Fidel Castro Praises ‘Esteemed Colleague’ Greek Prime Minister Tsipras For ‘Brilliant Political Victory’

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is taking fire from many quarters today as he attends the Eurogroup meetings to discuss his country’s debt crisis. He can, however, take solace from the fact that one titan of international politics is on his side. In a letter dated 5 July but published on the front pages of Cuban state newspapers today, Fidel Castro praises his “esteemed colleague” Tsipras and Greece for their “brilliant political victory”.

The letter reads:

I congratulate you warmly on your brilliant political victory, the details of which I followed closely on the Telesur channel.

Cubans are very familiar with Greece. It taught philosophy, art and science of antiquity when we studied in school, and with these subjects, the most complex of all human activities: the art and science of politics.

Your country, especially its courage at this juncture, arouses admiration among Latin American and Caribbean peoples of this hemisphere to see how Greeks, against external aggression, defend their identity and culture.

Nor will we forget that a year after Hitler’s attack on Poland, Mussolini ordered his troops to invade Greece, and that brave country repelled the attack and drove back the invaders, forcing the deployment of German armored units to Greece, deviating from the initial target.

Cuba knows the value and the fighting capacity of Russian troops, which, together with the strength of their powerful ally the People’s Republic of China, and other nations of the Middle East and Asia, always try to avoid war, but never allow any military aggression without overwhelming and devastating response.

In the current political situation in the world, where peace and the survival of our species hang in the balance, every decision, more than ever, must be carefully developed and implemented, so that no one can doubt the honesty and seriousness of many of the most responsible and serious leaders who struggle today to face the calamities that threaten the world.

We wish you, esteemed colleague Alexis Tsipras, the greatest success.

Sincerely,

Fidel Castro Ruz

Tsipras’ reaction to the letter has not been made public, but his wife, a fellow former Greek Communist Party Youth activist said to be his radical conscience, will likely be thrilled.