Saul Landau on the Cuban Revolution and How the U.S. Directly Aided Anti-Castro Militants [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Saul Landau on the Cuban Revolution and How the U.S. Directly Aided Anti-Castro Militants
Thursday, December 25, 2014

As the United States moves to normalize relations with Cuba, we rebroadcast our 2012 interview with the late filmmaker Saul Landau, who made more than 45 films and wrote 14 books, many about Cuba. We spoke to him about his film "Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up." He discussed the history of the Cuban Five and U.S. support for a group of anti-Castro militants who have been behind the bombing of airplanes, the blowing up of hotels and assassinations. Today they are allowed to live freely in the United States. "What did Cuba do to us?" Landau asks. "Well, the answer, I think, is that they were disobedient, in our hemisphere. And they did not ask permission to take away property. They took it away. They nationalized property. And the United States ... has never forgiven them."

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: The failed U.S. policy against Cuba, which has for more than half a century stifled relations between these neighboring countries and inflicted generations of harm upon the Cuban people, may finally be collapsing. On December 17th, the two countries announced a series of moves to normalize relations. Cuba released Alan Gross, a U.S. government contractor, and a Cuban named Rolando Sarraff Trujillo, who spied for the CIA. The United States released the three remaining jailed members of the Cuban Five.

The Cuban Five were arrested in the late '90s on espionage charges here in the U.S., but they weren't spying on the U.S. government. They were in Miami infiltrating Cuban-American paramilitary groups based there that were dedicated to the violent overthrow of the Cuban government.

- Video and Full transcript follow.

More:
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/12/25/saul_landau_on_the_cuban_revolution