FOR BOLSHEVISM-AUCPB – NEWSREEL MAY 07

RALLY BY MINSK BOLSHEVIKS AND THE LAYING OF FLOWERS AT THE MONUMENT OF V.I. LENIN

05.05.2011 18:13

Photos

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REFLECTIONS OF FIDEL
The murder of Osama Bin Laden
(Taken from CubaDebate)
THOSE who pay attention to these issues know that, on September 11, 2001, our people expressed solidarity with the United States and offered the modest support we could provide in the area of emergency care for the victims of the brutal attack on the Twin Towers in New York.
We also immediately offered our country’s runways to U.S. aircraft with no place to land given the chaos which reigned in the first few hours after the strike.
The Cuba Revolution’s historic position in opposition to acts which endanger the lives of civilians is well known.
Unwavering participants in the armed struggle against the Batista dictatorship we were, but opposed, in principle, to any terrorist act which would lead to the death of innocent people. Such a position, maintained over half a century, allows us the right to express a point of view on this delicate issue.
In a massive public event that day at [Havana’s] Ciudad Deportiva, I expressed the conviction that international terrorism would never be ended through violence and war.
He was clearly, for years, a friend of the United States, trained by it, and an adversary of the USSR and socialism, but whatever the acts attributed to Bin Laden, the murder of an unarmed human being surrounded by his family constitutes an abhorrent deed. This is apparently what the government of the most powerful nation ever to exist did.
The carefully crafted speech given by Obama announcing the death of Bin Laden affirms, "…we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world. The empty seat at the dinner table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father. Parents who would never know the feeling of their child's embrace. Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts."
This paragraph contains a dramatic truth, but it does not deter honest people from remembering the unjust wars unleashed by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, the hundreds of thousands of children forced to grow up without their mother or their father and the parents who would never know the feeling of their child's embrace.
Millions of citizens fled far from their peoples in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Cuba and other countries of the world.
Nor have hundreds of millions of people forgotten the horrific images of human beings in Guantánamo, occupied Cuban territory, filing by silently, subjected to months, even years, of unbearable, maddening torture. They are individuals kidnapped and transported to secret prisons with the hypocritical complicity of supposedly civilized societies.
Obama cannot conceal the fact that Osama was executed in the presence of his children and wives, now being held by authorities in Pakistan, a Muslim country of almost 200 million inhabitants which has seen its laws violated, its national dignity offended and its religious traditions debased.
How will he prevent the women and children of the person executed outside of the law, without a trial, from explaining what happened and the images from being transmitted around the world?
On January 28, 2002, CBS journalist Dan Rather reported on this television network that on September 10, 2002, the day before the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, Osama Bin Laden was treated with kidney dialysis in a Pakistani military hospital. He was in no position to hide or seek refuge in deep caverns.
Murdering him and consigning his body to the depths of the ocean demonstrates fear and insecurity, making him a much more dangerous figure.
After the initial euphoria, public opinion in the very United States will eventually turn against the methods used, which far from protecting its citizens, will multiply the hatred and vengeful feelings against them.

Fidel Castro Ruz
May 4, 2011
8:34 p.m.
Translated by Granma International
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REFLECTIONS OF FIDEL
A fire which could burn everyone
(Taken from CubaDebate)
ONE can be in agreement or not with Gaddafi’s political ideas, but nobody has the right to question the existence of Libya as an independent state and a member of the United Nations.
The world has still not accomplished what, from my point of view, constitutes an elemental question for the survival of our species today: the access of all peoples to the material resources of this planet. There is none other within the solar system which possesses the most elemental conditions of life as we know it.
The United States has always tried to be a melting pot of all races, creeds and nations: Caucasians, Africans, Asians, Indian and people of mixed race, with no differences other than those of master and slave, rich and poor; but all within the limits of its borders: Canada to the north, Mexico to the south, the Atlantic to the east, and the Pacific to the west. Alaska, Puerto Rico and Hawaii were simple historical accidents.
The complicated aspect of the matter is that it is not about a noble desire of those fighting for a better world, which is as worthy of respect as the religious beliefs of the peoples. Just a few types of radioactive isotopes emanating from enriched uranium consumed by electronuclear plants in relatively small quantities – given that they do not exist in nature – would suffice to put an end to the fragile existence of our species.
Burying those growing volumes of nuclear waste under sarcophaguses of cement and steel, is one of the greatest challenges of technology.
Incidents such as the Chernobyl accident or the Japanese earthquake have exposed those mortal risks.
The issue I wish to approach today is not that, but the shock with which I observed yesterday, via Walter Martínez’ Dossier program on Venezuelan television, the footage of the meeting between Robert Gates, chief of the Department of Defense, and British Defense Minister Liam Fox, who visited the United States to discuss the criminal war unleashed by NATO on Libya. It was almost hard to believe, the British minister took the Oscar; he was a bundle of nerves, he was tense, he spoke like a madman, he gave the impression that he was spitting out words.
Of course, first he arrived at the Pentagon entrance, where a smiling Gates was waiting for him. The flags of the two countries, that of the former colonial British Empire and that of its stepchild, the empire of the United States, fluttered on high on both sides while the anthems were played. The right hand on the chest, the rigorous and solemn military salute of the host country’s ceremony. That was Act I. After that the two ministers entered the U.S. Defense department. One would imagine that they talked at length given the footage I saw when each one returned with a speech in his hands, doubtless previously drafted.
The framework of this whole spectacle was constituted by military personnel. From the left hand angle one could see a young soldier, tall, slim, seemingly red-haired, shaven head, a cap with a black visor rammed on almost to his neck, presenting a rifle with a bayonet, unblinking and apparently not breathing, the very stamp of a soldier ready to fire a bullet or a nuclear missile with a destructive capacity of 100,000 tone of TNT. Gates spoke with the smile and naturalness of a lord and master. The Briton, on the other hand, did so in the way that I detailed.
It was one of the most horrible things I have ever seen; he exhibited hatred, frustration, rage and threatening language toward the Libyan leader, demanding his unconditional surrender. He seemed to be indignant because NATO’s powerful aircraft had been unable to crush the Libyan resistance in 72 hours.
He only needed to exclaim, "Blood, toil, tears and sweat!" like Winston Churchill did when calculating the price to be paid by his country for fighting Nazi aircraft. In this case the Nazi-fascist role is being played by NATO with its thousands of bombing missions with the most modern fighter planes that the world has ever known.
The last straw was the U.S. government decision authorizing the use of drone aircraft to kill Libyan men, women and children, as in Afghanistan, thousands of kilometers distant from Western Europe, but this time against an Arab and African people, right in front of the eyes of hundreds of millions of Europeans and no less than in the name of the United Nations.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stated yesterday that such acts of war were illegal and exceeded the framework of the United Nations Security Council agreements.
The gross attacks on the Libyan people, which are acquiring a Nazi-fascist nature, could be utilized against any Third World nation.
The resistance that Libya has put up really amazes me.
Now that bellicose organization is dependent on Gaddafi. If he resists and does not comply with its demands, he will go down in history as one of the great figures of the Arab countries.
NATO is fanning a fire which could burn everyone!
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 27, 2011
7:34 p.m.

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REFLECTIONS OF FIDEL
The restless and brutal North
(Taken from CubaDebate)
I was reading a large amount of material and books to keep my promise and continue my Reflection of April 14th about the Bay of Pigs when I took a look at yesterday’s latest news items, which were abundant, as they are everyday. Mountains can pile up every week, ranging from the earthquake in Japan, Ollanta Humala victory in Peru over Keiko, daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori.
Peru is an important exporter of silver, copper, zinc, tin and other minerals and has extensive deposits of uranium which powerful transnationals hope to exploit. The most terrible weapons known to humanity are made with enriched uranium, as is the fuel used in nuclear power plants which, despite the warnings of environmentalists, are being built at an ever increasing rate in the United States, Europe and Japan.
It would not be fair, of course, to blame Peru for this. Peruvians did not create colonialism, capitalism or imperialism. Nor can the people of the United States be blamed, also victims of the system which has engendered there the most confounding policies known on the planet.
This past April 8, the masters of the universe produced their usual report on ‘human rights’ violations, provoking an astute analysis on the Rebelión web site, by the Cuban Manuel E. Yepe, based on the Chinese Council of State’s response, citing facts which demonstrate the disastrous condition of human rights in the United States.
"… The United States is the nation which most seriously violates human rights, both within the country itself and around the world and is one of the nations doing the least to guarantee the life, property and personal security of its residents.
"Every year, one of every five people is the victim of crime, the highest rate on the planet. According to official figures, those older than 12 years of age, suffer 4.3 million violent attacks.
"Crime increased alarmingly in four cities within the country (Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York) and significant increases over the previous year’s rate where recorded in two other cities (Saint Louis and Detroit).
"The Supreme Court has ruled that the possession of guns for self-defense is a constitutional right which cannot be abridged by state governments. 90 million of the country’s 300 have 200 million firearms.
"There were 12,000 murders committed with firearms, while 47% of robberies committed involved the use of guns.
"Under the protection of the ‘terrorist activities’ section of the Patriot Act, torture and extreme violence are common practice in extracting confessions from the accused. 266 persons, 16 on death row, serving unjust sentences in the U.S. were absolved of any crime with the use of DNA testing.
"Washington advocates for Internet freedom in order to make use of the network as an important tool of diplomatic pressure and hegemony, but places strict restrictions on cyberspace within its own territory and is trying to establish a legal framework to attack the challenge represented by Wikileaks.
"With a high rate of unemployment, the proportion of U.S. citizens living in poverty has reached a record level. One of every eight citizens resorted to the use of food stamps last year.
"The number of families seeking refuge in homeless shelters increased by 7% and remained in such facilities longer. Violent crime against homeless families continues to increase.
"Racial discrimination permeates every aspect of social life. Minority groups face discrimination in the workplace, are humiliated and are not considered for promotions, benefits or hiring. One third of Blacks suffered workplace discrimination, although only 16% dared to submit a complaint.
The unemployment rate among whites is 16.2 %, among Latinos and Asians it is 22 %, and among Blacks, 33 %. Afro-Americans and Latinos represent 41% of the prison population and the proportion of Afro-Americans serving life sentences is 11 times that of whites.
"90% of women have faced gender discrimination of some kind within the workplace. 20 million women are victims of rape; almost 60,000 female prisoners have suffered sexual aggression or violence. A fifth of young women who are university students have faced sexual aggression and 60% of the rapes on campuses occur within dormitories.
"Nine of every ten homosexual, bisexual and transsexual students have faced harassment at school.
"The report devotes a chapter to the violations of human rights perpetuated by the United States beyond its borders. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, led by the U.S. have caused an exorbitant number of civilian deaths within these countries.
"U.S. anti-terrorist efforts have been plagued by serious scandals around abuse of prisoners, indefinite detentions without trial or charges, in centers like that in Guantánamo and other places around the world, created to interrogate ‘high level prisoners’ applying the worse torture techniques.
"The Chinese document also recalls that the U.S. has violated the right of the Cuban population to life and development, ignoring world opinion expressed by the United Nations General Assembly which, for 19 consecutive years, has reaffirmed ‘the need to end the economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba.’
"The U.S. has not ratified international human rights conventions such as the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities or the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
"The facts which support the document presented by the Chinese government substantiate the sinister history of the U.S. in this area and disqualify it as the ‘judge’ of human rights around the world. Its human rights diplomacy is pure hypocrisy and double standards in the service of its strategic imperial interests. The Chinese government advises the U.S. government to take concrete steps to improve its own human rights situation, examine and correct its activities in this area and desist in its continuous hegemonic activity manipulating the human rights issue in order to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries."
The significance of this analysis, in our opinion, is that such a denunciation is made in a document presented by the Chinese state, a country of 1,342 million citizens, which holds two trillion U.S. dollars in reserve, and without whose trade the empire would sink. I thought it important that our people be aware of the precise facts contained in the Chinese Council of State document.
If Cuba had said this, it wouldn’t bear the same significance; we’ve been denouncing these hypocrites for 50 years.
Martí said more than 116 years ago, in 1895: "… the policy which we must thwart, which we are thwarting with our blood, is the annexation of the peoples of Our America by the restless and brutal North which disparages us…"
"I lived within the monster and I know its entrails."
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 23, 2011
7: 32 p.m.
Translated by Granma International

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