[Marxism] Castro Addresses Pope's Legacy, Downplays Communism's Fall

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

(Fidel has been speaking just about 4.5 hours by now.
Those wishing to study this subject further might want
to look at the book FIDEL ON RELIGION, the transcript
of his discussions with the Brazilian priest Frei Betto.
Done twenty years ago, Betto is still a friend of Fidel
and of Cuba. He discussed religious questions and their
relationship to Marxism and the class struggle in great
detail in that book. Anyway tonight's speech, as we see
it summarized here, indicates that Fidel hasn't forgotten
what he read in Plekhanov's THE ROLE OF THE INDIVIDUAL IN
HISTORY. As always, the Cuban leaders is demonstrating his
capacity to stand up and speak out against the current.)
=========================================================

Castro Addresses Pope's Legacy, Downplays Communism's Fall

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
April 7, 2005 9:48 p.m.

HAVANA (AP)--Cuban President Fidel Castro minimized the
role John Paul II played in bringing down communism in the
former Soviet bloc, focusing instead on common ground in a
speech Thursday dedicated to the late pope.

Castro also urged Cubans to respect all religious -and
nonreligious - beliefs in the televised address, which has
become a weekly event on the communist-run island.

"It's true that the pope was very critical of communism,"
Castro said. "But he also became very critical of the
capitalist system."

The Cuban leader recalled a visit he made to Rome in which
he realized many of the public remarks he was making
coincided with what the pope was saying.

"It was practically the same thing," he said.

Castro has praised the pope for his compassion for the
world's poor, his anti-war politics, and his rejection of a
long-standing trade embargo against Cuba by the United
States.

He said that religion, not politics, shaped John Paul's
view on communism, and that one man could not be credited
with ending a political and economic system.

"If one day Cuban socialism comes crumbling down, no one is
to blame except ourselves," he said.

For more than a month now, Castro has used the weekly
platform to announce new measures by the government to ease
Cubans' economic pains, including revaluation of the
island's currency and increased payments for citizens on
welfare.

But this week, the Cuban leader said it was more fitting to
dedicate his address to John Paul.

Castro also attended a funeral Mass in Havana for the late
pope on Monday, and over the weekend declared three days of
official mourning in which anniversary celebrations of
communist organizations and baseball games were canceled.

Castro appeared passionate and personal in Thursday's
speech, revisiting his days as a child growing up among a
religious family and attending Roman Catholic schools,
including one run by the Jesuits.

"I wasn't around anyone atheist," he said.

But teaching methods at the time and his "rebellious
character" kept him distant from religion, prompting him to
choose a different path, he said.

"No one can force me to believe in something," Castro said.

Nonetheless, Castro urged Cubans to respect all religious
beliefs.

"These are personal affairs for each person, and all faiths
deserve the utmost respect," he said. "And I've always
thought that."

Cuba became officially atheist after the 1959 revolution
that thrust Castro into power, though it never broke ties
with the Vatican. But in 1991, the government removed
references to atheism in the constitution and allowed
religious believers to join the Communist Party.


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