Venezuela's Bolivarian News Agency (ABN) has provided expanded coverage of the comments attributed to Raúl Castro during a press gaggle Wednesday in Mariel.
According to ABN, Castro compared the loss of dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo with the losses suffered by Cuba in its standoff with the United States.
"Unfortunately, in this confrontation we have with the United States, we have lost thousands of Cubans, principally victims of the state terrorism practiced by that power," ABN quotes Castro as saying. "Between the dead and the disabled, they've numbered about 5,000, not counting thousands of wounded who managed to recover, including diplomats who were also murdered abroad and including people who disappeared in other countries."
ABN also quotes Castro as restating his offer to dialogue with Washington.
"They say they want to discuss with us and we are willing to discuss with the U.S. government all the problems they want. In Parliament, I repeated three times, 'all, all, all.' We will not accept any discussions that are not in absolute equality for both parties. They can inquire or ask any questions about Cuba, but we have the right to ask about all the problems of the United States," Castro said, according to the Venezuelan agency.
"In half a century, we have not murdered anybody. Nobody has been tortured here, no extra-judicial execution has been carried out here. Well, torture has been committed in Cuba but at the Guantánamo Naval Base, not in the territory governed by the Revolution," the Cuban leader is reported as saying.
–Renato Pérez Pizarro.
According to ABN, Castro compared the loss of dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo with the losses suffered by Cuba in its standoff with the United States.
ABN also quotes Castro as restating his offer to dialogue with Washington.
"They say they want to discuss with us and we are willing to discuss with the U.S. government all the problems they want. In Parliament, I repeated three times, 'all, all, all.' We will not accept any discussions that are not in absolute equality for both parties. They can inquire or ask any questions about Cuba, but we have the right to ask about all the problems of the United States," Castro said, according to the Venezuelan agency.
"In half a century, we have not murdered anybody. Nobody has been tortured here, no extra-judicial execution has been carried out here. Well, torture has been committed in Cuba but at the Guantánamo Naval Base, not in the territory governed by the Revolution," the Cuban leader is reported as saying.
–Renato Pérez Pizarro.
It seems that Raul Castro still does not want to admit the full extent of the losses, since he seems to be listing those killed in the "War Against the Bandits," those at the Bay of Pigs, and perhaps even those in Angola.
Five thousand is too "round a number" and yet too small
Posted by: Larry Daley | February 27, 2010 at 11:18 AM