Posted by Humberto Fontova on Sep 6th, 2011
A year ago many prominent Israelis seemed smitten with Fidel Castro. "I
thank you from the bottom of my heart," wrote Israeli President Shimon
Peres to Fidel Castro on Sept. 24, 2010:
"I must confess that your remarks were, in my opinion, unexpected
and rife with unique intellectual depth. Your words presented a
surprising bridge between a harsh reality and a new horizon. You tried
to sail to bigger seas, to show that a small geographical size doesn't
have to reflect human smallness."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not to be outdone: "The remarks
attributed to Castro demonstrate his deep understanding of the history
of the Jewish people and the State of Israel."
However, the following disturbing report has surfaced:
The Italian daily Corriere della Sera is reporting that Hezbollah
is setting up a base of operations in Cuba in order to extend its
ability to reach Israeli targets in Latin America…According to the Tel
Aviv daily Yedioth Ahronoth, three members of Hezbollah have already
arrived in Cuba to set up the cell, which will allegedly "include 23
operatives, hand-picked by Talal Hamia, a senior member tasked with
heading the covert operation. The clandestine terror operation is
reportedly called "The Caribbean Case."
Peres' and Netanyahu's sentiments last year sprung from an interview
Castro had bequeathed the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, where he outed
himself as a lifelong, but closet, Likudnik. Not coincidentally,
perhaps, the interview was arranged by the CFR's Julia Sweig, alleged to
be a Cuban "agent of influence" by the Defense Intelligence Agency's top
Cuba spycatcher, retired Lieut. Col. Chris Simmons.
One wonders if Peres' and Netanyahu's statements are the product of
selective memory with regard to Cuba's anti-Israel leader.
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"Ahmadinejad should be ashamed of himself for denying the Holocaust,"
chided Castro who, as an adolescent, carried his dog-eared Mein Kampf
everywhere and who copied his "History Will Absolve Me" speech straight
from Hitler's courtroom speech defending his Rathhaus Putsch.
That was not Castro's only act of hypocrisy. "Israel has a definite
right to exist," kibitzed the Stalinist dictator, who, a year earlier,
declared that: "The Fuhrer's swastika is today Israel's banner," and who
co-sponsored the 1975 UN resolution branding "Zionism as Racism," not to
mention his dispatch of top troops to try and erase Israel during the
Yom Kippur War.
"I don't think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews," rued the
mass-murdering Castro whose media runs these cartoons.
Castro's pro-Zionist lies to Jeffrey Goldberg went viral last year. But
amazingly, without being recognized as lies — not only by Goldberg — but
even by the world's pre-eminent Zionist experts.
So why the pro-Israel lip service to begin with?
Elementary, my dear Watson. Cuba-watchers know that Castro plumbs the
workings of the U.S. legislature better than most home-grown lobbyists
and well knows the main power brokers. As proof, he's been schmoozing
U.S. farm interests for over a decade. Coincidentally, perhaps, over the
last decade the U.S. became one of Cuba's biggest food suppliers. (Some
"embargo.")
Last year it was time to schmooze Israel-backers. At the same time
Castro seemed poised for a pilgrimage to the Wailing Wall last year, the
U.S. House Committee on Foreign Relations (HCFR) was poised for a vote
vital to the financial health of his fiefdom. Steadfast Israel-backer
Howard Berman chaired this House committee at the time, and steadfast
Israel-backer and committee member Senator Gary Ackerman held what
looked like the deciding vote. So you see the importance of the
pro-Israel lip service.
Some background: Castro's military and secret police own Stalinist
Cuba's tourist industry practically lock, stock and barrel. As used to
be common knowledge during the Cold War, secret police and military
(the only outfits with guns) maintain Communist regimes in power. The
HCFR vote would decide a further opening of U.S. tourist travel to
Castro's fiefdom. So, again, you see the importance of the issue.
Even with Rep. Ackerman taking Castro's bait, Rep. Berman saw that the
vote for Castro's bailout was a lost cause and postponed it. A few weeks
later Castro's roaming ambassador, Aleida Guevara (Che's daughter), was
in Lebanon posing next to Hezbollah missiles aimed at Israel.
The Cuban-born (and steadfast Israel-backer) Congresswoman Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen was among those bemused with Netanyahu and Peres last year.
"Look, this guy has been an enemy of Israel," wrote Congresswoman
Ros-Lehtinen to Netanyahu. "Just because he said something that a normal
person would say — after 50 years of anti-Israel incitement, it's one
phrase from an old guy who doesn't even know where he's standing."
Fortunately for Israel (and unfortunately for Castro) Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen recently succeeded Berman as the chairman of the House
Committee on Foreign Relations and is currently leading legislative
efforts for the U.S. to at least start de-funding the Castro bailout.
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The biggest question now is whether Hezbollah will content itself with
Israeli targets. The arrest of a Hezbollah member tasked with setting up
a cell in Tijuana was confirmed in a memo from the Tucson Police
Department in April 2010. "Many experts believe Hezbollah and drug
cartels have worked together for decades," wrote U.S. Rep. Sue Myric
(R-NC) to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. "Hezbollah operates
almost like a Mafia family in Northern Mexico, often demanding
protection money and 'taxes' from local inhabitants." She also noted
that lately gang tattoos of many prisoners in Arizona jails are written
in Farsi.
"Several reports, citing U.S. law enforcement and intelligence sources,
document that Hezbollah operatives have provided weapons and explosives
training to drug trafficking organizations that operate along the U.S.
border with Mexico," testified Roger Noriega (former U.S. ambassador to
the Organization of American States) to the House's Subcommittee on
Counter-terrorism and Intelligence.
"If our government and responsible partners in Latin America fail to
act," continued ambassador Noriega's July 7th testimony, "I believe
there will be an attack on U.S. personnel, installations or interests in
the Americas as soon as Hezbollah operatives believe that they are
capable of such an operation without implicating their Iranian sponsors
in the crime."
http://frontpagemag.com/2011/09/06/hezbollah-opens-base-in-cuba/
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