• Submitted by: lena campos
• Personalities
• 06 / 21 / 2012

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Fidel Castro has been called many things during his long turn on the world’s stage, but “succinct” has not been one of them.

So acolytes and detractors alike have met the latest musings of the Cuban revolutionary, long famed for five-hour speeches, with befuddlement. His normally loquacious opinion pieces in the local press lately almost have been short enough to tweet, and sometimes as vague and mysterious as a fortune cookie.

Since he left office in 2006, the former Cuban president has kept himself busy publishing thoughts on whatever topics might interest him: from dire warnings of a looming nuclear Armageddon, to disgust at U.S. politics and to fond memories of his swashbuckling past.

Whatever he writes is reprinted in its entirety in every Cuban newspaper, and read out in serious tones by anchors on television and radio broadcasts. Often, comments or newspaper articles that catch Castro’s fancy are quoted nearly in their entirety, with only brief fresh comment. Occasionally, Castro even quotes his own past columns, entitled “Reflections” verbatim from beginning to end.

The pieces come irregularly, but almost all have one thing in common. They are long. Or at least they were until last week, when the 85-year-old began a flurry of bite-sized ruminations that have Cubans and Cuba-watchers alike scratching their heads.

Source: Washington Post.com