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Odds and ends
- Mary McCarthy, a Canadian citizen who lived in Cuba since 1924, has died in Havana at age 108. She had a fortune in a Boston bank, and only got access to it in 2007 when the U.S. government allowed her to withdraw $96 per month, after suggesting that she move back to Canada – yes, at age 107. Another great moment in U.S. foreign policy. Reuters coverage of her passing here, and of her remarkable life and tribulations in 2007 here. R.I.P.
- The New York Times reports on the fall of Carlos Lage and Felipe Perez Roque, liking it to the case of Conrado Hernandez, the representative of Spain’s Basque regional government, who was detained in Cuba about a month ago. The article is sourced to “Cuban officials.”
- Fidel Castro: If the United States wants to talk, we’re ready, and besides we don’t “need confrontation to exist, as some fools think.” His commentary here, Reuters story here.
7 comments:
What a shame about the old lady, she deserved her month. what lunacy...
money = month
Could someone explain why did she have to pay to receive proper medical care in Cuba? Was the Cuban government denying her medical coverage because of her nationality?
By the way with a Canadian passport she could have traveled to Canada and the US anytime during the last 50 years, rearrange her financial accounts, and return to Cuba or wherever else she wanted to leave. Was she prevented to leave and then return to Cuba because her home would be confiscated or for some other reason?
Unrabidly yours!
Vecino de NF
A better story on Ms. Mary McCarthy can be found at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/5115758/Mary-McCarthy-Gomez-Cueto.html
Apparently she was traveling back and forth between Cuba and Canada. I doubt that those trips were free. She appears to be a strong willed lady who wanted things done her way. Her choices were interesting.
Vecino de NF
I have to wonder how the NY Times new Cuba writer (apparently) Urbina got the scoop on Lage and Roque. The silence on this revelation is what is deafening (even Babalu has not had a thing to say). I suppose that is because it appears to cast aside all the ideas we saw bandied about here and on other blogs about the alleged "Stalinist" nature of the dismissal. The idea that this was nothing but an old fashioned purge. Despite the article's intention to make it seem like the dismissal was the result of off-color jokes about Raul or Fidel, the reality that can be gleaned is that this was exactly what we were told. These two had too lofty ambitions, thought too much of their roles in the future of Cuba and were writing checks they could not cash - most likely to the parade of foreign leaders that arrived in Havana the last few months. The first rule of diplomacy is to not get ahead of the political leadership. And the question has to be asked why this guy Conrado Hernandez was taping conversations if not to peddle them to someone (ie. Spanish intel, as reported).
Leftside,
do you ever take a break from groveling and acting like a lickspittle to tye zcuban govt?
You make me want to vomit whenever I read your lackey-like comments.
As for Mary McCarthy--her case seems to really sit outside of any pro- or con-embargo/travel arguments. The woman's money was held and her appeals ignored for nearly 50 years. As this blog clearly states, it was a U.S. foreign policy problem--not that of the 107-year-old woman who could no longer travel across two continents. It is for cases like hers that President Obama and the U.S. have started discussing the travel ban removal. Now, the question is quickly becoming the trade embargo--does the U.S. trust Raul Castro enough to lift its ban on Cuban trade? I watched an interesting video on all of this at newsy.com. The video summarizes a few different opinions and is worth looking at:
http://www.newsy.com/videos/u_s_cuba_removing_the_wall/
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