Cuban President Fidel Castro on Wednesday led tens of thousands of Communist Party faithful in celebrating the country's Revolution Day, saying his revolution's social achievements exceed anything a US-backed replacement could accomplish.
Returning to his roots in eastern Cuba, Castro also praised Granma Province, named for the yacht that carried him back to Cuba in 1956 to launch the battles that led him to triumph three years later.
"Granma [Province] doesn't need any Yankee transition plan to vaccinate and teach our people to read and write," Castro said, drawing loud applause from the crowd in this provincial capital. "They should tell Mr. Bush ... to come to Granma to see a development plan."
PHOTO: AP
The plan recently presented by a US presidential commission envisions a post-Castro Cuba with multiparty elections and free markets, led by a democratic transition government that would be encouraged to request aid and other support from the US.
Cuban leaders say there will be no transition after the death of Castro, who turns 80 on Aug. 13, but rather a succession within the existing system.
The leader's 75-year-old brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro, is to assume the presidency.
The country's top communist leadership began arriving earlier this week for the annual celebration of Castro's nearly suicidal barracks assault in the eastern city of Santiago that launched the Cuban Revolution.
Castro was just 26 when he led a ragtag band on July 26, 1953, in the assault on the Moncada barracks.
Organizers estimated that more than 100,000 people showed up for the early morning event in this city about 750km east of Havana. Virtually all wore bright red commemorative T-shirts and waved small red, white and blue Cuban flags distributed by local party officials.
Castro's attendance was not confirmed until he appeared onstage in his trademark olive green uniform, sending up a huge cheer from the crowd.
Addressing the assembly for more than two hours, Castro focused largely on regional matters, saying Granma Province's social and economic achievements "fill us with admiration and astonishment."
Now 47 years in power, making him the world's longest ruling head of government, Castro was born and raised in eastern Cuba. It was in this region, once known as Oriente Province, that he launched and fought the revolution that triumphed on Jan. 1, 1959, when dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country.
A huge plaza was built in Bayamo for Wednesday's event, featuring a bronze and marble monument at the front carved with the faces of Cuban independence heroes including Jose Marti.
The death of a former head of China’s one-child policy has been met not by tributes, but by castigation of the abandoned policy on social media this week. State media praised Peng Peiyun (彭珮雲), former head of China’s National Family Planning Commission from 1988 to 1998, as “an outstanding leader” in her work related to women and children. The reaction on Chinese social media to Peng’s death in Beijing on Sunday, just shy of her 96th birthday, was less positive. “Those children who were lost, naked, are waiting for you over there” in the afterlife, one person posted on China’s Sina Weibo platform. China’s
‘NO COUNTRY BUMPKIN’: The judge rejected arguments that former prime minister Najib Razak was an unwitting victim, saying Najib took steps to protect his position Imprisoned former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was yesterday convicted, following a corruption trial tied to multibillion-dollar looting of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state investment fund. The nation’s high court found Najib, 72, guilty on four counts of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering related to more than US$700 million channeled into his personal bank accounts from the 1MDB fund. Najib denied any wrongdoing, and maintained the funds were a political donation from Saudi Arabia and that he had been misled by rogue financiers led by businessman Low Taek Jho. Low, thought to be the scandal’s mastermind, remains
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday announced plans for a national bravery award to recognize civilians and first responders who confronted “the worst of evil” during an anti-Semitic terror attack that left 15 dead and has cast a heavy shadow over the nation’s holiday season. Albanese said he plans to establish a special honors system for those who placed themselves in harm’s way to help during the attack on a beachside Hanukkah celebration, like Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Syrian-Australian Muslim who disarmed one of the assailants before being wounded himself. Sajid Akram, who was killed by police during the Dec. 14 attack, and
VISHNU VANDALS: A Cambodian official accused Thailand of destroying a statue in a disputed border area, with video showing the Hindu structure being torn down The Thai military said ceasefire talks with Cambodia, set to begin yesterday, are expected to conclude with a meeting of the countries’ defense ministers on Saturday, as the two sides seek to end weeks of deadly clashes. The talks started at 4pm in Thailand’s Chanthaburi Province, which borders Cambodia. The Thai Ministry of Defense outlined several demands to be discussed ahead of the bilateral meeting of the General Border Committee (GBC) on Saturday. If secretariat-level discussions fail to reach agreement on key technical frameworks such as troop deployments, the Thai side would not proceed with the GBC meeting or sign any agreement on
RSS