Fidel Throws Fit Over Forbes Claim That He's Rich

Could it be that Fidel Castro, one of the great communist revolutionary leaders of all time, is one of the world's wealthiest despots? According to this article from Cuba's state-run Granma newspaper, Fidel has offered to resign if the magazine can prove that he has 'even a single dollar.'

By Granma daily staff writers Maria Julia Mayoral, Pedro De La Hoz and Jose De La Osa

March 16, 2006

Cuba - Granma - Original Article (Spanish)    

PRESIDENT Fidel Castro has challenged and called on Bush, the CIA, the 33 U.S. intelligence agencies, the world's thousands of banks and the "servants" of Forbes magazine, which claims that Fidel has a $900 million fortune, to prove that he has even a single dollar in any overseas account.

In exchange for even a shred of evidence, he said he would give them everything that they have failed to achieve in over a half century of trying to assassinate him and destroy the Revolution. "I'm offering to give you everything you've tried to take," he said, "and don't come to me with your foolishness and far-fetched stories. Show me an account, with just one dollar," he emphasized.

[Editor's Note: According to Forbes, "Former Cuban officials insist Castro, who travels exclusively in a fleet of black Mercedes, has skimmed profits from these outfits for years. To come up with a net worth figure, we use a discounted cash flow method to value these companies and then assume a portion of that profit stream goes to Castro. ]".

"If they can prove that I have even a single dollar, I will resign from all my posts, and give up all of the responsibilities and duties that I carry out; they won't need to devise any more plans or changes, if they can prove that I have one single dollar," the revolutionary leader said emphatically.

"They've gotten themselves into a real fix with these lies. That Gordian knot must be broken, and we're going to break it, without the slightest doubt," he affirmed, referring to the U.S. publication [Forbes] which attributed him with partaking of the profits from Cuba's public enterprises.

"Why would I want money, if I'm soon to be 80 and I didn't want it before?" Fidel asked, adding that during his life he had entrenched himself in his principles, and had never abandoned them.

He said that he had been calculating the number of suitcases it would take to carry around that amount of money, and commented that it would be about 1,000. "Who carried them? On what airplane? Who carried them, who escorted them? How could I be taking out money for so many years? They are stupid, aside from the moral arguments that could be brandished."

"It's simply an insult," he added. He accused them of wanting to make him look like one of the thieves that they might have nursed. "Where is Mobutu's money? Where is the Somoza family's money?" Fidel said that in the United States, there are hundreds of thousands of millions of such dollars stolen, via U.S. banks. "There they are: bring out the lists, publish them," he said.

Fidel said that what was even worse than "painting" him as a thief, was making him look as if he were betraying the dead: those who died in the Moncada attack, aboard the Granma, in the Sierra Maestra, in the Escambray, at the Bay of Pigs, on international missions or defending the country from terrorist attack. It would be like "betraying entire generations who have fought," he emphasized.

The president added that what the Forbes "bandits" should publish is his Olympian record of being the person whom the most powerful empire on Earth has tried to assassinate the most times.

He noted the contrast of how, while such infamies against Cuba and its leaders are being churned out, the country [Cuba] is working on a program to enable millions of Latin Americans to obtain restorative eye surgery.

Referring to the thousands of patients who have benefited from Operation Miracle, Fidel asked what those people would think when reading the newspaper, which is talking about his personal wealth. "It's a campaign to make me appear like a thief," he said. He added that the ultimate goal is to destroy Cuba and make Castro look like a crook, so that no one will acknowledge that his government is doing anything to benefit others. This while we are living in a country that has some 25,000 health professionals working free of charge in many other countries.

"This is because we have human capital. We can certainly rely on $100 billion in human capital," he commented.

He said that he had read what had been published by other media outlets, echoing the libel published by Forbes, and noted that while these deliberate lies were being published, nothing was being said about the nearly 20,000 Latin American medical students studying in Cuba, or the fact that this country will educate almost 100,000 doctors in the coming years.

Spanish Version Below

FIDEL DESMIENTE A FORBES

¡Los emplazo a que prueben que tengo un solo dólar!

MARÍA JULIA MAYORAL, PEDRO DE LA HOZ Y JOSÉ A. DE LA OSA

El presidente Fidel Castro desafió y emplazó al presidente Bush, a la CIA, a los 33 organismos de inteligencia de Estados Unidos, a los miles de bancos que hay en el mundo, y a los "criados" de la revista Forbes, que le atribuyen una fortuna de 900 millones de pesos, a que prueben que tiene aunque sea un solo dólar en el exterior.

A cambio de una sola prueba dijo que les ofrecería todo lo que han pretendido y no han podido lograr a lo largo de casi medio siglo, durante los cuales han intentado destruir a la Revolución, asesinarlo en cientos de planes de atentados. Les regalo todo lo que han pretendido, planteó, y no anden con boberías ni cuentos de camino. Búsquenme una cuenta, un dólar, subrayó.

Si prueban que tengo un solo dólar renuncio a mi cargo y a las funciones que estoy desempeñando, ya no le harían falta ni planes, ni transiciones, si prueban que tengo un solo dólar, dijo enfáticamente el líder de la Revolución cubana.

Se han metido en la pata de los caballos con esas mentiras, continuó diciendo, y ese nudo gordiano hay que romperlo y lo vamos a romper sin la menor duda, apuntó en referencia a la publicación estadounidense que le asigna los beneficios de las empresas públicas de la Isla.

¿Para qué quiero el dinero, si voy a cumplir 80 años y no lo quise antes?, preguntó para enfatizar a continuación que durante su vida se había atrincherado en los principios y no los había abandonado nunca.

Dijo que había estado haciendo el cálculo de los maletines que habría necesitado para trasladar ese dinero, y comentó que harían falta como mil. ¿Quién los llevó? ¿En qué avión? ¿Quién los cargó, qué escolta? ¿Cómo yo puedo estar tantos años sacando dinero? Son estúpidos, independientemente de los argumentos morales que se pudieran esgrimir.

Es sencillamente un insulto, acotó. Denunció que lo quieren pintar como a los ladrones que ellos amamantaron. ¿Dónde está el dinero de Mobuto, dónde el de los Somoza? Planteó que en Estados Unidos hay cientos de miles de millones de dinero robados a través de los bancos norteamericanos. Allí están: busquen las listas, para que los publiquen, indicó.

Fidel expresó que mucho más horroroso que "pintarlo" a uno robando es hacerlo ver traicionando a los muertos, a los que murieron en el Moncada, en el Granma, en la Sierra Maestra, en el Escambray, en Girón, en las misiones internacionalistas o defendiendo al país de los actos terroristas. Es como traicionar a generaciones enteras que han luchado, subrayó.

Añadió que lo que deben publicar los "bandidos" de Forbes, es su récord olímpico, a lo largo de toda la historia, de ser la persona a la que más atentados le ha preparado el más poderoso imperio de la Tierra.

Contrastó que mientras se publican esas infamias contra Cuba y sus dirigentes, el país está trabajando en un programa que hará posible que millones de latinoamericanos sean operados de la vista.

Al hacer referencia a los miles de pacientes que se han beneficiado con la Operación Milagro, Fidel se preguntó qué pensarían esas personas cuando lean los periódicos hablando de sus riquezas. "Es una campaña para pintarme como un ladrón", dijo, y añadió que eso persigue un objetivo: anular a Cuba, pintar a Castro como un ladrón para que nadie reconozca nada de lo que se hace en favor del resto del mundo, aun cuando somos un país que tiene alrededor de 25 000 profesionales de la salud trabajando gratuitamente en un gran número de países.

Y eso porque tenemos capital humano y ciertamente contamos con 100 000 millones de dólares en capital humano, acotó.

Leyó lo publicado en varios medios de prensa que rebotaron la infamia de Forbes, y al respecto comentó que mientras se publican mentiras deliberadas, no dicen nada de los casi 20 000 estudiantes latinoamericanos de medicina que se preparan en Cuba; o de que en este país se formarán casi 100 000 médicos en los próximos años.