Tim Blair

Well, I for one glad we didn't send it to him. He apparently learned how to take care of himself.

He apparently learned how to take care of himself.

To say nothing of how he "takes care" of his fellow countrymen...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't we had that letter at the National Archives and Records Administration for a few years now?

I vividly recall a visit to the NARA in Washington, D.C. in 1998, where a letter from Castro as a young boy was on display.

On the other hand, if President Roosevelt had sent the 10 bucks to Fidel, maybe he would be an ardent capitalist swimming in luxury in a prosperous Cuba, instead of being a communist dictator swimming in luxury in a beggared Cuba.

If Fidel had put that $10 bill in a Cuban bank, it'd be worth $9.37 now.

actually, wasn't fidel a lefty pitcher? the yankees would pay him millions now to come out of the bullpen. could there be a more effective closer than "Fidel - El Jefe"?

I long for the day when I receive the following piece of spam:

Greetings!

My name is Hilario Castro, and I am the oldest illegitimate son of Fidel Castro, the late dictator of Cuba. Before my country descended into chaos during the civil war following my father's death, I learned that he had left the sum of $25 million US dollars in a numbered account in a Dutch bank...

Actually, replace the civil war with "capitalist coup" or "occupation by US peacekeeping forces" or "alien invasion" or whatever you want. I just want to see the old fraud gone.

He was just warming up for the yearly letters to Moscow asking for $2 billion.

The point is Castro didn't need it, although he was illegitimate, he was the son of one of Cuba's
leading landowners; a Spaniard who settled down after fighting the Americans.This letter, from the
Dolores School, has an original copy at my alma mater; it does illustrate the early gangsterism of
the man; he was a protogangster even then.

Paul Harvey once did a bit on that story. I believe the reply from Roosevelt, also hand written, was, "Nice try.".

Probably Fidel's still waiting for his reply. President Roosevelt still hasn't replied to my letter of June 1942 seeking to buy ten shillings worth of US war bonds. I feel my contribution to the war effort wasn't appreciated.

Now the Cuban regime receives plenty of US dollars, but as far as I can tell, it pays its people in lousy Cuban currency.

Was Castro always anti-American, or was he relatively ok with the US early on?

Don't laugh; that's pretty much how the whole Cuban economy operates these days.

Why're they talking like this is a new discovery? I read it in a Paul Harvey book when I was a kid. He covered that and the baseball thing. Maybe he has a time machine in the basement.

...And that little boy grew up to be...a Latin American dictator!

And now you know...The Rest of the Story!

the BBC World Service has been pimping that story for two days now.

It's hilarious - and it's almost 20 YEARS OLD.

I recall the press here in the US ran it when I was in high school. There was also one about Castro writing to the White House asking for SNOW, since he never saw it before.