Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro during a meeting with Cuban and foreign intellectuals in Havana.

Castro accused the U.S.-led Western alliance of promoting a “war of extermination” against the Russian Federation.

The former president of Cuba, Fidel Castro, this Wednesday accused the new NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg of promoting a “war of extermination” against Russia and described the military alliance as being “more extreme” than the Islamic State group.

“Yesterday I listened to the statements of the new Secretary-General of NATO, a former Prime Minister of Norway, who took office six days ago,” the former leader, 88, wrote in a column published in Cuban state media.

“How much hatred he has in his face!”

He also highlighted the “incredible efforts (by NATO) to facilitate a war against the Russian Federation! Who can be more extremist than the I.S. (Islamic State) fanatics? What religion do you practice? After all this, would you be able to enjoy eternal life in God’s hands?”

Stoltenberg took office as NATO chief October 1, and in recent statements he said that the Western military alliance’s plan to beef up its military presence in eastern Europe does not violate a post-Cold War deal struck with Russia on military force levels in the region.

Tensions have recently increased between Russia and NATO because the U.S.-led alliance accused Moscow of meddling in the Ukrainian situation, a claim that the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.

NATO boosted its military presence close to Russia’s borders, following Crimea’s reunification with Russia in March, specifically in Poland and the former Soviet Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.

An uncertain future

Yesterday I listened to a speech by the new Secretary General of NATO, the former Prime Minister of Norway, who assumed the position on October 1, only six days ago. How much hate in his face! What an incredible effort to promote a war of extermination against the Russian Federation! Who are more extreme than the Islamic State fanatics themselves? What religion do they practice? After this, will it be possible to enjoy eternal life at the right hand of the Lord?

During their evolution, Homo Sapiens, as intelligent beings unique among millions of living species, never had a concept of the nature of, or reason for, their existence. Endowed with the ability to think, they were governed by strict instincts. They knew nothing of the rest of their marvelous planet. It is not even known when they came into possession of this ability; in rare instances some state that it was a million years ago or a little more, but it is generally considered to have been more than 200,000 years ago.

Today we know that the number of planets with similar features to that of our own, in the same galaxy in which we find ourselves, amount to billions, within what we know as the universe. I hope not to offend anyone by addressing the issue of what we are or what we think we are.

Two days ago, on October 5, the television channel Russia Today’s website, a reputable news agency, reported that Laura Mersini-Houghton, prestigious professor at the University of North Carolina, demonstrated that supermassive black holes do not exist and that the Big Bang theory is unfounded. This, I believe, will come as a shock to many people who transformed such a theory into an act of faith.

The highest authority on this topic would be British scientist Stephen Hawking, a man of exceptional merit for his commitment to science, despite a cruel condition which, from a young age, has forced him to make great sacrifices in order to communicate with others.

The most knowledgeable scientists on these issues communicate and publish their results in technical terms, difficult for those who have not had the privilege of familiarizing themselves with this science to understand.

With the publication of “A Brief History of Time,” Stephen Hawking became an author of a book on this important topic, which sold over 10 million copies. It is clear that, apart from its intrinsic interest, the principal consumers were members of the scientific community dedicated to researching such transcendent topics, now joined by millions of eminent researchers. I will do my best to read and understand this work, at a time when my current priority is related to large-scale, quality food production, an effort which can still result in important benefits.

There is much that we are unaware of, and little do we know of our own ignorance.

I read Hawking’s second work, “The Universe in a Nutshell,” written, according to him, in a more comprehensible language for those unfamiliar with the topic, and I highlighted many of the ideas which most interested me. 

Throughout its evolution mankind has never had, nor ever could have had, a clear idea of its own existence, because it simply did not exist, it simply evolved at the same rate as everything else that existed.  This is a reality which is not intended to antagonize or offend anyone.

Everyday we can learn something new. Help others and wherever possible, help ourselves.

Yesterday I listened to a speech by the new Secretary General of NATO, the former Prime Minister of Norway, who assumed the position on October 1, only six days ago. How much hate in his face! What an incredible effort to promote a war of extermination against the Russian Federation! Who are more extreme than the Islamic State fanatics themselves? What religion do they practice? After this, will it be possible to enjoy eternal life at the right hand of the Lord?

Fidel Castro Ruz

October 7, 2014