The
Pathology Of George Bush
By Fidel Castro
31 July, 2004
Countercurrents.org
On
this 51st anniversary of the attack on the Moncada fortress on July
26, 1953 I shall address a sinister character that keeps threatening,
insulting and slandering us. This is not a whim or an agreeable option;
it is a necessity and a duty.
On June 21, at the
Anti-imperialist Forum I read Epistle Number Two to the president of
the United States, responding to an infamous State Department report
on trafficking in human beings, one of those reports the government
of that country usually issues, as if it were the supreme moral judge
of the world. In that document Cuba is accused of being one of the countries
that promotes sexual tourism and child pornography.
Hardly two weeks
went by, and instead of keeping a decent silence about the irrefutable
truth contained in the Epistle, the wire services brought news of an
election speech by Bush in Tampa, Florida containing new, more perfidious
accusations and insults, the clearly aimed at slandering Cuba and justifying
the threats of aggression and the brutal measures that they had just
taken against our people.
The French press
agency AFP reported the following from Tampa on July 16:
"President
George Bush launched a harsh attack on Cuba when he defined it as 'a
major destination for sex tourism' and said that the United States has
a special duty to lead a world struggle against human trafficking for
forced labour or sexual purposes."
"Cuba is one
of the 10 countries cited by the State Department in a report issued
in June in which it lists the governments which tolerate human trafficking
or fail to fight this crime."
"The regime
of Fidel Castro has turned Cuba into a major destination for sex tourism
replacing Southeast Asia as a destination for pedophiles and sex tourists
from the United Sates and Canada," Bush claimed.
"At a conference
in Tampa, Florida, the president pointed to Cuba as one of the worst
offenders in this area."
"Sex tourism
is a vital source of hard currency to keep his corrupt government afloat,"
he claimed.
"Bush said
that putting an end to human trafficking will be an essential part of
his foreign policy."
"The traffic
in human beings brings shame and suffering to our country and we shall
lead the fight against it," he promised.
"You are in
a fight against evil, and the American people are grateful for your
dedication and service," he told those at the conference.
"Human life
is the gift of our Creator and it should never be for sale."
A dispatch from
the Spanish press agency EFE indicated:
"We also face
a problem only 90 miles off our shores, Bush said in Florida."
"He quoted
a study which found that Cuba has "replaced Southeast Asia as a
destination for pedophiles and sex tourists."
"As restrictions
on travel to Cuba were eased during the 1990s, the study found an influx
of American and Canadian tourists contributed to a sharp increase in
child prostitution in Cuba."
"My administration
is working toward a comprehensive solution of this problem: The rapid,
peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba."
"We have put
a strategy in place to hasten the day when no Cuban child is exploited
to finance a failed revolution and every Cuban citizen will live in
freedom."
"Bush said
that 'Human life is the gift of our Creator and it should never be for
sale."
"It takes a
special kind of depravity to exploit and hurt the most vulnerable members
of society. Human traffickers rob children of their innocence; they
expose them to the worst of life before they have seen much of life.
Traffickers tear families apart. They treat their victims as nothing
more than goods and commodities for sale to the highest bidder."
And to top off this
odd news, the same press dispatch added some words spoken by John Ashcroft
in his speech introducing Bush to the National Training Conference on
Human Trafficking:
"In the 19th
Century President Abraham Lincoln held firm to a vision of freedom for
all and was rightly called the great emancipator."
"In the 21st
Century we have a great leader who has made us see that liberty is not
a gift from the United States to the world but a gift to humanity from
the Almighty."
Another wire report
from the English news agency Reuters read:
"Friday, the
US president accused the Cuban president of having turned his Caribbean
island into a sex tourism destination and of contributing to the world
problem of human trafficking".
The Italian press
agency ANSA reported:
"The regime
in Havana is adding to its crimes: it welcomes sex tourism", said
Bush who even repeated a supposed quote by Castro, 'Cuba has the cleanest
and most educated prostitutes in the world.'"
Later, wire services
have reported that the quotation of something I supposedly said on this
subject, which the US President used in the Tampa speech I just mentioned
to back up his serious accusations, was taken from a paper on Cuba written
by Charles Turnbull a law student from Vanderbilt University in the
United States who has emphatically stated that Bush's speech misconstrued
the real meaning of a sentence included in his work, and clarified this
and other matters in the following way:
"Prostitution
boomed in the Caribbean nation after the collapse of the Soviet Union..."
"Castro, who
had outlawed prostitution when he took power in 1959, initially had
few resources to combat it. But beginning in 1996, Cuban authorities
began to crack down on the practice."
"Although it
still exists, it is far less visible and it would be inaccurate to say
the government promotes it".
On Monday, July
19, Bush administration officials admitted they had no other source
for the quote except the paper written by the aforementioned student.
Given the fact that
it was shown that the US President had launched an extremely grave accusation
based on a sentence found in a paper written by an American student,
who himself refuted the deliberate way Bush misconstrued it, it's hard
to imagine a more bizarre response than that given by a Whitehouse spokesperson
when told about this refutation.
According to the
news agency report, the spokesperson simply, "...defended the inclusion
[of the sentence] arguing that it expressed an essential truth about
Cuba", in other words, for the White House "the essential
truth about Cuba" is anything that the president conjures up in
his mind whether it has anything to do with reality or not.
This is exactly
the kind of fundamentalist approach that the President constantly resorts
to when there are more than enough data, arguments, truth, reasons,
and facts on a particular subject but the only determining factor is
the idea he has in his mind or the idea that suits him: anything becomes
the absolute and irrefutable truth simply because Mr. Bush imagines
it to be so.
Many people in the
world who know very little about the Cuban Revolution might fall victim
to the lies and tricks the US government spreads through the huge media
available to it.
But there are many
others, especially in poor countries who are aware of what the Cuban
revolution is about, of its marked dedication, from the very beginning,
to provide education and healthcare services to all its children and
the whole population; its spirit of solidarity that has led it to cooperate
selflessly with dozens of Third World countries; its strict adherence
to the highest moral values, its ethical principles, its lofty concept
of the dignity and honour of its homeland and its people for which Cuban
revolutionaries have always been willing to give up their lives. There
is no doubt that these many friends, all over the world, will be wondering
how it is possible that such unspeakable, foul slander is hurled against
Cuba.
This obliges me
to give a most serious and honest explanation of the causes, which in
my view, give rise to these inconceivable, irresponsible statements
by the President of the most powerful nation on the planet, the same
who is threatening to wipe the Cuban revolution from the face of the
Earth.
I shall do this
as objectively as possible, making no arbitrary statements or shamelessly
misconstruing other people's words, sentences and concepts. I shall
avoid any petty sentiment of vengeance or personal dislike.
A theme that has
been widely documented in several books by outstanding American scientific
authors and other personalities is the current US President's alcoholism
which lasted two decades when he was between 20 and 40 years old. This
feature has been rigorously and impressively dealt with, from a psychiatric
point of view and using scientific criteria, by Dr. Justin A. Frank
in a now famous book called "Bush on the Couch".
Dr. Frank begins
by saying that it is important to scientifically define whether Bush
was an alcoholic, or if he still is one. He has literally said:
"... the more
pressing question involves the influence his years of heavy drinking
and subsequent abstinence still have on him and those around him".
(p.39)
He goes on to explain
and I quote verbatim:
"Alcoholism
is a potentially fatal, lifelong disease that is notoriously difficult
to arrest permanently" (p. 40)
Later, referring
to the man who is now President of the United States, he says:
"Bush has said
publicly that he quit drinking without the help of AA (an organization
dedicated to helping alcoholics) or any substance abuse programme, claiming
that he stopped forever with the assistance of such spiritual tools
as bible study and conversations with the evangelist Billy Graham".
On page 40 of the
book he recounts that, according to ex-presidential speech writer David
Frum, when Bush took over the Oval office he summoned a group of religious
leaders, asked for their prayers and told them:
"There is only
one reason that I am in the Oval Office and not a bar... I found faith,
I found God. I am here because of the power of prayer".
Dr. Frank thinks
that this statement might be true and goes on to say the following:
"...surely
all Americans would like to believe that the president no longer drinks,
even if we have no way of knowing for certain. If so, he fits the profile
of a former drinker whose alcoholism has been arrested but not treated".
He then adds:
" Former drinkers
who abstain without the benefit of the AA program are often referred
to as "dry drunks", a label that has been bandied about on
the Internet and elsewhere in reference to Bush. "Dry drunk"
isn't a medical term, and not one I use in a clinical setting. But even
without labelling Bush as such, it's hard to ignore the many troubling
elements of his character among the traits that the recovery literature
associates with the condition, including grandiosity, judgmentalism,
intolerance, detachment, denial of responsibility, a tendency toward
over-reaction and an aversion to introspection." (p. 41)
Dr. Frank insists
that he personally has treated alcoholics who held their addiction in
check without proper treatment but that they are generally not very
successful in learning to control the anxiety that they once tried to
suppress by drinking and he explains that:
"Their rigid
attempts to manage anxiety make any psychological insight hard-won.
Some can't even face the anxiety of admitting their alcoholism.
Dr. Frank then goes
on to say:
"Without that
admission, I have found, even former drinkers cannot truly change, or
learn from their own experience".
And then referring
to Bush specifically he argues the following:
"The pattern
of blame and denial, which recovering alcoholics work so hard to break,
seems to be ingrained in the alcoholic personality; it's rarely limited
to his or her drinking. The habit of placing blame and denying responsibility
is so prevalent in George W. Bush's personal history that it is apparently
triggered by even the mildest threat"
"... The rigidity
of Bush's behaviour is perhaps most readily apparent in his well-documented
reliance on his daily routines--the famously short meetings, sacrosanct
exercise schedule, daily Bible readings, and limited office hours. A
healthy person is able to alter his routine; a rigid one cannot".
(p.43)
"Of course"--the
eminent US doctor goes on, and I quote--"we all need rest and relaxation,
time to regroup, but Bush appears to need it more than most. And this
is hardly a surprise--among other reasons, because the anxiety of being
president might pose a real risk of leading him back to drinking."
(p. 43)
"Along with
rigid routines go rigid thought processes--another hallmark of the Bush
presidency. We see it in the stubborn, almost obsessive way in which
he holds on to ideas and plans after they have been discredited, from
his image of himself as a "uniter, not a divider" to his conviction
that Iraq held weapons of mass destruction (or, in absence of such weapons,
that somehow "America did the right thing in Iraq" nevertheless).
Such rigidity of thought is not motivated by simple stubbornness; the
untreated alcoholic, consumed with the task of managing the anxieties
that might make him reach for a drink, simply can't tolerate any threat
to his status quo".
And Dr. Frank adds
that such intolerance generally leads to responses that are out of proportion
to the magnitude of the actual threat.
"This may help
to explain the dramatic contrast between George W's response to Saddam
Hussein and that of his father, who carefully built a coalition, took
action only after Kuwait had been invaded, and then proceeded with prudence
and caution once the fighting was underway-- the behaviour of a seasoned
leader who knew he was responsible for countless others' lives, not
an alcoholic accustomed to taking dramatic measures to protect his own."
Continuing his analysis,
Dr. Frank indicates:
"Two questions
that the press seems particularly determined to ignore have hung silently
in the air since before Bush took office: Is he still drinking? And
if not, is he impaired by all the years he did spend drinking? Both
questions need to be addressed in any serious assessment of his psychological
state". (p.48)
With regard to the
first question, he points out the possibility that Bush is managing
his anxiety with medication to keep him off alcohol and he makes special
reference to his strange behaviour at press conferences. On this point
he says:
"In writing
about Bush's halting appearance in a press conference just before the
start of the Iraq War, Washington Post media critic Tom Shales speculated
that "the president may have been ever so slightly medicated".
"More troubling
though, are the appearances that arouse suspicion not because of how
he talks but what he says. He has repeatedly engaged in confabulation,
filling in gaps in his memory with what he believes are facts--most
notably on July 14, 2003, when he stood next to Kofi Annan and made
up the idea that America had given Saddam "a chance to allow the
inspectors in, and he wouldn't let them in". (As the Washington
Post noted, "Hussein had, in fact, admitted the inspectors and
Bush had opposed extending their work because he did not believe them
effective". Confabulation is a common phenomenon among drinkers,
as is perseveration, which is evident in Bush's tendency to repeat key
words and phrases, as if the repetition helps him remain calm and stay
on track." (p. 49)
And Dr. Frank concludes
his analysis of these two questions with the following words:
"Even if we
assume, moreover, that George W. Bush's drinking days are behind him,
the question remains how much lasting damage may have been done before
he stopped--beyond the considerable impact on his personality that we
can trace to his untreated abstinence. Any comprehensive psychological
or psychoanalytical study of President Bush would have to explore how
much the brain and its functions are changed by more than twenty years
of heavy drinking. In a recent study out of the University of California/San
Francisco Medical Centre, researchers found that heavy drinkers who
do not call themselves alcoholics reveal that "their level of drinking
constitutes a problem that warrants treatment". The study found
that the heavy drinkers in its sample were "significantly impaired"
on measures of working memory, processing speed, attention, executive
function and balance. Serious research about long-term recovery from
alcohol abuse is still underway. Science has established that alcohol
itself is toxic to the brain, both to its anatomy (as the brain gets
smaller and fissures between and around the hemisphere get larger) and
to its neurophysiology. But recovery does occur with continued sobriety,
extending over a five-year period for many alcoholics. Bush claims to
have been sober for more that fifteen years, and very well may have
improved to pre-alcohol levels. However, even chronic alcoholics who
recover their compromised mental functions often suffer lingering damage
to their ability to process new information. Important neuropsychological
functions are impaired: The new information is essentially put into
a file that is lost in the brain.
"Former heavy
drinkers often have trouble distinguishing between relevant and inconsequential
information. They also may lose some of their ability to maintain concentration.
All one has to do to observe Bush's inattention is watch him listening
to a speech given by someone else, watch his behaviour at times on the
campaign trail, or consider the obviously desperate effort he makes
to retain focus in every speech he gives." (p.50)
Finally, Dr. Frank
points out that Bush would reduce the fear of many Americans by submitting
himself to psychological tests that could scientifically measure the
effects of alcoholism on his brain function and warns:
"Otherwise,
we are left to suspect--with reason--that our president may be impaired
in his ability to make sense of complex ideas and briefings" (p.
51)
And he ends up by
saying:
"We all may
be a little afraid to find out: after all, he has already held office
for three years and has led our nation into war. But if we fail to do
so, the consequences may indict every one of us". (p. 51)
Another aspect discussed
in depth and in detail by Dr. Justin A. Frank in this book, "Bush
on the Couch", is that of President Bush's religious fundamentalism.
Dr. Frank explains
how, in trying to find relief from the internal chaos that drink sometimes
appeased but eventually intensified, Bush may have found in religion
a source of peace, not totally different from that given by alcohol,
as well as a set of rules which help him to manage both the external
world and his inner spiritual world.
He suggests that
an analysis of the role of fundamentalism in Bush's life would show
that one of the many ways that Bush employs religion as a defence mechanism
is by using it as a substitute for illegal substances and says that
Bush uses religion to simplify and even replace thought so that, to
a certain extent, he does not even need to think. He adds that Bush,
by putting himself on the side of good--on God's side--places himself
above mundane discussion and debate. Religion serves as a shield to
protect him from challenges, including those that he himself would otherwise
create.
Dr. Frank wonders
how Bush reached this point and then explains that, the Bush family
tradition has long been fuelled by faith, by the belief in a God linked
closely to moral rectitude but he makes this distinction:
"Yet President
Bush's religious orientation represents an important departure from
his family. Though certain aspects of the family tradition have been
maintained--notably the formality of religious participation--his mid-life
conversion to a more fundamentalist approach stands in dramatic contrast
to the spiritual life of his father..." (p.56)
"And a review
of the events leading up to Bush's conscious embrace of fundamentalism
shows that it clearly occurred at a moment when he was reaching for
solutions, in a time of almost desperate need."
Dr Frank goes on
to explain that fundamentalist religions narrow the universe of opportunities
and divide the world into good and bad, in absolute terms that leave
no space for questioning and on this point he argues:
"The view of
the self is similarly simplified. Just as fundamentalist creationist
teachings deny history, the fundamentalist notion of conversion or rebirth
encourages the believer to see himself as disconnected from history.
George W. Bush's evasive, self-serving defence of his life before he
was born again displays just this tendency. "It doesn't do any
good to inventory the mistakes I made when I was young", he has
insisted. "I think the way ... to answer questions about specific
behaviour is to remind people that when I was young and irresponsible,
I was young and irresponsible. I changed..." To the believer, the
power of spiritual absolution not only erases the sins of the past,
but divorces the current self from the historical sinner". (p.60)
Dr. Frank makes
it clear that there is nothing inherently unnatural in the fact that
Bush seeks protection from his faith and that, even when this makes
him stronger, the rigidity of his thought and speech patterns and of
his agenda point to a considerable fragility. He explains that Bush's
fear of everything--from disagreement to terrorist attacks--are sometimes
painfully visible, even (or especially) through his denials and that
he is a man desperately seeking protection. Dr. Frank wonders: "But
what is George W. Bush so eager to protect himself against?" and
he answers the question with the following analysis:
"His tightly
held belief system shields him from challenges to his ideas--from critics
and opponents, but, more important, from himself. Just beneath the surface,
it's hard not to believe that he suffers from an innate fear of falling
apart, a fear too terrifying for him to confront." (p.64)
"For someone
so desperate not to lose his way, clinging to a belief (or even a few
key phrases), and sticking to them, is yet another way to protect against
falling apart. President Bush's press conferences have offered disturbing
evidence of this ongoing anxiety--evidence so unmistakable that it's
little wonder that the White House has proven so hesitant to schedule
such events at all. After one particularly disastrous performance in
July 2003, the Slate political columnist Timothy Noah noted that: "Bush
seemed jangled"; in a damning editorial the following day, the
New York Times noted that the president's answers were "vague and
sometimes nearly incoherent"--suggesting, perceptively, that Bush
was "bedazzled by his administration's own mythmaking"
He gives some examples
of phrases Bush used repeatedly during that press conference:
"And so we're
making progress. It's slowly but surely making progress of bringing
the--those who terrorize their fellow citizens to justice, and making
progress about convincing the Iraqi people that freedom is real. And
as they become more convinced that freedom is real, they'll begin to
assume more responsibilities that are required in a free society...
"And the threat
is a real threat. It's a threat that where--we obviously don't have
specific data, we don't know when, where, what. But we do know a couple
of things...obviously, we're talking to foreign governments and foreign
airlines to indicate to them the reality of the threat...
"I don't know
how close we are to getting Saddam Hussein. You know--it's closer that
we were yesterday, I guess. All I know is we're on the hunt. It's like
if you had asked me right before we got his sons how close we were to
get his sons, I'd say, I don't know, but we're on the hunt.
"Well first
of all, the war on terror goes on, as I continually remind people...
The threat that you asked about, Steve, reminds us that we need to be
on the hunt, because the war on terror goes on...
"I just described
to you that there is a threat to the United States. There is no doubt
in my mind, Campbell, that Saddam Hussein was a threat to the United
States' security, and a threat to peace in the region...
"Saddam Hussein
was a threat. The United Nations viewed him as a threat. That's why
they passed twelve resolutions. Predecessors of mine viewed him as a
threat. We gathered a lot of intelligence. That intelligence was good,
sound intelligence on which I made a decision... (pp. 65-66)
And Dr. Frank goes
on to say:
"So powerful
are his fears that he can't even face them. His infamous early advice
to Americans less than two weeks after 9/11--when he told Americans
to continue to shop and travel as before, in apparent denial of the
radical measures he was at the same time taking in response to the nation's
newfound vulnerability--suggests just how simplistically he viewed the
situation, closing himself off to worry and anxiety. Compare his response
to that of New York's mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, who faced his fears,
rolled up his sleeves and got to work--making people feel far safer
than Bush's stilted denial ever did.
"Bush has continued
to cite divine instruction to explain his actions since assuming office.
As reported in Israel's Haaretz News, Bush said, "God told me to
strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike
at Saddam, which I did".
Finally, Dr. Frank
offers these thoughts:
"The Biblical
struggle of good and evil has resonated throughout his discourse since
9/11, from his repeated use of the term "crusade" to his characterisation
of the terrorists as "evildoers" and grouping of Iraq, Iran
and North Korea as the "Axis of Evil". At the same time, he
presents the United States as nothing more that a nation of wholly innocent
victims.
"In externalizing
evil in this way, while absolving America of responsibility, Bush has
transformed his unintegrated infantile worldview into a starkly combative
(and primitive) foreign policy.
"Bush's rhetoric"--Dr.
Frank concludes--"highlights how he identifies the concepts of
himself as president with both God and America: for him these three
appear to have become somewhat interchangeable. Unable to mourn the
dead of 9/11 enough to allow for a full investigation of how it happened--and
what responsibility we might have had--he blindly attacks the "enemy"
he perceives to be everywhere, a terrorist suddenly hiding under rock".
In his book "Stupid
White Men", Michael Moore points out that Bush exhibits obvious
symptoms of not being able to read at an adult level and writes the
following as part of an open letter to Bush:
"1. George,
are you able to read and write on an adult level?
"It appears
to me and many others that, sadly, you may be a functional illiterate.
This is nothing to be ashamed of... Millions of Americans cannot read
and write above a fourth grade level.
"But let me
ask you this: if you have trouble comprehending the complex position
papers you are handed as the Leader of the Mostly-Free World, how can
we entrust something like our nuclear secrets to you?
"All the signs
of illiteracy area there--and apparently no one has challenged you about
them. The first clue was what you named as your favourite childhood
book, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", you said.
"Unfortunately,
that book wasn't even published until a year after you graduated from
college."
"One thing
is clear to everyone--you can't speak the English language in sentences
we can comprehend.
"If you are
going to be Commander-in-Chief, you have to be able to communicate your
orders. What if these little slip-ups keep happening? Do you know how
easy it would be to turn a little faux pas into a national-security
nightmare?
"Your aides
say that you don't (can't?) read the briefing papers they give you,
and that you ask them to read them for you or to you."
"Please , don't
take any of this personally. Perhaps it's a learning disability. Some
sixty million Americans have learning disabilities".
In his book "Against
All Enemies", Richard Clarke writes that when Bush got to the White
House, "Early on we were told that the president is not a big reader".
Bob Woodward's book
"Bush at War" tells that, in a National Security Council meeting
during the Afghanistan war, Bush said: "I don't read the editorial
pages. I don't --the hyperventilation that tends to take place around
those cables, every expert and every former colonel and all that, is
just background noise".
Thus far I have
given a very brief summary of what has been said on some points by outstanding
Americans, things which help to explain the strange behaviour and aggressiveness
of the US President.
I do not want to
elaborate now on more sensitive issues like those whose exposure cost
his life to J.H. Hatfield, author of the book "Fortunate Son",
and others of great interest analyzed by truly brilliant, brave, eminent
authors.
Mr. Bush's lies
and slanders and those of his closest advisors were fabricated in a
hurry to justify the atrocious measures taken against Cuban-born people
living in the United States who have close family ties in Cuba.
This outrage, as
we warned on June 21, might have adverse political consequences in Florida
which could play a decisive role in this year's elections. The idea
of a punishment vote is gaining ground among thousands of Cuban-Americans,
many of whom would normally have voted for Bush.
Hatred and blindness
have lead this administration to take a stupid, immoral action under
pressure from the terrorist mob which gave Bush a fraudulent victory
when he had a million votes less than his rival nationwide, and a narrow
majority of 537 votes in Florida where thousands of black Americans
were prevented from exercising their right to vote whereas many dead
people 'exercised' theirs. Fifteen or twenty thousand voters could sink
his hopes of re-election. These brutal measures have also been criticized
all over the country.
The overwhelming
majority of those who are members of or run that terrorist mob--which
decided no less a thing than the election of the President of the United
States--are former Batista supporters and their descendents; or they
are groups who for years have been involved in the terrorist actions,
pirate attacks, assassination plots against Cuban revolutionary leaders
and all kinds of armed aggressions against our country; or they were
big landowners and relatives of the upper middle classes who were affected
by revolutionary laws and who previously had all kinds of privileges
and many of whom have amassed huge fortunes and have gained influence
in important power circles in the US governments.
Over 90 percent
of those who have emigrated from Cuba since the triumph of the revolution
have done so through normal channels and for economic reasons, their
leaving authorized by the Revolution that placed no obstacles. But Cuban
immigrants were forced to go under the Caudine Forks of that powerful
mafia whose influence they could not easily ignore.
Unlike many millions
of Latin Americans, including Haitians and other Caribbeans, that emigrate
legally and illegally to the United States and are called immigrants,
Cubans, with no exception whatsoever, are called exiles.
On the other hand,
the absurd Cuban Adjustment Act has caused the loss of countless Cuban
lives by rewarding and encouraging illegal emigration and giving Cubans
extraordinary privileges that are not granted to citizens of any other
country in the world.
Nevertheless, years
ago, even before the collapse of the Soviet Union and the special period
that ensued, and despite the risk of espionage and terrorist plans originating
in the United States which the measures entailed, Cuba gave permits
to emigres so they could visit their relatives and their country of
origin, whereas the Bush administration is abruptly closing the doors
because of its fanatical obsession of bringing Cuba to its knees through
economic suffocation.
And, to that same
end of depriving our country of any income whatsoever, he labels the
tourist industry in Cuba sex tourism and calls those who visit our country
coming from the United States "paedophiles" and "pleasure
seekers".
Mr Bush does not
hesitate either in tarring Canadian tourists with the same brush when
everybody knows that the overwhelming majority of them are pensioners
and senior citizens who, in the company of their relatives, come to
enjoy the exceptional safety and calm, the politeness, culture and hospitality
that they find in our country.
What would Mr. Bush
call the tens of millions of tourists who visit the United States every
year where casinos, gambling dens, areas of male and female prostitution
and many other activities related to pornography and sex abound, none
of which exist in Cuba and all of which are alien to the revolutionary
culture of our people?
What would he call
the tens of millions of Europeans who visit Spain every year where many
pages in the papers are used to advertising the names, addresses, the
physical, cultural and intellectual characteristics and the specialities
and individual gifts to suit all tastes of those who exercise the age-old
profession of prostitution? Would he call the US and Spanish tourist
industries sex tourism?
None of the aforementioned
activities take place in Cuba. However, in the fevered and fundamentalist
mind of the all-powerful gentleman in the White House and in those of
his most intimate advisors, Cuba must now be "saved" not only
from "tyranny", Cuban children must now be "saved from
sexual exploitation and trafficking in persons" "the world
must be freed from this dreadful problem which takes place 90 miles
away from the United States".
Has no one told
him that in Cuba before the triumph of the revolution in 1959 about
100,000 women were directly or indirectly involved in prostitution for
reasons of poverty, discrimination and lack of work and that the Revolution
educated these women and found them jobs, and outlawed the so-called
"tolerance zones" which existed in the pseudo-republic and
the neo-colony installed by the United States?
Has no one told
him that the Cuban children, whose physical, mental and moral health
is the number one priority of the Revolution, are protected by more
severe laws than those of the United States and that they all attend
school, including more than 50,000 who suffer from mental or physical
disabilities and that, without exceptions, receive specialized care
in special education centres?
Has no one told
him that infant mortality is lower in Cuba than it is in the United
States and that it continues to decrease?
Has no one dared
to whisper in his ear that Cuba occupies an outstanding and internationally
recognized place in education; that health and education services are
free and extend to the whole population; that today programs are underway
in education, health and culture that will place Cuba far above all
the other countries in the world?
The historic session
of the National Assembly of People's Power held on July 1 and 2, exposed
them and showed how ridiculous is the grotesque over 400-page-long-report
which gives an ample account and full details of the neo-colonial and
annexationist programs the fascist group which begot this disgusting
project propose to implement to the detriment of the Cuban people and
their sovereignty. This report has done nothing if not unite our people
even more and give a boost to their fighting spirit.
They must be absolutely
mad to talk of such things as implementing literacy and vaccination
programs in Cuba where illiteracy was eradicated a long time ago, where
minimum school attendance is up to grade nine and where children are
vaccinated against 13 diseases. Actually, such programs should be applied
to tens of millions of Americans who are left out, who do not enjoy
the benefits of social security and who have not been to school or are
completely illiterate or functionally illiterate.
The US administration
has not even dared to say a single word about the generous offer that
our country made of saving, in a short 5 year period, a life for every
life lost in the Twin Towers, by providing free health care to 3000
US citizens who have no access to healthcare services that are indispensable
for preserving life. Neither have they replied to the question of whether
or not those who may decide to come to Cuba to take advantage of this
opportunity would be punished.
It is really revealing
that on the very same day that Mr. Bush spouted such outrageous slanders
and threats, a prestigious American scientific institution from California
signed an agreement with the Cuban Molecular Immunology Centre for transferring
technology developed in our country for the clinical trials and later
manufacture of three promising vaccines in the battle against cancer,
which, as you know, kills more than half a million Americans every year.
It is only fair
to acknowledge that in this case the US authorities did not set any
obstacle.
This fact shows
how the fruits of everything I have talked about before are beginning
to sprout all over our country, despite 45 years of a harsh blockade
and of aggressions by US governments.
And these are not
biological weapons, nor chemical weapons, nor nuclear weapons; these
are scientific discoveries which could help all humanity.
Let's hope that,
in Cuba's case, God does not 'instruct' Mr. Bush to attack our country
but that he rather inspires him to avoid this colossal mistake! He had
better check on any divine belligerent order by consulting the Pope
and other prestigious dignitaries and theologians from the Christian
churches, asking them for their opinion
Excuse me, Mr. President
of the United States of America, for not writing a third epistle to
you this time but it would have been difficult to analyze this subject
in that way. It might have been taken for a personal insult and I rather
adhere to common courtesy.
Hail, Caesar! I
say, but this time I add: Those who are willing to die have no fear
of your enormous power, of your unbridled rage, nor of your dangerous
and cowardly threats against Cuba!
Long live the truth!
Long live human
dignity!
Speech made by Fidel
Castro, President of the Republic of Cuba, at the ceremony for the 51st
anniversary of the attack on the Moncada and Carlos
Manuel de Cespedes fortresses. Ernesto Che Guevara Square, Santa Clara,
July 26, 2004.