Reuters
Friday, July 30, 2004 3:46 p.m. EDT
Fidel Interrupts TV to Show 'Fahrenheit 9/11'
Michael Moore's anti-Bush documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" got a prime time airing on Cuban state-run television Thursday.
Fidel Castro interrupted the regularly scheduled broadcasting, as it were, to show the film after it played to packed cinemas for a week, during which Cubans allegedly stood in long lines to see rough DVD copies projected at 120 cinema theaters across the island to what Reuters called "unfailing applause."
"We hope this film will lead Americans to see the reality of their government, and not only deny Bush reelection but put him on trial for the harm he has done to humanity," retired worker Armando Rodriguez told Reuters.
"The film is a work of love for humanity. It confirms what many of us believe, that George W. Bush is a real threat to the world," added University of Havana professor Arnaldo Coro Antich.
In a speech on Monday, Castro also quoted Moore's book "Stupid White Men" which questions Bush's ability to read.
Cuban dissidents who saw "Fahrenheit 9/11" however, praised the United States for its freedom of expression and lamented that such criticism of a president was not allowed in Cuba where the one-party state controls the media.
