Word: cubans
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Flanked by more than 16 U.S. and Cuban security agents, El Commandante sauntered onto the podium in full military regalia. Raising his hands high above his head to chants of "Fidel si, Clinton no," Castro appeared to relish the attention, like a U.S. politician running for reelection...
...Then, some local children approached the church altar where Castro stood, carrying two bouquets of flowers. Fidel hugged each one and then presented them with a souvenir Cuban flag. Unfortunately, not all the kids were impressed. A three-year-old simply handed back Castro's gift. El Commandante, surprised at the rebuff, tried again. No luck. After a third attempt, he simply gave it to another child, who now had two flags he didn't know what to do with...
...topic seemed to be off limits for the Cuban leader. He slammed the high cost of U.S. health care (kidney transplants are cheaper in Havana), the skyrocketing price of a movie ticket in the Big Apple ($9 compared only five cents in Havana, although he neglected to mention what movies were on offer there) and the fact that an average Baltimore Orioles baseball ticket costs over $18 (it's only 45 cents for a box seat in Havana - are you listening, Steinbrenner?). Just how the bearded one knew this is a mystery - nobody has ever reported seeing El Commandante...
...least there was plausible deniability on the handshake. Or so the White House thought, Thursday, after Bill Clinton became the first U.S. president to shake hands with Fidel Castro. Hours after the inevitable had happened - the U.S. president and the Cuban strongman came face to face on their way out of a luncheon for world leaders hosted by Kofi Annan at the U.N. and held their first-ever conversation - U.S. officials were especially eager to ensure that nobody read any geopolitical meaning into the moment. "A chance encounter" initiated by Castro, said Secretary of State Albright, insisting that the conversation...
...sorts of leaders whose human rights records are every bit as odious as Castro's - and despite the fact that the U.S. periodically negotiates with his government on issues ranging from immigration to drug interdiction - this White House, like its seven predecessors, makes a point of publicly shunning the Cuban leader. Thus Crowley went out of his way to emphasize Thursday that Castro would not be welcome at President Clinton's gala event for world leaders at the Metropolitan Museum. Last time Clinton left the Cuban leader off his guest list, Castro upstaged him by holding a raucous pep rally...