HAVANA: On the 60th anniversary of Cuba’s revolution, ruling Communist Party leader Raul Castro blasted the Trump management for returning to an out of date trail of disagreement with the island nation and of intervening in Latin America.
Castro and his past due, elder brother Fidel Castro led the rebellion band that during 1959 overthrew a U.S.-backed dictator and put in a Communist-run nation at the doorstep of the United States, setting the scene for many years of Cold War hostility.
At the time, their revolution impressed leftist movements all the way through Latin America, however the celebrations on Tuesday came as the region is shifting rightwards, coinciding with the inauguration of Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
Some of Cuba’s closest allies, Venezuela and Nicaragua, are mired in political crises, and U.S. President Donald Trump has tightened the decades-old U.S. embargo at the island, after his predecessor, Barack Obama, had sought to normalize members of the family.
“Once once more, the North American govt is taking at the trail of disagreement with Cuba,” Castro said within the southeastern city of Santiago de Cuba the place Fidel Castro proclaimed victory six decades in the past.
The speech by way of Castro, who stepped down as president in April but remains head of the Communist Party till 2021, was part of a solemn, sunset rite in a cemetery the place both Fidel Castro and independence hero Jose Marti are buried.
“Increasingly, high-ranking officers of this management are ... looking to blame Cuba for all of the region’s ills,” he said, including that they stemmed instead from “ruthless neoliberal policies”.
Trump’s nationwide safety adviser, John Bolton, said in November that Washington would take a harder line against Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, calling them a “troika of tyranny.”
Clad in army fatigues and cap, the 87-year outdated Castro said on Tuesday that Cuba had confirmed all the way through six decades of revolution it might now not be intimidated by way of threats. Instead it remained open, he said, to a peaceful and respectful coexistence.
Cuba’s true fight this year was an economic one, he added, reiterating feedback made at the nationwide meeting in past due December by way of his successor, President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who announced higher austerity for the fourth year operating in 2019 within the face of a cash crunch.
“We want to begin with to cut back all non-necessary expenses and to save extra,” said Castro.
A decade in the past, as president, he presented a sequence of reforms to liberalize and spice up the centrally planned financial system, but it remains closely state-dominated and certain in red tape.
A series of exterior shocks such as a decline in support from Venezuela and devastation wrought by way of hurricanes have additionally dented expansion, which is slow at best.
Nonetheless, the Cuban revolution is on a safe footing thanks to the transition to a reliable more youthful generation of leaders such as the 58-year outdated Diaz-Canel, Castro said.
“It is opportune to precise the fact that the Cuban Communist Party decidedly backs the words and movements of Diaz-Canel since he took office,” Castro said.
“The revolution has now not aged, it remains young,” he said.
Castro and his past due, elder brother Fidel Castro led the rebellion band that during 1959 overthrew a U.S.-backed dictator and put in a Communist-run nation at the doorstep of the United States, setting the scene for many years of Cold War hostility.
At the time, their revolution impressed leftist movements all the way through Latin America, however the celebrations on Tuesday came as the region is shifting rightwards, coinciding with the inauguration of Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
Some of Cuba’s closest allies, Venezuela and Nicaragua, are mired in political crises, and U.S. President Donald Trump has tightened the decades-old U.S. embargo at the island, after his predecessor, Barack Obama, had sought to normalize members of the family.
“Once once more, the North American govt is taking at the trail of disagreement with Cuba,” Castro said within the southeastern city of Santiago de Cuba the place Fidel Castro proclaimed victory six decades in the past.
The speech by way of Castro, who stepped down as president in April but remains head of the Communist Party till 2021, was part of a solemn, sunset rite in a cemetery the place both Fidel Castro and independence hero Jose Marti are buried.
“Increasingly, high-ranking officers of this management are ... looking to blame Cuba for all of the region’s ills,” he said, including that they stemmed instead from “ruthless neoliberal policies”.
Trump’s nationwide safety adviser, John Bolton, said in November that Washington would take a harder line against Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, calling them a “troika of tyranny.”
Clad in army fatigues and cap, the 87-year outdated Castro said on Tuesday that Cuba had confirmed all the way through six decades of revolution it might now not be intimidated by way of threats. Instead it remained open, he said, to a peaceful and respectful coexistence.
Cuba’s true fight this year was an economic one, he added, reiterating feedback made at the nationwide meeting in past due December by way of his successor, President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who announced higher austerity for the fourth year operating in 2019 within the face of a cash crunch.
“We want to begin with to cut back all non-necessary expenses and to save extra,” said Castro.
A decade in the past, as president, he presented a sequence of reforms to liberalize and spice up the centrally planned financial system, but it remains closely state-dominated and certain in red tape.
A series of exterior shocks such as a decline in support from Venezuela and devastation wrought by way of hurricanes have additionally dented expansion, which is slow at best.
Nonetheless, the Cuban revolution is on a safe footing thanks to the transition to a reliable more youthful generation of leaders such as the 58-year outdated Diaz-Canel, Castro said.
“It is opportune to precise the fact that the Cuban Communist Party decidedly backs the words and movements of Diaz-Canel since he took office,” Castro said.
“The revolution has now not aged, it remains young,” he said.
Raul Castro blasts United States on 60th anniversary of revolution
![Raul Castro blasts United States on 60th anniversary of revolution]()
Reviewed by Kailash
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January 02, 2019
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