Vietnam split over Castro national mourning

Yahoo – AFP, December 4, 2016

A wreath from Vietnam Communist Party Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong is
seen next to a large portrait of Fidel Castro in front of the Cuban embassy in
Hanoi (AFP Photo/HOANG DINH NAM)

Flags flew at half mast in government buildings in communist Vietnam Sunday, as the country marked a day of national mourning for Fidel Castro -- an honour of the highest accord that has divided public opinion.

Cuba's revolutionary leader Castro died last week at age 90, prompting an outpouring of grief in Vietnam where officials hailed him as a communist brother and comrade.

The Cuban embassy in Hanoi has filled with flowers from mourners since his death.

On Sunday, state offices across the country flew black-ribboned flags at half-mast while authorities called on entertainment venues to suspend activities for the day.

But the national day of mourning -- afforded in the past only to the most senior Vietnamese politicians or war heros -- has not been universally welcomed.

"He is not Vietnamese. We owe him for his support, but a day of national mourning is a bit too much," 25-year-old office worker Nguyen Luu Huong told AFP.

"It's ridiculous," businessman Hoang Bau added. "I am sure many Vietnamese do not care about it."

Vietnam is an authoritarian state where people are cautious about speaking out in public against the government.

On social media, where many Vietnamese feel less constrained, disapproving comments abounded.

"There is no laws for the Communist Party to ask the nation to mourn a foreigner, whoever that person is," said activist Le Dung.

People hold flowers as they wait to pay tribute to the Cuban leader Fidel Castro at

the Cuban embassy in Hanoi on December 4, 2016 (AFP Photo/HOANG DINH NAM)

"I do not support this decision at all," he told AFP.

In contrast, state-run media was filled with supportive comments saying a day of mourning for Castro was appropriate given he was one of the earliest and most steadfast supporters of Ho Chi Minh's communist revolution in Vietnam.

"Fidel Castro has been very devoted to our Vietnam, so a day of national mourning for him is worthy," wrote reader Bui Ta Vinh on the website of Tuoi Tre newspaper.

Cuba and Vietnam maintained strong ties even after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, despite the 15,000 kilometres (9,300 miles) that separates the two countries.

Castro has been lionised in Vietnam after a landmark visit to a battlefield in Quang Tri province in 1973, just days after communist's forces drove American-backed soldiers from the territory.

Cuba has funded infrastructure projects in Vietnam and paid for post-war recovery efforts even as coffers drained back home under Castro's hardline communist economic policies.

Fidel Castro visited Vietnam two more times after his historic battlefield visit, in 1995 and 2003.

Vietnamese leaders have often travelled to Cuba, including President Tran Dai Quang who was the last head of state to see Castro before he died.

The last person in Vietnam to be nationally mourned was legendary war general Vo Nguyen Giap in 2013.

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— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 28, 2016

"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa, Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version)

"... I want you to watch some countries. I don't have a clock [this statement is Kryon telling us that there is no time frame on his side of the veil, only potentials]. I'll just tell you, it's imminent [in Spirit's timing, this could mean as soon as a decade]. I want you to watch some countries carefully for changes. You're going to be seeing changes that are obvious, and some that are not obvious [covert or assumptive]. But the obvious ones you will see sooner than not - Cuba, Korea [North], Iran, of course, and Venezuela. I want you to watch what happens when they start to realize that they don't have any more allies on Earth! Even their brothers who used to support them in their hatred of some are saying, "Well, perhaps not anymore. It doesn't seem to be supporting us anymore." Watch the synchronicities that are occurring. The leaders who have either died or are going to in the next year or so will take with them the old ways. Watch what happens to those who take their place, and remember these meetings where I described these potentials to you.

The Old Energy is Alive, But Not Happy

I want to tell you something: Old energy dies kicking and screaming. Old energy does not surrender, ever. Old energy simply dies hard and slow. There will be hold-outs for a long time. There will be those who are convinced that the only way to get what they want is to create drama, war, and fear. They continue to want to spring up in places you felt were safe, and to pull you backwards with them. They hate the fact that the earth is going soft on them, and they continue to rattle their sabers, make threats, and make news doing it. They're not the majority, Human Being, but often they are the loudest. When you walk around in perfect health and you are feeling great except for your sore toe, what do you think about? Your SORE TOE! So then you watch your media talk about sore toes for endless hours, and you get depressed. I know you understand the metaphor. ..."