An Open Letter to Ignacio Ramonet, Editor of Le Monde Diplomatique

Dear Mr. Ramonet: 

Your February 20th editorial, published in the Guardian, bore some references to Fidel Castro which directly contradict a piece published that same day by author Humberto Fontova. I ask that you please respond regarding the instances where the two accounts clash, for the sake of those readers looking for historical accuracy. 

You write:

“The most surprising thing that I found out about [Castro], in the hours we spent together compiling his memoirs, was how modest, human, discreet and respectful he was. He has a tremendous moral and ethical sense.”

Whereas, Fontoya writes:

“[On January 8th, 1959], just below San Juan Hill in eastern Cuba, a bulldozer rumbled to a start, clanked into position, and started pushing dirt into a huge pit with blood pooling at the bottom from the still-twitching bodies of more than a hundred men and boys who’d been machine-gunned without trial on the Castro brothers’ orders. Their wives and mothers wept hysterically from a nearby road.”

I have no grounds to contest your use of “modest”, though the behavior Fontova describes does not appear to fit your description of Castro as being “human”, “discreet”, “respectful”, “moral”, or “ethical”. Though I understand clerical errors can happen, it would be a benefit to your readers if you wouldn’t mind offering your thoughts regarding the discrepancy.

You continue:

“[Castro’s] current preoccupation isn’t so much socialism in his own country as the quality of life around the world, where too many children are illiterate, starving and suffering from diseases that could be cured.”

However, Fontoya writes: 

“His firing squads murdered pregnant women, his coast guard machine-gunned mothers with their children for trying to escape on rafts…”

 Again, minor contradictions. But I feel it would be useful for you to clarify for those less familiar with Cuban politics, lest they harbor an inaccurate portrayal of your subject. 

Additionally, you write: “Most Cubans themselves – even those who criticise aspects of the regime – do not envisage or desire change: they don’t want to lose the advantages it has brought them, the free education right through university, the free universal healthcare, or the very fact of a safe, peaceful existence in a country where life is calm.” 

Yet, we have this from Fontova: 

“By 1975…the bullet-riddled bodies of over 10,000 Cubans lay in unmarked graves…”. 

Hmmm.

 “Cuba…held the most political prisoner as a percentage of population on earth, surpassing Nazi Germany’s prewar rate by several multiples.” 

He don’t say.

 “He jailed and tortured at a rate higher than Stalin…[Castro’s] legal code mandates 18 months in prison for anyone overheard cracking a joke about him.” 

“…his regime made Cuban women into the most suicidal in the world, tripling their pre-Revolution suicide rate.” 

“He drove out a higher percentage of Jews from Cuba than Czar Nicholas drove from Russia and Hafez Assad drove from Syria.” 

“He overthrew a black Cuban head of state and replaced his government with one where only nine percent of the ruling Stalinist party is black and where the prison population is 80- 90 percent black. He jailed the longest suffering black political prisoner of modern history. (Eusebio Penalver who suffered longer in Castro’s dungeon’s than Nelson Mandela suffered in South Africa’s.) He sentenced other blacks (Dr Elias Biscet, Jorge Antunez) to 20 year sentences essentially for quoting Martin Luther King Jr. in a public square.”  

Wow! That’s just crazy talk, right, Mr. Ramonet?   

I appreciate your time.  That’s about it for the discrepancies, but I feel it would behoove you to — oh, holy fuck!:

 “[Castro] thinks his country must have good relations with all nations, whatever the regime or political orientation.”  … 

“[Castro] twice tried to destroy New York, once with nuclear missiles, the following month by planning to set off 500 kilos of TNT in Macy’s, Gimbel’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Grand Central Terminal on the year’s busiest shopping day.”  

(Author curled up in corner, muttering something about “cognitive dissonance” — Ed. note) 

Best, 

David  

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/feb/20/usa.eu

 http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=1108FA89-5019-4FE5-A2FA-612C1B38C9D5  

comment@guardian.co.uk