lunes, 16 de marzo de 2009

To the south of Camagüey, a new history

By:Ernesto Pantaleón Medina | Televisión Camagüey

To only some hours ago I listened of a colleague some considerations on a place that, with absolute property, it can be said, it was born with the Revolution, since another form doesn't exist to express that moment in that the men and women come to arise the dignity and the decency where before prevailed the abandonment, the without reason and the suffering without limits of a majority, to sustain the enjoyment of some few ones.

The geographical place in question is located to the south of the county of Camagüey (toward the center-east of the country), where there settle the communities of Aguilar, San Carlos One and Two, among other very similar ones to towns ghost in the call " dead time ", period framed among a sugar and other harvest, and in the one that the journeymen strolled for the sidewalk and roads begging a temporary employment, for miserable that was the remuneration.

The proprietors of the plantations of cane took advantage of the advantage and they hired to price of misery, the execution of the hardest tasks, paid those more than the times with funds or vouchers to get paid in the nearest trade, in general a packed still life of all merchandise is possible to imagine, but unreachable for those who sometimes tied the days with the nights just by some sugary water and a piece of old bread, if luck accompanied them .

A situation that defines the reality of then in those remote corners of the extensive countryside of Camagüey it is summarized in that in the three communities or combing, like there were called then, other so many shutter existed, but there were not doctor, nurse or school, and services so indispensable as the estomatológics were ignored.

Only a minimized physician that resided in the head of Santa Cruz del Sur, distant dozens of kilometers, was allowed to see some that another time for those places, to try to repair to like it gave place by nature therenders of an unjust society… it arrived, it auscultated, it got paid, and left, leaving a druggist that officiated the whole year like quack of the area.

A day of January the Revolution arrived of Fidel`s hand and their bearded , and in the cabins the new times entered to the gallop, bringing gets the hope.

Today exists a sugar power station there, the " Batalla of the Guásimas" that one of the biggest victories in the mambises remembers for the liberation of Cuba.

They get up in the environment, together with the reedbeds, video rooms and calculation clubs, schools endowed with the new teaching means, the doctor's clinics and the nurse of the family, and nets of roads arose where before it was the horse the only transport, or the occasional car of line of the railroad.

They add hundred the engineers, professors, lawyers, veterinarians, doctors, or arisen artists of the popular talent.

The dreams have been completed amply, still the most ambitious, and no father is forced by the desperation to be hung of a guasim by not having with what to feed their children, neither any l4 years old girl has to sell his body and his soul to the worst bidder for not dying from hunger.

They have more than enough then, elements to understand the reasons from this enormous monument to the social justice that newly completed 50 years of fruitful life.

Japan Beats Cuba in World Baseball Classic

HAVANA, Cuba, March 16 (acn) Daisuke Matsuzaka continued his mastery of the Cuban lineup to lead defending champions Japan within a victory of reaching the semifinal round of the 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC).

The right-hander struck out eight in six shutout innings as Japan blanked Cuba 6-0 on Sunday at the Petco Park in San Diego, United States, in a second-round game that was a rematch of the inaugural 2006 Classic final in which the Asians also beat Cuba 10-6.

Matsuzaka, who was the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 Classic going 3- 0 with a 1.38 earned-run average and 10 strikeouts, threw 61 of his 86 pitches for strikes and together with a trio of relievers struck out 12 Cubans in all and never allowed a Cuban runner beyond second base.

Cuban left-handed starter Aroldis Chapman was pounded by Japan for three runs in the third inning.

Kenji Johjima and Akinori Iwamaura led the Japanese attack with two hits apiece.

"We will stay calm. We will come back with our all. Nobody will win this Classic without losing a game. Psychologically we’re already preparing for it. Our fans need to stay calm and trust in us. We know what we need to do," said Cuban manager Higinio Velez.

Meanwhile, also on Sunday, South Korea downed Mexico 8-2 in this pool in San Diego.

After these results, Japan and South Korea advanced to a Tuesday game that will decide a berth in next weekend's semifinals in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, the previously unbeaten Cubans will face Mexico on Monday evening in a knockout game from the double-elimination competition.

Elsewhere, in the other group, the United States kept their semifinal round aspirations alive as they eliminated the Netherlands with a 9-3 win at the Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida. Thus, on Tuesday they will face the loser of the Venezuela-Puerto Rico game that will grant the
first semifinal ticket on Monday.

(México rival de Cuba hoy, en partido decisivo del II Clásico)

Panamanian First Vice President Visits Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, March 16 (acn) Panamanian First Vice President and Foreign Minister, Samuel Lewis Navarro is on a working visit to Cuba.

According to Granma news daily, during his stay in the Caribbean Archipelago, the distinguished visitor will meet with Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, and with other state and government officials.

They will discuss bilateral relations and other topics of international interest.

(Se encuentra en Cuba Primer Vicepresidente y Canciller de Panamá)

Mexico Hosts Festival of Cuban Culture

HAVANA, Cuba, March 16 (acn) Exhibitions, film screenings, dances and lectures are part of the 6th Festival of Cuban Culture that begins today in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, and runs until next Sunday, March 2nd.

According to Prensa Latina news agency, the event is taking place in the municipality of San Miguel de Allende, a World Heritage Site, and is dedicated to late Cuban singer and composer Ibrahim Ferrer.

The Director General of the festival, Guadalupe Meza, said that the event will also have traditional music, craftwork and literature, with the presentation of nearly 250 titles of music produced and recorded in Cuba.

The literature includes titles dedicated to children as well as Cuban classics in the categories of short story, novel and poetry.

San Miguel de Allende and the municipality of Old Havana, both declared by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, signed a twinning agreement in May 2000. Ever since, they have maintained cooperation ties in the areas of education, culture, sports and heritage conservation.

(Festival de la Cultura Cubana en México)