JAPAN: Daughter of Cuban revolutionary activist Che Guevara says she is disappointed in U.S. President Barack Obama

Record ID: 465590

  • Title: JAPAN: Daughter of Cuban revolutionary activist Che Guevara says she is disappointed in U.S. President Barack Obama
  • Date: 19th October 2010
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (AUGUST 18, 2010) (REUTERS) **CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY** ALEIDA GUEVARA WALKING ON THE PODIUM PEOPLE LISTENING TO ALEIDA'S SPEECH (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CHE GUEVARA'S DAUGHTER, ALEIDA GUEVARA, SAYING: "We had a lot of hope with President Obama because he is the first black president in a country that is primarily racist. We thought that his government would bring change, but that has not happened." PEOPLE LISTENING TO ALEIDA MORE OF PEOPLE LISTENING TO ALEIDA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CHE GUEVARA'S DAUGHTER, ALEIDA GUEVARA SAYING: "We know that socialism is not a totally complete system, or perfect. We know, we are convinced that there are many things that we have to overcome. And there are many things that we need to improve. But it is this system that has permitted us to live with dignity for the last 50 years." MORE OF NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALIST APPLAUDING GUEVARA
  • Embargoed: 3rd November 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: International Relations,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA4A9ZFXEOB0TG08XNMMVTU77FR
  • Story Text: Aleida Guevara, the daughter of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara, said in a new conference in Tokyo on Monday (October 18) she was disappointed at President Barack Obama despite her earlier hopes.
    "We had a lot of hope with President Obama because he is the first black president in a country that is primarily racist. We thought that his government would bring change but that has not happened," Aleida, the eldest of four daughters of Che Guevara said.
    Aleida Guevara is a doctor of medicine and known for her human rights activism throughout developing nations. She is also a marxist like her father though she admits the system is not perfect.
    "We know that socialism is not a totally complete system, or perfect. We know, we are convinced that there are many things that we have to overcome. And there are many things that we need to improve. But it is this system that has permitted us to live with dignity in the last 50 years," she said.
    Earlier this year, Fidel Castro said he had been misunderstood when he had been quoted as admitting the communist-led Cuba's economic model does not work.
    Castro, speaking at the University of Havana, said his words had been misinterpreted by his interviewer, U.S. journalist Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic Monthly magazine, who quoted a U.S. analyst saying they indicated Castro now supports a smaller state role in the island's Soviet-style economy.
    Castro's words to Goldberg had been interpreted by some as a rejection of communism, by others as an indication that he supports economic reforms being implemented by his younger brother, President Raul Castro.
    President Castro, who took office in early 2008, has introduced modest changes aimed at increasing productivity while preserving the communist system installed by Fidel Castro after he took power in a 1959 revolution.
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