Castro Worries Obama Will Starve His People

By Pamela Mortimer

Fidel Castro may have stepped down as President of Cuba after 49 years but the man still wields a great deal of power in the island’s government. In an article released on Monday, the 81 year old former leader stated that Barack Obama’s plans to maintain the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba "will cause hunger and suffering on the island."

"Obama’s speech can be translated as a formula for hunger for the country," Castro wrote in a column published by government-run newspapers. The column was prompted by remarks Obama made last week in front of the influential Cuban American National Foundation in Miami. Although Castro has not been seen in public since undergoing emergency surgery in July 2006, he continues to speak his mind via columns in state newspapers.

Castro’s column appeared three days after the publishing of an open letter written to the Illinois Senator by a prominent dissident group known as the Ladies in White. The letter expressed the group’s support of Obama’s plan to meet directly with Cuban leaders, hoping that the meeting could assist in gaining freedom for prisoners.

"We have great hope that you can contribute to the immediate, unconditional liberation" of prisoners, wrote the Ladies in White. The group was formed by relatives of those who were jailed during a 2003 government attack on political opposition.

During the Miami speech, Obama said he would continue the trade sanctions the U.S. has held against Cuba for nearly half a century. Washington hopes the embargo will prove to be sufficient leverage to push for political change in the island country. Although Obama supports the embargo, he did vow to ease restrictions regarding Cuban-Americans sending money to relatives and traveling from the U.S. to Cuba.

Obama reiterated his willingness to meet with President Raul Castro, who assumed power after his older brother Fidel had to step down due to ongoing health problems.

Obama’s plan to allow monies to travel to Cuba has not appeased the government as Obama might have hoped. Castro said Obama’s proposals for allowing wealthy Cuban-Americans to help poorer relatives on the island amounted to nothing more than "propaganda for consumerism and a way of life that is unsustainable."

The former leader also pointed out that Obama’s description of Cuba as "undemocratic" and "lacking in respect for liberty and human rights" is the same argument used by previous U.S. administrations "to justify their crimes against our homeland."

Obama claims that his policy toward Cuba is tremendously different from the hard line policy favored by President Bush and Republican presidential candidate John McCain, both of whom were also criticized by Castro.