Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

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Castro and the Jews

Fidel Castro, the liberals‘ favorite thug was interviewed by tool Jeffrey Goldberg, who quoted Fidel Castro as criticizing Iran for anti-Semitism. Of course Goldberg doesn’t recall all the times that Castro sided with Yasser Arafat over the years.

The timing of Castro’s statements coincided with the Jewish holidays.

As I mentioned last month,

The real story is that Cuba is broke, the Cuban dictatorship is desperately trying to stay in power and is seeking for the USA to grant it credit so it can continue.

Jaime Darenblum writes (h/t Babalu),
Fidel Castro, with Ploys and PR Stunts, Seeks to use Jews (emphasis added)

A final point about Castro and the Jews: While his remarks to Jeffrey Goldberg appeared to be a harsh critique of anti-Semitism, they were actually an example of anti-Semitism in disguise. Fidel was motivated to make those remarks by a conspiratorial belief that Jews are an all-powerful lobby in the United States. The whole episode reminded me of Erich Honecker’s attempts to boost his image with American Jews in the late 1980s, at a time when his East German regime was hoping to establish warmer relations with the United States. In 1988, Honecker restored a synagogue in East Berlin and visited with World Jewish Congress leader Edgar Bronfman, assuming that Bronfman could arrange a meeting with President Reagan. Needless to say, the Honecker-Reagan meeting never happened, and the Berlin Wall soon collapsed. But Honecker’s outreach to Bronfman reflected his belief that Jews control the American government.

Castro apparently harbors the same illusions. Don’t be misled by his comments to Goldberg. In his clumsy attempt to ingratiate himself with American Jews, Fidel revealed the deeply ingrained anti-Semitism that continues to shape his worldview.

I said it when the Jeffrey Goldberg articles first came out, and I repeat it: Goldberg has been played for the useful fool he is.

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Fidel: It’s capitalism that doesn’t work!

The other day I was asking, Is Jeffrey Goldberg fluent in Spanish?

Well, it looks like Fidel Castro doesn’t think Jeffrey is,
Castro: I Meant That ‘Capitalist System’ Doesn’t Work

Fidel Castro said Friday his recent comment that communist-led Cuba’s economic model does not work was badly understood and that what he really meant was that capitalism does not work.

Castro, speaking at the University of Havana, said his words had been misinterpreted by his interviewer, U.S. journalist Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic Monthly magazine, who quoted a U.S. analyst saying they indicated Castro now supports a smaller state role in the island’s Soviet-style economy.

Goldberg wrote in a blog on Wednesday that he asked Castro, 84, if Cuba’s model was still worth exporting to other countries.

“The Cuban model doesn’t even work for us anymore,” Castro told him.

Castro confirmed that he said those words “without bitterness or concern.” But, he said, “the reality is that my response means exactly the opposite.”

“My idea, as the whole world knows, is that the capitalist system now doesn’t work either for the United States or the world, driving it from crisis to crisis, which are each time more serious.”

And Fidel also says that Jeffrey – who even told Fidel that “At a certain point it seemed logical for you to recommend that the Soviets bomb the U.S.” and makes you wander what kind of American would even think that? – also misunderstood what Castro said about the Cuban missile crisis,

Goldberg, who interviewed Castro two weeks ago in Havana, wrote in a Tuesday blog that Castro had criticized Iran for anti-Semitism and renounced his own actions during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis when he urged the Soviet Union to launch nuclear weapons on the United States.

“After I’ve seen what I’ve seen, and knowing what I know now, it wasn’t worth it at all,” Castro told Goldberg of his recommendation to the Soviets.

Castro said Goldberg did not understand the irony in his comments and that had the U.S. threatened to invade Cuba, he would have recommended a nuclear strike to prevent it.

Poor Jeffrey has still to figure out that the tough thing about being a tool is he’s being played by a murderous Communist dictator with half a century of experience in playing fools like him, no matter how you “interpret” it.

Hat tip: ryukyu

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Is Jeffrey Goldberg fluent in Spanish?

Or did he relied entirely on interpreters when interviewing Fidel Castro?
Fidel: ‘Cuban Model Doesn’t Even Work For Us Anymore’

Just wondering.

I notice how his reports keep saying, “I asked Julia to interpret this stunning statement for me.” (in his September 8 article), and “After this first meeting, I asked Julia to explain the meaning” (September 7 article). And then there’s this gem,

I wasn’t sure I heard him correctly. (This happened a number of times during my visit).

Why?

Doesn’t Jeffrey understand Spanish? Is he hard of hearing? Or is being a useful idiot that hard on the auditory canals?

Meanwhile, over in Cuba, Cuban riot police quash Pakistani student protest.

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