Many readers may say there is nothing new in the headline to this post. The decaying dictator's disregard for the Cuban people is well documented, as evidenced by the almost 50 years of poverty and tyranny that his dictatorship has wrought on the island. The headline states the all too obvious.
But for those who might still need convincing about this fundamental premise to understanding Cuba and Castro, consider the dictator's preemptive rejection of any post-Paloma assistance from the United States:
And, if the chief of the empire and leading promoter of the genocidal blockade on our country were to offer again his pious assistance, he would again receive a dignified response: it would certainly be rejected. Our people demand that the blockade is lifted, especially now that humanity has unanimously called for it amidst a financial crisis which is pounding on every developed and developing nation on the Earth.
Cuba similarly rejected U.S. help after hurricanes Gustav and Ike ravaged the island this year, deciding it was better to make a diplomatic/political point against the United States and the embargo than to accept all the help that was offered in response to the tragedies. Perhaps the American government's moral standing was compromised because it refused to lift limits on how much help Cuban Americans could send to family members on the island — the limits are immoral, no matter the weather. But there was never any doubt that the American offers of help to Havana were sincere and somewhat extraordinary.
Maybe the embargo should be debated, especially with a new president soon to take office in the United States. And if the dictatorship releases political prisoners and holds free elections, the embargo should be scrapped.
But a natural disaster is neither the time nor the circumstance for that debate — or for a gasbag like Fidel Castro to again drag out tired rhetoric about how the United States is doing Cuba wrong.
Castro shows his disdain, his hatred, for the Cuban people, and the evil that permeates his soul, by stating that any suffering for Cubans caused by Paloma is worth it as long as the United States doesn't come out looking like a good guy.
As for the bad guy, Fidel Castro again shows who is playing the role.
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