Journalism prizes

This business with Fidel Castro writing regular “editorials” for the official Cuban media appears to have been taken seriously, at least by some members of a body called the Union of Cuban Journalists.

Now, we all know that this group - which is supposed to represent Cuban media workers and their interests - in nothing but a mouthpiece for the Castro regime.

But even then … do these guys have no shame?

According to this report in the Cuban official paper Ahora, journalists from the province of Ciego de Avila have nominated the semi-retired dictator for the Jose Marti National Award for Journalism, the top journalistic honour in the country.

The nomination is supposed to recognise Castro’s life-long commitment to journalism (stop laughing …), going back to a number of "revolutionary" articles he is supposed to have written while still at university in the 1940s.

You know, back in those dark, bad pre-Revolution days when people such as Castro could write dissenting articles attacking the government of the day – and get them published in the media!

Anyway, according to the odious toadies who have nominated El Comandante en Jefe for the prize, Castro deserves to win because of his current series of “editorials”, which were described as “examples of exhaustive investigative reporting".

No, no shame.