|
Castro's Cuba - Interview
with Author Humberto Fontova
Ryan Mauro. Global
Politician, NY, August 15, 2005.
Humberto Fontova was born in Havana,
Cuba in 1954, arrived with his family in
New Orleans in 1961 while his father was
held as a political prisoner. He is the
author of "The Helldiver's Rodeo"
(chosen by the Publisher's Weekly as their
Book of the Week in August 2001), "The
Hellpig Hunt", and "Fidel: Hollywood's
Favorite Tyrant." Mr. Fontova has a
Master's Degree in Latin American Studies.
Before becoming a writer, Fontova was a
business analyst for ten years for Dun &
Bradstreet. He is currently a columnist
for Newsmax.com.
RM: Humberto, how has the situation with
Fidel Castro changed over the past decade
or so?
HF: The better for Castro and his toadies--the
worse for Cuba. He just signed on with two
new sugar-daddies, Venezuela and China.
Chavez' subsidies to Cuba totaled $1.3 billion
last year in free oil. It amounts to 80,000
barrels daily now. Not all is refined in
Cuba, which doesn't have the capacity for
refining that amount of crude oil. Castro's
gov. actually RESELLS some of this crude,
mostly in South & Central America for
hard cash. Castro's honorarium to his chum
Chavez comes in the form of military and
security "advisors." Mainstream
media calls these "doctors and teachers."
China just "re-scheduled" (probably
forgave) the billions in debt Castro owned
them from the 90's and signed several deals
to extract Nickel from Cuba. (Cuba's Nickel
rich) I need not tell you what type of production
Nickel is essential for. Apparently China
wants it badly. Just last month Castro gave
a speech where he crowed gleefully about
his regime's new lease on life. "Cuba
is rising from the ashes like a Phoenix!"
he gushed. "We don't need the U.S.
! We don't need Europe!"
Sadly, nowadays he's right.
RM: Cuba appears isolated and weak. Why
should the United States pay any attention
to the rogue state?
HF: "Isolated and weak?" Please
see above. Also, Iran just extended him
millions in credit. He's still the toast
and acclaim of the Third World, as evidenced
by his tumultuous reception at the anti-Globalization
Conference in Havana recently. Now he's
in Uruguay, again showered with accolades.
Anti-Americanism does that some people--idiots
and scoundrels mainly.
RM: Is there any evidence that Cuba is
any sort of WMD or terrorist threat?
HF: John Bolton, Ken Alibek, Manuel Cereijo,
Carlos Wotzkow all suspect he has WMD. And
we all know that when he definitely had
them in oct 1962, he brought the world to
the very precipice of nuclear armageddon.
Fortunately the Butcher of Budapest snatched
his toys in the nick of time. Weapons by
themselves don't worry me. It's the people
who have them in their reach that should
worry us. As the NRA (I'm a member) says.
"WMDs don't kill people--people kill
people." And the people still in control
in Cuba have shown time and again that,
given the right circumstances, they'll use
them. "If the missiles had stayed"
Che Guevara told the London Daily Worker
in Nov. 1962. "We would have used them
against the very heart of the U.S. including
New York." In Angola Castro's forces
repeatedly used Sarin gas against UNITA.
RM: How likely is it that democracy will
emerge in Cuba once Fidel Castro dies?
HF: Very unlikely. Raul will simply become
de-jure ruler of Cuba, instead of just de-facto
as he is today. Raul runs Cuba's military
who own and run Cuba's tourist and export
industries. Some say he's been really running
Cuba for the past ten years, with Fidel
as figurehead loudmouth. Raul will probably
open the economy a bit, like China in the
early 80's. and keep the clamps on politically
So genuine democracy? Forget it.
RM: What can the United States do to promote
freedom in Cuba that is not being done?
HF: Not much. except tighten the embargo,
so-called. The U.S was Cuba's sixth biggest
trading partner last year. Out of 228 nations,
Cuba is the U.S.' 25th biggest trading partner.
In 1957 when it was billed a "playground"
for American tourists, Cuba hosted 278,000
American tourists (incidently, a higher
number of Cubans actually vacationed in
the U.S. that year. We had a playground
too) Last year, 220,000 Americans Cubans
traveld to Cuba, not to mention 2 million
Europeans and Canadians. All these proceeds
land strainght in the pockets of Cuba's
military--the guys with the guns. "Lifting
the travel ban would be a great gift to
Fidel and Raul" said recent Cuban defector
Alcibiades Hidalgo, who was Raul Castro's
Chief of Staff. He should know.
RM: In your last Newsmax.com article, you
wrote about an alliance between Iran and
Cuba. What does it matter if Cuba teams
up with Iran, considering Cuba apparently
has little or no nuclear technology to offer?
HF: The Nuclear technology going in the
opposite direction. Cuba built Iran a bio-tec
plant. Iran might reciprocate with favors.
Last year Cuba blocked radio-free- Iran
broadcasts from the U.S. using devices in
it's Bejucal facility--technology Cuba acquired
from China.
RM: How come the scene in Cuba appears
to have been so quiet over the past 50 years?
HF: "Appears" is the key word
here. And it's because Castro is a master
worldwide media manipulator. One of the
most ferocious civil wars fought in this
hemisphere was actually fought by Cuban
freedom-fighters against Fidel's army and
it's Soviet advisors. The war lasted from
1959-1966. Raul Castro himself said his
army was up against 179 "counterrevolutionary
bands." La Guerra Olvidada'"my
friend Enrique Encinosa calls it in his
book by the same name. Alas, as always,
these anti-Communist freedom-fighters fought
alone. The Kennedy-Krushcev swindle pulled
the rug out from under them. They were slaughtered,
much like the Hungarians earlier. No "dauntless
crusaders for the truth" (as Columbia
journalism schools labels its graduates,)
were around to report on THIS war, none
to "embed" themselves, etc.--as
they had in droves when Castro's "guerrillas"(petty
crooks, bored adolescents and winos playing
army on week-ends) were in the hills and
"fighting" (mostly bribing) Batista's
forces. See: http://newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/2/14/174602.shtml
RM: Why does such a large portion of Hollywood
defend Castro?
HF: He personifies Anti-Americanism. He's
been it's symbol for half a century. Naturally
none of those Hollywood idiots realize that
Castro was actually put in power by the
U.S. (according to Earl Smith U.S. Ambassador
to Cuba at the time, the CIA was the most
Fidelista of all the U.S. agencies at the
time!, closely followed by the State Dept.!)
and the U.S. has been protecting Castro
against exile attacks since the Kennedy-Krushcev
swindle. The "gallant underdog"
Castro has actually survived lo these many
decades by hiding behind the skirts of the
two most powerful nations in human history.
Call him a shrewd diplomat for sure, but
cut the "David vs Goliath" bit,
please. More importantly, Fidel, Raul Che,
Camilo and co. were the first hippies--beatniks
actually. They burst upon the cultural scene
at just the right moment. The "beat
generation" was just getting on it's
legs. Allen Ginsberg actually spoke at Harvard
right before Castro in April 1959. Castro
and co. were the first long-hairs, etc.
The image stuck despite the most appalling
evidence to the contrary. See: http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/5/18/145038.shtml
RM: Why should we care about Hollywood's
ideologies? Is there any evidence its emboldening
our enemies or affecting American policy
negatively?
HF: Consider how many Americans get their
news from Entertainment tonight. It's hilarious
in a sour sort of way--but scary too.
RM: In terms of anti-Americanism and radical
liberalism in Hollywood, are things getting
worse or more balanced?
HF: I say worse. It's a cultural thing--a
matter of being "cool." And let's
face it, according to the last elections,
49 per cent of Americans buy--at least a
version--of the Hollywood party-line. I
for one, was NOT gratified by these last
election results. To me it seemed a pretty
hollow victory, a pretty close run thing.
Ryan Mauro is a geopolitical analyst. He
began working for Tactical Defense Concepts
(www.tdconcepts.com), a maritime-associated
security company in 2002. In 2003, Mr. Mauro
joined the Northeast Intelligence Network
(www.homelandsecurityus.com), which specializes
in tracking and assessing terrorist threats.
He has appeared on over 20 radio shows and
had articles published in over a dozen publications.
His book "Death to America: The Unreported
Battle of Iraq" is scheduled to be
published in the coming months. He publishes
his own web site called World Threats.
tdcanalyst@optonline.net
© 2004
Global Politician
| 
