Former Castro Pawn defects to United States of America

[Capitalist]

A former adviser to Fidel Castro's brother has defected to the United States, apparently becoming the highest-ranking Cuban official to seek political asylum in the democratic and capitalistic United States of America (Land of Freedom and Individual Power).

Alcibiades Hidalgo, 56, was once Raul Castro's chief of staff, Cuba's ambassador to the United Nations (news - web sites) from 1992 to 1993 and a member of the Central Committee of the island nation's Communist Party. He fell out of favor in the mid-1990s and was "forced" to take a job at a newspaper, he said.

In an interview with a Miami Spanish-language newspaper, El Nuevo Herald, Hidalgo said that although he once believed in Fidel Castro's communist system, he now sees it as a failure.

"Socialism hasn't worked, it has been a fiasco," Hidalgo told the paper in an interview published earlier this week. "There isn't a real economic program that will take the island out of its subsistence way of life. Life in Cuba is extraordinarily difficult, unbearable in some cases."

Hidalgo defected in a raft, which sank July 25 just off the coast of the Marquesas island chain, 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Key West.

Attempts to contact Hidalgo by The Associated Press were unsuccessful Friday. Members of Miami's Cuban exile community say the former Cuban official may be under protection by U.S. authorities.

About eight years ago, Hidalgo says, he fell out of favor after two decades of service to the Castro regime, but he doesn't know why. He said he was "forced to work" at an official newspaper, Trabajadores.

"I say forced, because I was warned that I wasn't going to get any other type of job and had to stay there," Hidalgo said. "The only choice I had left was to look for a clandestine, illegal way out."

[boadicea88]

Quote: from Capitalist on 1:13 pm on Aug. 5, 2002
the democratic and capitalistic United States of America (Land of Freedom and Individual Power).


AmeriKKKan propaganda bullshit. The whole thing.

[Capitalist]

Nobody can be the #2 man in Cuba.

Which would explain Che Guevara's death as well.

Only Castro controls Cuba.

Another Pawn Demoted

The story of Roberto Robaina

Cuba's all-powerful Communist Party has expelled Roberto Robaina, a former foreign minister who was once a rising star under President Fidel Castro, from its ranks for being "disloyal to the revolution," a government source told Reuters on Wednesday.

The source, confirming rumors circulating in Havana and some foreign press reports, said the decision was taken at a recent meeting of the Communist Party's Central Committee.

The Communist Party's ruling body also banned Robaina from future leadership posts and recommended that he be expelled from the Cuban National Assembly, the island's legislature that faithfully follows the Communist Party line.

The government and state-run media have not mentioned the decision and Robaina refused comment when asked about it by foreign reporters on Wednesday in front of his home in Havana.

Robaina, 46, was once a party golden boy promoted by Castro in the 1990s. A one-time leader of the Union of Young Communists, he went on to be a member of the Communist Party's Politburo and was considered at one stage to be a possible successor to Castro, 75 and in power since 1959.

But Castro, in a move that surprised many international observers, dismissed Robaina as foreign minister in 1999 after he had served six years in the post. The government said at the time only that there was a need for "deeper, more rigorous, more systematic and demanding work in this area."

Robaina was replaced as foreign minister by Felipe Perez Roque, 37, another young Castro protege, and disappeared from public view. Until now, authorities never gave further details on why he had fallen from grace.

The former top diplomat's fate was the subject of constant speculation within intellectual circles, Havana's diplomatic community and abroad. Some analysts viewed Robaina as representing the reform-minded wing of the Communist Party, the ruling and only legal party in the country.

Now, Robaina's fall is being carefully explained to party insiders, perhaps because as one-time leader of the party's youth organization and then as foreign minister and a party leader, he influenced many current Cuban officials.

Asked why the Communist Party had not expelled Robaina sooner, the government source said, "they tried to make him see the errors of his ways, and though he admitted making mistakes, they felt he never really accepted the criticism."

While he was foreign minister, Robaina had unauthorized contacts with foreign officials and businessmen, and made unauthorized statements abroad, the source said, summing up a video being shown to officials in which Defense Minister Raul Castro, Fidel Castro's younger brother and designated successor, explains the decision.

The video goes through a step-by-step chronology depicting Robaina as acting and speaking more and more on his own, despite repeated warnings by Fidel Castro, according to the source, who asked that his name not be used.

In the video Raul Castro reportedly takes Robaina to task for his unauthorized contacts in the 1990s with former Spanish Foreign Minister Abel Matutes, at a time when relations were particularly difficult with Cuba's former colonial ruler.

Robaina is also criticized in the video, according to the source, for making statements at home and abroad implying he might be in line for Cuba's presidency one day.

He is also charged with accepting favors without informing his superiors from the former governor of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, Mario Villanueva, who was arrested last year in Mexico and faces charges there and in the United States for alleged connections with the Juarez drug cartel.

The government source denied rumors circulating in Havana that Robaina might be put on trial for corruption, pointing out he currently has a state job working on the development of Havana's museums.

CASTRO CONTROLS ALL OF CUBA.

Unless your Castro's brother Raul - You can not be the number two leader.

Che Guevara was but a prime example of what Castro does to his #2 men.

Nobody is #2 in Cuba!

[Brian]

Quote: from Capitalist on 9:29 pm on Aug. 5, 2002
Nobody can be the #2 man in Cuba.

Which would explain Che Guevara's death as well.

Only Castro controls Cuba.

Another Pawn Demoted

The story of Roberto Robaina

Nobody is #2 in Cuba!


Sniff,sniff.I smell American propaganda.

[Capitalist Imperial]

Capitalist has a legitimate post, and the commies only rebutal is to scream "propoganda!"

Real compelling rebutal, geniuses

[Capitalist]

Silly insults can not prove you right.

Only facts can prove one right or wrong.

The facts are clear. #2 men in Cuba are quickly eliminated by Castro and his system of power.

Unless you are Castro's Brother, Raul Castro, you can not be a number two man in Cuba.

# 2 Men Eliminated under Castro

1. Hubert Matos imprisoned after resigning as head of Camaguey Province due to his concern about communist influence in all government agencies.

2. Camilo Cienfuegos reportedly anti-communist disappears during a flight from Camaguey where he was checking details on the Hubert Matos resignation.

3. William Morgan, was executed by a Cuban firing squad in 1961 at age 33. A year earlier, he had been hailed as a hero of the revolt that put Castro in power. Morgan was known as the "Yanqui Comandante" and was promoted to major, the highest rank to be given a non-Cuban in Castro's forces.

4. Che Guevara sent away to Angola and later to Bolivia. Killed in Bolivia in 1968 and used as a Martyr Puppet for Fidel's Tyrannical Regime. Dead Heroes can't speak against injustice! (Similar to Franco's use of Antonio, the Martyr of Fascist Spain)

5. Arnando Ochoa was a revered military commander in Cuba, leader of 50,000 troops who triumphed in Angola, and a staunch supporter of Fidel Castro. In June of 1989 he was arrested by Raul Castro and put on trial for drug trafficking, negligence of duty, and misappropriation of hard currency.

[Anonymous]

the kennedys two men killed by CIA!

[Capitalist Imperial]

We are not currently discussing the commie-nedy's, we are discussing Castro. Address the issue.

[komsomol]

I was under the impression that Che left Cuba secretly.

[Mazdak]

Not just the kennedys, Martin Luther King Jr. A few astronauts who knew the whole thing involving the moon landing was a lie, and Che.

And if america is land of the free, why were we the last western naiton to abolish slavery and recognize the rights of woman/blacks? Real free right?

[Tkinter1]

"Not just the kennedys, Martin Luther King Jr. A few astronauts who knew the whole thing involving the moon landing was a lie, and Che."

Prove the CIA did any of that.

"And if america is land of the free, why were we the last western naiton to abolish slavery and recognize the rights of woman/blacks? Real free right? "

It doesn't matter when we abolished slavery, its been abolished and its not coming back. I dont even know why your bringing that up. You make it seem like 'if america is the land of the free, why do you have slaves?'

I could just as easily say, if communism is so great, why did there use to be gulags in the USSR that forced dissidents to work as slaves.

[Mazdak]

Becuase the dissidents were enemies of the people. blacks arent enemies of the people

[Tkinter1]

An enemy to the people is a free thinker i presume?

[Guest]

Quote: from Mazdak on 11:02 pm on Aug. 7, 2002
Not just the kennedys, Martin Luther King Jr. A few astronauts who knew the whole thing involving the moon landing was a lie, and Che.

And if america is land of the free, why were we the last western naiton to abolish slavery and recognize the rights of woman/blacks? Real free right?


This is the kind of bullshit that is so stupid i won't even address a real response to it

[Capitalist Imperial]

Quote: from Guest on 4:41 am on Aug. 8, 2002

Quote: from Mazdak on 11:02 pm on Aug. 7, 2002
Not just the kennedys, Martin Luther King Jr. A few astronauts who knew the whole thing involving the moon landing was a lie, and Che.

And if america is land of the free, why were we the last western naiton to abolish slavery and recognize the rights of woman/blacks? Real free right?


This is the kind of bullshit that is so stupid i won't even address a real response to it

"This is the kind of bullshit that is so stupid i won't even address a real response to it"

that was me, forgot to log in

[Tkinter1]

So basically you disagreeing with capitalist US, makes you a dangerous enemy to the people. Should we throw you into a gulag?

[Americana]

Freedom in western civilization. first of all...
Who do you consider a "western nation"

[The Che]

Quote: from Mazdak on 11:02 pm on Aug. 7, 2002
Not just the kennedys, Martin Luther King Jr. A few astronauts who knew the whole thing involving the moon landing was a lie, and Che.

And if america is land of the free, why were we the last western naiton to abolish slavery and recognize the rights of woman/blacks? Real free right?


The moon landing was a lie??

[Social Democratic]

They never landed on the moon, it was a political stunt to properganderize the populus, they couldnt let the soviets win again, the US were technalogically inferior, and needed to fight this truth.

[Capitalist Imperial]

Quote: from Social Democratic on 9:16 am on Aug. 9, 2002
They never landed on the moon, it was a political stunt to properganderize the populus, they couldnt let the soviets win again, the US were technalogically inferior, and needed to fight this truth.

This is such a stupid conspiracy theory, even among conspiracy theories. It is usually propogated by leftist pundits who refuse to acknowledge american success.

The USA landed on the moon, several times.
To claim the contrary is just pathetic and desperate.

[Capitalist Imperial]

Quote: from Social Democratic on 9:16 am on Aug. 9, 2002
They never landed on the moon, it was a political stunt to properganderize the populus, they couldnt let the soviets win again, the US were technalogically inferior, and needed to fight this truth.


When was the US technologically inferior to the USSR?

[Tkinter1]

The reason that it would SEEM like the USSR was so technologically advanced was because instead of worrying about the economy and feeding its people, It spent most of its money on military and space programs (Im not saying the US didn't have any part in it). The USSR wasn't in a situation were it should of been trying to beat everyone.

[Capitalist Imperial]

Tkinter 1, thats true, but even with all that, the US was still maintained a lead over the USSR in technology

[Mazdak]

How cou.ld we land on the moon. It has been proven!
Then, Ci please explain to me how the flag was waving, along wiht quite a few other flaws in the footage??

[Tkinter1]

No one can say for sure if we did or did not land on the moon. Unless they go there themselves

[Capitalist Imperial]

Quote: from Mazdak on 1:41 am on Aug. 10, 2002
How cou.ld we land on the moon. It has been proven!
Then, Ci please explain to me how the flag was waving, along wiht quite a few other flaws in the footage??


the flag was not waving, nor was it claimed to have waved it was propped up with a horizontal rod so it would be visible for a picture. What other flaws
do u speak of?

(Edited by Capitalist Imperial at 2:01 am on Aug. 10, 2002)

[Tkinter1]

there was video footage were the flag did appear to waving considerably, CI. But there has to be a more plausible explanation then earth wind.

[Capitalist Imperial]

Yeah, the astronauts shook it to give the impression it was waving, here:

http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/15mar01/...1/Article1.html (http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/15mar01/Article1.html)

[Tkinter1]

Now that article makes sense. That really discredits conspiracy theorists...lol