[NYTr] Bush's Fantasy Cuba vs.Real Cuba 'Two Different Worlds, ' Like His Fantasy Iraq

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

[Noriega appeared on the PBS NewsHour with Peter Kornbluh on Oct 24th
to debate Bush's pathetic speech. He repeated the litany of
nonsense about Bush's Fantasy Cuba that came from Bush's mouth earlier
in the day --and added his own: that that there were 7 million Cubans
(there are 11 million) and that "at great personal risk" apparently
most of them would be secretly listening to the words of George W. via
some clandestine means -- it wasn't exactly clear what -- perhaps
their Fantasy TV Marti. We responded at the time:
"Roger Noriega Doesn't Know the Population of Cuba" 10/24/07
http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20071022/070749.html

Well, it seems Noriega got the "captive nation" straining to hear the
voice of "freedom" hilariously wrong, too. Granma published Bush's
speech. And why not? What better evidence does the Cuban Revolution
need of Bush's unbelievable ignorance, and arrogance, and the emptiness
of his rehetoric?  

PS - The PBS NewsHour, of course, completely ignored the record vote
against the US in the General Assembly yesterday. Perhaps it was too
embarrassing to the US to announce how Bush's speech clearly went over
with the international community. They didn't even manage to fit it
into their "news summary." -NY Transfer]

Juventude Rebelde - Oct 27, 2007
http://www.juventudrebelde.co.cu/columnists/2007-10-27/two-different-worlds/

Two Different Worlds

By Rodolfo Livingston

Once again, I walk down Havana’s streets paved with square stones, old
and damp today beneath a light rain, which only yesterday were shining
beneath a multicolored sky.

Walking along Obispo Street, I pass by the always noisy Cuban bars. At
the corners, groups of people exchange expressive comments. In the
portals, women are flattered by workmen, and flocks of tourists walk
slowly in front of the amazing 500-year-old colonial facades. A black
tourist guide speaking in perfect German recounts the history of each
part of the walk.

I stop for a bit in the lobby of the Ambos Mundos (Both worlds) Hotel
and inattentively open the Granma newspaper, hoping to find Fidel
Castro latest editorial. However, what a surprise! Instead of that I
find a completely transcribed speech of... George W. Bush!

I read on – astonished. “At this moment,” says Bush, “my words are
being transmitted live into Cuba by media outlets of the free world,
including Radio and TV Marti. To those Cubans who are listening
—perhaps at great risk— I would like to speak to you directly.”

Further on Bush said that it is against the law for more than three
Cubans to meet without permission. Unbelievable! When you go out in
Cuba, the only thing you do is run into groups of people – grandparents
exercising in the squares, the famous “camels” (double humped buses)
full of people, packed ice-cream parlors, and so on. In fact, is seems
that meetings of less than three people are prohibited.

Nonetheless, Bush continues with his delirious speech, “In Cuba it is
illegal to change jobs, to change houses, to travel abroad, and to read
books or magazines without the express approval of the state.” He
continued saying much of the same up to the end, where he concluded
with threats that are not surprising to anymore, especially after
learning about the atrocities committed in Iraq and in many other
places, including at Guantanamo Bay.

I went up to the fifth floor of the hotel, to what was once Hemingway’s
room. He was an American who was very different from the current US
president. From the window of the writer’s former room, I look at the
sky and down Obispo Street, where I just had the pleasure of walking.
Leaving Ambos Mundos, its name makes me think of both Bush’s world and
this Cuban world around me -- full of kids laughing, lovers embracing
and a sense of peace.

It’s good to remember which of these worlds it’s better to live in.