WORLD PEACE HANGING BY A THREAD

Yesterday I had the satisfaction of having a pleasant conversation with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I had not seen him since 2006, more than five years ago, when he visited our country to participate in the 14th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement of Countries in Havana. During the summit, Cuba was elected for the second time as president of the organization for a three-year term.

I had become gravely ill on July 26, 2006, a month and a half prior to the summit, and could barely sit up in bed. Many of the most distinguished leaders who participated in the event were kind enough to visit me. Chavez and Evovisited me several times. One afternoon four visitors came by whom I will always remember: UN Secretary General KofiAnnan; an old friend, Abdelaziz Buteflika, the president of Algeria; Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran; and the vice minister of Foreign Affairs and current Foreign Minister of China, Yang Jiechi, on behalf of the leader of the Communist Party and the president of China, Hu Jintao. It was really an important time for me; I was in the midst of intense physiotherapy on my right hand that I had seriously injured when I fell in Santa Clara.

With all four I spoke about some of the difficulties facing the world at the time; problems that have become progressively more complex.

During our meeting yesterday, I noted that the Iranian president was absolutely calm and tranquil, completely unconcerned about the Yankee threats and, fully confident in the capacity of his people to confront any aggression and in the effectiveness of their arms —which, in large part, they produce themselves— to inflict an unpayable price on its aggressors.

In reality, we hardly spoke about the topic of war. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was focused on the ideas he had presented at the Main Hall of the University of Havana during his conference on the struggle of humankind: “Moving towards reaching and achieving peace, security, respect and human dignity as a fundamental desire of all human beings throughout history.”

 I am convinced that Iran will not commit any rash actions that might contribute to setting off a war. If a war were to be unleashed, it would inevitably be completely as a result of the recklessness and congenital irresponsibility of the Yankee Empire.

I believe that the political situation surrounding Iran and the associated risks of a nuclear war that involves us all —regardless of whether one possess nuclear weapons— are extremely delicate because they threaten the very existence of our species. The Middle East has become the most troubled region on the planet, the same region that produces the energy resources vital for the world’s economy.

The destructive power and the mass sufferings caused by some of the weapons used in World War Two led to a strong movement to ban weapons such as asphyxiating gas and others. Nevertheless, conflicting interests and the huge profits made by arms manufacturers led to the production of crueler and more destructive weapons; modern technology has now added the means and material to build weapons that if used in a world war would lead to extinction.

I support the opinion, undoubtedly shared by all those with a basic sense of responsibility, that no country big or small has the right to possess nuclear weapons.

They never should have been used to attack two defenseless cities such as Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing and irradiating with horrible and long-lasting effects hundreds of thousands of men, women and children, in a country that had already been militarily defeated.

 If fascism indeed forced the allied nations against Nazism to compete with this enemy of humanity in the production of such weapons, once the war ended and the United Nations was created, the first duty of this organization should have been to prohibit nuclear weapons without exception.

However, the United States, the strongest and richest power, forced the rest of the world to follow its lead. Today, they have hundreds of satellites that spy and monitor the entire world from outer space. Their naval, air and land forces are equipped with thousands of nuclear weapons; and they control the world’s finances and investments at their whim via the International Monetary Fund.

Analyzing the history of each Latin American nation, from Mexico to Patagonia, by way of Santo Domingo and Haiti, one can observe that each and every country, without exception, have suffered for 200 years, from the beginning of the 19th century up until today. And, in one way or another, they are increasingly suffering the worst crimes that power and force can commit against the rights of a people. Brilliant Latin American writers are emerging in an increasing number. One of them, Eduardo Galeano, author of the book Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent that describes the aforementioned, has just been invited to open the prestigious Casa de Las Americas Awards as a recognition to his outstanding body of work.

Events happen incredibly fast; but technologies report them to the public even faster. On any given day, like today, important news comes out a dizzying pace. A cable report dated from January 11 states: “The Danish presidency of the European Union confirmed on Wednesday that a new series of more severe European sanctions against Iran, because of its nuclear program, will be discussed on January 23. The new sanctions will not only target the oil industry but also the Central Bank.”

During a meeting with international journalists, Danish Foreign Minister Villy Soevndal said that “We will increase sanctions against the oil industry in addition to sanctions against financial structures.” This clearly demonstrates that, in order to impede nuclear proliferation, Israel can go on accumulating hundreds of nuclear warheads while Iran is not allowed to produce 20% enriched uranium.  

Another article, from a respected British news agency, states that “China gave no hint on Wednesday of giving ground to U.S. demands to curb Iran’s oil revenues, rejecting Washington’s sanctions on Tehran as overstepping …”

The sheer tranquility with which the United States and civilized Europe carry out this campaign with incredible and systematic acts of terrorism is enough to shock anybody. Just look at these lines reported by another important European news agency: “The murder on Wednesday of Iranian nuclear specialist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan [a scientist at the Natanz nuclear plant] was the fourth attack to kill a leading scientist in the country in almost exactly two years.”

On January 12, 2010: “Massoud Ali Mohammadi, a particle physics professor at Tehran University is killed when a booby-trapped motorcycle explodes outside his home in the capital. “

On November 29, 2010: “Two attacks target leading Iranian nuclear scientists on the same day. Majid Shahriari, a key member of Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency, is killed in Tehran by a limpet bomb attached to his car. His colleagueFereydoon Abbasi Davani is also targeted by a bomb attached to his car, but escapes.” The car was parked in front of the Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran where both men worked as professors.

On July 23, 2011: “Gunmen shoot dead Dariush Rezaei-Nejad, a senior scientist who is reportedly associated with the defense ministry, and wound his wife as they waited for their child outside a Tehran kindergarten.”

On January 11, 2012 —the same day that Ahmadinejad travelled from Nicaragua to Cuba to give a conference at the University of Havana—, scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, “a deputy director at the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, is killed in a car bomb blast outside the [Allameh Tabatabai] University in east Tehran.” As in previous years “Iran once again accused the United States and Israel.”

The killings represent a systematic and selective slaughter of brilliant Iranian scientists. I have read articles by known Israeli sympathizers who write about crimes carried out by Israeli intelligence services in cooperation with theUnited States and NATO as if they were the most normal occurrence.

At the same time, Moscow news agencies report that “Russia warned that in Syria a similar scenario is developing as to that in Libya, and added that this time the attack will be launched from neighboring Turkey.

“The secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, said the West wants to ‘punish Damascus not as much for repressing the opposition, but because it is unwilling to sever ties with Tehran.’”

“…NATO members and some Persian Gulf states, operating according to the Libya scenario, intend to move from indirect intervention in Syrian affairs to direct military intervention…This time the main strikes forces will not be provided by France, the U.K. or Italy, but possibly by neighboring Turkey.” 

“Washington and Ankara are now assumed to be negotiating a “no-fly” zone over Syria, where Syrian armed insurgents can be trained and concentrated, added Patrushev.”

News is not only coming out of Iran and the Middle East, but also from other parts of Central Asia near the Middle East. These reports show the great complexity of the problems that can arise from this dangerous region.

The United States has been led by its contradictory and absurd imperial policy to get involved in serious problems in countries such as Pakistan, whose borders with Afghanistan were drawn up by the colonialists without taking into account culture or ethnicities.

In Afghanistan, which defended its independence against English colonialism for centuries, drug production has multiplied in the wake of the Yankee invasion. Meanwhile, European soldiers, supported by drone airplanes and armed with sophisticated US weapons, carry out deplorable massacres that increase the people’s hatred and ward off any possibilities of peace. All this and other dirty actions are also reported by Western news agencies.

 “WASHINGTON, January 12, 2012 - US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta called the actions of four U.S.marines who urinated on corpses in Afghanistan “utterly deplorable” The video of the act was circulated in the Internet.

“’I have seen the footage, and I find the behavior depicted in it utterly deplorable…’ 

“’This conduct is entirely inappropriate for members of the United States military and does not reflect the standards of values our armed forces are sworn to uphold…’”

In reality, Panetta neither confirms nor denies the action, and anyone, including the Secretary of Defense himself, may harbor doubt.

But it is also extremely inhumane that men, women and children, or an Afghani combatant fighting against the foreign occupation, be murdered by bombs dropped by drone planes. Another very serious incident: dozens of Pakistani soldiers and officials who safeguarded the country’s borders have been killed by these bombs.

Afghani President Karzai stated that the outrage committed against the bodies was “simply inhumane.” He asked for the US government “to urgently investigate the video and apply the most severe punishment to anyone found guilty in this crime.”

Meanwhile Taliban spokespersons declared that “over the last ten years, hundreds of similar acts have been carried out that were not reported…”

One even feels sorry for those soldiers, thousands of kilometers away from their family, friends and country, sent to fight in countries that they might not have even heard of during their school days, where they are assigned the task of killing or dying to enrich transnational companies, arms manufacturers and unscrupulous politicians who each year squander funds needed to feed and educate the uncountable millions of hungry and illiterate people around the world.

Many of these soldiers, victims of the trauma suffered, end up taking their own lives.

Is it an exaggeration to say that world peace is hanging by a thread?

Fidel Castro Ruz

January 12, 2012

9:14 p.m.

2. Take the Capital: Give the Harper government the welcome they deserve. Friday, 10 June. Bus to Ottawa leaves Montreal at 1pm, outside Lionel Groulx metro.

3. Repressive Montreal: A guided tour of sites of political repression in Montreal. Saturday, 18 June at 3pm, Berri Square (corner Ste-Catherine & Berri, Berri-UQAM metro). Followed by BBQ/fundraiser for March 15th arrestees at 6pm

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Court Decision & Rally for Hassan Diab

On June 6, 2011, at 10:00 AM, the judge will announce his decision regarding whether to commit Hassan for extradition. Come to a rally on the day of the decision to show your support for Hassan and protest unfair extradition proceedings.

Monday, June 6, 2011, at 9:30 AM

Outside the Ontario Superior Court, 161 Elgin Street, Ottawa

Bring banners and signs voicing your concerns and showing your support for Hassan. After the rally, at 9:50 am, we will accompany Hassan into the courtroom to hear the decision.

The support committee will hold a press conference to react to the decision at 1:00 PM at Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) Building, 233 Gilmour Street, Ottawa. Prism TV will carry a live broadcast of the press conference. You can watch the conference live at either of the following web links: http://www.livestream.com/prismmagazine or http://prism-magazine.com/prism-tv

Petition for Renewal of Hassan’s Bail

Hassan’s current bail will expire if the judge decides to commit Hassan for extradition. We have launched a petition asking the bail judge at the Ontario Court of Appeal to renew Hassan’s bail while Hassan is appealing his extradition order.

Sign the petition before June 6, at www.diabpetition.org.

MORE INFORMATION:

Hassan Diab Support Committee

www.justiceforhassandiab.org

diabsupport@gmail.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=159101029758

Twitter: http://twitter.com/friendsofhdiab

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Get on the Bus: Take the Capital!

Give the Tories the welcome they deserve!

=> www.takethecapital.wordpress.com

=> http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=221955077834132

Calling all anti-capitalists, rabble-rousers, and activists!

FRIDAY, JUNE 10th

=>In Montreal

Join the Harper Dégage Organizing Committee:

Bus leaving from Montreal @ 1pm outside Lionel Groulx metro.

To reserve a seat on the bus, email prenonslacapitale@riseup.net

(bus is pay what you can: $0-$15, to cover cost of bus).

=>In Ottawa

March & Rally to Oppose the Conservative Party National Convention

Rally starts @ 4pm at Dundonald Park (Lyon @ Somerset)

March starts @ 5pm, to arrive at Convention Centre at 6:30pm

The Harper Degage Organizing Committee invites people from Montreal to join us in beginning to build a radical, anti-capitalist, anti-colonial movement on the streets to defeat Harper’s regime and its policies. In response to a call launched by Ottawa activists, we are inviting Montrealers to join us this June 10th, either by getting on the bus or making their own way to Ottawa for Friday June 10th. After June 10th, we will call an organizing assembly to help build a network of resistance in Montreal, in the coming months.

On June 10th, 2011, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will speak to the Conservative Party of Canada’s (CPC) National Convention in downtown Ottawa. Taking place during the 3-day CPC National Convention at the Ottawa Convention Centre, Harper’s talk to the gathered Conservative Party members will be one of his first major addresses after winning a majority government in the last election.

We invite all those opposed to the Harper’s right-wing agenda to come together on Friday, June 10th, and make clear to the Conservative Party that we will not sit idly by but will resist their policies while they attack our communities.

The Conservative Party has been in power in Canada since 2006, and in those 5 long years we have seen the dismantling, defunding and discrediting of countless progressive organizations and programs. We have seen a continuation of the war in Afghanistan and occupation of Haiti, and ever increasing military and security spending.

We have seen continued attacks on First Nations communities, while hundreds of indigenous women are still missing or presumed dead. The environmentally catastrophic project that is the Tar Sands charges forward at full speed, and real environmental norms are still just a dream. We are seeing an increasingly dangerous and racist militarization of our borders and an alarming rise in the number of deportations. And Canada’s unwavering support for Israeli apartheid continues, even in the wake of Operation Cast Lead, the flotilla murders and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and despite international calls for solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The situation facing many communities will only get worse unless we confront and resist the Conservatives on the streets and in our communities. Tahrir Square, Spain and London show the way to successfully resisting the Conservatives: we can only win if it happens on the streets.

This June, let’s give the Tories the welcome they deserve. We are calling for worker’s unions, student groups, faith groups, anarchists, First Nations people, feminist organizations, anti-capitalist networks, migrant justice groups, anti-poverty organizations, disability rights movements, Palestine solidarity activists, Native warriors and anti-war organizers to come together to defeat this government. We want to see this resistance led by those most directly affected by the policies of right-wing governments around the world.

June 10th is the first day of action in what will grow to mass resistance in the streets, until we drive them out of office. All allies are invited to organize their own contingents or come join with other individuals who want their opposition noted.

Join us on June 10th, 2011 in Ottawa as we give Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party the welcome they so richly deserve!

Occupation Anywhere, Resistance Everywhere!

Endorsed by:

Collective Opposed to Police Brutality

Immigrant Workers Centre

Peoples Commission Network

Tadamon! Montreal

Solidarity Across Border

No One Is Illegal Montreal

MORE INFO or to endorse:

prenonslacapitale@riseup.net

www.takethecapital.wordpress.com

Twitter: @june10resist #takethecapital

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Repressive Montreal

A guided tour of mythic sites of political repression of the metropolis

Saturday, June 18th 2011

3pm: Guided tour, Berri Square (corner Ste-Catherine & Berri, Berri-UQAM metro)

6pm: Barbecue fundraiser for the March 15th 2011 arrestees in the backyard of DIRA, 2035 St-Laurent Blvd.

*In case of rain, postponed to the next day*

Downtown Montreal knows little downtime. At any time of day, under the scorching heat of the sun or torrential rains, and regardless of the season, it is known as a stage for demonstrations and actions, to the great displeasure of the Montreal city police force.

“Destination CO-Sud” (a part of the People’s Commission Network) invites you to Repressive Montreal, a guided tour of symbolic sites of political repression in Montreal. Come to find out about the murky and often little known part of your city: discriminatory mass arrests during demonstrations.

From the 108 arrests during the “Commando Bouffe” at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, to the 371 people arrested on March 15, 2002, to the 238 arrests that occurred in relation to the ministerial meeting of the WTO on July 28, 2003, our guides — people who themselves were arrested during demonstrations or actions — will make you re-live strong moments of social and political struggles in Montreal.

The guided tour will be followed, at 6pm, by a BBQ fundraiser for the March 15, 2011 arrestees, in the backyard of DIRA (2035 St-Laurent Blvd).

MORE INFO:

educationpopulaire@peoplescommission.org

www.commissionpopulaire.org

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People’s Commission Network

www.peoplescommission.org

commissionpopulaire@gmail.com

www.facebook.com/pages/R%C3%A9seau-de-la-Commission-Populaire-Peoples-Commission-Network/134584286597976

People’s Commission Network is a working group of QPIRG Concordia.

People’s Commission Network Newslist

To subscribe: PeoplesCommissionNews-Subscribe@lists.riseup.net

To unsubscribe: PeoplesCommissionNews-Unsubscribe@lists.riseup.net

For more information about the People’s Commission Network:

www.peoplescommission.org

abolissons@gmail.com

“If there is conviction, we are all condemned” is the slogan of the mobilization in support of 4 Mapuche who have been on a hunger strike for more than 75 days in the prison of Angol, awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision about the motion to vacate the trial that sentenced them to 20 years in prison under the anti-terrorist law..

“If there is conviction, we are all condemned” by an “anti-terrorist” law created by the bloody military dictatorship of Agusto Pinochet to condemn any opposition to the absolute power of the military junta. A law which brings anonymous witnesses to be called upon to appear in court to testify against the accused. A law which is in direct violation of article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights —ratified by Chile— which recognizes and protects a right to justice and a fair trial. A law which has been recuperated by the same ones who call themselves today representatives of democracy, no matter whether they are from the “left” or the “right”,  to condemn the Mapuche people’s 500 year old struggle to protect their land which is their mother, from theft and destruction.

“If there is conviction, we are all condemned” and it has already begun. Now the same anti-terrorist law and procedures have been applied to a group of 14 people, most of them young anarchists arrested and kept for months in maximum security detention centres with no presumption of innocence under what is now being referred to as the “bombs case” judicial frame up.

History repeats itself once again in Chile, whether it is called dictatorship or democracy, the State, in the name of its corporate sponsors/business partners is using all means necessary to eliminate any opposition to its absolute power, to its theft and its destruction of the land.

Our solidarity knows no borders. We will stand by our brothers and sisters of the Mapuche people and we invite all who love freedom and are outraged by injustice to join us:

Thursday, June 2 · 4:00pm – 7:00pm

The Alternatives’ Days are back again in 2011. They will be held on the 19th, 20th and 21st of August, set amidst the scenery of St-Alphonse de Rodriguez’ Camp Papillon.

The theme chosen for the Alternatives’ Days 2011 is: “At a time of revolutions against neo-liberalism.” Rightly so, the theme is a direct reference to the revolutions in the Arab world, which represent new developments in the struggle against neo-liberalism.

Indeed, since the autumn of 2008, neo-liberalism has been implicated in a large scale economic, social and environmental crisis. However, apart from the election of Barak Obama, this crisis did not directly result in political upheavals until recently. The revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, and the revolts that are currently underway in half a dozen Arab countries – from Libya to Yemen – have made it clear that we are entering a new era; one of political crises. This period is marked by the outbreak of revolutions led by the people demanding radical changes and standing up against neo-liberalism. These upheavals manifest themselves in the strategic region bordering Europe, which has been subject to American rule for the past 30 years. Rich in oil, this region is at the heart of neo-liberal strategies. The region is also a theatre for open and latent warfare (Iraq, Israel/Palestine) and of Western military interventions (in Libya and according to the expectations of some observers, also in Syria). With more than a dozen thematic social forums being held in 2010, the large region of Maghreb/Mashrek is also at the forefront of the anti-globalization movement. Are we united in the struggle? What are the lessons to be learned for our own movements?

We are asking these questions because the Arab revolutions have already had an impact beyond the region. At the heart of the United States, in Wisconsin for example, unions as well as the general population are coming together and rising up in an effort to resist new attacks from the right-wing Republicans. In Europe, the social resistance is intensifying in Greece, Portugal and Spain, as well as in the United Kingdom. Here at home, we are witnessing the important rise of progressive political forces both within Quebec and nationally. Ten years after April 2001 when 60,000 people had demanded an end to negotiations for the Free Trade Area of the Americas’, we remind ourselves that popular resistance that is all-inclusive, can defeat such regressive policies.

Simultaneously, new movements such as the climate justice and ecological alternatives movements are on the rise. The absence of multinational companies and northern countries in the struggle against climate change encourages increased mobilization of social movements regarding ecological questions and the capitalist development model. Here at home, networks of advocates are speaking out against the abuses of the mining and the oil industries and are busy working with the leftists of Latin America since the election of Bolivia’s Evo Morales. Indeed, people projects can effectively present alternatives and serve to reinvigorate anti-globalization movements and social forums.

In light of the current revolutions and the ones to come, the Alternatives’ Days 2011 will seek to identify the roles of the movements here at home. Such roles must serve both to integrate local and international struggles and to mobilize the citizens who are demanding change at home.

The three themes this year:

• The revolutions in Maghreb/Mashrek
• The climate and ecological revolutions
• Revolutions at home: from Quebec 2001 to Canada 2011

A special event, the World Social Forum to be held in…Montreal?!

For 10 years the WSF has allowed to denounce the deadlock of neo-liberalism and to energize the social transformation movements in the developing countries. From now on the WSF has to contribute to the denouncing of the dangers of the neo-conservatism and to act as a spur in the reinforcement of the social struggles and the convergence of movements in most parts of the world. In order to further the political and social progress initiated by most countries,  we need from now on to reinforce the struggle at the heart of neo-liberalism and to support these social movements in order to reverse the current balance of power. In this crucial battle, the North needs the South. The social movements of the North require the help of the WSF. Currently Montreal is busy asserting itself as a candidate host city for the World Social Forum in 2013!

Many other events will be held during the Alternatives’ Days. The final program will be available shortly.

Prices:

• Non-members: 50$ per night (maximum of 100$)
• Members: 40$ per night (maximum of 80$)

Upon this energy source today’s civilization was developed.  Venezuela was the nation in this hemisphere that paid the highest price.  The United States became the lord and master of the huge oil fields that Mother Nature had bestowed upon that sister country.

At the end of the last World War, it started to extract greater amounts of oil from the oil fields of Iran, as well as those in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the Arab countries located around them.  These became the main suppliers.  World consumption progressively increased to the fabulous figure of approximately 80 million barrels a day, including those being extracted on United States territory, to which later gas, hydro and nuclear energies were added.  Until the beginning of the twentieth century, coal had been the basic source of energy that made industrial development possible, before billions of automobiles and engines consuming the liquid fuel were produced.

The squandering of oil and gas is associated with one of the greatest tragedies, not in the least resolved, which is suffered by humankind: climate change.

When our Revolution arose, Algeria, Libya and Egypt were not yet oil producers and a great part of the abundant reserves of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and the United Arab Emirates were still to be discovered.

In December of 1951, Libya becomes the first African country to attain its independence after WW II, during which its territory was the stage for important battles between the troops of Germany and the United Kingdom, conferring fame and glory on Generals Erwin Rommel and Bernard L. Montgomery.

Ninety-five percent of its territory is completely made up of desert.  Technology permitted the discovery of vital oilfields of excellent quality light oil that today reach one million 800 thousand barrels a day along with abundant deposits of natural gas.  Such riches allowed it to reach life expectancy that is almost at 75 years of age and the highest per capita income in Africa.  Its harsh desert is located over an enormous lake of fossil waters, equivalent to more than three times the land area of Cuba; this has made it possible to construct a broad network of pipelines of fresh water that stretch from one end of the country to the other.

Libya, which had a million inhabitants when it attained independence, today has somewhat more than 6 million.

The Libyan Revolution took place in the month of September of the year 1969. Its main leader was Muammar al-Gaddafi, a soldier of Bedouin origin who, in his early years, was inspired by the ideas of the Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser.  Without any doubt, many of his decisions are associated with the changes that were produced when, as in Egypt, a weak and corrupt monarchy was overthrown in Libya.

The inhabitants of that country have age-old warrior traditions.  It is said that ancient Libyans were a part of Hannibal’s army when he was at the point of destroying Ancient Rome with the troops that crossed the Alps.

One can agree with Gaddafi or not.  The world has been invaded with all kinds of news, especially using the mass media.  One has to wait the necessary length of time in order to learn precisely what is the truth and what are lies, or a mixture of events of every kind that, in the midst of chaos, were produced in Libya.  For me, what is absolutely clear is that the government of the United States is not in the least worried about peace in Libya and it will not hesitate in giving NATO the order to invade that rich country, perhaps in a matter of hours or a few short days.

Those who with perfidious intentions invented the lie that Gaddafi was headed for Venezuela, just as they did yesterday afternoon on  Sunday the 20^th of February, today received an fitting response from Foreign Affairs Minister  Nicolás Maduro when he literally stated that he was “wishing that the Libyan people would find, in the exercise of their sovereignty, a peaceful solution to their difficulties, that would preserve the integrity of the Libyan people and nation, without the interference of imperialism…”

As for me, I cannot imagine that the Libyan leader would abandon his country; escaping the responsibilities he is charged with, whether or not they are partially or totally false.

An honest person shall always be against any injustice being committed against any people in the world, and the worst of all, at this moment, would be to remain silent in the face of the crime that NATO is getting ready to commit against the Libyan people.

The leadership of that war-mongering organization has to do it.  We must condemn it!

Fidel Castro Ruz

February 21, 2011

10:14 p.m.

WITHOUT VIOLENCE OR DRUGS

Yesterday I analyzed the atrocious act of violence against US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, in which 18 people were shot; six died and another 12 were wounded, some of them extremely seriously, among them the congresswoman who was shot in the head, leaving the team of doctors no alternative but to try to save her life and avoid consequences from the criminal act as much as possible.

The nine-year-old girl that died had been born on the same day that the Twin Towers were destroyed and had been an excellent student.  Her mother stated that all that hatred had to be stopped.

A painful reality came to my mind that would surely concern many honest Americans  who have not been poisoned by lies and hatred.  How many of them know that Latin American is the region of the world with the greatest inequality in terms of the distribution of wealth?  How many have been informed about the infant and maternal death rates, life expectancies, medical care, child labour, education and poverty prevailing in the other countries of the hemisphere?

I shall limit myself to point out the rate of violence from the hateful act that occurred yesterday in Arizona.

I already pointed out that each year hundreds of thousands of Latin American and Caribbean emigrants, plagued by underdevelopment and poverty, move to the US and are arrested, many times they are even separated from their next of kin and sent back to their countries of origin.

Money and goods can freely cross borders, I repeat, but not human beings.  By contrast, drugs and weapons cross, incessantly, in either direction.  The US is the greatest consumer of drugs in the world and, at the same time, the greatest supplier of weapons, as symbolized by the rifle scope published on Sarah Palin’s website or the M-16 shown on the election posters of the former Marine Jesse Kelly with the subliminal message to open fire with a loaded ammo chamber.

Is US public opinion aware of the levels of violence in Latin America, associated with inequality and poverty?

Why are the pertinent facts not being broadcast?

In an article by Spanish journalist and writer Xavier Caño Tamayo, published on the ALAI website, information is given that Americans ought to know about.

Even though the author is sceptical about the methods used up to today to overcome the power accumulated by the great drug dealers, his article brings data of unquestionable value to light that I shall try to summarize in a few lines.

“…27% of the violent deaths in the world happen in Latin American even though its population is just short of 9% of the entire planet. In the last 10 years, 1,200,000 people have died violently in the region.

“Violent favelas (shanty-towns) occupied by the military police; bloodbaths in Mexico; forced disappearances; murders and massacres in Colombia […] The highest rate of murder in the world occurs in Latin America.”

“How do we explain such a terrible reality?”

“The answer is given by a recent study made by the Latin American Social Sciences Foundation.  The report shows how poverty, inequality and the lack of opportunities are the fundamental bases for violence, even though drug and small weapons dealing serve to accelerate the murderous criminal tendency.”

“According to the Ibero-American Youth organization, half of the more than 100 million Latin American youth between the ages of 15 and 24 are unemployed and without possibilities of having a job. […] according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the region has one of the highest rates of informal employment of youth, along with the fact that one out of every four Latin American youth neither has a job or is in school.”

“According to ECLAC, in the last few years, poverty and extreme poverty in Latin America has affected and is affecting 35% of the population.  Almost 190 million Latin Americans.  And, according to OECD, some 40 million more citizens have succumbed to, or will succumb to, poverty in Latin America before the end of this year 2010.”

“According to the UN, poverty exists when people cannot satisfy basic needs in order to live with dignity: sufficient food, drinking water, decent housing, basic health care, basic education…The World Bank classifies that poverty by adding that it is extreme poverty when people are living on less than $1.25 per day.”

“According to the 2010 World Wealth Report, published by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch, the fortunes of wealthy Latin Americans […] grew by 15% in 2009.  […] in recent years the fortunes of rich Latin Americans grew more than in any other region of the world.  There are   500,000 rich, according to the Capgemini and Merrill Lynch report. Half a million against 190 million. [...] if there are a few with a lot, there are many who lack everything.”

“…there are other reasons to explain the violence in Latin America [...] poverty and inequality always play a part in death and pain [...] is it a coincidence that [...] 64% of the eight million dying of cancer in the world happens in the regions having the lowest incomes, to which, of course, only 5% of the money to fight cancer is dedicated?

“Looking straight into our eyes, truly, could you live on $1.25 per day?”, so ends Xavier Caño’s analysis.

News about the massacre in Arizona fills the main US media today.

The specialists at the University of Arizona Medical Center are cautiously optimistic.  They are praising the work of emergency crews who were able to operate on the congresswoman 38 minutes after the shooting. Such information can be found on the Internet between 6 and 7 o’clock this afternoon.

According to them, “the bullet penetrated the frontal area closest to the brain mass, on the left side of the head.”

“She can respond to simple instructions, but we know that swelling of the brain could cause an unfavourable turn of events”, they stated.

They explain the details of each step they took to control breathing and lessen the pressure on the brain.  They add that recovery could take weeks or months.  Neurosurgeons in general and the specialists related to this discipline shall be following the information released by that team with interest.

Cubans closely follow everything regarding health, they tend to be well-informed and they will also be happy with the success of those doctors.

On the other side of the border we know about the extremes to which violence has reached in the nearest Mexican states, where there are also excellent doctors.  Nevertheless, there have been several occasions when the drug-dealing mafia, equipped with the most sophisticated weapons provided by the warmongering US industry, have forced their way into operating rooms to finish off.

Infant mortality in Cuba is less than 5 per every 1000 live births; and deaths due to acts of violence are less than 5 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Even though it hurts our modesty, it is a bitter duty to say that our blockaded, threatened and slandered country has shown that Latin American peoples can live without either violence or drugs.  It can even live, and that’s what has happened for more than half a century, without relations with the United States.  That is something we haven’t shown; they have.

Fidel Castro Ruz

January 9, 2011

7:56 p.m.

http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/reflexiones/2011/ing/f090111i.html

Mark Weisbrot

A boy holds a picture of the ousted former president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, as he sits on a chair outside the presidential palace during a visit by France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy to Port-au-Prince, in February 2010, in the wake of the earthquake. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters

The polarisation of the debate around WikiLeaks is pretty simple, really. Of all the governments in the world, the United States government is the greatest threat to world peace and security today. This is obvious to anyone who looks at the facts with a modicum of objectivity. The Iraq war has claimed certainly hundreds of thousands, and, most likely, more than a million lives. It was completely unnecessary and unjustifiable, and based on lies. Now, Washington is moving toward a military confrontation with Iran.

As Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell, pointed out in an interview recently, in the preparation for a war with Iran, we are at about the level of 1998 in the buildup to the Iraq war.

On this basis, even ignoring the tremendous harm that Washington causes to developing countries in such areas as economic development (through such institutions as the International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organisation), or climate change, it is clear that any information which sheds light on US “diplomacy” is more than useful. It has the potential to help save millions of human lives.

You either get this or you don’t. Brazil’s president Lula da Silva, who earned Washington’s displeasure last May when he tried to help defuse the confrontation with Iran, gets it. That’s why he defended and declared his “solidarity” with embattled WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, even though the leaked cables were not pleasant reading for his own government.

One area of US foreign policy that the WikiLeaks cables help illuminate, which the major media has predictably ignored, is the occupation of Haiti. In 2004, the country’s democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was overthrown for the second time, through an effort led by the United States government. Officials of the constitutional government were jailed and thousands of its supporters were killed.

The Haitian coup, besides being a repeat of Aristide’s overthrow in 1991, was also very similar to the attempted coup in Venezuela in 2002 – which also had Washington’s fingerprints all over it. Some of the same people in Washington were even involved in both efforts. But the Venezuelan coup failed – partly because Latin American governments immediately and forcefully declared that they would not recognise the coup government.

In the case of Haiti, Washington had learned from its mistakes in the Venezuelan coup and had gathered support for an illegitimate government in advance. A UN resolution was passed just days after the coup, and UN forces, headed by Brazil, were sent to the country. The mission is still headed by Brazil, and has troops from a number of other Latin American governments that are left of centre, including Bolivia, Argentina and Uruguay. They are also joined by Chile, Peru and Guatemala from Latin America.

Would these governments have sent troops to occupy Venezuela if that coup had succeeded? Clearly, they would not have considered such a move, yet the occupation of Haiti is no more justifiable. South America’s progressive governments have strongly challenged US foreign policy in the region and the world, with some of them regularly using words like imperialism and empire as synonyms for Washington. They have built new institutions such as UNASUR to prevent these kinds of abuses from the north. Bolivia expelled the US ambassador in September of 2008 for interfering in the country’s internal affairs.

Is it because Haitians are poor and black that their most fundamental human and democratic rights can be trampled upon?

The participation of these governments in the occupation of Haiti is a serious political contradiction for them, and it is getting worse. The WikiLeaks cables illustrate how important the control of Haiti is to the United States. A long memo from the US embassy in Port-au-Prince to the US secretary of state answers detailed questions about Haitian president Rene Preval’s political, personal and family life, including such vital national security questions as “How many drinks can Preval consume before he shows signs of inebriation?” It also expresses one of Washington’s main concerns:

“His reflexive nationalism, and his disinterest in managing bilateral relations in a broad diplomatic sense, will lead to periodic frictions as we move forward our bilateral agenda. Case in point, we believe that in terms of foreign policy, Preval is most interested in gaining increased assistance from any available resource. He is likely to be tempted to frame his relationship with Venezuela and Chávez-allies in the hemisphere in a way that he hopes will create a competitive atmosphere as far as who can provide the most to Haiti.”

This logic is why they got rid of Aristide – who was much to the left of Preval – and won’t let him back in the country. This is why Washington funded the recent “elections” that excluded Haiti’s largest political party, the equivalent of shutting out the Democrats and Republicans in the United States. And this is why Minustah is still occupying the country, more than six years after the coup, without any apparent mission other than replacing the hated Haitian army – which Aristide had abolished – as a repressive force.

People who do not understand US foreign policy think that control over Haiti does not matter to Washington, because it is so poor and has no strategic minerals or resources. But that is not how Washington operates, as the WikiLeaks cables repeatedly illustrate. For the state department and its allies, it is all a ruthless chess game, and every pawn matters. Left governments will be removed or prevented from taking power where it is possible to do so; and the poorest countries – like Honduras last year – present the most opportune targets. A democratically elected government in Haiti, due to its history and the consciousness of the population, will inevitably be a left government – and one that will not line up with Washington’s foreign policy priorities for the region. Thus, democracy is not allowed.

Thousands of Haitians have been protesting the sham elections, as well as Minustah’s role in causing the cholera epidemic, which has already taken more than 2,300 lives and can be expected to kill thousands more in the coming months and years. Judging from the rapid spread of the disease, there may have been gross criminal negligence on the part of Minustah – that is, large-scale dumping of fecal waste into the Artibonite river. This is another huge reason for the force to leave Haiti.

This is a mission that costs over $500m a year, when the UN can’t even raise a third of that to fight the epidemic that the mission caused, or to provide clean water for Haitians. And now the UN is asking for an increase to over $850m.

It is high time that the progressive governments of Latin America quit this occupation, which goes against their own principles and deeply-held beliefs, and is against the will of the Haitian people.

Three days ago, there was news printed that the Attorney General of Colombia, Alejandro Ordóñez Maldonado had removed the prestigious Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba from her post and disqualified her from carrying out political office for 18 years, because of her alleged promoting and collaborating with the FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia).  Faced with such an unusual and drastic measure taken against an elected post in the highest legislative body of state, Piedad has no alternative other than appealing to the very Attorney General who produced the measures.

It was logical that such arbitrariness would cause a mighty rejection, expressed by a wide range of political personalities, among them former prisoners of the FARC and relatives of those who had been liberated, thanks to the senator, former presidential candidates, persons who had held that high office, others who were or still are senators or members of the legislative power.

Piedad Córdoba is an intelligent and brave person, a brilliant speaker, with well-articulated thoughts.  A few weeks ago she visited us in the company of other distinguished personalities, among which was a remarkably honest Jesuit priest.  They came spurred on by a profound desire to seek peace for their country and they were requesting Cuba’s collaboration, remembering that for years, and at the instance of the government of Colombia itself, we lent our territory and our collaboration for the meetings that took place in our capital between representatives of the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army.

However, I am not surprised by the decision taken by the Attorney General who obeys the official policy of that country which is virtually occupied by Yankee troops.

I don’t like hedging my words, and I shall say what I am thinking. Just one week ago, the general debate of the 65^th Session of the United Nations General Assembly was about to begin.  For three days they had been discussing the embarrassing Millennium Development Goals and on Thursday September 23^rd the General Assembly was commencing with the participation of the heads of State or senior officials of each country. The first to take the podium would be, as is customary, the UN Secretary General and immediately afterwards, the President of the United States, host country of the Organization and the presumed master of the world. The session was beginning at 9 am.  Logically, I was interested in hearing what the illustrious Barack Obama, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, would have to say as soon as Ban Ki-moon had concluded. I naively thought that CNN in Spanish or in English would be broadcasting Obama’s speech, generally a brief one. It was on that channel that I heard the presidential candidates debating in the city of Las Vegas two years earlier.

The time came, minutes went by and CNN was running the apparently spectacular news about the death of a Colombian guerrilla leader. That was important, but not particularly transcendental. I stayed interested in finding out what Obama would say about the extremely serious problems besetting the world.

Could it be that the state of the planet is such that both of them are fooling around and making the Assembly wait?  I asked that the other TV be turned on to CNN in English and there too, not one word about the Assembly.  So, what was CNN talking about?  It was broadcasting news and I was waiting for the news from Colombia to end.  But 10, 20, 30 minutes went by, and there was more of the same.  They were talking about incidents in a huge combat that was taking place, or had taken place, in Colombia, that the fate of the continent would depend on that, as the words and broadcasting style of the reporter were having us believe.  Photos and full-color film were being shown about the death of Víctor Julio Suárez Rojas, alias Jorge Briceño Suárez or “Mono Jojoy”.  The reporter was saying that this was the most severe blow for the FARC, surpassing both the deaths of Manuel Marulanda and Raúl Reyes together.  A devastating action, he was affirming.  It was presumed to have been a spectacular battle, with 30 bombers, 27 helicopters and complete battalions of elite troops taking part in the fierce fighting.

Really, it was something greater than the battles of Carabobo, Pichincha and Ayacucho all rolled into one. With old experience about these conflicts, I couldn’t imagine such a battle in the wooded and remote region of Colombia. The mighty action was spiced up with pictures of all kinds, both old and new, showing the rebel commander.  For the CNN news editor, Marulanda’s successor Alfonso Cano was a university intellectual who had no backing from his troops; the real chief had died.  The FARC would have to surrender.

Let’s be frank. The news referring to the famous battle where the FARC commander died (the FARC is a Colombian revolutionary movement that came into being more than 50 years ago, after the death of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán who was assassinated by the oligarchy) and the removal of Piedad Córdoba are very far from bringing peace to Colombia; quite the opposite. They could accelerate the revolutionary changes in that country.

I would think that quite a few Colombian military are embarrassed by the grotesque versions of the supposed battle where Commander Jorge Briceño Suárez died. In the first place, there was no battle at all.  It was a gross and embarrassing murder.  Perhaps hampered by the part of the war with which the official authorities had released the news and other obscure versions, Admiral Edgar Cely stated that “Jorge Briceño, alias ‘Mono Jojoy’, died ‘squashed’ when [...] the building in which he was hiding in the jungle toppled over on him.”   “‘We know that he died crushed, his bunker falling down on top of him’, […] ‘it’s not true that he had been shot in the head’.”  So read the statement by Caracol Radio station according to the American AP news agency.

They baptized the operation with the Biblical name of Sodom, one of the cities punished for its sins, victim of a rain of hell-fire and sulphur.

What is more serious is what we haven’t said, which by now even the cat knows about, because the Yankees themselves have printed it.

The US government provided its ally with more than 30 smart bombs. There was a GPS installed inside the guerrilla chief’s boots. Guided by that device, the programmed bombs blew up in the encampment where Jorge Briceño was located.

Why not tell the world the truth? Why are they alluding to a battle that never took place?

I observed other embarrassing things on TV. The president of the United States warmly received Uribe in Washington and encouraged him to give classes on “democracy” at an American university.

Uribe was one of the principal creators of the paramilitary, whose members are responsible for the boom in drug trafficking and the deaths of tens of thousands of people.  It was Barack Obama with whom Uribe signed the handing over of seven military bases and virtually of any part of Colombian territory, for the installation of Yankee armed forces men and equipment. The country is full of clandestine cemeteries. Through Ban Ki-moon, Obama granted Uribe immunity, appointing him, no less, as deputy chairman of the commission investigating the attack of the fleet taking aid to Palestinians besieged in Gaza.

In the final days of his presidency, Uribe had already organized the operation using the GPS in the new boots needed by the Colombian guerrilla leader.

When the new Colombian president traveled to the US to speak at the General Assembly, he knew that the operation was underway, and when Obama learned of the news of the murder of the guerrilla, he warmly hugged Santos.

I wonder whether on that occasion they said anything at all about respecting the decision made by the Colombian Senate declaring Uribe’s authorization to establish Yankee military bases to be illegal. The crude murder was backed up by these bases.

I have criticized the FARC. In a Reflection I publicly expressed my disagreement with the holding of prisoners of war and the sacrifices meant for them by the tough conditions of life in the jungle. I explained the reasons and the experience we acquired in our struggle.

I was critical of the strategic concepts of the Colombian guerrilla movement.  But I never denied the revolutionary nature of the FARC.

I believed, and I believe, that Marulanda was one of the most distinguished of the Colombian and Latin American guerrilla fighters.  When many of the names of the mediocre politicians are forgotten, Marulanda will be acknowledged as one of the most honorable and firm fighters for the well-being of peasants, workers and the poor of Latin America.

The prestige and moral authority of Piedad Córdoba has multiplied.

Fidel Castro Ruz

September 30, 2010

11:36 a.m.

Source: http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/reflexiones/2010/ing/c300910i.html

More than 20,000 nuclear weapons are in the hands of eight countries —the United States, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, China, Israel, India and Pakistan—, some of which have significant economic, political and religious differences.

The new START treaty, signed in Prague in April 2010 by the biggest nuclear powers, only represents an illusion with regards to the situation threatening humanity.

The nuclear winter theory, developed and brought to its current stage by the eminent researcher and professor from Rutgers University, New Jersey, Dr. Alan Robock (a modest scientist who prefers to recognize the merits of his colleagues rather than his own),  has proven its veracity.

The theory postulates that the only way to prevent the use of nuclear weapons is by eliminating them. Living in a privileged place on the planet, which allows them to enjoy the highest standards of living and the world’s riches despite the their incredible waste of non-renewable resources, the American people should be the ones most interested in the information provided by the scientists. But how much time does the mass media devote to this task?

According to Robock, “If such weapons did not exist, they could not be used. And at present, there is no rational argument to use them at all. If they cannot be used, they must be destroyed and in this way we would protect ourselves from accidents, mistaken calculations or any bouts of insanity.”

“Computers that used ultramodern models became the only available laboratory, while historical events, including cities ravaged by fires caused by earthquakes and war time bombardments, smoke columns produced by forest fires, and clouds from volcanic eruptions, became the yardstick for scientific evaluations.”

The proliferation of nuclear weapons at a time when Israel, India and Pakistan have joined the nuclear club, and other countries aspire for membership, have forced Robock and his colleagues to review their initial research projects. The results of these revisions, published in recent articles, are astonishing.

While the United States and Russia each committed to reducing their operative nuclear arsenals down to some 2,000 weapons in April 2010 in Prague, the only way to prevent a global climate catastrophe from taking place would be by eliminating nuclear weapons.

“…any country that at present may be considering the nuclear option must acknowledge that by adopting such a decision, it would be endangering not only its own population but the entire world. It is time for the world to once again reflect upon the dangers of nuclear weapons, and this time follow the path to peace and eliminate the possibility of a global climate catastrophe induced by nuclear energy, for the first time since mid-last century.”

“… the use of nuclear weapons in the event of a total attack against an enemy would be a suicidal action due to anomalous cold and darkness caused by the smoke from the fires generated by the bomb. In fact, it has been evidenced that the more nuclear weapons a country possesses, the less secure it is.”

Albert Einstein said: “The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.” Carl Sagan has said that our nuclear arms policy was “a path where no man thought.”

At the end of the lecture I asked Professor Alan Robock, “How many people in the world are familiar with this information?” He replied, “Very few.” I went on, “In your country, how many?” “The same,” he answered, “it is not known.”

I had no doubt that this was the sad reality, and added: “It makes no difference if we know about this, the world needs to know. Perhaps psychologists need to be brought in to explain why the masses do not understand.”

“I have an answer —said the scientist— it’s called denial. It is so horrible, that people do not want to think about it. It’s easier to pretend it does not exist.”

During his nearly one-hour lecture, aided by charts, figures and photos projected on a screen, Robock’s words were clear, precise and eloquent. And I said: “What does it mean to raise awareness, which we talk so much about? What does it mean to create culture? And how discouraging it must be for you scientists that people don’t even know what you are doing; so many hours invested.”

I told him that back then, when there was no radio, television or Internet, it was impossible to broadcast a lecture like this one taking place in Cuba or in the world. Much less when many people did not know how to read or write.

We promised the professor that we would spread the information he had provided us about the nuclear winter theory —a topic we know a little about due to our concern over the possible outbreak of a global nuclear war, a concern that drew us to his lecture— in a language that even eight-year old Cuban children could understand.

No other time in human history comes close to the present. Certainly, if these risks are not understood by those who make decisions in the heights of the immense power that science and technology have placed in their hands, the next world war will be the last one, and it would take, perhaps, tens of millions of years before new intelligent beings would attempt to write their history.

As chance would have it, yesterday, September 20, I received news that the Peace Boat passenger ship was to arrive in the Port of Havana at dawn on September 21 after being delayed several hours by cyclones on its voyage from the Canary Islands. The peace boat is a Non-Governmental Organization with Special Consultative Status to the United Nations. Since 1983, it has been organizing cruises around the world to promote peace, human rights, and the fair and sustainable development of the environment. In 2009 the organization was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for its global campaign to prevent war.

In a letter written to me by Peace Boat director Yoshioka Tatsuya and presented by Nao Inoue, the head of the group of visitors, Tatsuya states: “Our organization has been working for years, recently in cooperation with the ALBA countries […] which have clearly expressed their commitment to nuclear abolition, the prohibition of foreign military bases and peaceful resolutions for international controversies […] Japan, as you know, the only country that has endured an atomic bombardment, to this day maintains a pacifist Constitution that, by virtue of Article 9, formally renounces war and prohibits the use of force in international disputes…

“A focal issue in our activism is the removal of foreign military bases: a situation that affects Japan and several countries around the world. These foreign bases, such as the ones in Guantánamo and Okinawa, cause irreversible environmental damage and encourage war instead of world peace.

Including this voyage, Peace Boat has organized 70 trips around the world beginning in 1983 with the participation of no less than 40,000 people who have visited more than 100 countries. Their slogan is “Learn from Past Wars to Build a Future of Peace.”

Over 20 years, the Peace Boat has visited our country 14 times, overcoming obstacles and hurdles imposed by the United States. During this time it has promoted campaigns to raise significant amounts of money to donate towards the health and education sectors primarily. It is active in the numerous international forums and solidarity with Cuba gatherings. They are truly proven friends of our country. In May 2009, responding to a proposal by the Cuban Friendship with the Peoples Institute (ICAP), the organization was decorated with the Order of Solidarity granted by the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba.

It was a great honor for me to receive an invitation to meet with a group of the visitors which I proposed holding at the Havana Convention Center. Mr. Nao Inoue and Ms. Junko Watanabe both addressed participants. Junko Watanabe is a survivor who was just two-years-old when the first atomic bomb was launched on the city of Hiroshima. She was with her little brother in the yard of a house located 18 kilometers from the place where the bomb was dropped; an event that made the majority of the city vanish, instantly killing more than 100,000 people and seriously injuring the rest of the inhabitants.

Junko Watanabe shared her dramatic memories, when years after the attack, she saw the images and learned about the details of the bombing that caused so much suffering in so many innocent people who had nothing to do with that brutal event.

It was a deliberate act to terrorize the world with the unnecessary use of a weapon of mass extermination at a time when the Japanese empire was already defeated. The bomb was dropped, not on a military installation but rather a defenseless civilian objective. The images that documented that horrifying crime do not express what the voice of Junko Watanabe narrated about the events. The meeting was an opportune time to exchange our points of view and tell our friendly Japanese visitors —ardent combatants in the struggle to abolish nuclear arms, military bases and war— about the efforts carried out by our country to stop a nuclear conflict that could bring about an end to the existence of our species.

Fidel Castro Ruz

September 21, 2010

7:12 p.m.

Source: http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/reflexiones/2010/ing/f210910i.html

DEPARTURE : CORNER PEEL and STE-CATHERINE

END POINT : THE OLD PORT OF MONTREAL

• To denounce Israel’s bloody attack against the Gaza Freedom Flotilla

• To demand the complete lifting of the siege on Gaza

Bring a small tent to plant on site !

To build a camp where we will all be ”refugees of Gaza”
waiting for the ships transporting humanitarian aid to arrive

Organised by the broad Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine following the international call out made by the Free Gaza Movement