Cuba: Renegades, Radicals and Revolutionaries
Nm | 23.05.2002 02:29
Cuba: Renegades, Radicals and Revolutionaries
George Papanastasiou
Victoria University.
22 May 2002
When Mr Bush disgracefully won office in last years Presidential ‘elections’ many around the world were astounded.
We all remember the farce that turned US democracy into a creepy joke. The final result came down to the disputed ballots cast in Florida. After weeks of political wrangling and underhandedness, US ‘democracy’ prevailed when a finding from the Republican leaning Supreme Court declared George W. Bush and the Republican Party the winners – and, lets not forget, US brand ‘democracy’ as well.
Now, Republican Governor Jeb Bush, who is Dubya’s brother, rules Florida. Florida is a state that’s had a disproportionate say in close elections during recent decades. They say if you win Florida, you’re virtually assured the Presidency, and going on last year’s debacle this certainly rings true. But Florida’s electoral notoriety isn’t just the product of fluke or coincidence. Florida is home to the belligerent Cuban exiles who’ve manned the front line of hostilities between Cuba and the United States for 43 years.
If we know that in order to secure the Presidency you need to win Florida, then naturally, in order to win Florida you have to please the huge number of anti-Castro Cuban exiles who’ve developed an anal hatred for Cuban Socialism and Fidel Castro.
No doubt, Florida Governor Jeb Bush played a major role in assuring the scandalous victory for his brother in last years’ fiasco, and in this electoral year for Jeb, his brother is returning the favour.
First, Bush and the band of corporate mobsters elevated to high positions around him decided to undermine former President Carter’s visit to Cuba with the clinically timed accusation of Cuba’s ‘potential’ to develop biological weapons of mass destruction. When challenged by Cuba and Carter to show proof, the Bush administration went into an embarrassing retraction, leaving Colin Powel to point out "We do believe Cuba has a biological offensive research capability" - "We didn't say it actually had some weapons, but it has the capacity and capability to conduct such research." In fact, this accusation can be levelled at any country on Earth with a pharmaceutical industry, and yes, almost every country on the planet has one.
For the indiscretion of having a pharmaceutical capacity the envy of many developed countries, used to care for it’s own people and the people of other third-world countries, Cuba was inducted into the ‘new’ Axis of Evil, or as undersecretary of state John Bolton put it, the group “Beyond the Axis of Evil”, along with Syria and Libya. Such bombastic labelling more befits a James Bond or Star Wars movie than measured foreign policy statements of a respected nation; but we’d be kidding ourselves if we really thought that.
Having inspected Cuba’s pharmaceutical amenities and seen firsthand Cuba’s renowned medical achievements, Carter said he was “overwhelmed with the dedication of the Cuban people and their government in conducting research that put people ahead of profits.” - so much for biological weapons of mass destruction.
Now well into a deliberate campaign to have brother Jeb re-elected in Florida whilst exploiting an opportunity to do some old fashioned Cuba bashing as a bonus, George W. made the trek to Miami to deliver a speech to a huge anti-Castro crowd, salivating at the thought of having the most powerful man on Earth support them in their anti-communist fixation.
It’s very important to note Bush’s remarks on Cuba and Fidel Castro so we can use facts and reasoning to respond to his statements, without resorting to comparably haughty cold-war rhetoric intended more to influence the stupid and conservative than convince the intelligent.
Responding in the order in which the statements were made:
G.W. Bush: Cuba’s … “legacy of courage has been insulted by a tyrant who uses brutal methods to enforce a bankrupt vision. That legacy has been debased by a relic from another era, who has turned a beautiful island into a prison”
Strong words ‘debased’ of any truer logic: more intended to emotionally rouse a listener than invoke a thoughtful response. Fidel Castro is a ‘tyrant’ - only to those leaders around the world who endorse the relentless militarism and resultant desolation of neo-liberal ideals.
‘Brutal methods’? When was the last time Fidel Castro used massive ‘daisy-cutter’ bombs or endorsed the slaughter of a defenceless population using US military hardware as in Palestine? How many nuclear, biological or chemical weapons does Fidel have, and how many George Bush? Whose country actually used such weapons on a civilian population? I could go on and on but I’d better stop there.
The problem with socialism is that when viewed through the eyes of a capitalist it doesn’t make sense, because the capitalist doesn’t understand how to pay for it. So they brand it a ‘bankrupt vision’ because they don’t comprehend how it can give a poor country the ability to lead the world in social welfare standards. They’d prefer Cuba be run like Enron instead.
As for Cuba being a ‘prison’ a 2002 Human Rights Watch report on prisons around the world stated “The U.S. incarcerated a greater proportion of its population than any country except Russia and Rwanda: more than 1.7 million people were either in prison or in jail in 1998, reflecting an incarceration rate of more than 645 per 100,000 residents, double the rate of a decade before. Approximately one in every 117 adult males was in prison.” Adding “In the United States, electronic stun devices were used to control inmates…. rape was a widespread problem facilitated by staff indifference and even, in some instances, complicity, as well as by a lack of effective prevention and punishment systems.“
More worrisome were details from the US Death Penalty Focus organization which this year confirmed these horrible facts about capital punishment in the United States:
· 100 innocent men have been sentenced to death in the last 20 years.
· To try a capital case costs $2.8 million, over twice the cost of life in prison.
· The U.S. is one of only 6 countries in the world to sentence children to death.
· 54% of death row inmates are people of colour. 83% of the victims were white.
G.W. Bush: “…just a month ago the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, in a resolution proposed by the nations of Latin America, called upon Cuba’s government to finally – to finally - begin respecting the human rights of its people.
Even the mainstream western media now acknowledge the horrible events of September 11, 2001 have been exploited relentlessly by the United States to suppress civil liberties at home and justify a unilateral bravado in pursuing, promoting and defending US ‘interests’ abroad. It was made clear early – you’re either with us or with them, that is, the terrorists. Cowering behind such intimidation, Latin American countries, at the behest of the United States, introduced a resolution at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights condemning Cuba for human rights violations. They only just managed to have it passed, 23 votes in favour and 21 against, with 9 abstentions.
Many of the African countries who voted to condemn Cuba have since admitted they were pressured and even blackmailed by the United States. Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Council Secretary Condoleezza Rice threatened to deny the African governments funds from the so-called new initiative for African Economic Development and block new credits in trade.
Soon after this condemnation, at the annual Mayday rally attended by nearly 1 million Cubans in Havana, Fidel Castro made these startling comments:
“We were condemned in Geneva by those who believe that this sea of people gathered here, which can be seen from every corner of the globe, has been deprived of it’s human rights. I am certain that not one of those Latin American countries that promoted, co-sponsored or supported this project could gather even 5% of the number here in their respective capitals”
“Our Latin American brothers have repeatedly been told stories as fantastic as those in the "Arabian nights", in which they believe less and less every day. For 50 years they have been told that the hundreds of thousands of children that die every year due to neglect and hunger; the millions that work for pitiful salaries cleaning car windshields or shoes, or being traded or sexually exploited instead of going to school, represent democracy and respect for human rights. That the hundreds of millions of human beings living in poverty despite the immense wealth and natural resources that surround them; the vast number of unemployed and underemployed people and informal labourers who survive without the slightest aid, social security or protection; the medical neglect of mothers, children, old people and the poor population in general; the marginalisation, drugs, lack of security and crime, are called democracy; are called respect for human rights. That the death squads, summary executions, torture, and the vanishing and murder of people; that the bribery, misappropriation, diversion and bare-faced robbery of public funds while schools and hospitals are closed, national assets and resources are privatised or often given away to domestic and foreign friends and partners in crime and corruption, constitute the fullest expression of democracy and human rights. It doesn’t occur to them that the economic, political and social system that they defend is a total negation of all possibility of equality, freedom, democracy, human dignity and justice.”
On 27 November 2001, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution (167 in favour, 3 against with 3 abstaining) on “…the need to end the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States against Cuba.” But this wasn’t the first time such a resolution condemning the United States was adopted. In fact, it was the tenth time - in a row.
The entire world can stand against the United States and in favour of Cuba at the UN, for an entire decade, but the US can continue to ignore them. Can we ever expect the United States to finally – to finally – begin respecting the will of the people of the entire world, and indeed the majority of its own people who want an end to the blockade?
G.W. Bush: “All elections in Castro’s Cuba have been a fraud”
At least Bush acknowledges there are elections in Cuba, because having been branded a dictatorship for so long by the US, I was beginning to wonder if every single Cuban I spoke to about voting and Cuban elections was smoking crack.
Fidel Castro has been the President of Cuba for over 43 years. He has to be elected to his position every electoral year, just like everyone else in the National Assembly of people’s power . Now, this sounds like a bit of a joke, doesn’t it? How can one man continually win elections, over and over, for so long? He must be a dictator who fraudulently wins his post, right?
But, consider this. Immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the evaporation of the favourable trading terms between the two countries, Cuba went into an economic meltdown from which no one expected it to recover. In fact, many exiles in Miami had their bags packed ready to go, eager to come back to a ruined Cuba to reclaim their nationalised properties from the Cuban people. Undaunted, Cuba devised an economic plan to rescue many of the gains of its Socialist system and declared a period of austerity termed the ‘special period’.
In the midst of all this, Nelson Mandela, then President of South Africa visited Cuba:
“I went to Cuba in July 1991, and I drove through the streets with Fidel Castro. There were a great deal of cheers. And I also waved back believing that these cheers were for me. Fidel was very humble, he smiled but he never said a word. But when I reached the square where I had to make some remarks to the crowd, then I realized that these cheers were not meant for me, they were meant for Fidel Castro. Because everybody forgot about me, and was really aroused by Fidel Castro. Then I realized that here was a man of the masses. Because he went around shaking hands of a large number of people in the crowd. And all of them rejoiced in the excitement of the time. Those are the impressions I have about Fidel Castro in Cuba.”
But of course, the people cheering for Fidel were frauds.
In all of the America’s, it’s well known that the country with the lowest level of political or institutional corruption is Cuba. That’s why Cuba is also the safest country to visit in the region. Ask any tourist who’s been there and then been elsewhere, even to the US, and they’ll tell you.
G.W. Bush: “I also challenge Cuba’s government to ease its stranglehold, to change its stranglehold on private economic activity”, “…property rights must be respected.”
Now here is the true crux of Bush’s antagonism toward Cuba (as well as helping his brother get re-elected in Florida). There are two schools of thought on the matter:
1) Give everyone the freedom to pursue their own interests (often called dreams and aspirations by egoists) and we end up with jungle societies, oppressive and exploitive, where corporations rule everything with delusional incentives and bogus promises, where there’s obscene wealth on one side and squalid poverty for the enormous majority on the other.
(See: the other countries of Central and South America.)
or
2) Encourage the individual to work for society, to focus on society instead of only him/herself. That way, as members of society, he/she also improves their own position concomitantly. We end up with people that aren’t only self-aware but society aware. Left alone to progress, without constant harassment from arrogant superpowers, who knows what society they could achieve. Now imagine what might happen if such progress were even encouraged.
(See: astonishing social and democratic advances by Nicaragua straight after the triumph of the Sandinista’s)
“Property rights must be respected”, especially for the wealthy exiles back in Miami no doubt. Open up Cuba’s national industries to private ownership and watch the country thrive! Instead, why don’t we challenge the United States to guarantee the social safeguards currently in place in Cuba, if Cuba turns to capitalism?
Would they? Could they?
In his speech to the Cuban people on May 1st, Fidel Castro offered these remarkable statistics:
“For the sake of time, I will outline just a few figures for Latin America as a whole as compared to Cuba.”
· Illiteracy rate: Latin America, 11.7 %; Cuba, 0.2 %
· Inhabitants per teacher: Latin America, 98.4; Cuba, 43, in other words, 2.3 times as many teachers per capita Primary education enrolment ratio: Latin America, 92 %; Cuba, 100%
· Secondary education enrolment ratio: Latin America, 52 %; Cuba, 99.7 %
· Primary school students reaching Fifth Grade: Latin America, 76 %; Cuba, 100 %.
· Infant mortality per thousand live births: Latin America, 32; Cuba, 6.2
· Medical doctors per hundred thousand inhabitants: Latin America, 160; Cuba, 590
· Dentists per hundred thousand inhabitants: Latin America, 63; Cuba, 89
· Nurses per hundred thousand inhabitants: Latin America, 69; Cuba, 743
· Hospital beds per 100 thousand inhabitants: Latin America, 220; Cuba, 631.6
· Medically attended births: Latin America, 86.5 %; Cuba, 100 %
· Life expectancy at birth: Latin America, 70 years; Cuba, 76 years
· Population between 15 and 49 years of age infected with HIV/AIDS: Latin America, 0.5 %; Cuba, 0.05 %
· Annual AIDS infection rate per million inhabitants, i.e. those who develop the disease: Latin America, 65.25; Cuba, 15.6
· The first international study of the Latin American Laboratory of Evaluation of educational quality, carried out in 12 Latin American countries including Cuba, produced the following results. Although these data have been already mentioned, I would like to briefly refer to them in detail:
* In Language, 3rd Grade: Cuba, 85.74 points; the remaining 11 countries, 59.11 points
* In Language, 4th Grade: Cuba, 87.25; the rest, 63.75
* In Mathematics, 3rd Grade: Cuba, 87.75; the rest, 58.31
* In Mathematics, 4th Grade: Cuba, 88.25; the rest, 62.04
The New York Times, in an article published on December 18, 2001 described the findings of a regional task force comparing primary education standards in Latin America: “In test scores, completion rates and literacy levels, Cuban primary students are at or near the top of a list of peers from across Latin America” continuing, “Indeed, the performance of Cuban third and fourth graders in math and language so dramatically outstripped that of other nations that the United Nations agency administering the test returned to Cuba and tested students again.” “The findings for the rest of Latin America were grim”
G.W. Bush: “Today, there is only one nation in our hemisphere that is not a democracy. Only one.”
Aristotle: “Democracy [is] when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.” It may well be, that there is only one nation in our (western) hemisphere that is a democracy. Only one.
But what does the United States mean by ‘democracy’? Was the international disgrace that duped the world and gave George W. Bush the Presidency, democracy?
When other countries are concerned does democracy mean a political system that allows the US to organise, implement and help execute coups to overthrow the democratically elected leaders and then excuse their downfall? Of course it doesn’t. But, wait a minute; didn’t they just do that in Venezuela?
O.k., maybe this ‘US brand’ democracy gives them the right to interfere in the internationally certified electoral processes of democratic nations if it seems likely the winners won’t favour US ‘interests’. But surely, they can’t do that either?
They can, they did. The most recent example was last November, when Governor Jeb Bush, under instruction from brother George, helped pervert the Nicaraguan elections when it seemed the Socialist Frente Sandinista would win. They threatened Nicaragua with re-introduced sanctions and suspended aid, they hinted at possible hostile repercussions, they accused the FSLN candidate of being a terrorist comparable to Osama bin Laden and they openly encouraged a vote for a right-wing millionaire businessman they knew would tow the US line for another 6 years, all at the expense of Nicaragua’s alarmingly poor people.
So, according to the United States, a ‘democracy’ is a country that does exactly what the US says. That’s why every country in the western hemisphere is a ‘democracy’ except for Cuba.
G.W. Bush: “Well-intentioned ideas about trade will merely prop up this dictator, enrich his cronies and enhance the totalitarian regime. It will not help the Cuban people. With real political and economic reform, trade can benefit the Cuban people and allow them to share in the progress of our times”
“Well intentioned ideas” about ending the economic embargo are Bush’s way of acknowledging that more and more Americans (and prominent ones at that) are against the cruel harassment of the embargo, most think that if Cuba is exposed to the ‘freedoms’ enjoyed by the people of the US then they’ll quickly become converts to that special blend of US capitalism and democracy (commonly known as a plutocracy.)
The truth is the United States knows, and has known for a while, that Cuba and Cuba’s Socialism are the real deal, so they wont let go. How do they know? From the figures outlined earlier, figures like these have verified Cuba’s progressive endeavours and other social achievements since 1959, the year Fidel Castro kicked-out the vile US-backed Batista regime and freed Cuba’s people from rampant US hedonism and the social apathy it begets.
So here’s the dilemma. If the US were to leave Cuba alone, to sink or swim of it’s own accord; they run the risk of Cuba thriving uncontrollably as a socialist country, boosting the living standards of its people further. That would serve as an unmistakable example to the millions of poor in the region (and around the globe) who’d then demand the same social principles and living standards as their Cuban brothers and sisters. Imagine poor people with food, healthcare, education, employment, and housing…. Everywhere. How would capitalism pay for that?
The US would end-up with more than one Cuba, and immeasurably less influence over millions of peoples and their lands in Central and South America, a travesty of untold proportions.
And what would happen if the US, the world’s ‘freest’ nation, were to lift the current ban on its citizens travelling to Cuba? Could they risk average American’s discovering the truth about Cuba for themselves?
“With real political and economic reform, trade can benefit the Cuban people and allow them to share in the progress of our times” Russia would be the best example of this, where recently the social policy chief estimated that ¼ of the population has fallen below subsistence levels while the new rulers have gained enormous wealth, and where a UN inquiry contributed ½ million extra deaths per year to neo-liberal reforms.
But maybe Bush is referring to the current ‘progress’ shared by people nearer to Cuba? In Argentina perhaps?
G.W. Bush: “Fidel Castro has a chance to escape this lonely and stagnant isolation. If he accepts our offer, he can bring help to his people and hope to our relations”
Darth Vader: “Surrender to the dark-side, Luke. Together we can rule the galaxy.”
Thanks - but no thanks.
At the recent International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, the world’s leaders gathered to discuss the growing problem of international poverty, humanity’s greatest ever injustice. Fidel Castro made a short but striking speech and was then discourteously forced to leave the conference. It seems George W. Bush didn’t want to risk an encounter with Fidel, lest he be inflicted with a bout of communism, or reality. The Mexican hosts disgracefully risked the long-standing camaraderie between the Mexican and Cuban peoples to appease the US President, and inadvertently bared their gutlessness at the same time. Nonetheless, Fidel’s brief speech received a standing ovation:
Excellencies:
Not everyone here will share my thoughts. Still, I will respectfully say what I think.
The existing world economic order constitutes a system of plundering and exploitation like no other in history. Thus, the peoples believe less and less in statements and promises.
The prestige of the international financial institutions rates less than zero.
The world economy is today a huge casino. Recent analyses indicate that for every dollar that goes into trade, over one hundred end up in speculative operations completely disconnected from the real economy.
As a result of this economic order, over 75 percent of the world population lives in underdevelopment, and extreme poverty has already reached 1.2 billion people in the Third World. So, far from narrowing, the gap is widening.
The revenue of the richest nations that in 1960 was 37 times larger than that of the poorest is now 74 times larger. The situation has reached such extremes that the assets of the three wealthiest persons in the world amount to the GDP of the 48 poorest countries combined.
The number of people actually starving was 826 million in the year 2001. There are at the moment 854 million illiterate adults while 325 million children do not attend school. There are 2 billion people who have no access to low cost medications and 2.4 billion lack the basic sanitation conditions. No less than 11 million children under the age of 5 perish every year from preventable causes while half a million go blind for lack of vitamin A.
The truth sometimes hurts, and of all the leaders at the conference, only Fidel had the backbone to be truthful. No wonder Bush feared a confrontation.
But perhaps Fidel himself gave the best response to George W. Bush’s speech himself at the International Workers Day celebrations in Havana, May 1st 2002.
To those who so foolishly speak and repeat the imperialists slogan that no democracy and no respect for human rights exist in Cuba, let me repeat: no-one can question the fact that, despite being very small, our country today is the freest, fairest and most supportive country on the planet. It is also by far the most democratic. There is only one Party, but this neither nominates nor elects candidates. This is completely forbidden: it is the citizens from the grassroots level who propose, nominate and elect candidates. Our country enjoys an enviable and ever more solid and indestructible unity. The media is public and does not and cannot belong to private individuals. It carries no commercial advertisements and it does not promote consumerism; it entertains and informs, educates and never alienates.
Cuba already occupies worldwide outstanding and hard-to-surpass positions in a growing number of fields essential to guarantee life and the most fundamental political, civil, social, and human rights to ensure the well-being and future of our people. The mass political knowledge of the Cuban people is unrivalled in any other country. Its cultural and social programs and achievements advance at an unprecedented pace.
Our dreams become reality. A more humane society is possible, lies and slander notwithstanding. History will bear this out.
Long live Socialism!
Cuba is prepared to counter lie with truth, absurdity with humanity, animosity with peace and ignorance with understanding. Condemned by it’s northern neighbour for more than 40 years, Cuba has fought hard to provide the best social welfare system of all of Latin America. They’ve made mistakes; and will continue to do so, having endured a ruthless persecution and isolation that’s distorted their collective conscience, seeding fear and mistrust.
But all the while they’ve strived to set the best possible example for the world’s downtrodden and impoverished peoples - clearly, a capital offence in today’s commercial world.
George Papanastasiou
Victoria University.
22 May 2002
When Mr Bush disgracefully won office in last years Presidential ‘elections’ many around the world were astounded.
We all remember the farce that turned US democracy into a creepy joke. The final result came down to the disputed ballots cast in Florida. After weeks of political wrangling and underhandedness, US ‘democracy’ prevailed when a finding from the Republican leaning Supreme Court declared George W. Bush and the Republican Party the winners – and, lets not forget, US brand ‘democracy’ as well.
Now, Republican Governor Jeb Bush, who is Dubya’s brother, rules Florida. Florida is a state that’s had a disproportionate say in close elections during recent decades. They say if you win Florida, you’re virtually assured the Presidency, and going on last year’s debacle this certainly rings true. But Florida’s electoral notoriety isn’t just the product of fluke or coincidence. Florida is home to the belligerent Cuban exiles who’ve manned the front line of hostilities between Cuba and the United States for 43 years.
If we know that in order to secure the Presidency you need to win Florida, then naturally, in order to win Florida you have to please the huge number of anti-Castro Cuban exiles who’ve developed an anal hatred for Cuban Socialism and Fidel Castro.
No doubt, Florida Governor Jeb Bush played a major role in assuring the scandalous victory for his brother in last years’ fiasco, and in this electoral year for Jeb, his brother is returning the favour.
First, Bush and the band of corporate mobsters elevated to high positions around him decided to undermine former President Carter’s visit to Cuba with the clinically timed accusation of Cuba’s ‘potential’ to develop biological weapons of mass destruction. When challenged by Cuba and Carter to show proof, the Bush administration went into an embarrassing retraction, leaving Colin Powel to point out "We do believe Cuba has a biological offensive research capability" - "We didn't say it actually had some weapons, but it has the capacity and capability to conduct such research." In fact, this accusation can be levelled at any country on Earth with a pharmaceutical industry, and yes, almost every country on the planet has one.
For the indiscretion of having a pharmaceutical capacity the envy of many developed countries, used to care for it’s own people and the people of other third-world countries, Cuba was inducted into the ‘new’ Axis of Evil, or as undersecretary of state John Bolton put it, the group “Beyond the Axis of Evil”, along with Syria and Libya. Such bombastic labelling more befits a James Bond or Star Wars movie than measured foreign policy statements of a respected nation; but we’d be kidding ourselves if we really thought that.
Having inspected Cuba’s pharmaceutical amenities and seen firsthand Cuba’s renowned medical achievements, Carter said he was “overwhelmed with the dedication of the Cuban people and their government in conducting research that put people ahead of profits.” - so much for biological weapons of mass destruction.
Now well into a deliberate campaign to have brother Jeb re-elected in Florida whilst exploiting an opportunity to do some old fashioned Cuba bashing as a bonus, George W. made the trek to Miami to deliver a speech to a huge anti-Castro crowd, salivating at the thought of having the most powerful man on Earth support them in their anti-communist fixation.
It’s very important to note Bush’s remarks on Cuba and Fidel Castro so we can use facts and reasoning to respond to his statements, without resorting to comparably haughty cold-war rhetoric intended more to influence the stupid and conservative than convince the intelligent.
Responding in the order in which the statements were made:
G.W. Bush: Cuba’s … “legacy of courage has been insulted by a tyrant who uses brutal methods to enforce a bankrupt vision. That legacy has been debased by a relic from another era, who has turned a beautiful island into a prison”
Strong words ‘debased’ of any truer logic: more intended to emotionally rouse a listener than invoke a thoughtful response. Fidel Castro is a ‘tyrant’ - only to those leaders around the world who endorse the relentless militarism and resultant desolation of neo-liberal ideals.
‘Brutal methods’? When was the last time Fidel Castro used massive ‘daisy-cutter’ bombs or endorsed the slaughter of a defenceless population using US military hardware as in Palestine? How many nuclear, biological or chemical weapons does Fidel have, and how many George Bush? Whose country actually used such weapons on a civilian population? I could go on and on but I’d better stop there.
The problem with socialism is that when viewed through the eyes of a capitalist it doesn’t make sense, because the capitalist doesn’t understand how to pay for it. So they brand it a ‘bankrupt vision’ because they don’t comprehend how it can give a poor country the ability to lead the world in social welfare standards. They’d prefer Cuba be run like Enron instead.
As for Cuba being a ‘prison’ a 2002 Human Rights Watch report on prisons around the world stated “The U.S. incarcerated a greater proportion of its population than any country except Russia and Rwanda: more than 1.7 million people were either in prison or in jail in 1998, reflecting an incarceration rate of more than 645 per 100,000 residents, double the rate of a decade before. Approximately one in every 117 adult males was in prison.” Adding “In the United States, electronic stun devices were used to control inmates…. rape was a widespread problem facilitated by staff indifference and even, in some instances, complicity, as well as by a lack of effective prevention and punishment systems.“
More worrisome were details from the US Death Penalty Focus organization which this year confirmed these horrible facts about capital punishment in the United States:
· 100 innocent men have been sentenced to death in the last 20 years.
· To try a capital case costs $2.8 million, over twice the cost of life in prison.
· The U.S. is one of only 6 countries in the world to sentence children to death.
· 54% of death row inmates are people of colour. 83% of the victims were white.
G.W. Bush: “…just a month ago the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, in a resolution proposed by the nations of Latin America, called upon Cuba’s government to finally – to finally - begin respecting the human rights of its people.
Even the mainstream western media now acknowledge the horrible events of September 11, 2001 have been exploited relentlessly by the United States to suppress civil liberties at home and justify a unilateral bravado in pursuing, promoting and defending US ‘interests’ abroad. It was made clear early – you’re either with us or with them, that is, the terrorists. Cowering behind such intimidation, Latin American countries, at the behest of the United States, introduced a resolution at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights condemning Cuba for human rights violations. They only just managed to have it passed, 23 votes in favour and 21 against, with 9 abstentions.
Many of the African countries who voted to condemn Cuba have since admitted they were pressured and even blackmailed by the United States. Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Council Secretary Condoleezza Rice threatened to deny the African governments funds from the so-called new initiative for African Economic Development and block new credits in trade.
Soon after this condemnation, at the annual Mayday rally attended by nearly 1 million Cubans in Havana, Fidel Castro made these startling comments:
“We were condemned in Geneva by those who believe that this sea of people gathered here, which can be seen from every corner of the globe, has been deprived of it’s human rights. I am certain that not one of those Latin American countries that promoted, co-sponsored or supported this project could gather even 5% of the number here in their respective capitals”
“Our Latin American brothers have repeatedly been told stories as fantastic as those in the "Arabian nights", in which they believe less and less every day. For 50 years they have been told that the hundreds of thousands of children that die every year due to neglect and hunger; the millions that work for pitiful salaries cleaning car windshields or shoes, or being traded or sexually exploited instead of going to school, represent democracy and respect for human rights. That the hundreds of millions of human beings living in poverty despite the immense wealth and natural resources that surround them; the vast number of unemployed and underemployed people and informal labourers who survive without the slightest aid, social security or protection; the medical neglect of mothers, children, old people and the poor population in general; the marginalisation, drugs, lack of security and crime, are called democracy; are called respect for human rights. That the death squads, summary executions, torture, and the vanishing and murder of people; that the bribery, misappropriation, diversion and bare-faced robbery of public funds while schools and hospitals are closed, national assets and resources are privatised or often given away to domestic and foreign friends and partners in crime and corruption, constitute the fullest expression of democracy and human rights. It doesn’t occur to them that the economic, political and social system that they defend is a total negation of all possibility of equality, freedom, democracy, human dignity and justice.”
On 27 November 2001, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution (167 in favour, 3 against with 3 abstaining) on “…the need to end the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States against Cuba.” But this wasn’t the first time such a resolution condemning the United States was adopted. In fact, it was the tenth time - in a row.
The entire world can stand against the United States and in favour of Cuba at the UN, for an entire decade, but the US can continue to ignore them. Can we ever expect the United States to finally – to finally – begin respecting the will of the people of the entire world, and indeed the majority of its own people who want an end to the blockade?
G.W. Bush: “All elections in Castro’s Cuba have been a fraud”
At least Bush acknowledges there are elections in Cuba, because having been branded a dictatorship for so long by the US, I was beginning to wonder if every single Cuban I spoke to about voting and Cuban elections was smoking crack.
Fidel Castro has been the President of Cuba for over 43 years. He has to be elected to his position every electoral year, just like everyone else in the National Assembly of people’s power . Now, this sounds like a bit of a joke, doesn’t it? How can one man continually win elections, over and over, for so long? He must be a dictator who fraudulently wins his post, right?
But, consider this. Immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the evaporation of the favourable trading terms between the two countries, Cuba went into an economic meltdown from which no one expected it to recover. In fact, many exiles in Miami had their bags packed ready to go, eager to come back to a ruined Cuba to reclaim their nationalised properties from the Cuban people. Undaunted, Cuba devised an economic plan to rescue many of the gains of its Socialist system and declared a period of austerity termed the ‘special period’.
In the midst of all this, Nelson Mandela, then President of South Africa visited Cuba:
“I went to Cuba in July 1991, and I drove through the streets with Fidel Castro. There were a great deal of cheers. And I also waved back believing that these cheers were for me. Fidel was very humble, he smiled but he never said a word. But when I reached the square where I had to make some remarks to the crowd, then I realized that these cheers were not meant for me, they were meant for Fidel Castro. Because everybody forgot about me, and was really aroused by Fidel Castro. Then I realized that here was a man of the masses. Because he went around shaking hands of a large number of people in the crowd. And all of them rejoiced in the excitement of the time. Those are the impressions I have about Fidel Castro in Cuba.”
But of course, the people cheering for Fidel were frauds.
In all of the America’s, it’s well known that the country with the lowest level of political or institutional corruption is Cuba. That’s why Cuba is also the safest country to visit in the region. Ask any tourist who’s been there and then been elsewhere, even to the US, and they’ll tell you.
G.W. Bush: “I also challenge Cuba’s government to ease its stranglehold, to change its stranglehold on private economic activity”, “…property rights must be respected.”
Now here is the true crux of Bush’s antagonism toward Cuba (as well as helping his brother get re-elected in Florida). There are two schools of thought on the matter:
1) Give everyone the freedom to pursue their own interests (often called dreams and aspirations by egoists) and we end up with jungle societies, oppressive and exploitive, where corporations rule everything with delusional incentives and bogus promises, where there’s obscene wealth on one side and squalid poverty for the enormous majority on the other.
(See: the other countries of Central and South America.)
or
2) Encourage the individual to work for society, to focus on society instead of only him/herself. That way, as members of society, he/she also improves their own position concomitantly. We end up with people that aren’t only self-aware but society aware. Left alone to progress, without constant harassment from arrogant superpowers, who knows what society they could achieve. Now imagine what might happen if such progress were even encouraged.
(See: astonishing social and democratic advances by Nicaragua straight after the triumph of the Sandinista’s)
“Property rights must be respected”, especially for the wealthy exiles back in Miami no doubt. Open up Cuba’s national industries to private ownership and watch the country thrive! Instead, why don’t we challenge the United States to guarantee the social safeguards currently in place in Cuba, if Cuba turns to capitalism?
Would they? Could they?
In his speech to the Cuban people on May 1st, Fidel Castro offered these remarkable statistics:
“For the sake of time, I will outline just a few figures for Latin America as a whole as compared to Cuba.”
· Illiteracy rate: Latin America, 11.7 %; Cuba, 0.2 %
· Inhabitants per teacher: Latin America, 98.4; Cuba, 43, in other words, 2.3 times as many teachers per capita Primary education enrolment ratio: Latin America, 92 %; Cuba, 100%
· Secondary education enrolment ratio: Latin America, 52 %; Cuba, 99.7 %
· Primary school students reaching Fifth Grade: Latin America, 76 %; Cuba, 100 %.
· Infant mortality per thousand live births: Latin America, 32; Cuba, 6.2
· Medical doctors per hundred thousand inhabitants: Latin America, 160; Cuba, 590
· Dentists per hundred thousand inhabitants: Latin America, 63; Cuba, 89
· Nurses per hundred thousand inhabitants: Latin America, 69; Cuba, 743
· Hospital beds per 100 thousand inhabitants: Latin America, 220; Cuba, 631.6
· Medically attended births: Latin America, 86.5 %; Cuba, 100 %
· Life expectancy at birth: Latin America, 70 years; Cuba, 76 years
· Population between 15 and 49 years of age infected with HIV/AIDS: Latin America, 0.5 %; Cuba, 0.05 %
· Annual AIDS infection rate per million inhabitants, i.e. those who develop the disease: Latin America, 65.25; Cuba, 15.6
· The first international study of the Latin American Laboratory of Evaluation of educational quality, carried out in 12 Latin American countries including Cuba, produced the following results. Although these data have been already mentioned, I would like to briefly refer to them in detail:
* In Language, 3rd Grade: Cuba, 85.74 points; the remaining 11 countries, 59.11 points
* In Language, 4th Grade: Cuba, 87.25; the rest, 63.75
* In Mathematics, 3rd Grade: Cuba, 87.75; the rest, 58.31
* In Mathematics, 4th Grade: Cuba, 88.25; the rest, 62.04
The New York Times, in an article published on December 18, 2001 described the findings of a regional task force comparing primary education standards in Latin America: “In test scores, completion rates and literacy levels, Cuban primary students are at or near the top of a list of peers from across Latin America” continuing, “Indeed, the performance of Cuban third and fourth graders in math and language so dramatically outstripped that of other nations that the United Nations agency administering the test returned to Cuba and tested students again.” “The findings for the rest of Latin America were grim”
G.W. Bush: “Today, there is only one nation in our hemisphere that is not a democracy. Only one.”
Aristotle: “Democracy [is] when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.” It may well be, that there is only one nation in our (western) hemisphere that is a democracy. Only one.
But what does the United States mean by ‘democracy’? Was the international disgrace that duped the world and gave George W. Bush the Presidency, democracy?
When other countries are concerned does democracy mean a political system that allows the US to organise, implement and help execute coups to overthrow the democratically elected leaders and then excuse their downfall? Of course it doesn’t. But, wait a minute; didn’t they just do that in Venezuela?
O.k., maybe this ‘US brand’ democracy gives them the right to interfere in the internationally certified electoral processes of democratic nations if it seems likely the winners won’t favour US ‘interests’. But surely, they can’t do that either?
They can, they did. The most recent example was last November, when Governor Jeb Bush, under instruction from brother George, helped pervert the Nicaraguan elections when it seemed the Socialist Frente Sandinista would win. They threatened Nicaragua with re-introduced sanctions and suspended aid, they hinted at possible hostile repercussions, they accused the FSLN candidate of being a terrorist comparable to Osama bin Laden and they openly encouraged a vote for a right-wing millionaire businessman they knew would tow the US line for another 6 years, all at the expense of Nicaragua’s alarmingly poor people.
So, according to the United States, a ‘democracy’ is a country that does exactly what the US says. That’s why every country in the western hemisphere is a ‘democracy’ except for Cuba.
G.W. Bush: “Well-intentioned ideas about trade will merely prop up this dictator, enrich his cronies and enhance the totalitarian regime. It will not help the Cuban people. With real political and economic reform, trade can benefit the Cuban people and allow them to share in the progress of our times”
“Well intentioned ideas” about ending the economic embargo are Bush’s way of acknowledging that more and more Americans (and prominent ones at that) are against the cruel harassment of the embargo, most think that if Cuba is exposed to the ‘freedoms’ enjoyed by the people of the US then they’ll quickly become converts to that special blend of US capitalism and democracy (commonly known as a plutocracy.)
The truth is the United States knows, and has known for a while, that Cuba and Cuba’s Socialism are the real deal, so they wont let go. How do they know? From the figures outlined earlier, figures like these have verified Cuba’s progressive endeavours and other social achievements since 1959, the year Fidel Castro kicked-out the vile US-backed Batista regime and freed Cuba’s people from rampant US hedonism and the social apathy it begets.
So here’s the dilemma. If the US were to leave Cuba alone, to sink or swim of it’s own accord; they run the risk of Cuba thriving uncontrollably as a socialist country, boosting the living standards of its people further. That would serve as an unmistakable example to the millions of poor in the region (and around the globe) who’d then demand the same social principles and living standards as their Cuban brothers and sisters. Imagine poor people with food, healthcare, education, employment, and housing…. Everywhere. How would capitalism pay for that?
The US would end-up with more than one Cuba, and immeasurably less influence over millions of peoples and their lands in Central and South America, a travesty of untold proportions.
And what would happen if the US, the world’s ‘freest’ nation, were to lift the current ban on its citizens travelling to Cuba? Could they risk average American’s discovering the truth about Cuba for themselves?
“With real political and economic reform, trade can benefit the Cuban people and allow them to share in the progress of our times” Russia would be the best example of this, where recently the social policy chief estimated that ¼ of the population has fallen below subsistence levels while the new rulers have gained enormous wealth, and where a UN inquiry contributed ½ million extra deaths per year to neo-liberal reforms.
But maybe Bush is referring to the current ‘progress’ shared by people nearer to Cuba? In Argentina perhaps?
G.W. Bush: “Fidel Castro has a chance to escape this lonely and stagnant isolation. If he accepts our offer, he can bring help to his people and hope to our relations”
Darth Vader: “Surrender to the dark-side, Luke. Together we can rule the galaxy.”
Thanks - but no thanks.
At the recent International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, the world’s leaders gathered to discuss the growing problem of international poverty, humanity’s greatest ever injustice. Fidel Castro made a short but striking speech and was then discourteously forced to leave the conference. It seems George W. Bush didn’t want to risk an encounter with Fidel, lest he be inflicted with a bout of communism, or reality. The Mexican hosts disgracefully risked the long-standing camaraderie between the Mexican and Cuban peoples to appease the US President, and inadvertently bared their gutlessness at the same time. Nonetheless, Fidel’s brief speech received a standing ovation:
Excellencies:
Not everyone here will share my thoughts. Still, I will respectfully say what I think.
The existing world economic order constitutes a system of plundering and exploitation like no other in history. Thus, the peoples believe less and less in statements and promises.
The prestige of the international financial institutions rates less than zero.
The world economy is today a huge casino. Recent analyses indicate that for every dollar that goes into trade, over one hundred end up in speculative operations completely disconnected from the real economy.
As a result of this economic order, over 75 percent of the world population lives in underdevelopment, and extreme poverty has already reached 1.2 billion people in the Third World. So, far from narrowing, the gap is widening.
The revenue of the richest nations that in 1960 was 37 times larger than that of the poorest is now 74 times larger. The situation has reached such extremes that the assets of the three wealthiest persons in the world amount to the GDP of the 48 poorest countries combined.
The number of people actually starving was 826 million in the year 2001. There are at the moment 854 million illiterate adults while 325 million children do not attend school. There are 2 billion people who have no access to low cost medications and 2.4 billion lack the basic sanitation conditions. No less than 11 million children under the age of 5 perish every year from preventable causes while half a million go blind for lack of vitamin A.
The truth sometimes hurts, and of all the leaders at the conference, only Fidel had the backbone to be truthful. No wonder Bush feared a confrontation.
But perhaps Fidel himself gave the best response to George W. Bush’s speech himself at the International Workers Day celebrations in Havana, May 1st 2002.
To those who so foolishly speak and repeat the imperialists slogan that no democracy and no respect for human rights exist in Cuba, let me repeat: no-one can question the fact that, despite being very small, our country today is the freest, fairest and most supportive country on the planet. It is also by far the most democratic. There is only one Party, but this neither nominates nor elects candidates. This is completely forbidden: it is the citizens from the grassroots level who propose, nominate and elect candidates. Our country enjoys an enviable and ever more solid and indestructible unity. The media is public and does not and cannot belong to private individuals. It carries no commercial advertisements and it does not promote consumerism; it entertains and informs, educates and never alienates.
Cuba already occupies worldwide outstanding and hard-to-surpass positions in a growing number of fields essential to guarantee life and the most fundamental political, civil, social, and human rights to ensure the well-being and future of our people. The mass political knowledge of the Cuban people is unrivalled in any other country. Its cultural and social programs and achievements advance at an unprecedented pace.
Our dreams become reality. A more humane society is possible, lies and slander notwithstanding. History will bear this out.
Long live Socialism!
Cuba is prepared to counter lie with truth, absurdity with humanity, animosity with peace and ignorance with understanding. Condemned by it’s northern neighbour for more than 40 years, Cuba has fought hard to provide the best social welfare system of all of Latin America. They’ve made mistakes; and will continue to do so, having endured a ruthless persecution and isolation that’s distorted their collective conscience, seeding fear and mistrust.
But all the while they’ve strived to set the best possible example for the world’s downtrodden and impoverished peoples - clearly, a capital offence in today’s commercial world.
Nm