Castro's Reflection on Meeting Hu Jintao

MEETING HU JINTAO
Reflections by comrade Fidel
Nov 20, 2008

I didn't want to speak much, but he forced me to elaborate. I asked a
few questions but I mostly listened to him.

He related the exploits of the Chinese people in the past 10 months.
The enormous nation with a 1.3 billion population has been hit by
heavy and out-of-season snow, and an earthquake which devastated
areas three times that of Cuba; in addition to the most serious
international economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

I could see in my mind the great efforts of the Chinese people, its
workers, its peasants and its manual and intellectual workers; the
traditional hard-working spirit and the millennium-old culture of
that country that preceded by thousands of years the colonial period
imposed by the West, the same West where the current G-7 powers sit
today with their force and wealth, playing a hegemonic role in the
world economy.

What a great challenge for this leader in these times of
globalization who in a gesture of goodwill came to visit our
blockaded, harassed and threatened homeland! Are we not one a rogue
state among 60 or more that can be the target of a pre-emptive
attack? That much was said by the insane leader of the empire six
years ago, the same man who just five days ago met in Washington with
the G20!

China is the only member of that group whose State can regulate a
high growth rate, at the pace it chooses, no less than 8% in 2009.
The idea raised during the last Party Congress was to quadruple the
per capita Gross Domestic Product between 2000 and 2020, measured in
2007 present values; that was the year the Congress was held.
He spoke to me about that in detail. Thus, in conditions of peace,
China will reach by the end of that period the figure of no less than
4 thousand dollars per capita income. I think that it should not be
forgotten that China is an emerging nation whose per capita income at
the time of the revolutionary victory --with a smaller population?
hardly reached $400 per capita, and the country was completely
isolated by imperialism. Just compare this with the $20 thousand per
capita, or more, that developed capitalist countries such as Japan,
the Western European nations, the United States and Canada currently
enjoy. The per capita income in some of these exceeds the $40
thousand annually, even if their distribution in society is far from
fair.

It is only by using $586 billion from its foreign reserves amounting
to almost $2 trillions, accumulated through much hard work and
sacrifices that this country is facing the present crisis and
advancing. Is there any other country as sound as this?

The President of China, Secretary General of the Party and Chairman
of the Party and Government Central Military Commissions, Hu Jintao,
is a leader who's aware of his authority and exercises it to the
full.

The delegation he headed signed with Cuba twelve draft agreements
towards a modest economic development in an area of the planet where
the small territory in its entirety can be battered by increasingly
intensive hurricanes, an evidence of true climate changes. The area
affected by the earthquake in China is hardly 4% of the total area of
that great multinational State.

Under certain circumstances, the size of an independent country, its
geographical location and the size of its population can play a major
role.

Would a country like the United States, which robs already trained
minds everywhere, be in a position to apply an Adjustment Act to the
Chinese citizens similar to the one it applies to Cuba? Obviously
not. Could it apply it to the entire Latin America? Of course, it
couldn't there either.

Meanwhile, our marvelous, contaminated and only spaceship continues
to circle around its imaginary axis, as one popular Venezuelan
program likes to repeat.

It's not an everyday occurrence for a small state to have the
privilege of receiving a leader of Hu Jintao's stature and prestige.
He shall now continue his trip to Lima. There will be another great
meeting there. Again, President Bush will attend, this time seven
days closer to the end of his mandate.

It is said that in Washington, with only 20 leaders of the attending
nations, the local security measures and those required by the host
to thwart any attempt at physical removal, changed the habits and
every day life in that city. How would it be in the great city of
Lima? The city will surely be taken over by the security forces.
It will be difficult to move around it because the well-trained members
of the US supranational bodies will be there, and their interests and
plans will only be known many years after the presidential terms of
the eventual leaders of the empire are over.

I summed up for him some of our country's assessments on the habits
of our neighbors to the north, which tries to impose on us its ideas,
its mindset and its interests with its fleet full of nuclear weapons
and fighter planes; also our views on Venezuela's solidarity with
Cuba from the most critical days of the Special Period and the hard
blows dealt by the natural disasters. Likewise, that President
Chavez, a great admirer of China has been the steadiest advocate of
socialism as the only system capable of bringing justice to the
peoples of Latin America.

In Beijing, they treasure good memories of the Bolivarian leader.

President Hu Jintao reaffirmed his wishes to continue developing
relations with Cuba, a country for which he feels great respect.

The conversation went on for 1 hour and 38 minutes. He was warm,
friendly and modest, and his affection was obvious. I found him
young, healthy and strong. We wish our distinguished and fraternal
friend the best in his endeavors. Thanks for his encouraging visit
and the honor of showing an interest in a personal meeting with me!

Fidel Castro Ruz

November 19, 2008

1:12 p.m.

Castro serenades China's Hu on landmark Cuba visit

AFP
Nov 20, 2008

HAVANA– China's President Hu Jintao made a landmark visit to Cuba Tuesday, bearing millions of dollars in aid and promises of closer future trade ties.

The Chinese leader brought 4.5 tonnes of humanitarian aid for victims of three hurricanes that battered Cuba this year, which was handed over late Monday after Hu's arrival at the Jose Marti International Airport.

Receiving the gift, Cuba's Minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Rodrigo Malmierca said that Cuba "deeply appreciates the visit of President Hu Jintao, at the exact moment the country is struggling to recover and continue its development."

It was the third donation China has made to assist Cuba in its recovery from hurricanes Gustav, Ike and Paloma, which caused 10 billion dollars worth of damages in the space of two months. Hurricane aid from the Chinese government and businesses has totalled more than 2.5 million dollars.

Later he accompanied President Raul Castro on a visit to a school for Chinese students, where the Cuban leader sang snippets of a song in Chinese praising late Communist Party Leader Mao Zedong.

"I learned to be a student like you, young like you and will remain so all my life," Castro told Hu and 300 Chinese students in the town of Tarara, east of Havana.

During the ceremony, President Hu thanked the Cuban authorities for supporting young Chinese students in Cuba, noting that by 2011, some 5,000 Chinese will have learned Spanish in Cuba since the inception in 2006 of the exchange program which he called a "sign of friendship and cooperation ... between the Cuban people and the Chinese people."

During his 36-hour visit -- his first to Cuba since 2004 -- Hu plans to oversee the signing of various cooperation deals.

Hu also visited convalescing former president Fidel Castro, 82.

The Chinese leader held a "long conversation" with the former Cuban leader and described finding Castro "very recovered," according to the Chinese official Xinhua news agency. The two appeared in a picture published on the website.

Fidel Castro has met with several foreign leaders in recent months, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Hu arrived in Havana late Monday after attending the world economic crisis summit in Washington and making a stopover in Costa Rica, where he launched free-trade talks and a string of cooperation deals.

His Latin America tour, which also includes an Asia-Pacific summit in Peru, comes as China expands its diplomacy and investment around the world, eyeing natural resources and developing markets for manufactured goods and even weapons.

Chinese exports to Latin America grew 52 percent in the first nine months of 2008 to 111.5 billion dollars, according to state-run Xinhua news agency.

China was Cuba's second business partner, after Venezuela, in 2007 with 2.7 billion dollars of combined trade, and one of its main creditors.

The two countries have remained close for decades, their Marxist Socialist past a driving force in relations, and they have increased ties since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

"This visit is an expression of the excellent existing links between both parties and governments," said an official statement published in Cuba's official government paper Granma on Monday.

Hu's visit comes less than two weeks before the arrival of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in another Russian bid to fortify relations with outspoken US adversaries in Latin America on the back of a trip to Venezuela.

China offered key support to former Cuban leader Fidel Castro when Cuba fell into dire economic straits after the former Soviet Union collapse, forging a divide which Russia has recently sought to reduce.

Current deals include Chinese oil prospecting and extraction in Cuba -- onshore and offshore -- and two Cuban eye hospitals in China and a third under construction.

Since Raul Castro officially assumed power in February, taking over from his ailing older brother Fidel, analysts suggest he is moving toward China's market economy model, although authorities still underline support for Cuba's state controlled economy.

Raul Castro recently sought foreign investment for prospecting and exploitation of gold, silver, zinc and copper deposits.

China already invests in nickel, Cuba's main export, and hydrocarbons on the island which produces the equivalent of 80,000 barrels of oil and gas per day.

Granma on Monday lauded the Chinese model but underlined "an unequal distribution of wealth in the country, marked difference between city and countryside and the erosion of the environment."

Cuba begins leasing land in key Raul Castro reform

Marc Frank
Reuters
October 10, 2008

Communist Cuba has begun leasing land to private farmers, cooperatives and state companies for the first time in decades in a step forward for one of President Raul Castro's main economic reforms, official media said this week.

The move could not come at a better time, local economists said, as the country struggles with food shortages after hurricanes Ike and Gustav devastated crops last month.

"First parcels of vacant land handed over in Granma" said a headline in Demajagua, the Communist party newspaper for the southeastern province of Granma.

The report was the first mention in Cuba that land has actually been turned over since the plan was announced in July and applications were opened in September. The weekly paper said 33 parcels totaling 350 hectares (865 acres) were leased to farmers, cooperatives, individuals and other entities.

Demajagua said applications had been submitted for 61,808 hectares (152,725 acres) of the 76,675 hectares (189,461 acres) of state lands in Granma.

There has been no announcement at the national level that handovers have begun and it is not clear if the process has started in other provinces.

Farmers in central Camaguey province told Reuters they had been advised that land leases there would begin within a few weeks.

The handovers are the latest of several limited reforms implemented by Castro to try to make Cuba's state-run economy more productive since he formally replaced his ailing brother, Fidel Castro, as president in February.

Raul Castro's broadest reform has been in agriculture, where he has decentralized decision-making, reduced bureaucracy and increased prices to raise food production in the import-dependent nation.

Getting more land into the hands of private farmers, who have been more productive than state farms, is a key part of his plan.

CROP DAMAGE
The issue has become more critical in recent weeks after hurricanes Gustav and Ike destroyed 30 percent of Cuba's crops when they struck a month ago.

A decree law issued in July said private farmers who have shown themselves to be productive can increase their current land to a maximum of 40 hectares (99 acres) for a period of 10 years. The deal can be renewed.

Cooperatives and state farms also can request additional land to work for 25 years, with the possibility of renewing for another 25, according to the law. It did not specify how much more land the cooperatives can get.

The Cuban state owns more than 70 percent of arable land, of which more than 50 percent is fallow.

For many years the government has leased land to individuals who want to farm for the first time, but balked at doing the same for private farmers and cooperatives, by far the country's most productive.

The state-run National Information Agency said 5,692 land applications have been submitted in Granma, but figures for the entire country were not available.

The process of handing over lands will take time because of the need to do land surveys and other issues, a local official told Demajagua.

(Editing by Jeff Franks and Frances Kerry)

Cuba Parliament Appeals to parliamentarians throughout the world

HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 13 (acn) The National Assembly of the Peoples’ Power (Cuban Parliament) issued a declaration calling on parliamentarians throughout the world to urge the US Congress and the government of the United States to unconditionally lift the economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba and to respect the legitimate and sovereign right of the Cuban people to build their own destiny.

DECLARATION

On October 29, 2008, the United Nations General Assembly will discuss and put to the vote the draft resolution “Necessity to put an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”.

For 16 consecutive years, the very General Assembly has approved similar resolutions by a growing and overwhelming majority. The last of these, which was voted on October 30, 2007, was supported by 184 countries.

However, as was irrefutably demonstrated in the report presented by Cuba to the General Assembly on the resolution that was adopted last year, the government of the United States, with its customary arrogance, has ignored the express mandate of the international community and, far from ending that genocidal policy, is intensifying it in an attempt to kill our people by hunger and diseases.

In the course of last year, the main targets of the blockade have been maintained and reinforced, which was evidenced by the systematic persecution and application of sanctions against companies and financial institutions that have or could have business with Cuba, while organizing or increasing subversive operations which, by virtue of the Bush Plan, pursue the goal of overthrowing the legitimate constitutional order that has been established and endorsed by the Cuban people and initiating the re-colonization of our country.

As the international community knows full well, Cuba has suffered recently from the destructive swathe cut by hurricanes Ike and Gustav. According to unofficial figures, losses are estimated at more than five billion dollars, which basically focus in highly sensitive areas for the population such as housing, agriculture, energy and the infrastructure.

The Cuban government, along with the determined and selfless efforts of the vast majority of our people, is deploying all its energy so that, in the shortest time possible, we may recover from the damages inflicted, look after the enormous needs of Cuban families, construct or reconstruct tens of thousands of houses and increase the production of foodstuffs. All of this should be done amidst the difficult conditions facing the world today, which is plunged in a financial crisis of unforeseeable effects for the entire planet.

In that titanic battle we are waging, we have experienced the solidarity of many governments and peoples throughout the world who, through magnificent gestures, have sent contributions of donations and help of inestimable moral and material value, in spite of some of their own shortages. The Cuban people, the exceptional protagonist of the systematic practice of solidarity, understand in their entire dimension and convey its appreciation for these unselfish acts However, we cannot say the same about the government of the United States. First, they offered the presumed aid of one hundred thousand dollars accompanied by in situ inspection of the damages caused by both hurricanes. The only answer we could give was that of not accepting any commission to evaluate damages, since our experience accumulated during all these years has enabled us to rigorously and objectively evaluate the ravages of this kind of meteorological phenomena.

As a matter of principle, Cuba could not accept either any presumed aid from the government that has perpetuated the criminal blockade that has lasted almost 50 years.

Cuba did not ask for help from anyone, much less the United States. Cuba did ask the government of that country to allow Cuba to buy fromAmerican companies, under the same conditions in which these companies sell to the world market, the resources needed for the reconstruction of the country. Many were the voices in the United States, including those of presidential candidates, Democrat and Republican members of Congress, influential newspapers, NGOs and humanitarian organizations, that asked the American administration not just to lift the blockade, but something much simpler: to relax for a few months its Draconian measures, including the travel ban on Cubans living in that country and the ban on remittances to their relatives in Cuba, something that, in their opinion, could have an impact on the assistance to the Cuban people.

Meanwhile, the government of the United States reiterated that under no circumstances would it relax the application of its criminal policy. There is no more eloquent example of the true objective of the blockade: the attempt to destroy the Revolution by causing “hunger and despair” and undermine the support of the people, as recognized by that government on April 6, 1960. That policy, which clearly classifies for the international crime of genocide, will soon observe half a century of existence.

In the face of the stubbornness and arrogance of the United States government, Cuba will continue forward. Fifty years of aggressions and economic war inflicted by the greatest power known to history will never crush the will of our people. In the arduous circumstances that we struggle today, we shall continue working for the country's recovery so that we may conquer, as Martí wished, all the justice.

The National Assembly of the Peoples’ Power of the Republic of Cuba calls on parliamentarians throughout the world to demand from the Congress and the government of the United States to unconditionally lift its genocidal blockade and respect the legitimate and sovereign right of the Cuban people to build their own destiny.

Havana, October 13, 2008.

Cuba to become oil exporter

2008-10-04

Havana (VNA) – Cuban former President Fidel Castro has said that Cuba might become an oil exporter in a relatively short period of time.

On his article published in October 3 on the Granma newspaper, the former President added that “We are already partly so”.

Cuba is cooperating with Vietnam, Canada, China, Spain, India, Norway and Malaysia to carry out oil and gas exploration and exploitation projects on land and off the Gulf of Mexico.

Cuba has also granted exploitation and exploration permits to seven foreign companies and a joint venture between Spain, India and Norway, who are expected to exploit oil in their first oil well in early 2009.

According to a geological research, Cuba’s oil reserves are estimated to reach 4.6 billion barrels and the Caribbean country can produce 525,000 barrels of oil per day in the next ten years.

Currently, Cuba has spent up to 8 billion USD on its annual energy consumption while, the country earns 2 billion USD from its three economic spearheads including nickel, sugar and pharmaceuticals.

Cuba at UN: 'The very existence of the human species is at risk'

Speech by José Ramón Machado Ventura, First Vice-President of Cuba's Council of State and Ministers, to the general debate of the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York, September 24, 2008.

Mr. President:

We are living a decisive moment in the history of humankind. The threats looming over the world put the very existence of the human species at risk.

The promotion of peace, solidarity, social justice and sustainable development is the only way to ensure the future. The prevailing world order, unjust and unsustainable, must be replaced by a new system that is truly democratic and equitable, based on respect for International Law and on the principles of solidarity and justice, putting an end to the inequalities and exclusion to which the great majorities of the population of our planet have been condemned.

There are no alternatives. Those responsible for this state of affairs, the industrialized nations and, in particular, the sole superpower, have to accept their responsibilities. Fabulous fortunes cannot continue to be wasted while millions of human beings are starving and dying of curable diseases. It is not possible to keep on polluting the air and poisoning the oceans; this destroys the living conditions of our future generations. Neither the peoples nor the planet itself will permit this without great social upheaval and extremely serious natural disasters.

Mr. President:

The wars of conquest, the aggression and illegal occupation of countries, military intervention and the bombing of innocent civilians, the unbridled arms race, the pillage and usurping of the Third World's natural resources and the imperial offensive to crush the resistance of the peoples who are defending their rights, constitute the greatest and most serious threats to peace and international security.

Concepts such as limitation of sovereignty, pre-emptive war or regime change, are an expression of the desire to mutilate the independence of our countries.

The so-called war on terrorism or the false promotion of their freedoms, are an excuse for aggression and military occupation, for torture, arbitrary arrests and the denial of the right of self-determination of peoples, for unfair blockades and unilaterally imposed sanctions, for the imposition of political, economic and social models that facilitate imperial domination, in open disdain for history, cultures and the sovereign will of the peoples.

The gap between the rich and the poor widens with every passing day. The very modest Millennium Development Goals constitute an unreachable dream for the vast majority.

While a trillion of dollars is spent on weapons in the world, more than 850 million human beings are starving; a 1.1 billion people don't have access to drinking water, 2.6 billion lack sewage services and more than 800 million are illiterate.

More than 640 million children lack adequate housing, 115 million do not attend primary school and 10 million die before the age of five, in most cases as the result of diseases that can be cured.

The populations of the South are suffering with increasing frequency from natural disasters, whose consequences have been aggravated by climate change. Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba and other Caribbean countries are examples of that. Let us make a plea for solidarity especially for our sister country of Haiti as it faces its dramatic situation.

The rise in oil prices is the result of irrational consumption, strong speculation and imperial war adventures. The desperate search for new sources of energy has pushed the criminal strategy driven by the United States government to transform grains and cereals into fuel.

Mr. President:

For a large part of the Non-Aligned countries, the situation is becoming unsustainable. Our nations have paid, and they will continue to pay the cost and the consequences of the irrationality, wastefulness and speculation of a few countries in the industrialized North who are responsible for the world food crisis. They imposed trade liberalization and the financial prescriptions of structural adjustment on the developing countries. They caused the ruin of many small producers; they denied, and in some cases destroyed, emerging agricultural development in the countries of the South, turning them into net food importing countries.

They are the ones who maintain obscene agricultural subsidies, while they force their rules on international trade. They set prices, monopolize technologies, impose unfair certifications and manipulate the distribution channels, the financing sources and trade. They control transportation, scientific research, genetic banks and the production of fertilizers and pesticides.

Mr. President:

We have not come here to complain. We have come, on behalf of the Movement of Non-Aligned countries, to demand and defend the vindication of thousands of millions of human beings who claim justice and their rights.

The formula is not difficult nor does it require great sacrifices. All we need is the necessary political will, less egotism and the objective understanding that if we do not act today, the consequences could be apocalyptic and would affect the rich and poor alike. For this reason, Cuba once again calls on the governments of the developed countries, on behalf of the Movement of Non-Aligned countries, to honor their commitments and, in particular, Cuba urges them to:

• Put an end to the wars of occupation and to the plunder of the resources of the Third World countries and to free up at least a part of their millions in military spending to direct those resources towards international assistance for the benefit of sustainable development.

• Cancel the foreign debt of developing countries since it has been already paid more than once, and with this, additional resources would be released that could be channeled to economic development and social programs.

• Honor the commitment of directing at least 0.7% of the Gross Domestic Product for Official Development Assistance, unconditionally, so that the South countries would be able to use those resources for their national priorities and promote access of poor countries to substantial sums of fresh financing.

• Direct one-fourth of the money that is squandered each year on commercial advertising to food production; this would free up almost 250 billion additional dollars to fight hunger and malnutrition.

• Direct the money being used for the North's agricultural subsidies to agricultural development in the South. By doing this, our countries would have about a billion dollars per day available to invest in food production.

• Comply with the Kyoto Protocol commitments and set commitments to reduce emissions more generously starting in 2012, without wanting to increase restrictions for countries that, even today, maintain per capita emission levels that are much lower than those of the North countries'.

• Promote the access of the Third World to technologies and support the training of their human resources. Today, in contrast, qualified personnel from the South are subjected to unfair competition and incentives presented by discriminatory and selective migratory policies applied by the United States and Europe.

• And something that is today more urgent than ever, the establishment of a democratic and equitable international order, and a fair and transparent trading system where all States will participate, in sovereignty, in the decisions that affect them.

Moreover, it is our deepest belief that solidarity between peoples and governments is possible. In Latin America and the Caribbean, ALBA and PETROCARIBE have demonstrated this.

Mr. President:

The Movement of Non-Aligned Countries has remained faithful to its founding principles.

We support the cause of the Palestinian people and their inalienable right to self-determination in an independent and sovereign State, with its capital in East Jerusalem.

We support the cause of all those other peoples whose sovereignty and territorial integrity is being threatened, like Venezuela and Bolivia, and we endorse the right of Puerto Rico to be independent.

We condemn the imposition of unilateral coercive measures in violation of International Law, and attempts to implant a single model for a political, economic and social system. We object to the negative practices of certifying countries according to the patterns and interests of the powerful. We strongly oppose political manipulation and the application of double standards in the matter of human rights, and we reject the selective imposition of politically motivated resolutions against the member countries of the Movement.

The establishment of the Human Rights Council gives us the opportunity to open up a new era in the promotion and protection of all human rights for all, on the basis of international cooperation and constructive dialogue. Those who caused the demise of the old Human Rights Commission are now trying to disqualify the Council because they have not been able to bend it to serve their own self interests. They refuse to participate in its work to escape the scrutiny of the international community in the framework of the Universal Periodic Review Mechanism.

The legitimacy of the Council does not depend on the perception that the Empire has about its work, but on its capacity to discharge its mandate with the strictest adherence to the principles of universality, objectivity, impartiality and non selectivity in the treatment of human rights issues.

The Movement of Non-Aligned Countries will continue to defend the interests of the Third World and promote the building of a world which is more just, more democratic and with more solidarity.

Mr. President:

Cuba has had to pay a very high price for the defense of its independence and sovereignty.

The heroic people of Cuba have endured the longest and cruelest blockade in history, imposed by the most powerful nation on Earth. Despite the fact that this Assembly has repeatedly and resoundingly pronounced itself in favor of ending this genocidal policy, the United States government has not only ignored the will of the international community, but in marked disregard of the same, has gradually intensified its economic war against Cuba.

Never has the foreign policy against a country been armed with such a broad and sophisticated arsenal of aggressive measures in the political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, military, psychological and ideological domain.

Cuba has just been lashed by two intense hurricanes which have devastated its agriculture and seriously affected part of its infrastructure and damaged or destroyed more than 400,000 homes.

Allow me to take advantage of this opportunity, on behalf of the Cuban government and people, to thank all those countries, organizations and persons who in one way or another have honestly and sincerely contributed with resources or moral support to the reconstruction efforts undertaken by my country.

That stands in contrast with the position of the United States government which continues to ruthlessly apply their blockade.

Cuba has asked for no gifts from the United States government. It has simply asked and asked again that it be allowed to purchase in the United States the materials that are indispensable for the reconstruction of homes and power grid and that US companies be authorized to grant Cuba private commercial credits to buy food. The answer has been negative, and it has been accompanied with an attempt to manipulate information in such a manner that the government of the United States seems to be concerned for the wellbeing of the Cuban people while the government of Cuba is perceived to be turning down their offer.

If the United States were really so concerned for the Cuban people, the only moral and ethical behavior would be to lift the blockade imposed on Cuba for the last five decades, in violation of the most elemental rules of International Law and the Charter of the United Nations .

This irrational policy has a clear aim: to destroy the process of profound revolutionary transformations undertaken by the Cuban people from 1959, in other words, trampling on its right to self-determination, wresting away its freedom and its political, economic and social conquests and plunging it backwards to its former neocolonial status.

The Bush administration intends to justify the intensification of its policy against Cuba by turning once more to fraud and deceit, with the cynicism and hypocrisy that characterizes it. Its determination to dominate and re-colonize Cuba is being presented, no less, like an endeavor to liberate and democratize.

Who, other than its accomplices, recognizes that the United States government has any authority in this world in the matter of democracy and human rights? What authority would such a government claim, one that hunts down and cruelly mistreats the illegal migrants at its southern border, that legalizes the use of torture and keeps in concentration camps, such as the one installed in the territory illegally occupied by the U.S. base at Guantánamo, people who have not been proved of or even charged with any crime?

What respect is due to a government that attacks the sovereignty of other States using the excuse of the fight against terrorism, while at the same time guaranteeing impunity to anti-Cuban terrorists?

What kind of justice can be promoted by an administration that illegally keeps imprisoned five Cuban patriots who were only seeking information to prevent the actions of the terrorist groups operating against Cuba from the United States?

Mr. President:

Cuba appreciates the solidarity which it has received from this General Assembly in its fight against the blockade and the aggressions which it has had to confront for almost five decades.

Cuba reaffirms its unyielding decision to defend its sovereignty and independence.

Cuba reaffirms its will to carry on, together with members of the Movement for Non-Aligned Countries, in the battle for a better world, where the rights of all peoples for justice and development are respected.

To conclude I would like to recall the words of the Commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolution, comrade Fidel Castro Ruz: "A world without hunger is possible … A just world is possible. A new world, which our species eminently deserves, is possible and will become reality".

Thank you very much.

Translation by Granma

Cuba: 'A world without hunger is possible … A just world is possible'

José Ramón Machado Ventura

Vice-president of Cuba

speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, at the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

September 24, 2008 -- We are living a decisive moment in the history of humankind. The threats looming over the world put the very existence of the human species at risk.

The promotion of peace, solidarity, social justice and sustainable development is the only WAY to ensure the future. The prevailing world order, unjust and unsustainable, must be replaced by a new system that is truly democratic and equitable, based on respect for international law and on the principles of solidarity and justice, putting an end to the inequalities and exclusion to which the great majorities of the population of our planet have been condemned.

There are no alternatives. Those responsible for this state of affairs, the industrialised nations and, in particular, the sole superpower, have to accept their responsibilities. Fabulous fortunes cannot continue to be wasted while millions of human beings are starving and dying of curable diseases. It is not possible to keep on polluting the air and poisoning the oceans; this destroys the living conditions of our future generations. Neither the peoples nor the planet itself will permit this without great social upheaval and extremely serious natural disasters.

The wars of conquest, the aggression and illegal occupation of countries, military intervention and the bombing of innocent civilians, the unbridled arms race, the pillage and usurping of the Third World’s natural resources and the imperial offensive to crush the resistance of the peoples who are defending their rights, constitute the greatest and most serious threats to peace and international security.

Concepts such as limitation of sovereignty, pre-emptive war or regime change, are an expression of the desire to mutilate the independence of our countries.

The so-called war on terrorism or the false promotion of their freedoms, are an excuse for aggression and military occupation, for torture, arbitrary arrests and the denial of the right of self-determination of peoples, for unfair blockades and unilaterally imposed sanctions, for the imposition of political, economic and social models that facilitate imperial domination, in open disdain for history, cultures and the sovereign will of the peoples.

Rich and poor

The gap between the rich and the poor widens with every passing day. The very modest Millennium Development Goals constitute an unreachable dream for the vast majority.

While a trillion of dollars is spent on weapons in the world, more than 850 million human beings are starving, 1.1 billion people don’t have access to drinking water, 2.6 billion lack sewage services and more than 800 million are illiterate.

More than 640 million children lack adequate housing, 115 million do not attend primary school and 10 million die before the age of five, in most cases as the result of diseases that can be cured.

The populations of the South are suffering with increasing frequency from natural disasters, whose consequences have been aggravated by climate change. Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba and other Caribbean countries are examples of that. Let us make a plea for solidarity especially for our sister country of Haiti as it faces its dramatic situation.

The rise in oil prices is the result of irrational consumption, strong speculation and imperial war adventures. The desperate search for new sources of energy has pushed the criminal strategy driven by the United States government to transform grains and cereals into fuel.

For a large part of the non-aligned countries, the situation is becoming unsustainable. Our nations have paid, and they will continue to pay the cost and the consequences of the irrationality, wastefulness and speculation of a few countries in the industrialised North who are responsible for the world food crisis. They imposed trade liberalisation and the financial prescriptions of structural adjustment on the developing countries. They caused the ruin of many small producers; they denied, and in some cases destroyed, emerging agricultural development in the countries of the South, turning them into net food importing countries.

They are the ones who maintain obscene agricultural subsidies, while they force their rules on international trade. They set prices, monopolise technologies, impose unfair certifications and manipulate the distribution channels, the financing sources and trade. They control transportation, scientific research, genetic banks and the production of fertilisers and pesticides.

We have not come here to complain. We have come, on behalf of the Movement of Non-Aligned countries, to demand and defend the vindication of thousands of millions of human beings who claim justice and their rights.

Commitments

The formula is not difficult nor does it require great sacrifices. All we need is the necessary political will, less egotism and the objective understanding that if we do not act today, the consequences could be apocalyptic and would affect the rich and poor alike. For this reason, Cuba once again calls on the governments of the developed countries, on behalf of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, to honour their commitments and, in particular, Cuba urges them to:

Put an end to the wars of occupation and to the plunder of the resources of the Third World countries and to free up at least a part of their millions in military spending to direct those resources towards international assistance for the benefit of sustainable development.

Cancel the foreign debt of developing countries since it has been already paid more than once, and with this, additional resources would be released that could be channeled to economic development and social programs.

Honour the commitment of directing at least 0.7% of the gross domestic product for Official Development Assistance, unconditionally, so that the South countries would be able to use those resources for their national priorities and promote access of poor countries to substantial sums of fresh financing.

Direct one-fourth of the money that is squandered each year on commercial advertising to food production; this would free up almost 250 billion additional dollars to fight hunger and malnutrition.

Direct the money being used for the North’s agricultural subsidies to agricultural development in the South. By doing this, our countries would have about a billion dollars per day available to invest in food production.

Comply with the Kyoto Protocol commitments and set commitments to reduce [greenhouse gas] emissions more generously starting in 2012, without wanting to increase restrictions for countries that, even today, maintain per capita emission levels that are much lower than those of the North countries.

Promote the access of the Third World to technologies and support the training of their human resources. Today, in contrast, qualified personnel from the South are subjected to unfair competition and incentives presented by discriminatory and selective migratory policies applied by the United States and Europe.

And something that is today more urgent than ever, the establishment of a democratic and equitable international order, and a fair and transparent trading system where all States will participate, in sovereignty, in the decisions that affect them.

Moreover, it is our deepest belief that solidarity between peoples and governments is possible. In Latin America and the Caribbean, ALBA and PETROCARIBE have demonstrated this.

The Movement of Non-Aligned Countries has remained faithful to its founding principles.

We support the cause of the Palestinian people and their inalienable right to self-determination in an independent and sovereign State, with its capital in East Jerusalem.

We support the cause of all those other peoples whose sovereignty and territorial integrity is being threatened, like Venezuela and Bolivia, and we endorse the right of Puerto Rico to be independent.

We condemn the imposition of unilateral coercive measures in violation of international law, and attempts to implant a single model for a political, economic and social system. We object to the negative practices of certifying countries according to the patterns and interests of the powerful. We strongly oppose political manipulation and the application of double standards in the matter of human rights, and we reject the selective imposition of politically motivated resolutions against the member countries of the Non-Aligned Movement.

The establishment of the Human Rights Council gives us the opportunity to open up a new era in the promotion and protection of all human rights for all, on the basis of international cooperation and constructive dialogue. Those who caused the demise of the old Human Rights Commission are now trying to disqualify the council because they have not been able to bend it to serve their own self interests. They refuse to participate in its work to escape the scrutiny of the international community in the framework of the Universal Periodic Review Mechanism.

The legitimacy of the council does not depend on the perception that the Empire has about its work, but on its capacity to discharge its mandate with the strictest adherence to the principles of universality, objectivity, impartiality and non selectivity in the treatment of human rights issues.

The Movement of Non-Aligned Countries will continue to defend the interests of the Third World and promote the building of a world which is more just, more democratic and with more solidarity.

High price

Cuba has had to pay a very high price for the defence of its independence and sovereignty.

The heroic people of Cuba have endured the longest and cruelest blockade in history, imposed by the most powerful nation on Earth. Despite the fact that this General Assembly has repeatedly and resoundingly pronounced itself in favour of ending this genocidal policy, the United States government has not only ignored the will of the international community, but in marked disregard of the same, has gradually intensified its economic war against Cuba.

Never has the foreign policy against a country been armed with such a broad and sophisticated arsenal of aggressive measures in the political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, military, psychological and ideological domain.

Cuba has just been lashed by two intense hurricanes which have devastated its agriculture and seriously affected part of its infrastructure and damaged or destroyed more than 400,000 homes.

Allow me to take advantage of this opportunity, on behalf of the Cuban government and people, to thank all those countries, organisations and persons who in one way or another have honestly and sincerely contributed with resources or moral support to the reconstruction efforts undertaken by my country.

That stands in contrast with the position of the United States government which continues to ruthlessly apply their blockade.

Cuba has asked for no gifts from the United States government. It has simply asked and asked again that it be allowed to purchase in the United States the materials that are indispensable for the reconstruction of homes and power grid and that US companies be authorised to grant Cuba private commercial credits to buy food. The answer has been negative, and it has been accompanied with an attempt to manipulate information in such a manner that the government of the United States seems to be concerned for the wellbeing of the Cuban people while the government of Cuba is perceived to be turning down their offer.

If the United States were really so concerned for the Cuban people, the only moral and ethical behaviour would be to lift the blockade imposed on Cuba for the last five decades, in violation of the most elemental rules of International Law and the Charter of the United Nations .

This irrational policy has a clear aim: to destroy the process of profound revolutionary transformations undertaken by the Cuban people from 1959, in other words, trampling on its right to self-determination, wresting away its freedom and its political, economic and social conquests and plunging it backwards to its former neocolonial status.

The Bush administration intends to justify the intensification of its policy against Cuba by turning once more to fraud and deceit, with the cynicism and hypocrisy that characterises it. Its determination to dominate and re-colonise Cuba is being presented, no less, like an endeavour to liberate and democratise.

Who, other than its accomplices, recognises that the United States government has any authority in this world in the matter of democracy and human rights? What authority would such a government claim, one that hunts down and cruelly mistreats the illegal migrants at its southern border, that legalises the use of torture and keeps in concentration camps, such as the one installed in the territory illegally occupied by the US base at Guantánamo, people who have not been proved of or even charged with any crime?

What respect is due to a government that attacks the sovereignty of other states using the excuse of the fight against terrorism, while at the same time guaranteeing impunity to anti-Cuban terrorists?

What kind of justice can be promoted by an administration that illegally keeps imprisoned five Cuban patriots who were only seeking information to prevent the actions of the terrorist groups operating against Cuba from the United States?

Cuba appreciates the solidarity which it has received from this General Assembly in its fight against the blockade and the aggressions which it has had to confront for almost five decades.

Cuba reaffirms its unyielding decision to defend its sovereignty and independence.

Cuba reaffirms its will to carry on, together with members of the Movement for Non-Aligned Countries, in the battle for a better world, where the rights of all peoples for justice and development are respected.

To conclude I would like to recall the words of the Commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolution, comrade Fidel Castro Ruz: “A world without hunger is possible… A just world is possible. A new world, which our species eminently deserves, is possible and will become reality”.

Cubans Line up for Chance to Use Idle State Land

Will Weissert
Associated Press
HAVANA September 17, 2008


Yenisel Rodriguez is a city-dwelling, 27-year-old anthropologist with zero experience working the land. But he thinks taking up urban farming could put more food on his table, and so he lined up Wednesday to ask Cuba's communist government for permission to try it himself.

"I saw the announcement on TV and that motivated me," Rodriguez said. "I don't have experience. I'm hoping they can tell me what to plant and where."

Cuba has begun accepting applications from private farmers and ordinary citizens like Rodriguez, hoping they'll put idle government land to better use than state planners have. It's part of a campaign by President Raul Castro to revive an agricultural sector crippled by decades of government mismanagement.

Landless Cubans can apply for about 33 acres (13 hectares), while productive farmers can increase their holdings to 100 acres (40 hectares) of state land. Officials pushed up the first day to apply after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike roared through Cuba, dealing a serious blow to food production.

Rodriguez, in his polo shirt and Mercedes-Benz baseball cap, stood out in a crowded government office in the Arroyo Naranjo district of southeastern Havana, where applicants in cowboy hats and mud-caked boots waited their turn.

He said he plans to farm in the evenings after his research shift at Cuba's Anthropology Institute, growing only enough to feed his family.

But Cuba will need thousands of farmers to produce much more than that in order to reduce food imports expected to cost the government US$2 billion this year.

While thousands of small farmers kept their plots after Fidel Castro took power in 1959 and still grow much of Cuba's food, the bureaucrats who took over large farms have made a mess of things: 55 percent of Cuba's arable land went underused last year, and on state farms, just 29 percent was actively used, the government said.

Cuba has not said how much land it will redistribute. Gilberto Zayas, Arroyo Naranjo's land control delegate, said most of those who want land will likely get it, but that inexperience is a major strike against applicants.

"It's obvious that we are going to take those with more experience," Zayas said. "What the country needs is willingness first, but also know-how."

Even if Rodriguez is allowed to try his hand at farming, most of what he produces will not go to his family. Zayas said farmers getting new land will be required to sell almost everything they produce to the state. In cases of simple subsistence farming, typically 80 percent of overall output goes to the government, he said.

Still, Rodriguez remains hopeful, saying he has brothers, uncles and neighbors who will help him out.

The state will provide seeds and fertilizer, a machete and watering tools to program participants. Private farmers can get concessions of up to 10 years, renewable for another 10. Cooperatives and companies can have renewable 25-year terms.

Zayas said the government will encourage those receiving new land to graze milk cows or plant fast-growing, leafy vegetables like lettuce, which thrive in Cuba's mild climate but are nonetheless hard to find here.

"What we need is production, no matter where it comes from," he said. "If the state had the necessary means, we wouldn't be going through this process."

Juan Corales, a 60-year-old retired police officer who said he spent all his life working a small family plot, asked permission Wednesday to raise pigs, goats and chickens on a tract of land near the corner of 100th Street and Flores Avenue in Havana.

"This is the best thing the state could have done," said Corales, a self-described hick.

"There is a lot of land, and lots of people who want to work," he said. "But before, there was always fighting and bureaucracy that made everything difficult."

Vices and Virtues

Refections by Fidel Castro

Yesterday we referred to the financial Ike that is driving the empire mad. It can't find a way of reconciling consumerism with unjust wars, military spending and the massive investments in the industry of weapons, which kill peoples, rather than feed them or otherwise satisfy their most basic needs.

Nothing could better describe the alienating contradiction than the words of Senator Richard Shelby, the senior Republican in the US Senate's Banking Committee, when he told BBC television: “We don't know how much this is going to cost. It's probably $500 (billion) to a trillion dollars and that's going to visit the taxpayers sooner or later; it's either going to be a debt charged to all of us or to all our children", as reported by the British news agency Reuters.

No-one can have doubts about the destiny of the industrialized capitalist world or the fate it promises to billions of people on the planet.

The only way in which peoples today could live their lives in a community with social justice and decorum, which are the antithesis of capitalism and the principles that govern that hateful and unjust system, is through struggle.

In the tough battle to achieve those goals, the worst enemy would be the human being's instinctive egoism. If capitalism means perpetual free rein to that instinct, socialism would then be the ceaseless battle against that natural impulse. While at other times in history the alternative was to return to the past, that choice no longer exists. The battle is one to be waged basically by our glorious Party.

Every manifestation of privilege, corruption or robbery must be eradicated; for a true communist, there can be no possible excuse for such conduct. Any weakness of that sort is totally unacceptable. This was never the feature that characterized the thousands of men and women who volunteered to accomplish the internationalist missions which filled the Cuban Revolution with glory and prestige. Such principles of ethics and purity were the ones that inspired the thinking of José Martí and all those who preceded him.

It is now, in the aftermath of the recent and demolishing blow dealt by the hurricanes, when we must show what we are capable of.

Stealing from factories, warehouses, automotive service stations, hotels, restaurants and other establishments where money or goods are kept must be relentlessly combated by Party militants. And if any of the latter is found to have committed such shameful acts, he or she must receive the sanctions imposed by the Party, in addition to the relevant legal sanctions, which should be done without adopting extreme positions and in a responsible and effective way. Capitalism is a victim of common crime, from which it defends itself by means of sophisticated technology, unemployment, marginalization, murder and even extreme violence, which are already useless against the traffic in drugs that takes a toll of hundreds and even thousands of lives every year in some Latin American countries.

Cadres have no easy task in a world where incitement to consumerism is ever more present through radio, television, electronic media and the press, while the techniques for seducing human beings emanate from laboratories and research centers. Consider what happens with the so called advertising, which costs consumers more than a trillion annually. Commercials repeat over and over to the point of exasperating almost everyone with their banality.

But stealing is far from being the only evil that harms the Revolution. There are also the known and tolerated privileges and the bureaucratic maneuverings. The resources allocated to meet a temporary situation become permanent expenses and consumption.

Everything conspires against the country's material and hard currency reserves, a situation that can result in shortages of goods and an excess of circulating capital. The same thing happens when the well-heeled rush to buy up excessive quantities of the goods sold in the hard-currency retail outlets.

There are state agencies with a tendency to lavish privileges or give away much more in the competition they unleash for the available technical personnel and workforce. Sometimes they become cheapjacks, using genuinely capitalist methods in their quest for revenues, to manage resources so as to gain a reputation for efficiency and secure the willing support of their peers. These are bourgeois habits - not proletarian - and we all have a sacred duty to combat them in ourselves and in others.

There are certain countries which do not hesitate in resorting to the death penalty to punish these crimes. Honestly, I don’t think that would be necessary in our case, just as we do not think it is necessary either to idiotically reward the inveterate in our prisons. Let them learn a trade, but we should not dream about turning them into scientists.

Throughout my life as a revolutionary, I have seen how these vices develop alongside virtues. Weaknesses also appear among some citizens who become accustomed to receiving, and dedicate little time to meditating, reading the newspapers and being informed about today’s realities. In its quest for spies and traitors, the enemy understands human frailties only too well, but ignores what is on the other side of the coin: the enormous human capacity for self-sacrifice and heroism.

Parents would like to pass material goods on to their children, but they would rather leave them the legacy of a decent life of good repute that could always accompany them.

On this island, the enemy has come up against a people ready to resist its blockade and aggressions for decades. That is why it is stepping up its measures against Cuba. It tries to deprive the country from its skilled professionals and workforce; it selects those who are granted the thousands of visas agreed upon annually, while encouraging illegal departures; it maintains and tightens up the Cuban Adjustment Act, which grants special privileges to illegal immigration from just one country in the world: Cuba. If the same facility were extended to the rest of Latin America, in no time Latin Americans would account for half the US population.

Even more cynical is the fact that it recruits mercenaries, who claim impunity and to whom it provides training and resources as well as international promotion. It takes pleasure in trying the patience and equanimity of the Cuban government.

Our people will never be in ignorance of the truth.

Not only will we struggle ceaselessly against our mistakes, weaknesses and vices, but we will also win the battle of ideas we have committed ourselves to.

If there is one thing the empire's leaders can always be sure of, it is that neither natural hurricanes nor hurricanes of cynicism could ever bend the Revolution.

Before that happens, as Martí said, the North sea will join the South sea and a snake will hatch from an eagle's egg.

Fidel Castro Ruz

September 19, 2008

8.45 p.m.

In Support of Cuba

Worldwide Call to Artists and Intellectuals

Our country is facing a dramatic situation. We have suffered the wrath of two powerful hurricanes, Gustav and Ike, in just eight days. These natural disasters have seriously affected food production and essential sectors of the economy throughout the country. Although very few human lives were lost, a massive amount of houses, schools and cultural institutions were damaged or completely destroyed.

In view of this tragedy, a debate about the restrictions imposed by the US on Cuban residents to visit and send supplies and money to their families in Cuba has begun. Cuba has requested authorization to buy materials from the US to repair homes and power lines. In addition, Cuba has requested that US companies receive authorization to extend commercial credits to the island to buy food. The Bush Administration's reply has been a ridiculous offer of aid while ratifying their policy of political and economic blockade, even more cruel and immoral under the present circumstances.

We are sending an appeal to artists and intellectuals around the world to demand an immediate end to the criminal US blockade and to promote solidarity and support of our country.

First Signatures

Alicia Alonso, Roberto Fernandez Retamar, Silvio Rodriguez, Cintio Vitier, Pablo Milanes, Miguel Barnet, Chucho Valdes, Omara Portuondo, Eusebio Leal, Leo Brouwer, Alfredo Guevara, Fernando Alonso, Nancy Morejon, Cesar Portillo de la Luz, Rosita Fornes, Harold Gramatges, Graziella Pogolotti, Pablo Armando Fernandez, Angel Augier, Julio Garcia Espinosa, Anton Arrufat, Alexis Leyva (Kcho), Digna Guerra, Cesar Lopez, Fernando Perez, Manuel Mendive, Juan Padron, Roberto Valera, Guido Lopez Gavilan, Maria de los Angeles Santana, Frank Fernandez, Fina Garcia Marruz, Roberto Fabelo, Fernando Martinez Heredia, Pedro Pablo Oliva, Vicente Revuelta, Antonio Vidal, Carilda Oliver, Loipa Araujo, Aurora Bosch, Ramona de Saa, Abelardo Estorino, Ambrosio Fornet, Luis Carbonell, Electo Silva, Santiago Alfonso, Rogelio Martinez Fure, Eduardo Torres Cuevas, Leonardo Acosta, Ramiro Guerra, Rene de la Nuez, Daysi Granados, Eduardo Rivero, Alberto Mendez, Eslinda Nunez, Hector Quintero, Alfredo Sosabravo, Veronica Lynn, Jose Antonio Rodriguez, Flora Fong , Salvador Wood, Maria Elena Molinet, Zayda del Rio, Jose Milian, Maria del Carmen Barcia, Jaime Sarusky, Martha Rojas, Francisco de Oraa, Eugenio Hernandez Espinosa, Enrique Pineda Barnet, Juan Carlos Tabio, Alfredo Diez Nieto, Mario Balmaseda, Sergio Vitier, Nelson Dominguez, Pepe Rafart, Jose Antonio Choy, Jorge Ibarra, Maria Teresa Linares, Eduardo Roca (Choco), Pachi Naranjo, Rolando Rodriguez, Jose Villa Soberon, Senel Paz, Aida Bahr, Omar Valino, Omar F. Mauri, Hilda Oates, Alberto Lescay, Enrique Molina, Pancho Amat, Raul Pomares, Maria Felicia Perez, Patricio Wood, Carlos Diaz, Nelson Dorr, Miguel Iglesias, Roberto Chorens, Adolfo Alfonso, Isabel Monal, Domingo Aragu, Zenaida Armenteros, Ever Fonseca, Berta Martinez, Cristy Dominguez, Adigio Benitez, Humberto Arenal, Adelaida de Juan, Carlos Alberto Cremata, Ivan Tenorio, Gina Rey, Rebeca Chavez, Jose Rodriguez Fuster, Lorna Burdsal, Juan Carlos Cremata, Osneldo Garcia, Zoila Lapique, Eduardo Arrocha, Yolanda Wood, Rene Fernandez Santana, Lesbia Vent Dumois, Fatima Patterson, Rosalia Arnaez, Carlos Padron, Sara Gonzalez, Eduardo Heras Leon, Alex Pausides, Agustin Bejarano, Angel Alderete, Raul Santos Serpa, Marilyn Bobes, Carlos Marti, Sigfredo Ariel, Alberto Guerra, Corina Mestre, Xiomara Blanco, Rey Montesinos, Gerardo Alfonso, Alden Knight, Rafael Lay, Jesus Ortega, Edesio Alejandro, Teresita Junco, Teresa Melo, Arturo Arango, Magda Gonzalez Grau, Cary Diez, Alberto Luberta, Caridad Martinez, Lourdes Gonzalez, Iraida Malberti, Gerardo Fulleda, Felix Contreras, Esteban Llorach, Ana Maria Munoz Bachs, Radames Giro, Juan Valdes, Jorge Nunez, Rodulfo Vaillant, Juan Gonzalez Fiffe, Sergio Morales, Jorge Hidalgo, Carlos Tamayo, Ada Mirtha Cepeda Venegas, Sixto Bonachea, Antonio Perez, Orlando Garcia Martinez, Jose Alberto Garcia Alfonso, Enrique Gonzalez, Jose (Pepe) Vera, Alberto Faya.

To sign up: <www.concubahoy.cult.cu>.

First-hand report from Cuba :- during and after Hurricane Gustav

( The following is an email sent to Karen Lee Wald, an activist in the US, from Cuba)

Karen,

Isla de la Juventud: practically 100 % destroyed. Boats lifted from the sea and parked in the middle of Nueva Gerona, buses twisted and lifted in the air, doors and windows ripped off, banana plants of course ripped out, communications down 100 percent, and I have not yet seen any videos because I got my electricity back just one hour ago, a flamboyan fell on the lines feeding just our house soI have been without any electricity for 48 hours,but enough water, small radio, gas to cook on and the most wonderful neighbors and solidarity that only peoplewho have lived in Cuba can understand.

But I have been able to listen to the daily Mesa Redonda, where Arleen has spoken over the phone with the heads of Defensa Civil and other organizations and everything is "bajo[under] control". Never before has there been such palpable organization: here in the city, loudspeakers all over town calling on people to go home and not put their life in danger with electric cables, and on Sunday calling everyone to come out and cooperate with cleaning up the city. Trucks started cleaning up the city on Saturday evening already, and yesterday everyone was out with brooms, saws, etc.. We had to put up signs and yellow ribbons so people would not go near the fallen cable, they could have been electrocuted.

Pinar del Rio: also very very bad situation, south coast had up to 7 km sea inland, not a single life lost, not a single person wounded badly so you might fear for his life, but very serious destruction in schools, tobacco drying houses, communications and electric systems (already "linieros" from all over the rest of the country have arrived with their trucks to help.

Las Terrazas: very very bad situation with most of the facilities (as you know, they are ranchones, the roof just flies away and there is practically nothing you can do about it); only rio San Juan and Las Ruinas de Buenavista held out; private homes have also been very badly damaged, I am not going to call to distract anyone from their intensive duties and only regret that because of age I cannot join in the reconstruction brigade. The problem is going to be now that such a huge part of the country must be reconstructed that building materials are going to be hard to get.

But everyone is very grateful because for the very first time ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE FROM THE HIGH SPHERES WAS GOING AROUND THE AFFECTED PROVINCES: Machado Ventura and Lazo in provincia La Habana, Lage in Pinar del Rio after having been in Isla de la Juventud, police cars all over the place helping neighbors out, and of course all this makes people think how different things would have been if we compare ourselves with poor Haiti or even Jamaica. Let us all hope for the best for New Orleans.

I have plenty of mails to write to put people at ease, a lot of international solidarity, I got a lot of calls from the US and Europe, it does a lot of good to know people are really worried for you!

Love,

Maria Carla

Cuba determined to perfect statist economy

Marc Frank in Havana
Financial Times
June 23 2008

At the recent metal workers’ union congress in Havana little seemed to have changed since Fidel Castro, former Cuban president, became ill almost two years ago, temporarily handing power to his brother Raúl before resigning and leaving the country’s leadership to him last February.

There was no jockeying among cadres for a piece of privatised industry pie. There was no talk of competition, markets, strikes or other action against management, or turning state-owned businesses into co-operatives. Speeches calling on members to work harder for Cuba, Fidel, Raúl and revolution resounded through the hall as they have for decades.

“The key is in perfeccionamiento empresarial” – perfecting the state company system – read the banner headline in Workers, the trade union federation’s weekly newspaper.

The union meeting was the latest evidence that a debate fostered by Raúl Castro has for now been settled in favour of those who want to improve one of the world’s most statist economies – not dismantle it – using a business model developed when the president was defence minister to improve the performance of armed forces suppliers.

Perfeccionamiento empresarial is based on adopting modern management and accounting practices, often gleaned from the study of private corporations, for state-run companies. It grants management more authority over day-to-day decisions and imposes more discipline on workers while also increasing their participation in decisions and incentives for labour.

“Perfeccionamiento empresarial has no exact analogy in capitalist economies and is not borrowed from other socialist countries’ models of reform,” Phil Peters, an expert on Cuba at the Lexington Institute in Virginia, wrote in a study of the military’s economic model.

Raúl Castro signed a 200-page law last August ordering all 3,000 state-run companies to adopt the model. He also promoted General Julio Casas Regueiro, who was in charge of the military’s businesses, to defence minister and top spots in the Communist party and government when he officially became president on February 24.

The policy does not contradict Raúl Castro’s recent moves to lift restrictions on the use of mobile phones, computers and other goods and services, nor partnerships with foreign companies and more private initiatives. The bulk of the economy and its core industries and finances will remain in state hands.

Raúl Castro is not waiting for all companies to adopt his model – a lengthy process of sorting out bad books, Soviet-style management and paternalism.

Cuba’s economy is on a better footing than in the 1990s. Foreign exchange earnings are relatively strong due to the export of medical and other professional services – mainly to Venezuela – as well as tourism, high nickel prices and soft Chinese loans.

But the state has had problems investing these revenues through its many companies, many of which suffer from poor accounting and management.

“Perfeccionamiento does not aim to turn Cuba into a China or Taiwan in terms of level of development and integration into globalisation. In the end, the objective is political,” said Frank Mora, Cuba expert at the War College in Washington.

“Raúl Castro needs to defuse the social, economic and political pressure of rising expectations and increasing food costs by implementing and broadening a set of very focused economic reforms.”

Cuba's socialist planning and principles in adjustment to the worldwide sharp rises of prices

Carlos Lage

This is the speech of Carlos Lage Dávila to the municipal People's Power Assembly presidents in June 8, 2008. Lage is the Vice President of the Council of State of Cuba, member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba, and the current Executive Secretary of the Council of Ministers of Cuba.

Original:
http://www.juventudrebelde.cu/cuba/2008-06-08/discurso-de-carlos-lage-davila-en-la-reunion-de-los-presidentes-municipales-del-poder-popular/

Comrades:

It would be neither possible nor necessary to talk about all the topics we have discussed here in the last three days, so I have selected some of them:

As a result of the economic effects of the sharp rise in the price of fuel, food and almost everything we import and our priority efforts to plan on the basis of our available resources, there have been cuts in some major investment programs, and further reductions are bound to follow. But none will be abandoned, as this is only an adjournment while we streamline their scopes.

This urgent economic situation has led to investment plans more in keeping with our current building capacity, which will make it possible to cut costs, meet deadlines and, contradictory though it may sound, step up our progress.

Nonetheless, our investment plan for 2008 is 29% higher than last year’s and 2.4 times that of the year 2000.

As we speak, and given the urgent need to increase our construction capacity, the Ministry of Construction and a Political Bureau Commission are making a comprehensive revision of the construction program, and all the necessary steps will be taken in due course.

But one thing cannot wait that is essential for any program to succeed: discipline in carrying out the works.

Our Boards of Directors must give support to and demand the following:

• Full control of material resources in building sites. Control by the managers and the workers alike. Rather than asking whether the work will be finished on schedule, they must ask –and check– whether anything has been stolen. And I am not talking about deficits or diversion of resources, but using the right term. A boss’s prime task is to make sure that nothing is stolen from the pr

  emises.

• Every work must be part of the economic plan; therefore, they must be able to count from the outset on all the resources they need.

• Construction work must be preceded by detailed preparations, including sufficiently advanced projects.

• The workers are part

  of the planning, so they must be selected in advance and never reassigned to other works.

• Before work starts, the investor and the constructor must agree on a strict and precise timetable and demand that it be fulfilled without excuse.

• Once started, work must proceed nonstop until the end. Organizing two or even three shifts a day may be justified in some cases.

• The ultimate purpose must be to have highly productive eight-hour working days. Where construction

  is concerned, overtime is almost always the consequence of low productivity during the regular working hours.

Steps must be taken to provide the proper work clothes and shoes, meals and living conditions, which are no less necessary than the construction materials needed to do the job.

We feel anger, and rightly so, when we are told that a certain amount of money was lost owing to, say, a wrongly signed contract. However, we put up with delays as if they were the most natural thing in the world, even if in those cases we end up losing a lot more money in revenues we never get to receive. Time is also an economic resource that we can measure in convertible pesos.

Concerning the housing program, this is what we learned in the last two years:

• We need to produce more prefabricated construction materials, a fact imposed by the lack of sufficient skilled labor and transportation means. Molds, double shifts and measures to eliminate bottlenecks in the production line are some alternatives worth considering in every factory while we wait for centralized decisions about new investments.

• The steady efforts of People’s Power-run construction brigades engaged in housing and repair work in every municipality is extremely important, and they are and will be supported with working instruments and means by the Ministry of Construction (MICONS) and the Housing Institute. Besides, the Ministry’s provincial delegations must reinforce the construction brigades devoted exclusively to housing, as these workers should not be used to resolve backlogs in other sites or undertake new works outside the plans.

• It is at municipal level where the housing plans for 2009 should be designed. By allocating resources in the same way we used in 2008, the municipal office will propose what housing developments should be started, continued or terminated, so that we give priority to the most serious and pressing problems in every place.

• We must never abandon the principle of widespread popular participation. Families, communities and workplaces must join the construction brigades after working hours and through voluntary work mobilizations. There must be a great spirit of solidarity, and measures to prevent anyone involved in the housing plan from having to seek private help to move the materials or take care of any other task.

• A house can only be deemed finished when delivered to its dweller. Meeting the requirements to fulfill the job cannot allow for fraud. Our prime demand is that the reports be truthful, and then ask about the progress of the plans, and that goes too for any conservation and rehabilitation work. This year we aim to undertake 110,000 conservation and 140,000 rehabilitation actions, more than ever before, in line with the priorities identified by deputies and delegates from every constituency, but we must make sure the reported figures really square with the work performed and its magnitude.

The old problem of insufficient maintenance at almost all levels of production and service is no doubt related to the shortage of resources and labor, but it’s also a matter of culture, priority –or lack of it– and poor planning.

Important plans are under way to reconstruct and retrofit health institutions, schools, service centers and many other factories and establishments. It would be pointless to keep repairing polyclinics or hospitals if we’re not capable of maintaining those already repaired.

Maintenance should be our top priority when allocating resources anywhere. What we have we must use first to maintain and then to grow.

Seeing destroyed and out of order what was once in shipshape condition and operating properly is unfortunately a common occurrence, the consequence of not devoting to maintenance the amount of time and degree of demand that we do new investments.

The Boards of Directors at provincial and municipal level, as well as the State Central Administration bodies, must understand that unity means progress. We can and must work harder to answer to and meet people’s needs. It is the duty of the above bodies and the People’s Power to give the delegates all the necessary information and support to provide a solution or an answer to every problem. All municipalities should study each and every statement made in the current account-rendering process, the first to be held in this term of office. If a matter cannot be solved or there is not enough information to give about it, it must be submitted to the provincial authorities, and from there to the Council of Ministers, where we will meet to evaluate the outcome of this process.

We will be better prepared to answer people’s questions insofar as we know each one of their statements and strengthen our economic plans.

A plan to produce construction materials and asphalt, build dwellings, provide street lighting and waterworks, etc., will make it possible at municipal and provincial level to have a say in decisions about annual priorities, since as we know, not all things can be solved right away, and many need a longer time.

Today’s emphasis in the importance of planning and discipline in performance, as instructed by comrade Raúl, also comprises a greater involvement of the Boards of Directors at municipal and provincial level in designing plans.

From the Battle of Ideas, triggered and guided by Fidel, countless programs of great social consequence were drawn and boosted which reaffirm our Revolution’s sense of justice and solidarity.

People with disabilities, children who are underweight and undersized for their age or whose normal growth is affected by any other biological or social factor, senior citizens who live alone, patients with low-prevalence illnesses who need special care, youths who neither study nor work or are otherwise prone to become marginals or criminals, convicts and ex-convicts: they are not just a cold set of statistics, but people who have a name and are taken care of by social workers, political organizations and other community factors and forces.

Not one of them can go unattended. That is a unique privilege of our Socialist Society, made possible by 40,000 young social workers. Conditions have been created as well to see to their material needs and gradually satisfy their needs, starting with the most critical solutions.

Controlling our resources and saving everything, and especially fuel and food, has become an essential, decisive need that cannot be postponed.

Strict consumption rules, properly scheduled inventories, regulations against the creation of reserves or changes in the destination of the resources we allocate to one site are some of the criteria we must apply with full rigor. To that effect, we will receive from you specific proposals to reduce assignments, and by their number and extent we will measure the rate of fulfillment. In particular, we must work faster to centralize transportation.

By saving we ensure a source of wealth only possible through discipline, ability and efficiency.

Absorbed as we are in the intensity of our work, I invite you to find some time to read, study and meditate about the problems of the world, the country, the province and the municipality. Think about how the world economy has been turned into a casino by the blind laws of the market; the impact of a superpower’s hegemonic and selfish purposes; regional conflicts the world over; production and pricing trends; climate change; the advance of computer science, biotechnology and nanotechnology; the way some countries lag behind while others move forward…

One of your crucial obligations is to keep up with, think about and appraise a number of issues, including the features of socioeconomic development and the political situation in the provinces and municipalities that you manage, their birth and death rates, people’s main pathologies, students’ degree of devotion to their duties, labor discipline and productivity, youth employment rate, figures about migration, how much your municipality contributes to and spends from its budget, resource management, ability to meet people’s most pressing needs, and level of revolutionary morals, to name a few.

Your twofold duty as Constituency Delegates and Presidents of the People’s Power’s Councils are difficult and demanding, albeit encouraging and pivotal. Example above all else: if your conduct and that of your subordinate leaders is impeccable in and out of your office, half the battle will be already won. Only by practicing what we preach will we able to exert influence on people, curb corruption and work effectively.

Truth is to be sought by coming into contact with our people, for they are the ones who know what is really going on and can provide solutions to problems.

We must learn to listen, be ready at all times to hear someone’s opinion, and stop in our tracks whenever we hear something different to what we thought.

Never lie about anything, significant or otherwise, under any circumstances. Not even phrases like «Tell them I’m not in», or «I’ll meet with you later» if you don’t actually intend to, or others along those lines can be justified, because that is how a leader’s will to face up to the problems begins to fade and the airtight plating of their honesty begins to crumble.

Act quickly whenever possible: well and quickly outmatch well.

Our multiple tasks and the urgency of some of them should not make us look away from collective management: when taken by all together, a decision sets everybody’s intelligence and skills in motion until its completion.

Sleeping less than 6 hours is held to be a cause for obesity, and that is a risk to be avoided. Yet, as I reread [Cuban National Hero José] Martí’s diary a few days ago I found these words: «sleeping is guilty for as long as something remains to be done».

Our people respect those who work, and prove to be understanding when they notice that the person who gives them an explanation grasp the essence of their problem and make it their own.

I will not go over our difficulties here and now. You know them and live with them; our media is increasingly covering them with great skill, while foreign media magnifies and multiplies them.

Regardless, the Revolution can be said to have made undeniable progress in these years of the new century when compared to the hardest years of the Special Period: power supply is more stable, we have more medicines and food, many schools and hospitals have been repaired, greater efforts have been made in the fields of construction and transportation, there have been improvements in water supply for a growing number of people, and so on, all in the midst of and despite a very difficult and complex international situation.

Last year our country spent 1,470 billion dollars to import 3,423,000 tons of foodstuffs. Importing the same amount at the current prices would mean an expenditure of 2,554 billion dollars, or a billion more than the previous year.

Last year we consumed 158,000 barrels of oil per day, for which we paid 8.7 million dollars. The same amount costs 32% more this year, that is, 11.6 million dollars per day.

These are facts to bear in mind and explain, as they unavoidably affect our life and compel us to make economic adjustments. In capitalist countries this is a spontaneous phenomenon that spares no one, while in a socialist society the effects can be mitigated and controlled to protect some social groups, although they cannot be avoided. These realities are still unbeknown to many people, and others are aware of them but fail to link them to our problems. It is fair to expect our living conditions to improve, but in the meantime we must keep our feet on the ground. Only by working more, doing better, saving more and planning better will we carry out successfully.

Comrade Raúl recently called upon us to work hard. To close this meeting, where we have seen so much discussion about the problems we are yet to solve, the mistakes we are making, the goals we want to reach and the grave consequences of the increasing prices of the resources we import, I can think of no better way to finish than by saying these words: let’s get down to it!

Homeland or Death,
We shall overcome!