[Marxism] Fidel Castro Reflections on "Politics and Sports"

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Fidel Castro on the revolting commercialization of athletes:
http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/2007/ing/f270707i.html 

Fidel Castro: Is Brazil the United States's Substitute?
http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/2007/ing/f230707i.html 

Fidel Castro on Brain Drain (literally, "brain theft")
http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/2007/ing/c170707i.html
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POLITICS AND SPORTS
Reflections by Cuban President Fidel Castro

August 4 2007 
10:56 p.m

I am writing this quickly and a little late. I should do this because
of the strong emphasis I have placed in the analysis of this matter.

Besides, the news is not disheartening. The wire services announced
that the two boxers who had defected in Rio de Janeiro had been found
and arrested by the authorities on a beach close to that city.
Remember that they had been given up for missing. They were there
without any documents.

They were not sent to prison. They remained in the same hotel where
they were staying, under the surveillance of the Federal Police. The
boxers told the police that they had made a mistake and regretted it.

They refused to see a German citizen who very promptly took interest
in them, following instructions from a mafia company. We learned
about this later.

The authorities asked us for their documents, and the Cuban consular
representatives, following our Ambassador's instructions, proceeded
up to complete all relevant arrangements.

The news stating that the boxers were in Turkey while immigration
matters were being looked after had obviously been released by the
mafia as a smoke screen. There was even a German Member of Parliament
who attempted to hit a home-run with a fake ball. The company that
had invested more than two million dollars in this grotesque business
was talking about the "human rights" of the athletes' families. 
What will the United Nations say about this unfair competition?

This is where sports and politics get together in the search for
concrete and principled solutions, over and above fondness and
bitterness.

Those citizens will not be submitted to any sort of arrest, much less
the kinds of methods being used by the United States Government in
Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo, which we have never used in this country.
They will be temporarily transferred to a guest house and allowed
family visits. The press will also be able to contact them if they so
wish.

They will be offered decent jobs for the benefit of sports, given
their knowledge and experience.

The Brazilian authorities should not be worried in the face of the
inevitable campaigns being launched by our adversaries. Cuba's
behaviour will rise to the occasion. I, for one, shall have a good
sleep.

Fidel Castro Ruz 

August 4 2007 
10:56 p.m. 

ache jhs 07 1413


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