Janko Bačev Shares an Unfounded Statement by Fidel Castro about the Next War in Europe
The leader of the political party “United Macedonia”, Janko Bačev, shared on his Facebook profile a statement allegedly made by the former president of Cuba, Fidel Castro. However, even though Castro never said anything like Bačev claims, this post has gone viral with 180 shares and over 1,000 reactions.
Told 30 years ago precisely and accurately. Fidel Castro in 1992: “The next war in Europe will be between Russia and fascism, only fascism will then be called democracy”
[Source: Facebook profile of Janko Bačev; Date: 21.08.2022]
EXPLANATION:
Attached to this post is a photo showing Fidel Castro, and under the photo in quotation marks in Spanish is written the statement quoted by Bačev. However, the truth is that Castro did not say “the next war in Europe will be between Russia and fascism, only that fascism will then be called democracy.”
Internet searches show that Castro has never said anything like this, or anything similar to it. In no compilation of his quotations can the indicated statement be found, either when searched in English or in his native language, Spanish.
A website called LANIC – Latin American Network Information Center has a database of all of Castro’s speeches, including those from 1992, the year Bačev claims that Castro allegedly made the statement about the next war in Europe.
On this website, all of Castro’s speeches from 1959 to 1996 can be searched, including all the speeches he gave in 1992. A search of the 1992 speeches does not show that Castro made such a statement, and a keyword search turns up no written document in any other year with such a statement.
On the website fidelcastro.cu, which is a special website about Castro’s character and work, there is a special section of all his speeches and quotes that can also be searched by keyword. If you search for the word “fascism” or the word “democracy”, which are mentioned in Castro’s alleged statement, several statements appear, but not the one cited by Bačev.
The Guardian has singled out the most important quotes from the Cuban leader, but the disputed statement cannot be found here either.
On the anniversary of his death in 2016, Reuters also singled out his most outstanding quotes, but even here the statement about the next war in Europe cannot be found.
Wikipedia has also singled out dozens of his statements on a variety of topics made over the years of his reign, but there is nothing like that statement either. The only thing recorded to have been said in 1992 related to Russia was his statement about the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The USSR self-destructed in an incredible way. The responsibility for that self-destruction undoubtedly rests in the hands of the country’s leaders, those who led that nation. Now, some of them were aware that they were destroying it and others were not.
The statement cannot even be found on the quotations website where Castro’s 138 most famous sayings have been singled out.
Searches of this saying in English show that it is shared on some social networks like Reddit, Quora, without context and source of information. In Spanish, the statement can be found on Twitter, published on July 5, as well as on April 8 this year to Latin American users. That is all that can be found related to this statement.
If there really was such a striking statement by the world-famous Cuban leader, there is no doubt that historians – chroniclers would have recorded it and its place would have been among all his other known statements. Thus, without any written trace and without any more detailed source of information, it seems that this statement was invented now, at this time when Russia is really waging a war on the soil of Europe, that is, in Ukraine, in order to be able to justify that war.
SOURCES:
- Facebook profile of the president of the party “United Macedonia“ Janko Bačev (21.08.2022) – [Accessed on 25.08.2022].
- Lanic – Database of Fidel Castro’s speeches – [Accessed on 08/25/2022].
- Fidelcastro.cu – a website about Fidel Castro – [Accessed on 08/25/2022].
- The Guardian: Castro in quotes (2008-02-19) – [Accessed on 2022-08-25].
- Reuters: Cuba’s Fidel Castro in his own words (26/11/2016) – [Accessed on 25/08/2022].
- Wikiquote: Fidel Castro – [Accessed on 2022-08-25].
- thefamouspeople.com: 138 most famous quotes from Fidel Castro – [Accessed on 08/25/2022]
Assessed by: Simona Atanasova
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