Cuban embassy responds

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 03/08/2003 12:00 AM  |  Opinion

Once again I have to write to counter some allegations that have appeared in your newspaper. I cannot recall a time when I have read a more misleading, false, non-confirmed report, with an added title emphasizing: Castro listed among world's richest rulers (The Jakarta Post, March 5, page 3).

It is a pity, indeed, that the main newspaper in English in Indonesia takes advantage of that position to contribute to the worst of the American journalism, with no intention whatsoever to confirm the report or offer doubts to its credibility.

I should add that if you had used the exact words published by the very ultra-conservative Forbes magazine, it would have been clearer that this is a blatant invention of the owner of this periodical and part of a personal political agenda. The article said, ""... Some of these estimates are pretty rigorous. Others are a little fuzzier. For example, we calculate the net worth of Castro based on a percentage of Cuba's GDP ..."" That assessment does not deserve any comment at all.

The use of this article also annoys me, because under the false pretense that it is quoting the article from the source it allows itself to describe the leaders as ""despots"".

The same Forbes publication in 1997 published that President Fidel Castro's wealth amounted to US$1.5 billion. It seems that the sum was so laughable and unbelievable that they had to reduce it a little to just a percentage of the Cuban GDP to $100 million! By the way, Steve Forbes, the owner of that conservative publication, is the same right-wing Republican that in his Presidential campaign in the year 2000 said that: ""... As President, I will do everything in my power to hasten that day. Until Castro falls, however, we should not lift the trade embargo ...""

If you would read his official biography, you would see there the origin of his anti-Cuban attitude, that unfortunately has received an echo in your publication, which always talks about reform, but not too much about responsible and professional journalism.

President Fidel Castro, in an interview in 1997 when the first tirade from Forbes magazine appeared, said: ""What right do they have to write such slander? Not a single minister or high official has ever been proven to have stolen anything. Whoever steals a dollar from the state would never last a single minute in his position. We don't want to make ourselves rich; we want to make our people rich.""

I wish the leaders of the many countries where corruption is a great concern, and the journalists in countries where there is a pervasive ""envelope culture"", could say the same.

I have insisted on meeting your journalists in order to provide an objective, balanced view of my country, but to no avail. Even when journalists from your newspaper have visited Cuba, no article has been published. Anyway, I am optimistic and I think there is still time to improve our bilateral relationship.

MIGUEL ANGEL RAMIREZ RAMOS, Cuban Ambassador, Jakarta

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