Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Odds and ends

  • As Cuba discovers its first H1N1 flu case, and after Mexico’s president put off a visit to Cuba, Fidel Castro accuses the Mexican government of failing to disclose the outbreak as it awaited the visit of President Obama (Reuters report here, Castro commentary here). Mexico’s foreign minister responds with a protest.

  • This dubious Cuba travel brochure (pdf) is being circulated by a company claiming to be “the only tour operator licensed by the United States Treasury Department to operate humanitarian trips to Cuba for Americans.” It says Che Guevara “died in Bolivia in 1967 while leading that country’s revolution.”

  • Cuba is re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council.
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3 comments:

leftside said...

I love how USG supported right-wing NGOs "Freedom House" and "UN Watch" determined that 13 of the 20 countries that were elected to the Rights Council had "poor or questionable" human rights records. Was the US amongst those countries? Of course not. Was Mexico? Nope. What is 70 documented cases of killing, torture and rape (in 07 and 08) amongst friends? How many people did Cuba's military or police kill, torture or rape?

May 13, 2009 at 12:38 PM
leftside said...

Regarding the H1N1 virus, we now know that flu cases were spiking hard in early and mid-March. We learned last week (by a brave Mexican health official) that by March 11th the authorities had confirmed the new type of virus - a full 3 weeks before the Government had previously acknowledged having this information. Why lie if there was not a cover up?? The delayed response almost resulted in Obama coming into contact with the disease.

May 13, 2009 at 12:58 PM
leftside said...

Mexican newspaper La Jornada has opined on the spat between Fidel and Calderon. They conclude:

Given these considerations, it is clear that the Havana government's measures are not an example of hostility and anti-Mexican xenophobia. But, they are sensible and pertinent measures to a health threat that could be more devastating for the island than elsewhere. The Mexican government, in short, should be aware of this situation and instead of embracing a nationalistic and even chauvinistic speech, should correct their mistakes. These mistakes have already been noted by international public opinion. And, they should correct the terribly bad handling done so far of the health emergency still in force.

May 14, 2009 at 8:07 PM

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