[NYTr] Fidel Weighs in on Ibero-Amer Summit

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Prensa Latina, Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN)
November 13, 2007


Reflections by the Commander in Chief

THE SUMMIT DEBATE 

by Fidel Castro Ruz

All physical, geographic and time barriers disappeared. It seemed
unreal. Never before had a dialogue of this nature taken place between
heads of State and government, most of whom represented nations that
had been pillaged by colonial and imperialist powers for centuries.
Nothing could have been more instructive.

Saturday, November 10th, 2007, will go down in the history of our
America as a day of truth.

The ideological Waterloo took place when the King of Spain abruptly
asked Chavez: "Why don"t you keep quiet?" All hearts in Latin America
raced at that instant. The people of Venezuela, who will be called upon
to vote "yes" or "no" next December 2nd, were shaken by the emotion of
living the glorious days of Bolivar again. The betrayals and the low
blows that our dear brother endures each day cannot change the way the
Bolivarian people feel.

When Chavez arrived from Chile at the Caracas airport and I heard him
directly mention his plans to mingle with the crowds, as he has done so
many times, I had the extremely vivid impression that, given the
current circumstances and the highly significant ideological victory he
has attained, a paid assassin of the empire"s, an oligarch corrupted by
the reflexes that the empire"s propaganda machine has inculcated into
people, or a mentally disturbed person could put an end to his life. It
is impossible to avoid the impression that the empire and the oligarchy
are doing everything in their power to lead Chavez to a cul-de-sac,
that they can easily place him in the line of fire.

Venezuela must ensure its victory is transformed, not into a terrible
setback, but into a much greater victory, to prevent imperialism from
leading our species to suicide. We must continue to struggle and to
face risks, but we must not play Russian roulette or flip a coin every
single day. No one escapes the logic of probability.

In such circumstances, the modern means of communication through which
the summit debates were aired live are preferable.

Havana, November 12, 2007 4:45 p.m.