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I don’t like the idea of seeming to be a
vengeful person, someone wishful to relentlessly
pursue an adversary. I had promised myself to
wait a bit and see how the contradictions
between Bush and his European allies would
unfold on the vital subject of climate change.
But George W. Bush went too far when he made a
declaration that we read in an AP piece last
Friday. The President of the United States
stated that he would go to the Vatican “with a
very open mind and…ready to listen” to the Pope,
and he assured that they share a “common respect
for human life and human dignity” and freedom.
“History has demonstrated that democracies
don't go to war with each other and therefore
the best way to reinforce peace is to promote
freedom,” he added.
“This will be the American leader’s first
visit to Pope Benedict XVI. His last trip to
Italy was in April 2005 for the funeral of Pope
John Paul II”, the agency reported.
In one of my reflections I said that I
wouldn’t be the first or the last person that
Bush would order or authorize his agents to
remove. Having seen his unusual declaration, I
think that if Bush had ever read any history
book, he would be aware that there, in Rome
itself, an empire was born that nourished the
vocabulary of political language for almost two
thousand years; the Vatican City was also born
there as time went by, after Constantine's Edict
of Milan which officially removed obstacles to
the practice of Christianity at the beginning of
the fourth century A.D.
Historians tell us that the Caesar Nero who
ordered the capital of the empire to be set on
fire was heard to exclaim in satisfaction while
the tragedy was in progress: “What a great poet
is perishing!”
If only the historians were right! If only
Bush were a poet! If only the inhabitants of
the planet were those belonging to those times!
If only nuclear, chemical, biological and mass
destruction weapons did not exist! Even though
it was a sad occurrence, including the death of
the poet, who would be alarmed by a fire
consuming what today would be just a great
village?
Evidently Rome is not yet included among the
60 or more dark corners of the world that the
United States military must be ready to pre-emptively
attack, as Bush proclaimed at West Point on June
1, 2002.
Bush would now like to con Pope Benedict
XVI. The Iraq War doesn’t exist, it doesn’t
cost a cent, not one drop of blood has been
spilled, nor have hundreds of thousands of
innocent people died as part of a shameless
bartering of lives for oil and gas, imposed by
force of arms on the peoples of the Third
World. Nor does the danger of another war
against Iran exist, including possible tactical
nuclear strikes to impose the same infamous
formula. We are all required to believe that
Russia does not feel threatened by a possible
shower of annihilating and accurate nuclear
missiles giving rise to a new and ever more
dangerous arms race.
Following the chronic course of his rude
lies, we might well wonder: why did Bush free
an infamous, self-confessed terrorist like
Posada Carriles on the same day that the 46th
anniversary of the imperialist defeat at the Bay
of Pigs was commemorated? Worse still, would he
feel even a smidgen of pain about the injustice
of keeping 5 Cuban heroes prisoners, some
serving two life sentences, because they were
informing their country about terrorist plans?
Banish the thought that Bush didn’t know who
funded the countless assassination plots on
Castro!
We have seen Bush making strange and
disturbed grimaces while making official
speeches to United States senators and
representatives, boasting about the enemies he
has had removed by issuing personal orders. He
created official torture centers in Abu Ghraib
and at the Guantánamo Naval Base; his agents,
acting illegally, kidnapped people in many
countries where CIA planes would secretly fly
in, with or without permission from the
corresponding authorities. Information would
have to be extracted with well-studied physical
torture methods.
How could he possibly think that Pope
Benedict XVI would share values with him about
respect for life, human dignity and freedom?
What does the Spanish language dictionary
tell us?
Tall tale: an artfully disguised lie.
To con: to deceive, to hallucinate, taking
advantage of someone’s naiveté.
I promised brief reflections and I am
keeping my word.
Fidel Castro Ruz
June 7, 2007
4:45 p.m.
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