Cuba president notes tone of recent relations with US

[Judi Lynn]

Cuba president notes tone of recent relations with US

Castro reiterates that the country’s political and economic system are non-negotiable
Reuters
Published: 19:29 December 22, 2013

Havana: Cuban President Raul Castro on Saturday called on the United States to establish civilised relations with his country, recognising a new tone in bilateral talks on secondary issues while reiterating that the country’s political and economic system were non-negotiable.

The United States and Cuba have appeared more positive of late as talks around immigration, postal services, disaster prevention and other security issues have taken place, with officials from both countries cautiously welcoming each other’s pragmatism and seriousness in interviews with Reuters.

Castro, closing a year-end meeting of the parliament, said that recently the two countries, bitter foes for more than half a century, had been able “to hold conversations on topics of mutual interest.”

“We think we can resolve other matters of interest,” he said, without elaborating.

More:
http://gulfnews.com/news/world/other-world/cuba-president-notes-tone-of-recent-relations-with-us-1.1269924

[flamingdem]

1. Could be that 2014

Is the year for this US policy dinosaur to get a meaningful update. Wilma, Fred and Barney would know what to do - treat the neighbors well!

[Mika]

2. Cuba has been a "bitter foe" to the US? What ridiculous doggerel.

Spin spin spin.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Great photo! Never saw that one before now. Cool! Jimmy Carter makes other Presidents look bad.

He's a much more civilized person.

[center]





Love that guayabera![/center]

[Mika]

4. Carter was the benificiary of the US's revolution being 200+ years in the past.

Last edited Tue Dec 24, 2013, 06:38 PM - Edit history (1)

Fidel and Raul were The Revolutionaries of Cuba.
Committed Revolutionaries are sometimes confronted with stark and bloody choices when up against murderous and brutal dictatorships.
Two hundred years from now, Cuba's leaders won't have the brutal legacy of their Revolution DIRECTLY attached to them, just as the USA's don't. (Of course, most all of America's presidents have bloody wars under their belts - Cuba's don't/won't.)




Nice pics, BTW.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Yes, they were, and it's so good you've made the point others don't grasp at all.

They don't realize how many of the new leftist Presidents were also rebels in their countries against the tyranny of US backed monsters, and spent time being tortured, imprisoned, and persecuted for their efforts along their way.

They seem to believe the struggle against tyranny is only acceptable if very white people do it, and only if they can be imagined as being right-wing.

I have a feeling the English weren't nearly as entrenched, and not nearly as vicious as the filth Washington supported financially and otherwise to run by proxy the countries of the Americas when the Colonials had to run their asses out, also!

That is the point to remember. So glad you reminded us.

It appears Jimmy Carter is the only recent US American President who has had any idea what has been at stake.

[Socialistlemur]

6. Castro wants to keep the dictatorship forever

It's understandable to read that Raul Castro wishes to keep the dictatorship forever. Adolf Hitler and all other dictators had similar tendencies. There are very few exceptions to this rule. But history tells us these dreams of glorious 1000 year Reichs are never achieved. In the end, the regime will be buried into the dustbin of history.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Cuban masses learned to read, becoming among the most literate in Latin America,

after having been kicked to the curb before the revolution.

Cubans have the longest life expectancy in the Americas, and the lowest infant mortality, whereas before the revolution they were infested with internal parasites and undernourished, even having to get a written letter from their landholder to get to see a doctor, if somehow they could afford it.

Open sewers ran freely across the landscape in the areas where the seasonal workers lived, who only were able to find employment around 3 months a year.

In the meantime, the people were kept in line by death squads, like Masferrer's Tigres,l who snatched people from the streets, tortured them, mutilated them, quartered them, hung their parts from trees, lampposts, or simply threw them out in the streets. Masferrer, a prosperous publisher and politician, made sure they struck terror throughout the country by acts designed to keep the people living in paralyzed fear, acts like forcing people to dig their own graves before killing them, and forcing them into large burlap bags before being doused with gasoline and set on fire.

People who mosey into message boards to try to spread the news that Cubans are worse off now are simply attempt to fool the ignorant with blatant lies for reasons known only to the right-wing in order to prolong the empire of the ruthless greedy assholes. That empire is due for a total overhaul.

[Flatulo]

8. Is it your contention that only the Castros can maintain the progress achieved after the revolution?

What happens after they're both dead and gone? Will they name their successors, and on and on until the end of time? That seems quite un-democratic to me.