Radio: He should ânever have been bornâ
Monday, June 7, 2004 Posted: 4:55 PM EDT (2055 GMT)
HAVANA, Cuba (AP) â Cuba harshly criticized former President Ronald Reagan and his policies on Monday, saying he should ânever have been born.â{{more}}
In the first reaction to Reaganâs death from the communist government, Radio Reloj said:
âAs forgetful and irresponsible as he was, he forgot to take his worst works to the grave,â the government radio station said.
âHe, who never should have been born, has died,â the radio said.
The statement did not mention Cubaâs relationship with the United States under Reagan, a staunch foe of communism.
It also did not mention Reaganâs decision to order U.S. forces to invade the tiny Caribbean country of Grenada on October 25, 1983, because Washington feared the island had grown too close to Cuba.
Since the early 1960s, Cuba and the United States have been without diplomatic relations, and Cuba has been under a U.S. trade embargo. But relations between the two countries were especially tense when Reagan was in office from 1981-1989.
Radio Reloj lambasted Reaganâs military policies, especially the âStar Warsâ anti-missile program. The initiative, launched when the Soviet Union still existed, rejected a long-standing doctrine built on the idea that neither superpower would start a nuclear war out of fear of annihilation by the other.
The radio also criticized Reaganâs policies in Central America, where Washington backed a counterrevolutionary rebel army that fought against the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua. The United States also supported a conservative government that battled Marxist guerrillas during El Salvadorâs civil war.
âHis apologists characterize him as the victor of the Cold War,â the radio said. âThose in the know knew that the reality was not so, but rather (he was) the destroyer of policies of detente in the overall quest for peace.â
News
June 11, 2004
Cuba lambasts Reagan