So how does an American news giant tell its on air talent to handle Fidel Castro's resignation?

By glossing over the truth of the tyrant's reign and pimping "social progress" under his brutal regime:

In a memo to CNN anchors, CNN brass laid down the line that should be taken when talking about the resignation:

* Please say in our reporting that Castro stepped down in a letter he wrote to Granma (the communist party daily), as opposed to in a letter attributed to Fidel Castro. We have no reason to doubt he wrote his resignation letter, he has penned numerous articles over the past year and a half.

* Please note Fidel did bring social reforms to Cuba – namely free education and universal health care, and racial integration. in addition to being criticized for oppressing human rights and freedom of speech.

* Also the Cuban government blames a lot of Cuba’s economic problems on the US embargo, and while that has caused some difficulties, (far less so than the collapse of the Soviet Union) the bulk of Cuba’s economic problems are due to Cuba’s failed economic polices. Some analysts would say the US embargo was a benefit to Castro politically – something to blame problems on, by what the Cubans call “the imperialist,” meddling in their affairs.

* While despised by some, he is seen as a revolutionary hero, especially with leftist in Latin America, for standing up to the United States.

Any questions, please call the international desk.

Um...I have a question. Is it okay to mention that upwards of 80,000 political prisoners were executed during the 49 year reign of this monster? Or is that out?

Or that thousands of political prisoners languish in jails to this day?

Just askin...


Hat Tip: Babalu Blog for the CNN Memo - the "Goto" blog for Latin America news and analysis.