[continued from previous message] 
  
 campaigned for the war, and continues to defend the war. So the people who 
 had twice elected her, threw her out. That's what democratic politics is 
 about. If you put to me that she should be kept in parliament because she is 
 a black woman, my answer is she has the deaths of many women, some of them 
 with blacker faces than hers, on her conscience and the blood is on her 
 hands. That's why she was thrown out of parliament, not by me, but by the 
 voters in Bethnal Green. 
  
 Q. Looking at the changing shift in politics in Latin America, most recently 
 with the win of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, do you see this as a potential 
 flashpoint for future conflict? 
  
 A. Probably not because the Ortega that won yesterday is not the Ortega of 
 before. But it does illustrate the point that the only way to win an 
 election in Latin America now (unless you want to cheat as they did in Peru 
 and Mexico) is to say you're a friend of Fidel Castro and an enemy of George 
 Bush. So I'm very happy as someone who was a frequent visitor to the 
 Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua and who cried many a tear at the dispute 
 of the revolution. I'm very happy to see Daniel back and it's part of this 
 "wind of change" in Latin America which is profoundly disturbing the power 
 of the United States. I don't think the United States is strong enough to 
 engage in conflict. People ask me, "what was the purpose of the invasion of 
 Iraq? Was it oil? Was it Israel?" Yes it was oil, yes it was Israel, but its 
 main purpose was to terrify the world with American power. But because it's 
 been such a catastrophic failure, instead of terrifying the world with 
 American power, it has demonstrated to the world the limitations of American 
 power. And that lesson has been learned in Latin America very, very clearly. 
  
 Q. Some have touted President Hugo Chavez as the next Castro; how accurate 
 do you think this statement is? 
  
 A. Well I did ask Fidel how he felt about these "new kids on the block," 
 quite recently because it was just two weeks before he fell dreadfully ill. 
 He said, "do you know if I had died 10 years ago, I would have died sad. But 
 now, I can die happy." Because people all over Latin America, in part at 
 least, have been inspired by the Cuban revolution and its leader, and are 
 coming to power. Chavez is not Fidel, Venezuela is not a socialist country, 
 but it's a revolutionary country; it's challenging imperialism. It's using 
 its wealth for the benefit of the poor in Venezuela and indeed to build 
 relations with the poor everywhere. And I think that Chavez is a monumental 
 hero. He's not as politically sophisticated as Fidel Castro; how could he 
 be? He's not been around as long, he comes from a different background, and 
 so on. But he's a truly inspiring mass leader, who, when Fidel passes, will 
 be as iconic in the world as Fidel is. 
  
 Q. Talking of Fidel passing, what do you think the future holds for Cuba 
 after Fidel? 
  
 A. I believe that a collective leadership in Cuba will emerge which will 
 involve Raul Castro, Carlos Lage and Felipe Pirez Roque, who is the youngest 
 Foreign Minister in the world. My money would be on Felipe to emerge as the 
 maximum leader in due course. I advise Bush not to imagine he'd be visiting 
 Havana anytime soon. The Cuban system will survive the passing of Fidel 
 Castro. There will be compromises of course; there have already been many 
 compromises, but the essential gains of the Cuban revolution will be 
 preserved. There is no Cuban child who goes without milk or bread or a free 
 school and a free doctor and access to sport and culture and so on. Which 
 nobody born in any other poor country has. The Cubans are aware of that. 
  
 Copyright ) 2006 riceNpeas 
  
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