[Marxism] Fidel: Chilean oligarchs "tear their clothes" about Bachelet visit to Cuba

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Fidel is clearly milking his position as ex-president and retiree to express
ideas that could not but be indirectly expressed, at best, from the Cuban
Presidency and foreign office, where the problem of the attempted isolation
of Cuba from the world (including Latin American) community is aways, as a
practical matter, central.

The struggle to restore Bolivia's access to the sea, lost to Chile and Peru
in a British-backed reactionary war, is part of the effort to establish
Latin American unity on an anti-imperialist rather than
oligarchy-competitive basis. There is real social support for this i\n both
Chile and Peru, and we should be part of it to the extent we can.
Fred Feldman

REFLECTIONS BY COMRADE FIDEL

http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/reflexiones/2009/ing/f130209i.html


Swan Song of the Rich

The Chilean oligarchs tore their cloths at the visit of President Michelle
Bachelet to Cuba.

Alberto Van Klaveren, the Chilean Under Secretary of Foreign Relations,
declared that in the February 12th Reflection, the ideas emitted were
strictly personal in nature. That is very true since they don?t intend to be
anything else.

I welcomed the Chilean head of state with all due respect. I used not one
word that might offend the illustrious visitor. That would not have had any
common sense. I understood that it was an elemental obligation even though
it implied an additional effort for me since it meant hours dedicated to
conversation and then to writing about the meeting. 

I selected several photos taken by a collaborator from the days when I was
head of state and I put them in her hands so that she might decide what to
do with them. I made no use of them on my own account. 

What is the reason for such an oligarchic brouhaha in regards to the
meeting?

Why do they state that my words constitute ?a historical interpretation on
subjects that are far back in history?, as the ANSA agency tells us? 

I have no commitment other than with the historical truth, and history
records that Simon Bolivar, the Liberator of America, upon proclaiming
Bolivia?s independence, designated a broad strip of the Pacific coast of
South America between the 22nd and 23rd parallels. It also records that the
Atacama Desert was included in the territory of the newly-born Bolivia when
victory was won over the Spanish empire. 

Guano, nitrate, copper and other valuable minerals that were later
discovered were included in that territory. I was rather moderate in my
statement that it was not known whether those minerals were Chilean or
Bolivian; it was a diplomatic way of expressing realities, thinking that in
the long run Bolivar was conceiving a United Latin America, greater for its
conception than for its wealth. 

Be that as it may, nobody can take away any of the brilliance or importance
from the historical moment that the approval or rejection of the Venezuelan
Constitutional Amendment will signify the day after tomorrow. 

As for me, I shall always remain faithful to the historic people who
sacrificed so many lives starting on September 11, 1973, defending the
immortal ideas of President Salvador Allende and I will condemn the wily
policies of Augusto Pinochet until my last breath. Can the Chilean oligarchy
and the bureaucrats who are attempting to clean it of all responsibility say
as much?

Fidel Castro Ruz

February 13, 2009

6:17 p.m.

=========================================
WALTER LIPPMANN
Havana, Cuba
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
"Cuba - Un Paraíso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================




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