Cuban President Raul Castro. (Flickr / Summit of the Americas)
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 26 September 2015 — On Monday September 26, 1960 Fidel Castro gave a memorable speech at the United Nations General Assembly of nearly 5 hours. The anti-imperialist rhetoric of the bearded leader shocked representatives of Third World countries with lapidary phrases such as, “Let the philosophy of plunder disappear, and be gone the philosophy of war!” or that other one, “to his lordship the delegate of the United States, I take advantage of this opportunity to say that there are many mothers in the Cuban countryside and many mothers in Cuba, still waiting for their telegrams of condolence for their children murdered by American bombs.” In his defiant speech the commander mentioned the name of his neighbor to the north 148 times.
Fifty years and three days later, on another Monday, Raul Castro will rise to the green marble podium where his brother railed against president Eisenhower and the presidential candidates Nixon and Kennedy. But this 28 September the Cuban president’s tone will be less bellicose and, without a doubt, much briefer. The blockade, the Guantanamo naval base, compensation for the damages and injuries and an end to the broadcasts of Radio and TV Martí will be the high points of his agenda as conditions for the normalization of relations with the United States.
Most likely among all those present none are left of those who witnessed Fidel Castro’s marathon dissertation, nor have his promises survived Continue reading
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