A point of honor: Former Cuba dictator Fidel Castro has taken umbrage

at a report from a Russian newspapers that claims Cuba, pressured by

the U.S., refused to allow Edward Snowden the right to land in Havana.

He takes the newspaper to task for 'purchasing the lie' for publication.

Castro: 'Who Was Paid to Lie' about Snowden Being Allowed in Cuba? (Cuba Debate, Cuba)

Who told the Russian newspaper Kommersant that Cuba, buckling under pressure from the United States, had decided to forbid Edward Snowden from landing in Havana? In a rare emergence from retirement, the former Cuba dictator has come out to correct the record, saying that after 54 years of unflinching defiance of the 'empire', Havana did not, and would never, have refused Snowden permission to land there.

By Fidel Castro*

Translated By Rachael Bradley

September 3, 2013

Spain - Cuarto Poder - Original Article (Spanish)

Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro, solutes the commander of a Russian naval vessel visiting the port of La Guaira, Aug. 27. RUSSIA TODAY VIDEO: Snowden awarded biennial Whistleblower Prize in Germany, in recognition of his 'bold efforts' to expose the monitoring of communications data, as leaks continue impact on German election race, Aug. 30, 00:04:51

I feel compelled to write about the fact that terrible events are fast approaching. In this day and age, no more than 10 or 15 years pass without our species running into a genuine risk of extinction. Neither Obama nor anyone else can issue guarantees, I say in all realism, because only with the truth will we achieve a bit more wellbeing or a whiff of hope. We have come of age. We have no right to mislead or deceive.

The vast majority of the public knows quite a lot about the new risks on our doorstep.

It isn't simply that cruise missiles are aimed at military targets in Syria, but that this brave Arab country, situated at the heart of more than a billion Muslims and whose fighting spirit is legendary - has declared that until its last breath, it will resist any attack on the country.

It is well known that Bashar al-Assad was not a politician. He studied medicine. He graduated in 1988 and specialized in ophthalmology. He assumed a political role on the death of his father Hafez al Assad in 2000, and after the accidental death of a brothers before assuming his current role.

All NATO members, unconditional allies of the United States, and a few oil producing monarchies in the Middle East allied to the empire, ensure the global supply of plant-based fuels that have accumulated for over a billion years. The availability of energy produced from the fusion of hydrogen particles, on the other hand, will take at least 60 years. The accumulation of atmospheric greenhouse gases will continue to grow at higher rates even after colossal investments in technology and equipment.

On the other hand, it is said that by the year 2040, just 27 years more, many tasks performed today by police, such as imposing fines and other tasks, will be carried out by robots. Can the reader imagine how difficult it would be to argue with a robot capable of processing millions of calculations a second? This was really unimaginable years ago.

Just a few hours ago, official agencies known for their classic sophisticated services to the United States, disseminated news that Edward Snowden had been forced to establish himself in Russia because Cuba had bowed to pressure from the United States.

I don't know whether someone, somewhere, spoke or didn't speak to Snowden, as this is not my task. I read what I can of news, opinion and books around the world. I admire the brave and just statements made by Snowden, who in my opinion rendered a service to the world by revealing the repugnantly dishonest policies of the dominant empire which lies and deceives the world. What I do not agree with is that someone, whatever their merits, can speak on behalf of Cuba.

Who was paid to utter this lie. Who said it? Who uttered these libelous comments to the Russian newspaper Kommersant? According to Reuters news agency, the newspaper quotes sources close to the U.S. State Department: The Cuban government at the last minute notified the authorities, and that Havana had prevented Snowden from boarding the Aeroflot flight.

According to the newspaper, Snowden "spent a couple of days in the Russian Consulate in Hong Kong to explain his intention to fly to Latin America via Moscow. If I wanted to, I could talk more about this, which I have ample knowledge of.

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Today, I watched with particular interest images of President Nicolas Maduro of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela during a visit to the flagship vessel of a detachment of the Russian Navy visiting Venezuela, after his previous stops in Havana and Nicaragua.

During the presidents visit to the ship, several images caught my attention. One showed the range of motion of the vessel's various radar arrays capable of controlling the ships operations in any situation arises.

Moving on, lets explore the mercenary activities Kommersant. In its time, it was one of the most perverse media outlets at the service of the extreme counter-revolutionary right, which enjoys the fact that the sycophantic conservative government in London is sending bombers to its air base in Cyprus, ready to drop their bombs on the patriotic forces of heroic Syria, while in Egypt, known as the heart of the Arab world, thousands of people are being murdered by the authors of a disgusting coup d'état.

Against this background, the empires navy and air force, along with its allies, are preparing to launch genocide against the Arab peoples.

It is absolutely clear that the United States will always try and pressure Cuba, just as it does with the United Nations or any public or private institution in the world. It is one of the characteristics of this countrys governments and it would be impossible to expect anything else of them. However, 54 years of resistance, defending ourselves without a ceasefire and confronting the criminal economic embargo imposed by the might empire, have not been in vain - and will continue as long as necessary.

Our greatest mistake is not having been able to learn much more in far less time.

Fidel Ruiz Castro

*Fidel Ruiz Castro ruled Cuba from 1959 to 2008

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Posted By Worldmeets.US Sept. 3, 2013, 1:51am