| Via yesterday's Best of the Web... |
Sister city activists and other Madisonians with ties to Cuba said today they fear the Bush administration will use the transition in power from Fidel to Raul Castro as the occasion to activate a plan to replace that nation's communist system. They said such a move could lead to war.The Associated Press reported today that Bush told a Miami radio station on Monday, prior to the announcement of Castro's illness, "If Fidel Castro were to move on because of natural causes, we've got a plan in place to help the people of Cuba understand there's a better way than the system in which they've been living under."
| “(This) is nothing more than a plan by the United States for the annexation of Cuba...” |
Robert Kimbrough, a retired UW-Madison English professor and prominent local Socialist who has gone to Cuba 16 times with Madison delegations, is also worried by the two reports. "It is disgusting. The 2004 report said, 'We pledge to help the Cuban people, and a new transition Cuban government, as you move away from the totalitarian Communist dictatorship and toward a free and representative democracy.' On July 10, the final report to the president is specific that when Fidel goes they will put this into motion. The president of the National Assembly in Cuba has labeled this as no less than a declaration of war. My question is how our wonderful, sophisticated government will respond. They have asked for $80 million to get the transition to democracy started, beginning with $20 million right away. They recommended this to the president and he accepted the report."