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HAVANA (AP) — Fidel Castro responded Monday to President Barack Obama's historic trip to Cuba with a long, bristling letter recounting the history of U.S. aggression against Cuba, writing that "we don't need the empire to give us any presents."
The 1,500-word letter in state media titled "Brother Obama" was Castro's first response to the president's three-day visit last week, in which the American president said he had come to bury the two countries' history of Cold War hostility. Obama did not meet with the 89-year-old Fidel Castro on the trip but met several times with his 84-year-old brother Raul Castro, the current Cuban president.
Obama's visit was intended to build irreversible momentum behind his opening with Cuba and to convince the Cuban people and the Cuban government that a half-century of U.S. attempts to overthrow the Communist government had ended, allowing Cuban to reform its economy and political system without the threat of U.S. interference.
Fidel Castro writes of Obama: "My modest suggestion is that he reflects and doesn't try to develop theories about Cuban politics."
Castro, who led Cuba for decades before handing power to his brother in 2008, was legendary for his hours-long, all-encompassing speeches. His letter reflects that style, presenting a sharp contrast with Obama's tightly focused speech in Havana. Castro's letter opens with descriptions of environmental abuse under the Spaniards and reviews the historical roles of Cuban independence heroes Jose Marti, Antonio Maceo and Maximo Gomez.
Castro then goes over crucial sections of Obama's speech line by line, engaging in an ex-post-facto dialogue with the American president with pointed critiques of perceived slights and insults, including Obama's failure to give credit to indigenous Cubans and Castro's prohibition of racial segregation after coming to power in 1959.
Quoting Obama's declaration that "it is time, now, for us to leave the past behind," the man who shaped Cuba during the second half of the 20th century writes that "I imagine that any one of us ran the risk of having a heart attack on hearing these words from the President of the United States."
Castro then returns to a review of a half-century of U.S. aggression against Cuba. Those events include the decades-long U.S. trade embargo against the island; the 1961 Bay of Pigs attack and the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner backed by exiles who took refuge in the U.S.
He ends with a dig at the Obama administration's drive to increase business ties with Cuba. The Obama administration says re-establishing economic ties with the U.S. will be a boon for Cuba, whose centrally planned economy has struggled to escape from over-dependence on imports and a chronic shortage of hard currency.
The focus on U.S-Cuba business ties appears to have particularly rankled Castro, who nationalized U.S. companies after coming to power in 1959 and establishing the communist system into which his brother is now introducing gradual market-based reforms.
"No one should pretend that the people of this noble and selfless country will renounce its glory and its rights," Fidel Castro wrote. "We are capable of producing the food and material wealth that we need with with work and intelligence of our people."
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Michael Weissenstein on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mweissenstein
After all that has happened with Cuba, i think maybe we should just leave their economy and politics alone. Cuba has enough problems without us interfering, " The Obama administration says re-establishing economic ties with the U.S. will be a boon for Cuba, whose centrally planned economy has struggled to escape from over-dependence on imports and a chronic shortage of hard currency."
ReplyDeleteif this is really the case, we should let Cuba tell us when they is ready to from economic ties, not when we think that. That is if they even want to trade with America after all we have done to them.
Madelyn Daynes
per. 6
I agree with this view of the Cuba-American relations. I feel that in their own time, in a process of mistakes and learning, they will come to appreciate the help of the United States.Fidel Castro himself says,"We are capable of producing the food and material wealth that we need with with work and intelligence of our people"(Fidel Castro).This is him saying that they can sustain themselves while they work to better their government.
DeleteI do not know why America is opening up ties with Cuba. We stopped interacting with Cuba because we did not agree with the ways of their government, and had many problems with them. Nothing between Cuba and the United States has changed, but recently the United States wants "'to leave the past behind'"(Obama). The new interactions between the new countries may be beneficial for both countries, but I am not sure why America agreed to do so. There is no clear and straight-forward benefit for our country. By opening up ties with Cuba, we are accepting and supporting their ways of government, when we really do not.
ReplyDeleteRenee Gibson, period 2
I think America is trying too hard. They are involved in many other countries politics when they don't need to be. I like that America has offered help to Cuba, but Fidel Castro stated "we don't need the empire to give us any presents" (Associated Press). If Cuba claims that they can produce food and resources on their own, then America should leave them alone and let them figure it out. If America angers Cuba too much, then they will find a way to hurt our country.
ReplyDeleteEmily Bobrowsky- Period 1
It was, in my opinion, an inappropriate response for Fidel Castro to tell us that, "we don't need the empire to give us any presents" (Associated Press). The US was just trying to help Cuba. I understand that there has been some bad history in the past but that is no reason for them to act like this now. It was not a very appropriate response to our offer for help. President Obama went to try to make peace between the US and Cuba and he rejected it.
ReplyDeleteMichelle Koopman, per 1
I think America's choice to interact with Cuba again is not the smartest. There was clearly a reason why ties were cut in the first place, for political reasons. There is no logic in this choice in my opinion. America does not need to engage in other countries politics. Overall I just do not see any solid reason why mending broken ties with Cuba is a good idea.
ReplyDeleteHannah Miller, P.2
I am not in support of what happened in Cuba this last week. I think that ending hostilities with Cuba was a smart move, but the problem with it is the fact that Obama was the one to visit. He doesnt care what the Cubans said about the United States. The visit, for him, was for his legacy, to be able to say that he was the one to end hostilites. He let the Castros say whatever they wanted and just nodded, because, once again, its not about America, its about his legacy. Its about his name in the history books.
ReplyDeleteIf Cuba doesn't want us to open up trade with them or open ties with them then don't. It is as simple as that, we do not need anymore conflicts throughout history yet again with Cuba. Until they come to us and offer to open trade and such with the United States they should be left alone. "'We are capable of producing the food and material wealth that we need with with work and intelligence of our people.'" (Fidel Castro). If he believes this we should not tamper with his idea and thoughts about his country.
ReplyDeleteI think that Castro is being difficult. Obama clearly wants to put the past behind them, and start fresh. He told Cuba that they could go back to importing and exporting goods between the two countries. That seems like a very good deal for Cuba. I although disagree with the quote, "No one should pretend that the people of this noble and selfless country will renounce its glory and its rights" (Castro) I do not agree at all with that statement. We are offering our help.
ReplyDeleteWhat Obama is offering Cuba is definitely a deal Castro should take but, Castro is not putting the past behind him. "we don't need the empire to give us any presents."(Castro). I believe since Castro turned down the offer Obama should not try anymore. It will just cause more conflict between the two which would not be good to bring back.
ReplyDeleteThe reason we had this trade embargo put in place was because we disagreed with their human rights treatment. They have not changed, but now we want to trade with them again. It's not a good idea. We only want to trade again so our large business empires can expand and rake in more money. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah really emphasizes that point.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the deal that Obama is offering Cuba should definitely be taken by Castro. Trading would help businesses expand and more things could be traded that could benefit Cuba and the United States. "'We are capable of producing the food and material wealth that we need with with work and intelligence of our people.'" (Fidel Castro). Cuba is capable of these things, but trading would be a good idea.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Castro should take the deal that Obama is offering, but Castro certainly doesn't want to put the past behind him. If he accepted this offer the two countries would be able to start exporting and importing goods with each other. Overall he should just let everything stay in the past and accept Obama's offer.
ReplyDeleteIf Cuba does not want to re-open ties with the U.S. then we should not do it. The last thing America needs right now is yet another conflict with Cuba, especially with ISIS becoming a major national threat. Castro stated, "We are capable of producing the food and material wealth that we need with with work and intelligence of our people"(Castro). If he believes that , just let him belive it. We need to mind our own buisness and focus on our major problems at this time. Until Cuba is fully ready to reinstate a partnership with the United States, we just need to leave them alone and avoid a conflict.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, I find it interesting what Fidel did, that he wrote a letter to President Obama expressing how he felt about his visit and offer. What I wanted to know is what was Raul's response to it? Even though this article is about Fidel, but did he felt the same way as Fidel? Then again, I don't know much about details about Obama's visit other than him giving an offer to them. Overall, I don't see much harm of Obama's offer to Castro, so I think he should accept it.
ReplyDeleteObama wants to re-establish economic ties with Cuba but part of the problem is that he didn't even check with Cuba to see if the government wanted the economic ties. He assumed that the Cuban leaders would want economic ties to the United States. It did not seem like Cuba really wanted to be friends with Obama even if he wanted to be friends with them. Obama was very egotistical and inconsiderate of the current regime.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why Obama is going through all of this trouble to please Cuba in the first place. We don't agree with their politics or the way they treat their citizens, so why are we trying to win them over by giving them gifts? Obama needs to focus on our own government snd the state of the Union; Cuba will only make it worse. Castro even admitted to not wanting any part of us when he said, "we don't need the empire to give us any presents." I don't understand why we are going out of pour way to be nice to a country that doesn't like us--especially because we don't get much in return.
ReplyDeletePeriod 2
If the Cuban government does not want U.S. presents, then don't give them. We are two very different countries and have "butt heads" in the past multiple times. With the family still leading Cuba since the mid 20th century, I cannot see them wanting any U.S. relations any time soon. Even though they are close to the U.S. doesn't mean they have to live in coexistence with us. It would appear that they would rather ignore us and have us ignore them for the time being.
ReplyDeleteI think this was a great trip for Obama to vist Cuba to set behind the Cold War history between the two countries. And leaving Cuba to develop their own government type system, without US interference. I don't see how you can hate on Obama making peace with this country. "He ends with a dig at the Obama administration's drive to increase business ties with Cuba. The Obama administration says re-establishing economic ties with the U.S. will be a boon for Cuba, whose centrally planned economy has struggled to escape from over-dependence on imports and a chronic shortage of hard currency." This is also good for trade with Cuba. It opens up a new potential ally and partner to make trade.
ReplyDelete- Muzamil Ahmad p.6
What Obama is offering Cuba is definitely a deal Castro should take but, Castro is not putting the past behind him. "we don't need the empire to give us any presents."(Castro).I don't understand why we are going out of our way to be nice to a country that doesn't like us--especially because we don't get much in return.
ReplyDeleteI think that what Obama did over in cuba was great. If the cuban government does not want U.S presents, then don't give them. But I also think you cannot hate on Obama because all he was doing was helping. He wanted to help and making peace with this country.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comment above about how Obama visiting Cuba was a very big step in the right direction. Also, bringing the Tampa Bay Rays to Cuba to play the Cuban national team showed new friendships built, and a very respectful game. I feel like the comment of "we don't want your presents" needs to be forgotten about. You cant make everybody in the world happy, and when people that are still caught up in past years and don't look toward the future they need to forgotten. The POTUS was just trying to break the silence.
ReplyDeleteUS foreign policy has long since been to meddle in the ties of others. If what Obama and Castro say are true and Obama does plan end the "half-century of U.S. attempts to overthrow the Communist government had ended, allowing Cuban to reform its economy and political system without the threat of U.S. interference," this would be a great change to the previous foreign policy of interference. While this decision will not be without its both pros and cons, this would be a large step in a new direction for American foreign policy.
ReplyDeleteIf Cuba doesn't want Americas presence, than we should not give it to them. Obama made a huge step by visiting Cuba and attending a baseball game with Castro. Obama said "it is time, now, for us to leave the past behind". It would be great if Cuba could take back our presence, but if they aren't happy with it, than we should not force it. Obama was honestly just trying to break the silence by attending the game in Cuba.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that it was the smartest move to interact with Cuba. Recently Obama stated that he wanted to, "..leave the past behind." The interactions between these two countries may have beneficial effects, but the fact that our the U.S. agreed confused me a little.
ReplyDeleteI think that it was productive for Obama to visit Cuba. "He ends with a dig at the Obama administration's drive to increase business ties with Cuba. The Obama administration says re-establishing economic ties with the U.S. will be a boon for Cuba, whose centrally planned economy has struggled to escape from over-dependence on imports and a chronic shortage of hard currency." It was irresponsible for Castro to react in this way. I understand that it is coming from years of fear and anger, but he should learn to let go.
ReplyDelete