"The dictator welcomes sex tourism. Here's how he bragged about the industry, 'Cuba has the cleanest and most educated prostitutes in the world.'" That was George W. Bush last month accusing Fidel Castro of running a sex trade in order to generate cash for the Republic of Cuba.
The problem is Castro never said anything of the sort and it turns out there is no truth at all to the accusation.
In fact, Bush lifted an undocumented paraphrase from a ten-year old undergraduate term paper and attributed the words to Fidel Castro. According to the student who wrote the paper, "It shows that they didn't read much of the article. Castro was merely trying to emphasize some of the successes of the revolution by saying, 'Even our prostitutes are educated. He was in no way bragging about the opportunities for sex tourism on the island."
Having been caught red-handed in an attempted slander, you might expect that George Bush to correct the record, perhaps back away from his prevarication and maybe even offer a polite apology. But instead he's continued to harp on the issue and the White House has defended his comments as being meant to "highlight Castro's morally corrupt attitude to human trafficking."
And Fidel Castro's reaction? "He depends on religion as a defense mechanism, substituting thought. In some ways, he doesn't even have to think. In the feverish and fundamentalist mind of the all-powerful head of the White House we have one who now has to save Cuba not only from tyranny but also from sexual exploitation."
Miami Herald: Castro's sex-trade point lost on Bush, student says
BBC: Castro rebuffs Bush's 'sex lies'
No comments:
Post a Comment