martes, 14 de abril de 2009

NOT A WORD ABOUT THE BLOCKADE

The U.S. administration announced through CNN that Obama would be visiting Mexico this week, in the first part of a trip that will take him to Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, where he will be within four days taking part in the Summit of the Americas. He has announced the relief of some hateful restrictions imposed by Bush to Cubans living in the United States regarding their visits to relatives in Cuba. When questions were raised on whether such prerogatives extended to other American citizens the response was that the latter were not authorized.

But not a word was said about the harshest of measures: the blockade. This is the way a truly genocidal measure is piously called, one whose damage cannot be calculated only on the basis of its economic effects, for it constantly takes human lives and brings painful suffering to our people.

Numerous diagnostic equipment and crucial medicines --made in Europe, Japan or any other country-- are not available to our patients if they carry U.S. components or software.

The U.S. companies producing goods or offering services anywhere in the world should apply these restrictions to Cuba, since they are extraterritorial measures.

An influential Republican Senator, Richard Lugar, and some others from his same party in Congress, as well as a significant number of his Democratic peers, favor the removal of the blockade. The conditions exist for Obama to use his talents in a constructive policy that could put an end to the one that has failed for almost half a century.

On the other hand, our country, which has resisted and is willing to resist whatever it takes, neither blames Obama for the atrocities of other U.S. administrations nor doubts his sincerity and his wishes to change the United States policy and image. We understand that he waged a very difficult battle to be elected, despite centuries-old prejudices.

Taking note of this reality, the President of the State Council of Cuba has expressed his willingness to have a dialogue with Obama and to normalize relations with the United States, on the basis of the strictest respect for the sovereignty of our country.

At 2:30 p.m., the head of the Interests Section of Cuba in Washington, Jorge Bolaños, was summoned to the State Department by Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Shannon. He did not say anything different from what had been indicated by the CNN.

At 3:15 p.m. a lengthy press conference started. The substance of what was said there is reflected in the words of Dan Restrepo, Presidential Adviser for Latin America.

He said that today President Obama had instructed to take certain measures, certain steps, to reach out to the Cuban people in support of their wishes to live with respect for human rights and to determine their own destiny and that of the country.

He added that the president had instructed the secretaries of State, Commerce and Treasury to undertake the necessary actions to remove all restrictions preventing persons to visit their relatives in the Island and sending remittances. He also said that the president had issued instructions for steps to be taken allowing the free flow of information in Cuba, and between those living in Cuba and the rest of the world, and to facilitate delivering humanitarian resources directly to the Cuban people.

He also said that with these measures, aimed at closing the gap between divided Cuban families and promoting the free flow of information and humanitarian assistance to the Cuban people, President Obama was making an effort to fulfill the objectives he set out during his campaign and after taking on his position.

Finally, he indicated that all those who believe in the basic democratic values hope for a Cuba where the human, political, economic and basic rights of the entire people are respected. And he added that President Obama feels that these measures will help to make this objective a reality. The president, he said, encourages everyone who shares these wishes to continue to decidedly support the Cuban people.

At the end of the press conference, the adviser candidly confessed that ‘all of this is for Cuba’s freedom.’

Cuba does not applaud the ill-named Summits of the Americas, where our nations do not debate on equal footing. If they were of any use, it would be to make critical analyses of policies that divide our peoples, plunder our resources and hinder our development.

Now, the only thing left is for Obama to try to persuade all of the Latin American presidents attending the conference that the blockade is harmless.

Cuba has resisted and it will continue to resist; it will never beg for alms. It will go on forward holding its head up high and cooperating with the fraternal peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean; with or without Summits of the Americas; whether or not the president of the United States is Obama, a man or a woman, a black or a white citizen.


Fidel Castro Ruz

April 13, 2009

6:12 p.m.

Ecuadorian Student Highlights Cuba’s Spirit of Solidarity

HAVANA, Cuba, April 14 (acn) Ecuadorian student Darío Flores pointed out on Monday that the Cuban Revolution is an example of solidarity and altruism for the rest of the world and thanked the Cuban authorities for allowing him to study to become a professional on the archipelago.

Cuba shares what it has, and not what it can spare, said Flores, who studies at the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM), located west of the Cuban capital.

He gave his case and those of thousands of Third World youngsters as examples of those who are being trained at Cuban universities free of charge in different specialties, particularly in the field of health.

This opportunity Cuba has given me represents the greatest aspiration of my life, which has allowed me to grow as a person, he added.

He pointed out that when he finishes his studies he will return to his community in Ecuador to look after the health of poor people there, thus fulfilling the commitment he made to the head of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro.

We admire the Cuban people a lot, for their determination and nobility of spirit, their perseverance and resistance. Nothing can discourage this people, affirmed the Ecuadorian student.

ELAM, the most genuine fruit of Fidel’s creative thinking, will celebrate its 10th anniversary on November 15th.

A total of 6,713 doctors have got their degrees in the four graduations that have taken place since 2005, and have joined the health systems of their countries of origin, CubaCoopera web site reports.

Armed with a profound conception of humanism and solidarity, this great scientific and pedagogical project now includes students from 24 nations: 19 in Latin America, 4 from Africa, and the United States.

These youngsters come mainly from the most humble strata of their societies. They’re from different ethnic groups, education and cultures but they all study their careers in a fraternal and friendly atmosphere.

The School’s enrolment is 1,500 students annually, for a total of 10,000 in the different years of their career, distributed in faculties of Medicine throughout the country.


(Estudiante ecuatoriano remarca espíritu solidario de Cuba)

Cuba Competing in Documentary Film Festival in Qatar

HAVANA, Cuba, April 14 (acn) Cuba is competing with 16 producers and four items in the 5th Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival, which opened on Monday in Doha, the capital of Qatar, where 102 works are competing.

The Caribbean archipelago, along with Chile, Argentina, Venezuela and Brazil, represent Latin America in this event, which is characterized by creativity and lyricism, without neglecting sharp denunciations of world reality and the perseverance for human improvement.

Prensa Latina news agency reports that Cuba will participate with the short Historias entre Ciclones, and the medium-length films Volveré y seremos millones, Una Isla entre dos Imperios, Camino al Desastre y Asediados por huracanes, as well as El Mérito es Estar Vivo and
Destinos, out of competition.

Some 200 producers from 60 nations are vying for the Al Jazeera Golden Prize, granted by the main television network of the Arab world and the Middle East, which also has channels specialized in documentaries, for children and sports programs.

Under the slogan Five Years of Hope, the event includes the categories of short, medium and full-length films, represented by 43, 41, and 18 works respectively, sources from the Organizing Committee told Prensa Latina.

Proof of the producers’ connection with the planet’s reality is the high number of items referring to denunciations of Israel’s repressive policy against the Palestinian people, climate change, and the proliferation of poverty.

(Concursa Cuba en Festival de Cine Documental en Qatar)

Cuban Writer to Receive ALBA Prize

HAVANA, Cuba, April 14 (acn) Cuban poet and essayist Roberto Fernández Retamar is in Venezuela to receive on April 16 the Prize for Letters granted by ALBA (the Bolivarian Alternative for The Americas).

Fernández Retamar was selected for the award along with Bolivian filmmaker Jorge Sanjinés, who will receive that of Arts, for which he also travelled to the Bolivarian Republic.

The two intellectuals met on Monday with the host country’s Culture Minister, Héctor Soto, and with representatives from the Venezuelan Book and Cinema industries, prior to receiving the award within the context of the ALBA Summit.

The Prize, given for the second time, is an acknowledgement of the work of a lifetime of creators who have made important contributions to the cultural heritage of Latin America and the Caribbean, states a report by Prensa Latina news agency.

Fernández Retamar (Havana, 1930) is an Arts graduate and has received doctorates from La Sorbonne and London University; he’s a founder and director of Havana’s Center for José Martí Studies and director of the Casa de las Américas cultural institution.

He has been awarded the Rubén Darío Latin American Poetry Prize, the Nikola Vaptsarov International Poetry Prize in Bulgaria, and the Literary Critics Prize of Argentina, as well as the Official Medal of Arts and Letters from France, among other awards.

For his part, Sanjinés is one of the most important Bolivian filmmakers, with movies related to Andean culture.

His film Ukamau has been awarded over 30 national and international prizes, and he won the Best Young Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival.


(En Venezuela Fernández Retamar para recibir Premio ALBA)

Havana Hosting Neuro-Sciences Congress

HAVANA, Cuba, April 14 (acn) The NeuroCuba Congress begins on Tuesday in Havana with the participation of nearly 300 experts who will discuss the neuro-sciences and diseases of the neuro-system.

According to Prensa Latina news agency, specialists in neurology and neurosurgery will present works and researches on diseases affecting the spine, brain tumors, epilepsy, dementia and other degenerative diseases of the nervous system, among others.

A member of the Organizing Committee, Miguel Angel Buergo, said that one of the main goals of the event is to join forces in order to advance in this field of medicine.

Buergo added that cerebrovascular diseases are the third cause of death in Cuba and around the world, and the first cause of neuro-related physical disabilities.

The congress will take place until next Friday at Havana’s Convention Center.


(Desde hoy en La Habana, Congreso NeuroCuba)

Cuba’s National Folkloric Group Begins Tour of Spain

HAVANA, Cuba, April 14 (acn) The National Folkloric Group of Cuba is beginning a tour around Spain with the show ‘La raíz y el tiempo’ (Roots and Time).

According to Prensa latina news agency, the dance company will visit the cities of Castellón, Leganés, Valencia, Coruña, Guadalajara, Abarán, Albacete, Almanza, Foz, Badajoz, Puerto Llano, Lucena, Torrejón de Ardoz, Lugo, Atarfe, Pontevedra, Vigo, Ourense, Asturias, Cuenca,
Alicante and Madrid.

Manolo Micler, the artistic and general director of the program, said that for over an hour and a half 35 dancers will go on stage in a performance that shows the blending of the Hispanic-African ingredients that have made up Cuban culture over the centuries.

Meanwhile, Leonardo Buenaventura, head of Public Relations of the Folkloric Group, explained that the show reflects a diversity of aesthetic concepts, artistic languages and styles that recreate the richness of Cuban dance and music.

He also announced that the same show will be taken to Portugal for its debut in that European country.

(Inicia gira por España el Conjunto Folklórico de Cuba)