Cuban author, former friend and confidant of the Castro brothers, Norberto Fuentes, has written the brilliantly satirical novel, “The Autobiography of Fidel Castro.”
In the novel, Fuentes’ Fidel makes the following telling observation:
“Almost all civil wars begin as a demonstration that goes out of control,” Castro points out. “Controlling the streets,” he emphasizes, was the crucial key to his maintaining power. To that end, opponents – or “the enemy,” as he puts it – must not be allowed to gather “in groups of more than two or three individuals.”
Apparently, Fidel’s Iranian cohorts share this psyche, for over New Year’s weekend, the Washington Post reported,
TEHRAN – Security forces opened fire at crowds demonstrating against the government in the capital on Sunday, killing at least four people, including the nephew of opposition political leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, witnesses and Web sites linked to the opposition said.
Meanwhile, little brother Raul also exercised precaution, as the Latin America Herald Tribune reported,
No Government Events as Cuba Celebrates 51 Years of Revolution
HAVANA – Cuba celebrated Friday the 51st anniversary of the revolution with austerity and without any government ceremonies planned, though the public’s traditional dancing in the main squares of the communist-ruled island to celebrate the occasion were maintained.
Looks like tyrants are looking both ways before crossing.
Source: Capitol Hill Cubans
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I was 14 when Castro took over Cuba, sad day as I recall. I’ve always wondered what he pays the dancers to celebrate his yearly revolution shindig. Doesn’t strike me as the type of party anyone would attend voluntarily unless they were promised a reward. Hope they don’t sell out to cheaply, I wouldn’t, come to think of it I might tell Fidel to stick it where the air isn’t to fragrant.