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Odds and ends
- El Nuevo Herald reports (English here) that, according to numerous sources in Venezuela, Cuban advisors are training “guerrillas” at a secret camp in Venezuela. The headline brought me back to the Cold War when I imagined that the “guerrillas” were being trained to take over another country. The story is actually about military training for pro-Chavez Venezuelans so they can acquire “asymmetrical warfare” skills to resist a coup attempt or U.S. invasion. That would fit with Cuba’s “war of all the people” military doctrine, which says that United States certainly has the power to invade, but we’ll make it another Vietnam, and you will regret it if you do.
- Before the White Sox were eliminated from the playoffs, the Sun Sentinel’s Ray Sanchez visited the Mom of Alexei Ramirez, the Sox’s rookie second baseman, in Pinar del Rio, and wrote this story.
6 comments:
always warms the heart to see the regime wasting precious dollars on quixotic military training play-dates while our people our suffering unimaginable privations due to an absolutely devastating hurricane the ripped its way up the spine of that beautiful island. of course it's even better when the same regime then rejects the vast majority of aid offered to it in the wake of said storm.
unbelievable. i am at a loss for words. this is exactly the reason why the responsibility for helping our families on the island through this crisis lay with us. the "government" certainly cannot be trusted to do a damn thing.
this is beyond unfortunate.
Anatasio Blanco
What "play date" wasting resources are you talking about? The training in Venezeula is earning the Cubans hard currency. The UK naval landing costs nothing - and was involved in hurricane aid work last month.
The Cubans are mounting the exercises which are being spearheaded by the Venezuelans. It's just a waste of money. Not to mention the fact that they're also training known Colombian narco-traffickers (what do you think the FARC is?). It's obscene to think this is going on with all the post-hurricane misery on the island.
We have become accustomed to feeling disappointed by our government in Havana but this just goes beyond that. Again, I'm just at a loss for words. Instead of buying bread, we're buying bullets. For what? A U.S. invasion? Please . . . give me a break. The U.S. is about as likely to invade Venezuela or Cuba as it is North Korea or China and yet Chavez, Fidel and Co. still find it necessary to mount these ridiculous chest thumping charades. We finally got the Soviets out (well, they got themselves out) and now we're stock with the Venezuelans. Wonderful.
Sigh.
-Anatasio
Oh and regarding the Royal Navy ship's visit.
Given the regime's history with drug trafficking, I think it's a very positive development and one to be lauded. That said, I don't think it negates the fact that the regime has turned down the vast majority of hurricane aid from the U.S., EU, etc.
-Anatasio
Again, Cuba is being paid for its training in Venezuela. They are not losing money. And FARC has nothing to do with it. They are training Venezuelans.
Cuba recently cancelled a planned military exercise on the island becuase of the hurricane. No bullets are being bought. So I have no idea what you are talking about here Anastasio.
Read the story linked to in this post. The FARC are also taking part in the exercises.
I'm sorry to have to take issue in such a blunt manner with what you're saying but time and again, we've seen the way in which governments - be it the U.S., Cuba, wartime Germany, have put militarism above the people's welfare and this behavior simply needs to stop. It never well, and most folks will call me naive. I call it humanism. War kills. Food sustains. End the ridiculous military exercises, accept hurricane aid and think of the people first.
-A
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