Here’s the photo of Fidel Castro with Argentina’s president Cristina Fernandez, which is a part of our February ’09 Castro Death Watch poll question:
Due to some weird glitch we can’t post a photo and a poll question in the same post. Oh well.
UPDATE: We were able to add the photo.
Better late than never. This month’s Castro Death Watch poll is based on the picture below:
So says the president of Argentina, who just visited the dictator-on-a-deathbed:
Fidel Castro watched the U.S. inauguration on television and said Wednesday that Barack Obama seems “like a man who is absolutely sincere,” Argentina’s president said after meeting with the ailing Cuban icon. “Fidel believes in Obama,” Cristina Fernandez said.
Ahhhh, another ringing endorsement for Obama.
Yesterday, we posted that a Japanese newspaper was reporting that North Korea was set to make an “important announcement” today, which the scuttlebutt had that it could possibly be Kim Jong Il’s death or a coup d’etat.
Well, today, South Korea is reporting that everything in North Korea appears to be (ab)normal, as usual:
There was no unusual activity in North Korea on Monday, South Korean officials said, despite reports that Pyongyang was poised to make an announcement amid speculation about the health of its leader, Kim Jong Il.
and…
On Sunday, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency published typical propaganda dispatches praising Kim’s regime and criticizing the South Korean government. There were no articles indicating any imminent government announcement.
“Propaganda dispatches praising Kim’s regime and criticizing the South Korean government.” Yep, that sounds like what passes for normal in North Korea on any given day.
Mexicans illegally entering US: okay.
Cubans entering US via Mexico: no way.
So decreeth the Mexican government (as well as the Castro regime):
Mexico agreed Monday to deport Cubans who sneak illegally through Mexican territory to reach the U.S., a step toward cutting off an increasingly violent and heavily used human trafficking route.
The agreement, signed by Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa, takes effect in one month. It also criticizes U.S. policy that generally allows Cubans who reach U.S. territory to stay, while turning back most caught at sea.
Har, har, har. It’s the US’s fault that Cuba is such a festering hellhole (thanks to Castro bros.) people will leave if you give them half a chance. As friend of Castro Death Watch Henry Gomez, of Babalublog, is quoted as saying in the article:
“There would be no need for the policy if people weren’t dying, literally, to get out of Cuba.”
Is Castro’s North Korean buddy Kim Jong (Mentally) Il dead? Or is something else going on in North Korea?
Either way, the police state and Castro ally is set to make some sort of “important announcement” tomorrow, according to Sky News’ website:
The Sankei newspaper said there was speculation within Japan that the announcement could be about Kim’s death or a change in government brought about by a coup.
The 66-year-old Kim disappeared from public view in mid-August and failed appear on two important national holidays, leading to speculation that he was seriously ill.
United States and South Korean officials said he had suffered a stroke and had undergone brain surgery, but North Korea has denied that he is unwell.
Quoting unidentified sources at Japan’s defence ministry, the Sankei said Tokyo had information that “there will be an important announcement on (October) 20th”.
Very, very interesting.
Inspired by this travel piece that was linked to by Babalu Blog, I’ve decided to post my own version of “5 Things You Need To Know For A Wedding In Cuba:”
One of the most vile institutions imposed on Cuba’s people by the Castro regime is the neighborhood snitch program known officially as “El Comite para la Defensa de la Revolucion” (The Committee for the Defense of the Revolution, or CDR, which happens to be its initials in both English and Spanish).
The way the CDR works is that every neighborhood has someone who is a part of this organ of repression. Their job is to report anything deemed as suspicious to the communist authorities. In effect, it is designed to turn neighbor against neighbor and reduce trust in your fellow citizens.
Now it seems that the Castro brothers’ favorite hand-puppet, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, is set to imitate his mentors:
CARACAS, Venezuela: President Hugo Chávez has used his decree powers to carry out a major overhaul of this country’s intelligence agencies, provoking a fierce backlash here from human rights groups and legal scholars who say the measures will force citizens to inform on one another to avoid prison terms.
Under the new intelligence law, which took effect last week, Venezuela’s two main intelligence services, the DISIP secret police and the DIM military intelligence agency, will be replaced with new agencies, the General Intelligence Office and General Counterintelligence Office, under the control of Chávez.
The new law requires people in the country to comply with requests to assist the agencies, secret police or community activist groups loyal to Chávez. Refusal can result in prison terms of two to four years for most people and four to six years for government employees.
“We are before a set of measures that are a threat to all of us,” said Blanca Rosa Mármol de León, a justice on Venezuela’s top court, in a rare public judicial dissent. “I have an obligation to say this, as a citizen and a judge. This is a step toward the creation of a society of informers.”
Yep, just like the Castros did in Cuba.
Now that we know who Castro would vote for in our upcoming presidential election, the choice should be clear:
