Fidel Castro has had a massive impact, enduring legacy and a phenomenal effect on those of us of Caribbean origin and not least so my ancestral homeland of Barbados which was the first country to proudly recognize his revolution in Cuba, which is similarly a Caribbean island. Hardly surprising in the circumstances since there is a significant Diaspora of Bajan-Cubans resident in Cuba and has been there now for generations; and among them are very close family members of mine.
But Barbados is not the only English speaking territory in the Caribbean with close and long-lasting ties with Cuba. Guyana, the former British colony of British Guyana whose equally charismatic leader Dr Cheddi Jagan forged close links with Cuba had his hugely democratically elected government overthrown by British troops sent on the orders of the British regime and parliament and dispatched there at the behest of the then US administration because both these countries: the US and Britain, were shit scared of the wildfire, emancipating and empowering effect that the Cuban revolution was having throughout the Caribbean and not just the English speaking territories in the region.
And of course the world observed how the “moralistic and democratic” superpower – God help us – the United States of America attacked and invaded the island of Grenada, overthrew its legitimately elected government, and under the most spurious, fraudulent, lying and fabricated reasons imprisoned its leaders because a country with a population less than that of Reading in Berkshire “posed a threat”, the US claimed, to the security of the United States. No Air force or Standing Army in Grenada but the David of Grenada was nevertheless a major danger to the world’s premier and nuclear superpower because of Grenada’s natural links with a fellow Caribbean island neighbour and similarly a non-nuclear nation.
Well as we say in the Caribbean you can kill human beings but you can’t kill an idea whose time has come. And I know that all of us Caribbeans, those Africans in Angola and the rest of Africa and elsewhere globally whose surge for emancipation from the hubristic, self-delusional and barbaric propensities of white Caucasian imperialists, colonialists and apartheid evil perpetrators nipped in the bud by Cuban altruistic intervention under the auspices of Fidel Castro, his brother Raul and Che Guevara have and will continue to fail because you know what: right, justice, morality and time is on our side.
So although physically dead the Comandante, Fidel Castro lives on and will do so eternally in the hearts and minds of us fellow Caribbeans. And in the words of the inspirational Cuban Revolutionary Slogan and its brilliant and principled leaders: “Ever Onwards To Victory!” And who better than our own musical icon Bob Marley to celebrate in song not the mortal passing away of the Great Fidel Castro but the glorious celebration of his life, what he stood for, represented and always will for every conscionable Caribbean person.
I'm a highly intelligent, articulate and well-educated human being with an intuitive but enterprising sense of responsibility and a strong moral compass that instinctively demarcates what's right and wrong.
Trust, confidentiality and having the courage, regardless of what I do, to formulate and stand by my own personal convictions are key aspects of my life and, unsurprisingly, are also principal characteristics I attach great importance to and naturally expect from those who want to play a meaningful role in my life.
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Furthermore, I’m an adult and in my private and professional lives prefer to deal with genuine adults, so anyone who wants to act childishly and thinks they can have any kind of relationship with me, then you’re wrong!
And my advice to you in that regard is to go and enrol in a kindergarten as you'll possibly have better luck there.
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Fidel Castro has had a massive impact, enduring legacy and a phenomenal effect on those of us of Caribbean origin and not least so my ancestral homeland of Barbados which was the first country to proudly recognize his revolution in Cuba, which is similarly a Caribbean island. Hardly surprising in the circumstances since there is a significant Diaspora of Bajan-Cubans resident in Cuba and has been there now for generations; and among them are very close family members of mine.
ReplyDeleteBut Barbados is not the only English speaking territory in the Caribbean with close and long-lasting ties with Cuba. Guyana, the former British colony of British Guyana whose equally charismatic leader Dr Cheddi Jagan forged close links with Cuba had his hugely democratically elected government overthrown by British troops sent on the orders of the British regime and parliament and dispatched there at the behest of the then US administration because both these countries: the US and Britain, were shit scared of the wildfire, emancipating and empowering effect that the Cuban revolution was having throughout the Caribbean and not just the English speaking territories in the region.
And of course the world observed how the “moralistic and democratic” superpower – God help us – the United States of America attacked and invaded the island of Grenada, overthrew its legitimately elected government, and under the most spurious, fraudulent, lying and fabricated reasons imprisoned its leaders because a country with a population less than that of Reading in Berkshire “posed a threat”, the US claimed, to the security of the United States. No Air force or Standing Army in Grenada but the David of Grenada was nevertheless a major danger to the world’s premier and nuclear superpower because of Grenada’s natural links with a fellow Caribbean island neighbour and similarly a non-nuclear nation.
Well as we say in the Caribbean you can kill human beings but you can’t kill an idea whose time has come. And I know that all of us Caribbeans, those Africans in Angola and the rest of Africa and elsewhere globally whose surge for emancipation from the hubristic, self-delusional and barbaric propensities of white Caucasian imperialists, colonialists and apartheid evil perpetrators nipped in the bud by Cuban altruistic intervention under the auspices of Fidel Castro, his brother Raul and Che Guevara have and will continue to fail because you know what: right, justice, morality and time is on our side.
So although physically dead the Comandante, Fidel Castro lives on and will do so eternally in the hearts and minds of us fellow Caribbeans. And in the words of the inspirational Cuban Revolutionary Slogan and its brilliant and principled leaders: “Ever Onwards To Victory!” And who better than our own musical icon Bob Marley to celebrate in song not the mortal passing away of the Great Fidel Castro but the glorious celebration of his life, what he stood for, represented and always will for every conscionable Caribbean person.