness that I was never able to listen personally to one of Fidel's 6 hour speeches .

That communism stuff must be really hard to figure out !