Fidel Castro laid into Barack Obama after the US president's historic visit to Cuba in a testy newspaper column Monday, saying the communist island doesn't need any "gifts from the empire."
The retired revolutionary, who has reacted tepidly to Cuba's rapprochement with the United States, scoffed at what he described as Obama's call to forgive and forget more than half a century of Cold War enmity.
"Listening to the words of the US president could give anyone a heart attack," Castro wrote in his first public reaction to the visit.
"My modest suggestion is that he think and not try to theorize about Cuban politics," said the 89-year-old leader of the 1959 Cuban Revolution, who handed power to his younger brother Raul in 2006.
He made the comments in a tortuous opinion piece headlined "Brother Obama" and published in Granma, the official newspaper of Cuba's communist party.
Obama, who met Raul but not Fidel Castro during his three-day visit last week, defied the regime's warnings not to wade into Cuba's internal affairs, meeting with anti-Castro dissidents and calling for democracy and greater freedoms.
"Voters should be able to choose their governments in free and democratic elections," he said in an unprecedented speech carried live on Cuba's tightly controlled state television.
Castro lashed out at that speech, the symbolically charged centerpiece of the first visit by a US president in 88 years.
"Obama gave a speech in which he used the most syrupy words," he wrote, recounting the long history of acrimonious relations between Havana and Washington as he defended the accomplishments of his 47-year rule.
"Nobody has any illusion that the people of this noble and selfless country will surrender glory and rights and the spiritual wealth that has come through the development of education, science and culture," Castro wrote.
"I would also warn that we are capable of producing the food and material wealth we need with the labor and the intelligence of our people. We don't need any gifts from the empire."
PR problem
Obama's visit posed an awkward public relations problem for the Castro regime, juxtaposing a charismatic, 54-year-old leader known for the political brand of "change" with the octogenarian brothers who have ruled the island since 1959.
The fact that Obama is black and the Castros are white was not lost on Cubans, many of whom also have African roots, and Castro appeared to take particular umbrage both at the US president's relative youth and his description of both countries as New World nations "built in part by slaves."
"He doesn't mention that racial discrimination was erased by the Revolution, that retirement benefits and salaries for all Cubans were decreed before Mr Barack Obama was 10 years old," he wrote.
Castro remained out of sight during Obama's visit, which aimed to cement the thaw announced in December 2014 by the US president and Raul Castro, who has proven more reform-minded than his older brother.
Fidel Castro waited a month and a half to publicly give his blessing to the US-Cuban rapprochement, and then gave it only a lukewarm embrace.
Since announcing their landmark rapprochement, the United States and Cuba have reopened embassies in each other's capitals and are slowly normalizing ties.
But several thorny issues remain unsettled, including the fate of the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, which Cuba wants back, and Washington's more than five-decade-old embargo on the island, which Obama again called on Congress to lift.
Since stepping down, Fidel Castro has spent part of his time writing reflections that occasionally appear in the communist party press.
His last public appearance was in July 2015.
AFP
Tue Mar 29 2016
![Fidel Castro blasts Obama's Cuba trip Fidel Castro blasts Obama's Cuba trip](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2016-03/71459217842_FidelCastro.jpg)
Since stepping down, Fidel Castro has spent part of his time writing reflections that occasionally appear in the communist party press.
![Pelancong asing ditahan disyaki cabul pekerja spa di Pulau Perhentian Pelancong asing ditahan disyaki cabul pekerja spa di Pulau Perhentian](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2022-07/51658407048_Cabul.jpg)
Pelancong asing ditahan disyaki cabul pekerja spa di Pulau Perhentian
Polis menahan seorang pelancong lelaki warga Maghribi kerana disyaki mencabul seorang juruterapi wanita rakyat tempatan di Pulau Perhentian.
Warga Thailand seludup diesel dihadapkan mahkamah
Seorang pemandu lori warga Thailand dihadapkan ke mahkamah atas menyeleweng 322 liter minyak diesel minggu lalu.
ADUN Rembia sertai Pas: YB Kampar minta buka riben putih
Susulan pengumuman ADUN Rembia sertai Pas dalam sidang media, YB Kampar, Chong Zhemin kemuka Peraturan Mesyuarat dan menyifatkan satu penghinaan besar buat Parlimen.
#SisiTVParlimen
#AWANInews
#SisiTVParlimen
#AWANInews
![Malaysia, Brunei dalam proses rundingan muktamad sempadan darat negara - Mohamad Malaysia, Brunei dalam proses rundingan muktamad sempadan darat negara - Mohamad](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/41720590984_DatukSeriMohamadH.jpg)
Malaysia, Brunei dalam proses rundingan muktamad sempadan darat negara - Mohamad
Mohamad Hasan berkata buat masa ini, kerja-kerja penandaan dan pengukuran di lapangan telah meliputi 175.96 km atau 33.3 peratus daripada keseluruhan jarak sempadan.
Kim Pan Gon undur diri kesan kepada Harimau Malaya
Apa reaksi peminat Harimau Malaya dan penganalisis sukan mengenai peletakan jawatan Kim Pan-Gon?
Masuk Pas untuk sama-sama susah dengan rakyat - ADUN Rembia
Muhamad Jailani berkata, sebelum ini beliau pernah menghantar surat kepada Lembaga Disiplin UMNO memohon untuk memecat keahliannya daripada parti Melayu itu.
![Perang berlarutan antara punca kelewatan penghantaran Black Hawk Perang berlarutan antara punca kelewatan penghantaran Black Hawk](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-04/51712121864_TBADLYZAHARIjp.jpg)
Perang berlarutan antara punca kelewatan penghantaran Black Hawk
Perkara itu dimaklumkan pihak Aerotree Defence and Services Sdn Bhd iaitu syarikat yang dipertanggungjawabkan dalam kontrak perolehan perkhidmatan sewaan helikopter berkenaan.
Keghairahan final Euro 2024 dibawakan ke restoran mamak
Kemeriahan dan keghairahan perlawanan final UEFA EURO 2024 antara Sepanyol dengan England di Berlin, Jerman dirasai di Malaysia, dibawakan oleh 'Astro BizOne Watch Party' di Restoran Hakim, Seksyen 7, Shah Alam.
![Polis kesan remaja lelaki hilang sejak enam hari lepas Polis kesan remaja lelaki hilang sejak enam hari lepas](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/61721115027_MuhammadAdiLagik.jpg)
Polis kesan remaja lelaki hilang sejak enam hari lepas
Polis sedang berusaha mengesan seorang remaja lelaki yang dilaporkan hilang oleh keluarganya di Kuala Pilah sejak enam hari lepas.
[TERKINI] Sidang media khas FAM
FAM adakan satu sidang media khas petang nanti, difahamkan berkaitan rombakan. Kepimpinan tertinggi FAM atau barisan kejurulatihan skuad Harimau Malaya?