By EFE,
Havana : The decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama was “a positive measure and compensates his defeat in Copenhagen when Rio de Janeiro was picked as a site for 2016 Olympic Games”, Cuban leader Fidel Castro has said.
He added that Obama’s Nobel win could be considered a condemnation of the “genocidal policies” of some of the former US presidents.
In an article titled “Reflections”, the 83-year-old ex-president said he does not always share the views of those who award the Nobel, but was “obliged to acknowledge” it, especially in these times, as “a positive measure”.
“Many will say that (Obama) has not yet earned the right to receive such a distinction. We prefer to see the decision – not so much a prize for the president of the US – (but) as a criticism of the genocidal policies pursued by a few presidents of that country, who led the world to the crossroads (as) it is today,” Castro said in the article released Friday.
He said Obama’s Nobel Prize is “an appeal for peace and search for solutions that lead to the survival of species”.
The Cuban leader said: “It compensates for Obama’s defeat in Copenhagen when Rio de Janeiro and not Chicago was picked as the site for the 2016 Olympic Games which provoked angry attacks from his adversaries on the far right.”
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it decided to honour Obama for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”.
The committee said Obama’s “vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations”.