Veteran Cuban leader Fidel Castro [2] in his column "Reflections of Comrade Fidel [3]" writes that "NATO's Plan is to Occupy Libya." The piece is dated Feb. 21—the same day that European diplomats broached the use of NATO [4] to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. It is unclear if Fidel's piece was in reaction to the diplomats' comments, or predictive of them.
"Comrade Fidel" writes:
One can be in agreement with Gaddafi or not. The world has been invaded with all kind of news, especially through the mass media. We shall have to wait the time needed to discover precisely how much is truth or lies, or a mix of the events, of all kinds, which, in the midst of chaos, have been taking place in Libya. What is absolutely evident to me is that the government of the United States is totally unconcerned about peace in Libya and will not hesitate to give NATO the order to invade that rich country, possibly in a matter of hours or a few days.
Those who, with perfidious intentions, invented the lie that Gaddafi was headed for Venezuela, as they did yesterday afternoon Sunday, February 20, today received a worthy response from Nicolás Maduro, Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs, when he stated textually that he was "voting for the Libyan people, in the exercise of their sovereignty, to find a peaceful solution to their difficulties which will preserve the integrity of the Libyan people and nation, without the interference of imperialism..."
For my part, I cannot imagine the Libyan leader abandoning the country, eluding the responsibilities attributed to him, whether or not this news is partly or totally false.
We share Fidel's concerns about the US and NATO exploiting the current crisis to establish imperial control over Libya's oil. But there's something perverse about being more concerned about this ominous hypothetical than about the real massive bloodshed that is happening right now. And nothing warrants, we are afraid, his skepticism about the reports of massacres.
Fidel should also be aware that his buddy Hugo Chávez of Venezuela has been quite schmoozy with Qaddafi [5]. It's a little disingenuous to huff about the "perfidious intentions" behind the reports that Qaddafi is in Venezuela while ignoring this.
We've already noted how the idiot left [6] here in the United States, even when savvy enough to cheer on the Egyptian protesters (Mubarak, after all, having been backed by Washington), will betray protesters in official enemy states of the US. The website of the vile International Action Center [7] calls for supporters to "stand with the people" of Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Jordan. There isn't a word about Libya—as Qadaffi's regime unleashes massacres of its own people.
See our last posts on Libya [4] and the new Middle East revolutions [8].
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