Castro Says He Was Misinterpreted On Cuban Economy

[rabs]

Source: The Associated Press







(AP) HAVANA (AP) - Fidel Castro said Friday that his comments about Cuba's communist economic model no longer working were misinterpreted by a visiting American journalist - taking back an admission that had caused a stir around the globe.

The 84-year-old ex-president said he was not misquoted by Jeffrey Goldberg, a national correspondent for The Atlantic magazine, but in fact he meant "exactly the opposite."

Goldberg wrote Wednesday that he asked Castro over lunch and wine if Cuba's communist system was still worth exporting to other countries. He quoted Castro as replying: "The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore."

Castro read from the blog during an event at the University of Havana, before saying that he intended the remark to be ironic and Goldberg didn't pick up on the subtlety. His tone was not angry - more baffled and even a bit bemused.


Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/09/10/ap/business/main6853881.shtml

---

So, is a gringo journalist who does not speak Spanish and has no idea of nuances in that language to be believed?


Another version:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100910/pl_yblog_upshot/castro-says-he-was-misinterpreted-journalist-responds

[Bragi]

1. Get me rewrite! /nt

[rabs]

2. Rewrite: exactly

Goldberg wrote Wednesday that he asked Castro over lunch and wine if Cuba's communist system was still worth exporting to other countries. He quoted Castro as replying: "The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore."

(Note that Goldberg asked about EXPORTATION of Cuba's system.
-------------------

Castro's view:

"Es evidente que esa pregunta llevaba implícita la teoría de que Cuba exportaba la Revolución", manifestó Castro en su mensaje de este viernes.

"It is obvious that the question implied the theory that Cuba (is still) exporting the Revolution," Castro said in his Friday message.

---------------

Sweig, experta estadounidense en la región del independiente Consejo de Relaciones Exteriores, aclaró este viernes que la confesión de Castro no implicaba reconocer un fracaso político.

Sweig, a U.S. expert on the region from the independent Council of Foreign Relations, clarified this Friday that Castro's confession did not imply recognition of a politicial failure.

For readers of Spanish

http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/elmundo/articulo-223665-fidel-castro-dice-fue-malinterpretado

[Judi Lynn]

6. There have been some hilarious headlines over the last few days.

Castro: Cuba's communism 'doesn't even work for us anymore'
The Detroit News

Fidel Castro latest to say Cuba's communism doesn't work
Staten Island Advance

Fidel Castro admits communist system has failed in Cuba
Boston Herald

Cuba's communist model does not work, says Castr So
Irish Times

Fidel Castro: Our system has failed Cuba
Metro UK

Fidel Castro Has Second Thoughts
New York Times

Now he tells us: Cuba economic model doesn't ...
Sydney Morning Herald

Castro criticizes Cuban economic model
Washington Times

Fidel Castro says Cuba's economy is broken
Kansas City Star

What a highlight in Goldberg's career! Way to go!

Thank you, rabs. Terrific ending to the newsweek.

[Billy Burnett]

3. You mean the corporate media misconstrued/misrepresented Castro?

I'm shocked. SHOCKED!!11!!11 I tell ya.

[rabs]

5. Check out this more thoughtful analysis on what Fidel said

Thanks to poster Joe Chi Minh on Latam forum:

--------- snips -------------------

So what exactly did the old man say? To be specific: "The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore," was his answer to being asked if he believed it was something still worth exporting. That is hardly an admission of total failure. He clearly thinks it worked once, and since he does not elaborate on the reasons why he thinks it doesn't work now, it is premature to assume that he is chucking in the towel.


Nor can the statement be interpreted as him saying that socialism per se has failed – merely that Cuba's current model of it no longer fits the times. He has consistently held the view that there are as many models of socialism as there are countries that try it out. As a Marxist he believes that the particular circumstances of each society and the peculiarities of their histories affect the character of whatever politics they might have – be they communist or capitalist.


What the statement really means is that he agrees with his brother that the way the Cuban system is currently configured has to change, but watch the space carefully – this does not automatically imply that free-market capitalism is the answer – far from it.

More:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/sep/10/fidel-castro-cuba-communist

[Judi Lynn]

17. That reference is insightful. Their government has always been in a state of change,

from the first. They've been building continually (all under horrific pressure from the U.S. economic warfare manifested in the embargo) meeting new challanges, setting new goals, etc.

Also from that link:

~snip~
However, at the same time the government has announced that workers will be encouraged to take over the ownership of the companies in which they work. In a move that the government has actually called a deepening of socialism, the Cubans are about to launch what could potentially become the biggest co-operative project the world has ever seen.

The government is saying that the old centrally planned Soviet-style of socialism has finally hit the buffers – a new form of socialism is required, in which the state ceases to be the administrator of economic activity but the regulator. That's a different model of socialism – it may not work either – but it is not capitalism.

Thanks for the link to Joe Chi Minh's article, rabs.

[Downwinder]

4. Language is such a wonderfully ambiguious thing. look at all of the

attorneys that make a living out of interpreting language. And that does not include the diplomats, preachers, translators, and others. We have a whole industry built on interpreting language.

[amyrose2712]

7. Thanks for posting. nt

[ObamaIn2012]

8. The life expectancy in Cuba is higher than the US, they must be doing something right

[Peace Patriot]

9. LOL! What a funny remark (as he intended it)!

This reporter for The Atlantic expected a straight answer from Castro on the LOADED question about Cuba "exporting" its "model"? Criminy. What a dunce, if he did, and what a sneaky, slimebag operative if he didn't, and then reported a sarcastic answer as a straight answer! I'm not buying that he didn't get it. He knew perfectly well what he was asking, how he was asking it and why he was asking it that way.

I knew something like this was the real story. I was just waiting. Look at the tripe published in The Atlantic. Here's where they have "national correspondent" Jeffrey Goldberg interviewing "national correspondent" Robert Kaplan on Iran (--is that like Mad Magazine's old "Spy vs. Spy" cartoon?), and the self-serving crapola they come up with:
http://first100days.theatlantic.com/2009/04/overseas_challenges.php

Here is a rundown on Goldberg's role as the "Judith Miller" of The Atlantic, trying to foment a U.S. attack on Iran by promising that Israel is going to.
http://www.lobelog.com/tomgram-tony-karon-the-bomb-iran-debate-from-hell/
Goldberg's article in The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/09/the-point-of-no-return/8186/

Here is a very interesting view of Jeffrey Goldberg. Paragraph 2 of the introduction. Goldberg is accused of character assassination (as to authors of a book on the Israel Lobby in Washington).

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:yclWLXqiNHIJ:www.h-net.org/~diplo/roundtables/PDF/IsraelLobby-Preston.pdf+jeffrey+goldberg,+cuba&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShX5Xw5N1ZTH0vdeMgSEFM1pvgLMVBZvi6oaILK8tLtaa9trrTiRla_qhL7zAx2eitg0HPOswU4Pk23F_1Z27swXROwwBoXIgVdH5_In3H3dTxDB_VoDMGT4KjVblVL1gTFXL1d&sig=AHIEtbRyw8AJQPRAuFsgl2dkri1CCahcWw

-------------------------------

Sidelight: In searching around for Jeffrey Goldberg's articles and rep, I stumbled across this incredibly informative November 2006 article by Anne Louise Bardach on Luis Posada Carriles. It is chock full of fascinating items on CIA operations in Latin America. Did you know that Luis Posada Carriles was a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1963?

Posada was one of 212 exiles chosen by the CIA to attend officer-training school at Fort Benning, Georgia, after the Bay of Pigs. He graduated as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army in August 1963. At Fort Benning, he formed two crucial relationships: with Jorge Mas Canosa, who would become the exiles’ most powerful lobbyist as chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation; and with Félix Rodríguez, later notorious for his roles in the death of Che Guevara and the Iran-Contra affair.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/11/twilight-of-the-assassins/5291/3/

I'm bookmarking this for future reference. Though I have some reservations about the author's view of Kissinger, and some other matters, the article looks to be a gold-mine.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/11/twilight-of-the-assassins/5291/1/

[DrSteveB]

10. Goldberg has a history of making stuff up about what others say

See here: http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Hissyspit/8043

[mike r]

11. Castro `Amused' at How Remark on Cuban Economic Model Was Interpreted

Source: Bloomberg

Former President Fidel Castro said his comment on the failure of Cuba’s economic model was misunderstood, adding that he was “amused” by those who interpreted his remark as an attempt to steer the country further away from communism.

Castro said today that he meant “exactly the opposite” of how the remark was reported by Jeffrey Goldberg, a correspondent for The Atlantic magazine who interviewed Castro over three days, according to Agence France-Presse. Castro said he made the statement to Goldberg “without anger or worry. Now I’m amused to see how” it was interpreted, he said in a speech at the University of Havana, AFP reported.

Goldberg wrote on his blog this week that Castro, when asked whether the Cuban model was still worth exporting, said “The Cuban model doesn’t even work for us anymore.” Castro, 84, made the comment during conversation at a casual lunch that included family members, according to Goldberg’s blog post.

The remark was “overplayed” by opponents of the regime, said Wayne Smith, director of the Cuba program at the Washington-based Center for International Policy, which advocates for human rights and international cooperation.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-10/castro-amused-at-how-remark-on-cuban-economic-model-was-interpreted.html

[boppers]

12. See Fidel, that's why we have this thingie:

:sarcasm:

[Yeahyeah]

13. The American model sure as phuk isn't working.

Find some old sonuvabastard US president who will admit that.

[howaboutme]

14. Yes it is......for the the rich and powerful

Our American model is about promoting more opportunity for those who are already successful. It is not at all about promoting opportunity for those who don't already have it. It's a caste system and a club and if you aren't in it, with the right ethnic and educational credentials then you have an up hill battle.

[unkachuck]

15. "He’s not saying the communist system doesn’t work -- it’s parts of the economy."

....phew, I was hoping Brother Fidel didn't drink the capitalist Kool-Aid....it's not good for you....

....just ask the millions of bankrupt, foreclosed, down-sized, under-employed, unemployed people in the US....

[Billy Burnett]

16. It isn't a communist system. It is a Cuban system. Revolution underway.

Unlike the rhetoric of certain cold war era cement-heads, the Cuban system has undergone radical changes since the 1959 ousting of Batista and his US henchmen, and will continue to evolve.



Sad thing is, that Americans have been travel banned by their own (freedom luvin' demuhkraticly 'lected) government from being able to freely go and see for themselves.
Instead, we have to rely on cement-head "the commies are coming! the commies are coming!" corporate propaganda.

One would do well by getting this book and learning a thing or two about it ...


http://www.amazon.com/Democracy-1997-98-Elections-Arnold-August/dp/0968508405/ref=sr_1_21?s=STORE&ie=UTF8&qid=1284245330&sr=1-21

[Judi Lynn]

18. Change for the population is so much more meaningful than increase in the level of wealth

of a very few megawealthy who run the country.

[Billy Burnett]

19. How many years did it take for the USA to become a full democracy?*

* - as enshrined in law.

[ProudDad]

20. USamerican "Democracy"?

to paraphrase Gandhi, "that sounds like a good idea. They should try it."

USamerica is not now and has NEVER been a democracy...

[Judi Lynn]

23. Not if the right-wing reactionaries and their masters can possibly prevent it. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

22. Tremendous thought, Billy Burnett. Where were THEY 50 years later?

And, as Proud Dad mentioned, the democracy here isn't anything to write home about, at this point, even now!

[Billy Burnett]

24. It took the USA 188 years to become a democracy*.

* democracy, as in all citizens legally enshrined (on paper) with the right to vote.


And then it only took 20 - 30 years to sell it off (the voting processes) to private corporations.

Where the f*ck does the USA come off dicktating anything to any other nation?




"We are no longer purtected by oshuns" - GW Bush

[ProudDad]

25. All Cuban's have the right to vote...

The difference is that in Cuba, there are no corporations gaming the system in order to make that "right to vote" meaningless...

And don't forget Gore v Bush -- if you don't vote the "right way" -- your vote doesn't fucking count anyway...

Cuba is organized in such a way that most of the population is actively involved in local "government" at the neighborhood and regional level and have MUCH more say on what goes on there...

I heard the guy who wrote the article that quoted Castro yesterday (who had a lot of other things about Cuba right) say that "but there's only one political party there! You CAN'T FORM another political party!" as about the only really negative thing he could say -- the Mote in the Empire's eye...

Big whoop! There's one official party in Cuba (with hundreds of "factions" and opinions -- free of corporate influence) and here in the wonderful USA we have the two right-wings of the Corporate War Party OWNED by corporations -- big fucking deal!

Give me CUBAN Democracy over the sham practiced in this benighted country...

By any reasonable measure, Cuba is MUCH more "democratic" than the USAmerikan Empire...

[ProudDad]

21. Just to reiterate what I said earlier

I believe that Castro was referring to the execrable tourist industry that brought the 2-tier economy, prostitution and the drug trade back to Cuba...

But luckily, they are Socialist so they will survive...