“Zambombazo”

“zambombazo” (Spanish), "bang" (English), “badaboum” (French), “estrondo” (Portuguese), “colpaccio” (Italian), “самбомбасо” (Russian), “knal” (Dutch)

Comrade Fidel Castro said he never used the word before. Bush made him do it, because that's the word which best characterizes Bush, “an apocalyptic person”. (Prensa Latina: Bush Expects Everything to be Solved with a Bang, Granma (in Spanish): Bush lo espera todo de un zambombazo)

I like that word, zambombazo. It sounds nice, much better than “bang” or “knal”... Moreover, el Commandante en jefe is right, Bush likes everything with a zambombazo. Remember that pretzel Bush almost choked on? It came out with a zambombazo. With one zambombazo decapitation strike, Bush tried to take out Saddam. Although that one was a fizzle. Hundreds of zambombazos couldn't incapacitate Osama and the shock and awe zambombazo didn't deter the Iraqi resistance. Baghdad out of control, try a zambombazo surge. Every zambombazo Bush ever tried isn't worth to be described by this beautiful Spanish word. Because it was never more than a small insignificant bang!

The scary thing is that Bush has his finger on the button to launch thousands of nuclear weapons and destroy the world in one big apocalyptic zambombazo to find out if God exists. The world should listen to Fidel's wise words: stop Bush before the final zambombazo.

Safe haven for terrorists

The concept of 'terrorism' and 'terrorists' is meaningless. You have people fighting for a worthy cause and people fighting to exploit and oppress other people. Both fight with the arms they can get, and if they are passionate enough, will not leave any options of the table. If you make an omelet, eggs will be crushed. If you fight in conflicts, insurgencies and wars, innocents will die as 'collateral damage'. Terrorists are supposed to be those who deliberately target innocent civilians, while when the 'good guys' kill innocents, it's only because “stuff happens”.

If you only count the killed innocents, Bush sure as Hell is a bigger terrorist than Osama Bin Laden. The same Bush who said he would make no distinction between the 'terrorists' and the governments who harbor them and promptly sent his storm troopers to topple the Taliban government in Afghanistan and put his own puppet – Hamid Karzai – on the throne.

By that same logic it is now OK to topple the U.S. government, as Bush himself is harboring a notorious terrorist. In October 1976, Luis Posada Carriles blew up a Cuban airliner over the Caribbean, killing 73 people. Both Cuba and Venezuela are requesting his extradition. In fact, he was sentenced and jailed in Venezuela – that's before the Chavez era – before he disappeared and turned up in the U.S. The American government has the power to detain Posada Carriles indefinitely under the Patriot Act or to extradite him to Venezuela, where the bombed plane started its fateful flight. But because Carriles is anti-Castro, the U.S. is protecting him.

Hundreds of 'terrorists' are incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay, without having been charged or tried in a court of law, and a convicted criminal walks free in the streets of Miami. Either there are no 'terrorists' in this world or the U.S. government is harboring one (and probably many more). It's an easy vote: yes or no? (Granma: Posada and US on Public Trial in Cuba) (The Guardian: To fry the smallest fish)

Viva Fidel!

Comandante en Jefe Dr Fidel Castro didn't turn up yesterday in Havana for the 50th anniversary of his return to Cuba from exile in Mexico aboard the legendary Granma. Due to his illness, his 80th anniversary celebrations were postponed from August to the first week of December. But unfortunately, he didn't make it. The state of his health is a state secret, but his no-show yesterday points to serious problems.

He came to power when Eisenhower was president in the U.S. and could perhaps leave this world when the worst president the U.S. has ever known is spending his last days in the White House. From a collection of fascist dictatorships with just one red Cuban outpost, the whole of Latin America is slowly turning red. Three of Castor's friends rule in their countries: Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Evo Morales in Bolivia and in Nicaragua Daniel Ortega will soon take over. And leftist economist Rafael Correa has been elected president in Ecuador.

Cuba has a good basic education system and health care, but its economic development has lagged behind. A major cause is the blockade by the U.S. and its allies which makes it difficult for Cuba to further integrate in the world economy and develop its foreign trade. This may change with the Red Tide washing over Latin America...

Patria O Muerte! Venceremos! Viva Cuba socialista!