Granma, Cuba's communist government-run daily newspaper, transcribed Raul Castro's speech from June 14 and has it up on its front page. Raul Castro's profile has been steadily growing on the island in the past few weeks. Here is an excerpt:
"In those conditions favorable to their interests, it was obvious that the imperial hawks were considering the possibility of giving a piece of their mind to those who signified a obstacle to their dreams of world domination, and evidently, Cuba, for reasons that are all too well known, could be high on the list of immediate targets."
"This U.S. administration’s increasing backing of ultra-right groups of Cuban origin based in Miami, as well as the extended inciting of local mercenaries by the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, compounded by increased provocations and acts of terrorism such as the hijacking of civilian vessels and aircraft, all accompanied by the staging of grand media campaigns, were clear signals of such aggressive plans."
"That was happening at an extremely difficult juncture for the country, given the combination of the increased price of oil after the invasion of Iraq, the collapse of tourism as a consequence of the September 11 attacks in 2001, and the vertiginous descent of sugar prices to levels that made its production simply unsustainable in many parts of the island."
"None of that daunted us. Along with other important tasks of the Revolution, the programs contained in the Battle of Ideas directed at improving education, health, social security, culture, sports – at the end of day, the quality of life of the people, went ahead."
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/secciones/raul-45ejercito/raul03.html

I never ceases to amaze me ....how many words can be used to say absolutely nothing!!!!!
Precision in speech=precision in thought
Posted by: a different thought | June 23, 2006 at 08:30 AM
Apparently, the word on the island is that Raul's wife is very ill and not expected to live much longer. But of course since I heard this from someone who still lives in Cuba it could just be commmunist propoganda. They are all commies, right? Every single one of them?
Posted by: Vote Gringo | June 25, 2006 at 06:47 PM
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Una colección de cuentos cortos basados en leyendas cubanas y en eventos insólitos de la historia de Cuba, todos narrados en un estilo originalísimo y de gran fantasía. Se narran todos los cuentos en inglés y en español, en páginas opuestas. Incluye considerable información adicional sobre el fondo histórico de cada cuento, al igual que sugerencias para otras lecturas sobre la misma temática, y se incluyen ilustraciones históricas de cada uno de los cuentos. Para leer breves descripciones de cada cuento, favor de dirgirse a www.cubairememberyou.zoomshare.com En venta hacia finales del año. Cuba ¡como nunca te la imaginaste!
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