Standing before the military barracks where he launched his revolutionary battle a half-century ago, Fidel Castro reopened a war of words with the EU, accusing it of being America's "Trojan horse" and saying its economic aid is no longer needed.
"Cuba does not need the help of the EU to survive," Castro told an enthusiastic crowd of about 10,000 invited guests, mostly Cuban officials and party leaders gathered for the anniversary celebrations. The event was broadcast live on government-run television and radio stations.
He mocked Europe's political leaders, saying they were unable to deal independently with the communist state without taking American policies into consideration.
PHOTO: AP
As well as being "the superpower's Trojan horse," Europe had a past it should be ashamed of, Castro said, calling the EU "a group of old colonial powers historically responsible for slave trafficking, looting and even the extermination of entire peoples."
The Cuban leader was enraged in early June when the 15-member EU bloc announced it was reviewing its policies toward Cuba because of human rights concerns. He also was troubled by Britain's support of US military action in Iraq.
The EU opened an office in Havana earlier this year to administer the up to 15 million euros (US$16.4 million) it gives Cuba in aid each year. The EU is Cuba's largest trade, aid and investment partner.
As a 26-year-old lawyer, Castro launched 50 years ago what many considered to be a suicidal attack on Moncada military barracks in this eastern provincial capital. Now 44 years in power and the world's longest ruling head of government, Castro -- who turns 77 next month -- celebrated the anniversary of that audacious armed attack by proving that he still puts his political principles above all else.
But Castro's government is struggling with a severe cash crisis, despite a recent jump in the number of visitors to the island following a tourism slump following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the US.
Cuba also has come under widespread international criticism in recent months after a crackdown on dissent that put 75 of his harshest critics behind bars on sentences of up to 28 years, as well as the April 11 firing squad executions of three men who tried to hijack a passenger ferry to South Florida.
Before dawn on Saturday, hundreds of Cuban schoolchildren wielding ancient BB guns arrived outside the barracks in vintage American sedans to re-enact the raid by 129 revolutionaries on then-dictator Fulgencio Batista's army.
More than a dozen of the men who survived the attack at the same site five decades before were on hand as gunshots rang out in the still morning air over the former barracks that now serves as a school.
Although they were initially caught off guard, Batista's soldiers gained control of the situation. Six attackers and 16 soldiers were reported killed during the resulting firefight.
Cuban historians say 55 of the rebels who were captured were tortured to death, and the military killed 10 civilian bystanders.
Despite the mission's failure, it was a public relations success. Batista's violent response only brought Castro and his supporters more sympathy.
If not for the attack, Cuba today would be "a semi-colony of the US," said 69-year-old Moncada survivor Ramon Pez Ferro, who serves on the Cuban parliament's foreign relations committee. "We were young people with political worries who wanted to achieve independence for our country and improve its social situation."
During the subsequent trial, Castro, a trained lawyer, defended himself and gave a courtroom speech that brought him and his cause even more support.
"I know that prison will be harder for me than it has been for anybody," Castro said in the speech, whose text was later secretly distributed. "But I do not fear it, as I do not fear the fury of the miserable tyrant .... Convict me; it does not matter. History will absolve me."
Castro and the other survivors were freed in a general amnesty after 22 months. They went to Mexico, where they organized a guerrilla campaign and toppled Batista's government on Jan. 1, 1959.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese