{"article":{"id":8623,"heading":"David Aaronovitch: My lingering fondness for Fidel","author":"Independent.co.uk","created":"2001-07-12 11:09:57","modified":"2005-08-15 00:36:25","last_modified":"Mon, 15 Aug 2005 07:36:25","article":"

David Aaronovitch: My lingering fondness for Fidel

'My world has always had a happy corner in it populated by the beard, the fatigues, the hat and the cigar'

11 July 2001

Fidel Castro is ill again, according to the rumours. The Comandante is 75 next month, and apparently last weekend turned up to make a speech that lasted no more than 10 minutes. In modern Britain or America a political address that long is considered to be an epic. A fortnight ago the BBC reported, without a hint of self-reproach, that the average length of a political sound-bite on the TV news had gone from something like 30 seconds down to 25 seconds. By the time Michael Portillo becomes Prime Minister political points will have to be made in no more than six words. As in \"I've changed, he hasn't, vote me.\"







































<\/p>\n","contact":"David.Aaronovitch@btinternet.com","link":"http:\/\/news.independent.co.uk","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"'My world has always had a happy corner in it populated by the beard, the fatigues, the hat and the cigar'","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2001\/07\/david_aaro.txt","filesize":"7.1 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2001\/07\/8623.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}