AP Photo/Estudios Revolucion, Cubadebate

Fidel Castro is back indeed, and talking about his near-death experience to La Jornada. And, while taking in a dolphin show at Cuba's national aquarium (he seems pretty fond of the aquarium, doesn't he?), Fidel's undoubtedly been talking about about other life and death subjects - Israel, Iran and what Obama will or won't do in a potential nuclear standoff - with American journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, noted Israel expert, and author of a recent article in The Atlantic, The Point of No Return, which Fidel read with intense interest and excerpted for readers in his August 25th reflection. Why they took in the show at the aquarium is frankly beyond me. But I find it interesting that Adela Dworim, president of Cuba's small Hebrew Community, was with them. I'm hoping that Mr. Goldberg might have gained some insight on his trip into the case of Alan Gross that hasn't yet come to light?

Thanks to the tireless new clippers at Cuban Colada for translating this part of the La Jornada interview of Fidel Castro, concerning the internment of gay Cubans in labor camps in the 1960's. Castro called it "a great injustice," and said he assumed the responsibility for it, having not paid attention to what was going on at the time, what with the Cuban missile crisis, bay of pigs, exploding cigars and such on his plate:

"We had so many and such terrible problems of life or death [...] that we didn't pay enough attention to it. [...] It's like when the saint sins, right? It's not the same as when the sinner sins, no?"

And, Babulu blog highlights a comment from the Ladies in White's chief spokeswoman, Laura Pollan, in this excerpt of a Catholic News Agency story:

Distancing herself from the recent criticism of the Church in Cuba and its role in the release of political prisoners, Laura Pollan, spokeswoman for the Women in White, stated that “In Cuba there is no better mediator” than the Catholic Church, because it is an institution without a political agenda.

In case you were wondering how that went over with Babalu readers, here's a sampling: