*R e f l e c t i o n s o f F i d e l C a s t r o* *Havana. **March 29**, 2011 *
*Reflections of Fidel* *NATO’s Fascist War (Taken from CubaDebate)* • I didn’t have to be a fortune teller to divine what I foresaw with rigorous precision in three Reflections which I published on the CubaDebate website between February 21 and March 3: "NATO’s plan is to occupy Libya," "Cynicism’s danse macabre," and "NATO's inevitable war." Not even the fascist leaders of Germany and Italy were so supremely shameless immediately following the Spanish Civil War unleashed in 1936, an episode that many people have possibly recalled in recent days. Almost exactly 75 years have passed since then; but nothing that can be compared to the changes that have taken place during 75 centuries or, if you will, in 75 millennia of human life on our planet. Sometimes it would seem that those of us who serenely express opinions on these subjects are given to exaggeration. I would venture to say that rather, we are naïve in supposing that all of us should be aware of the deception or the colossal ignorance into which humanity has been dragged. In 1936 there was an intense confrontation between two systems and two ideologies approximately equal in terms of their military might. Then, weapons seemed like toys compared to current ones. Humanity’s survival was guaranteed, in spite of their destructive and locally deadly power. Entire cities, and even nations, could virtually be devastated. But never could human beings, in their totality, be exterminated various times over by the foolish and suicidal power developed by contemporary science and technology. On the basis of these realities, the news continuously being broadcast on the use of powerful laser guided missiles of total precision; fighter planes flying at twice the speed of sound; powerful explosives releasing depleted uranium cluster bombs, whose effect on inhabitants and their descendants will last indefinitely, is nothing short of contemptible. At the Geneva meeting Cuba stated its position in relation to Libya’s internal problem. It unhesitatingly defended the idea of a political solution to the conflict in that country, and categorically opposed any foreign military intervention. In a world where the alliance between the United States and the European developed capitalist powers is constantly appropriating the resources and the fruit of the labor of the peoples, all honest citizens, whatever their position toward their government, would be opposed to foreign military intervention in their homeland. The most absurd aspect of the current situation is that before initiating the brutal war in North Africa, in another region of the world almost 10,000 kilometers distant, a nuclear accident had taken place at one of the most densely populated points of the planet, after a tsunami provoked by a magnitude 9 earthquake, which has already cost a hard-working country like Japan almost 30,000 deaths. Such an accident could not have taken place 75 years ago. In Haiti, a poor and underdeveloped country, an earthquake of just 7 degrees on the Richter scale resulted in more than 300,000 deaths, countless injuries and hundreds of thousands affected. However, the terribly tragic event in Japan was the accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant, the consequences of which are still be to be determined. I will quote just some news agency headlines: "ANSA.—The Fukushima nuclear reactor 1 is emitting potentially lethal doses of radiation, said Gregory Jaczko, chief of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the U.S. nuclear agency." "EFE.—The nuclear threat given the critical situation of a plant in Japan in the wake of the quake has triggered security reviews of atomic plants in the world and has prompted some countries to suspend their plans." "Reuters.—Japan’s devastating earthquake and deepening nuclear crisis could result in losses of up to $200 billion for its economy but the global impact remains hard to gauge…" "EFE.—The deterioration of one reactor after another at the Fukushima plant today continued fuelling fears of a nuclear disaster in Japan, without the desperate attempts to control a radioactive leak giving rise to even a glimmer of hope." "AFP.—Emperor Akihito has expressed concern about the unforeseeable nature of the nuclear crisis which is hitting Japan after the quake and the tsunami which killed thousands of people and left 500,000 homeless. Another earthquake is reported in the region of Tokyo." There are cables reporting issues of even greater concern. Some mention the presence of toxic levels of radioactive iodine in Tokyo’s water system, at double the tolerable quantity that very young children can consume in the Japanese capital. One of the cables states that bottled water reserves are running out in Tokyo, a city located in a prefecture more than 200 kilometers from Fukushima. This combination of circumstances is bringing about a dramatic situation for our world. I can express my points of view about the war on Libya with total freedom. I do not share political concepts or those of a religious nature with the leader of that country. I am a Marxist-Leninist and follower of the ideas of Martí, as I have already stated. I see Libya as a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and one sovereign state out of the close to 200 belonging to the United Nations Organization. Never before was a large or small country, in this case of barely 5 million inhabitants, the victim of such a brutal attack by the air force of a military organization which has at its disposal thousands of fighter planes, more than 100 submarines, nuclear aircraft carriers and sufficient arsenal to destroy the planet countless times over. Our species has never experienced such a situation and nothing like it existed 75 years ago when the Nazi bombers attacked targets in Spain. Now, however, the discredited and criminal NATO is to write a "beautiful" story about its "humanitarian" bombing. If Gaddafi honors the traditions of his people and decides to fight, as he has promised, until his last breath alongside Libyans who are confronting the worst bombardments that a country has ever suffered, he will sink NATO and its criminal plans into the mire of ignominy. The peoples respect and believe in men and women who know how to fulfill their duty. More than 50 years ago, when the United States murdered more than 100 Cubans with the sabotage of *La Coubre* merchant ship, our people proclaimed "Patria o Muerte." They have fulfilled and have always been prepared to keep their word. "Whoever attempts to seize Cuba—exclaimed the most glorious combatant in our history [General Antonio Maceo]—will only recover the dust of its land saturated in blood." I ask you to excuse the frankness with which I have approached the subject. *Fidel Castro Ruz March 28, 2011 8:14 p.m.* -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. 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