 Leftist intellectuals and human rights activists from around the world pleaded with the United States on Monday not to interfere with Cuba while Fidel Castro recovers from intestinal surgery.
Many of the 400 signers of the open letter are from Latin America, and numerous Nobel Peace laureates are listed, such as former Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and activist Rigoberta Menchu of Guatemala.
| Oh, yasss. She, Rigoberta Menchu. |
Announcing the letter at a news conference, leading Cuban writer Roberto Fernandez Retamar said Cubans are convinced that Castro's handover of power to his younger brother and defense minister, Raul Castro, is only temporary. "In a few months, we'll have him back with us," Retamar said.
| "He'll be dead, stuffed and mounted, but we'll have him back. He'll last another 80 years that way." |
| They'll make pilgrimages to his glass case in the mausoleum, forgetting -- if they ever knew -- what kind of man he was. |
That optimistic assessment has been reinforced by statements from Fidel Castro's inner circle and Latin American allies, who say the Cuban leader is recovering well from surgery for internal bleeding. Cubans were told most details of his health would be kept "a state secret" to prevent enemies from taking advantage of his condition. Indeed, officials haven't said precisely what ails Castro or what surgical procedure he underwent.
| The usual cancer rumors have surfaced. I'm hoping he's got pancreatic cancer, myself ... |
President Bush said the United States remains in the dark about the illness, but he didn't miss the chance to motivate anti-Castro activists to push for change.
| I'll bet he's not, really... |
"The only thing I know is what has been speculated, and this is that, on the one hand, he is very ill and, on the other hand, he is going to be coming out of hospital," Bush said at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. "Our desire is for the Cuban people to choose their own form of government."
| Actually, our desire is for the Cuban people to string up the Castro brothers, but we're much too polite to say that... |
| ... that happens the day after they choose their own form of government ... |
On Sunday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denied the United States is contemplating an invasion of the island in the wake of Castro's illness but said the U.S. wants to help Cubans prepare for democracy. "The notion that somehow the United States is going to invade Cuba, because there are troubles in Cuba, is simply far-fetched," Rice told NBC.
| Why would we bother, when the place is going to collapse on its own? |
| 'Far-fetched' and 'detached from reality' might describe the 400 letter-signers ... |
"The United States wants to be a partner and a friend to the Cuban people as they move through this period of difficulty and as they move ahead. But what Cuba should not have is the replacement of one dictator by another." |