Warning: minor spoilers ahead. The Cuban government has denounced Call of Duty: Black Ops due to an early mission in which players are tasked with assassinating Fidel Castro. The state-run Web site Cubadebate calls the game “doubly perverse,” because it “glorifies the illegal assassination attempts the United States government planned against the Cuban leader” and “stimulates sociopathic attitudes in North American children and adolescents.” Yes, even Cuba will jump on the meme of games turning kids to killers when it’s politically convenient.
Of course, the U.S. government actually did try to assassinate Fidel Castro, dozens of times. As the game shows by example, these were unsuccessful. Players instead kill a lookalike, a popular defense tactic among dictators, and are subsequently captured. “What the United States couldn’t accomplish in more than 50 years, they are now trying to do virtually,” the statement read.
Keep in mind, the Cuban government doesn’t seem to mind the dozens of other violent games to come out every year, nor the previous Call of Duty titles which didn’t feature Cuba. So it’s safe to say that outrage or not, the primary concern here probably isn’t about protecting the fragile and potentially sociopathic minds of children.
