Fidel Castro: US wants Cuba to become slaves again
By WILL WEISSERT
Associated Press Writer
HAVANA -- Fidel Castro again bristled at the Obama administration's
steps toward improving relations with Cuba, writing in a May Day message
that the U.S. would like to see Cubans "return to the fold of slaves."
The former president's column was published in official newspapers as
Cuba celebrated international worker's day with a traditional march by
hundreds of thousands of people across the sprawling Plaza of the
Revolution.
Castro said he found "some new elements" in the Obama administration,
which has eased restriction on travel and money transfers by Americans
with family in Cuba.
"We are carefully studying and observing each of its steps," he wrote.
But Castro complained that Washington "is ready to forgive us if we
resign ourselves to returning to the fold of slaves who, after tasting
liberty, again accept the whip and the yoke."
"The adversary should not have any illusion that Cuba will give up," he
wrote.
Those were the kind of words Castro once would have shouted during an
hours-long speech before the start of the May Day procession. But
illness has kept him from public view since July 2006 and officials
ensured this year's parade moved along in a businesslike style, ending
it after barely two hours.
Raul Castro, who succeeded the ailing, 82-year-old Fidel as president
last year, presided over the march in a straw hat and white Guayabera
dress shirt instead of his usual army fatigues. He chanted along with
the crowd and grinned and waved from a high seating area, but did not
give a speech.
Many Cubans sang and danced - others sweated and simply trudged along -
as they followed the carefully controlled parade route through the
concrete square where Raul Castro has his office.
They waved Cuban flags, pictures of the Castro brothers and of
revolutionary icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara, and they hoisted cardboard
signs promoting socialism and decrying Washington's 47-year-old trade
embargo against the island.
Most of the placards thrust skyward repeated decades-old slogans like
"Long Live Free Cuba," and "Socialism or Death," but some blamed
"neo-liberalism" and free-market policies for the global economic crisis
and recession.
Salvador Valdes Mesa, secretary-general of the Cuban Workers
Confederation, urged Cubans to be more productive and efficient despite
state salaries worth only about $20 per month.
In addition to allowing unlimited travel and money transfers for
Cuban-Americans, the Obama White House has reduced restrictions on
telecommunications between the U.S. and Cuba.
But top U.S. officials say they would like to see some Cuban political
and social reforms before exploring normalizing diplomatic relations.
Fidel Castro insists that Cuba should make no concessions in return for
better U.S. ties.
Fidel Castro: US wants Cuba to become slaves again - Cuba -
MiamiHerald.com (2 May 2009)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1027446.html
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