Fidel Castro has Parkinson's Disease

[loseyourname]

According to the CIA:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The CIA has concluded that Cuban President Fidel Castro suffers from Parkinson's disease and could have difficulty coping with the duties of office as his condition worsens, an official said on Wednesday.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-11-16T215913Z_01_MCC676343_RTRUKOC_0_US-CUBA-USA-CASTRO.xml

 

[wasteofo2]

Fidel Castro might become an incompetant administrator? What a loss that will be for the Cuban public...

I just hope for their sake that someone worse doesn't weasle his way in as Castro loses his grip on power.

Would it be too much to hope for a figure like Mahmoud Abbas to arise from this? Probabally...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

It won't be long before you can buy a McCommie burger in Cuba.

 

[Mercator]

It won't be long before you can buy a McCommie burger in Cuba.

Yes, like the "Cultural Revolution" restaurants here in China, or the "Site of the first meeting of the Chinese communist party", in Xin Tian Di, Shanghai, an upscale new development that houses any decadent capitalist venue you can dream of. The world can be so wonderfully inconsequent. But why do dictators often get these slow, lingering diseases? Must be a small mistake in the "Intelligent design".

 

[loseyourname]

But why do dictators often get these slow, lingering diseases?

Faster acting poisons are too obvious.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Faster acting poisons are too obvious.

Yes, there's nothing like a 45 year poison to throw people off the track.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Yes, like the "Cultural Revolution" restaurants here in China, or the "Site of the first meeting of the Chinese communist party", in Xin Tian Di, Shanghai, an upscale new development that houses any decadent capitalist venue you can dream of. .

A buddy of mine recently spend some time in the northern provinces where entire cities are being built to support the industrial facilites also being built. He said the rate of growth [building] is staggering.

anyway, off topic...

 

[flotsam]

I assume Pat Robertson is praying for him as we speak. Praying he dies!
Hopefully Castro and Cuba will be OK.

 

[Mercator]

I assume Pat Robertson is praying for him as we speak. Praying he dies!
Hopefully Castro and Cuba will be OK.

These two are mutually exclusive.

 

[Smurf]

... I don't mind Castro. I think, all things considered, he's probably done a better job running Cuba than any, for example, Canadian PM has done running Canada. Much better than any American president I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[Art]

I chatted with a cuban guy working as a senior engineer in California some years back. He hadn't a bad word to say about Castro. He said he left for America to escape poverty but he like most Cubans blamed their poverty on US sanctions rather than Castro.

 

[BobG]

As ruler of Cuba, Castro coming to the end of his reign probably won't be something for Americans to regret. His views are too different from the US's and his type of rule undesirable.

I wouldn't take much pleasure in his suffering from Parkinson's, though. That's taking politics a little too personal.

 

[Mercator]

... I don't mind Castro. I think, all things considered, he's probably done a better job running Cuba than any, for example, Canadian PM has done running Canada. Much better than any American president I can think of off the top of my head.

Smurf, your "naivete" is touching. Even the worst American presidents spared their citizens the "pleasure" of 8 hour marathon speeches. This fact alone should be enough for locking the man up! And even with your communist ideals you should be wary about dictators confusing the dictatorship of the proletariat with dictatorship of the Castro family.
The problem is, like in China with Mao, for the masses there was a slight improvement (albeit just a sprankle of hope) in their situation after Castro got rid of Batista. But, like in China, after that short moment things went downhill. Let's face it, Cuba will only flourish if they go the same way as China. I hope it will happen. Let them keep the red flag and at the same time say: to be rich is glorious. I hope the old senile dies sooner than later and he becomes a poster on the wall for young idealists, like Che, but nothing more.

 

[Mercator]

As ruler of Cuba, Castro coming to the end of his reign probably won't be something for Americans to regret. His views are too different from the US's and his type of rule undesirable.
I wouldn't take much pleasure in his suffering from Parkinson's, though. That's taking politics a little too personal.

You're right, Castro should have a worthy retirement. Considering his ideals and all, I think the world should offer him a comfortable retirement in a place where his ideas are closest to reality. I think he would really enjoy farming in North Korea ,the diet and the cold climate would really benefit the resistance against his disease.

 

[Smurf]

I chatted with a cuban guy working as a senior engineer in California some years back. He hadn't a bad word to say about Castro. He said he left for America to escape poverty but he like most Cubans blamed their poverty on US sanctions rather than Castro.

I saw an article the other day that said US sanctions were the best thing that happened to Cuba under Castro. I'll try to find it.. can't remember what the arguments were.

 

[loseyourname]

I saw an article the other day that said US sanctions were the best thing that happened to Cuba under Castro. I'll try to find it.. can't remember what the arguments were.

Well, it certainly benefitted Castro, as it allowed him to blame any economic hardship from that point forward on US sanctions. Of course, the whole point of sanctions is to ruin a nation's economy until they finally give in, so if the sanctions had a deleterious effect, they were only doing their job.

 

[jack02]

Fidel Castro & Parkinson's disease

Do you know what castro says after hearing it? 'When I do die one day, nobody will believe me,' joked Castro. He was referring to the endless rumors about his health throughout his life. He said that if all the rumors had been true, he should have died many times. He went on to say that if he did get Parkinson's one day he is not bothered. The Pope, he said, had Parkinson's for many years, but still managed to carry out his duties.

Edited by Evo to delete spam advertisement

 

[alexandra]

Well, Castro will inevitably die (we are all mortal, after all). But the ideas of justice, equality, and a fairer world will live on. So all who hope for Castro's death are misdirected - it's the ideas one must kill: and ideas are very difficult, indeed, to kill. Keep trying, though :-)

 

[denverdoc]

The man has been a savvy if cantankerous leader. Most accounts suggest it is better now for the majority than in its Las Vegas days. Certainly far from perfect, but what's not to like about a guy who has huevos enough to stand up t both superpowers at the time. Bottom line, he set up asituation where foreign exploitation wouldn't happen. Not that he was above from accepting handouts, he achieved an unthinkable juggling act. I was bitterly disappointed when we, as in GWB, were too sullen to accept after Katrina, to acceot the offer of help from the world's best doctors in caring in the aftermath of hurricanes.
Lets hope Chavez can carry the torch.

 

[alexandra]

The man has been a savvy if cantankerous leader. Most accounts suggest it is better now for the majority than in its Las Vegas days. Certainly far from perfect, but what's not to like about a guy who has huevos enough to stand up t both superpowers at the time. Bottom line, he set up asituation where foreign exploitation wouldn't happen. Not that he was above from accepting handouts, he achieved an unthinkable juggling act. I was bitterly disappointed when we, as in GWB, were too sullen to accept after Katrina, to acceot the offer of help from the world's best doctors in caring in the aftermath of hurricanes.
Lets hope Chavez can carry the torch.

I'm with you, denverdoc; Oh, and Castro seems to be recovering (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6716017.stm) - but, most important of all, the ideas are alive and well, as I said in my previous post: Chavez does seem to be quite gutsy, doesn't he? Great how he takes on the giant oil corporations and stands up to the bullies of the world. Of course, it is only the mess in the Middle East that gives him the breathing space to do that. If there were any chance whatsoever of that mess being sorted out (which I don't think there is - it will end in defeat for the 'Coalition of the Willing'; another Vietnam), South America - especially Chavez's Bolivarian experiment - would be in deep trouble. But what with Iraq and the forthcoming trouble in Iran, he sees (and takes) the gap; go, Chavez!