(Source: The Final Call) While the world mourns the death of Fidel Castro, many are remembering him as the protector and defender of political exile Assata Shakur. In 1984, he welcomed Ms. Shakur to the tiny island just 90 miles from Miami.
“They wanted to portray her as a terrorist, something that was an injustice, a brutality, an infamous lie,” Fidel Castro said in a television address in 2005. “They have always been hunting her, searching for her because of the fact that there was an accident in which a policeman died,” Mr. Castro said.
At a time when Cuban American relations were already bad, allowing Black liberation activist Assata Shakur to find refuge on the island only made matters worse. But Fidel Castro did it none the less.
“He is the embodiment of the Cuban Revolution,” Zayid Muhammad, former New Jersey Black Panther leader, told The Final Call. “Cuba has been a protector and defender of Assata Shakur as a matter of principle. Cuba does not give up their political prisoners. Assata is fine there. Castro retired 20 years ago. She couldn’t be in a better place. Cuba is already taking defensive measures since the election. They are on full military alert.”
When President Obama thawed relations with Cuba the Shakur case was not discussed. In 2013, the FBI placed her on its Most Wanted Fugitive List with a $1 million bounty. On the same day, the New Jersey State Police matched that with another $1 million, meaning a $2 million bounty is offered for information leading to her capture. She is the first and only woman on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. [READ MORE]
