This is the article and it's long http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081215/penn?rel=hp_picks Interview with Raul starts on page 3.
I really respect Sean Penn as an actor. I think he's versatile and I enjoy most of his movies. But now I don't know what to think of him. Why is it that these show business types always get seduced by men like Fidel and Raul. I guess they don't know that the arts get special treatment in Cuba. These celebrities go to Cuba and get the sense that it is a special place which is understandable. But they really need to take their head out of their ass and see the reality of what the Cuban leadership has done to the country. Strangely ignorant on behalf of Penn chumming around with Raul. You'd think that with the means he has and the life experience a man in his position can accumulate he wouldn't be so naive. Opening a dialog is one thing but openly admiring the man is weak.
We all know Fidel has a way with words that can twist people's heads around. I guess it rubbed off on Raul as he seems to dish out the same seducing charm (from Penn's perspective) which I think you'll note if you read the article. Shit he's even able to get to me with hings like this (page 4):
QuoteI want to ask Castro my unanswered question a final time, as our mutual body language suggests we've hit the witching hour. It is after 1 am, but he initiates. "Now," he says, "you asked if I would accept to meet with [Obama] in Washington. I would have to think about it. I would discuss it with all my comrades in the leadership. Personally, I think it would not be fair that I be the first to visit, because it is always the Latin American presidents who go to the United States first. But it would also be unfair to expect the president of the United States to come to Cuba. We should meet in a neutral place."
He pauses, putting down his empty wine glass. "Perhaps we could meet at Guantánamo. We must meet and begin to solve our problems, and at the end of the meeting, we could give the president a gift...we could send him home with the American flag that waves over Guantánamo Bay."
Still one has to keep in mind the reality of the average person living in Cuba.