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REFLECTIONS OF FIDEL ON NATO’S GENOCIDAL ROLE IN LIBYA & THE US BLOCKADE OF CUBA

October 30th, 2011
REFLECTIONS OF FIDEL ON NATO’S
GENOCIDAL ROLE IN LIBYA & THE US BLOCKADE OF
CUBA
Dear Friends
Many have spoken out about the NATO involvement in Libya, which has led to massive losses of innocent civilians and the murder of its leader, who should have had the opportunity to have his day in court.
Fidel Castro, though in his 80s, is still a passionate internationalist and has expressed some thoughts on Libya and on the US blockade of his country.
Barak Obama had the opportunity to end George Bush’s wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Not only did he not do that, he started another one in Libya. Now, there is international concern that there have been massive human rights abuses and Libyans could suffer even further if a civil war starts.
While many may say that he should keep his ideas to himself. it must be said that his leadership in Cuba built a small nation that has taken some amazing actions to help those in distress.
Currently, Cuba has 300 doctors and nurses working in East Timor and place for 300 young East Timorese medical students in Cuban medical schools. Cuba also trains doctors from many other countries including a number of US citizens who cannot pay the exorbitant fees charges by US universities.
There has been something like 10,000 Cuban doctors in Venezuela and the Cuban government was quick off the mark to assist the people of Haiti following the earthquake they suffered last year.
And how many saw Michael Moore’s documentary “Sicko”, which looked at the terrible state of the US health system. Moore took some US rescue workers with him to Canada, Britain, France and Cuba to compare the health systems in those countries compared with the US one.
All the rescue workers had severe health problems due to the fact that they were assisting people after the demolition of Twin Towers in New York in 2001. All had health insurance, but it would not cover all the costs of all aspects of their
treatment.
Despite the unwarranted behaviour of the US and its blockade against Cuba, Cuban health workers provided free medical treatment to these citizens of the US. When the news of the free treatment was announced, a nurse in the group burst into tears.”At home, they say that I am an American hero,” she said, “But they will not cover my health costs. I have been told by my government that Cuba is an enemy of the US and yet, Cuba is prepared to give me free health care.”
Cuba is a developing country, which is not wealthy, but it does play the role of a responsible international citizen.
Let’s support the NO BLOQUEO movement to stop the US blockade of Cuba
Anyway, some interesting thoughts from Fidel.
En solidaridad
Andy Alcock

FIDEL CASTRO: NATO’s
Genocidal Role (Part III, English)

Posted by: “walterlx” walterlx@earthlink.net   walterlx

Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:19 am (PDT)


GRANMA INTERNATIONAL
Havana.
October 27, 2011

Reflections of Fidel
NATO’s genocidal role Part
III
(Taken from CubaDebate)

ON February 23, under the title
“Cynicism’s danse macabre,” I stated:

“The politics of plunder imposed by
the United States and its NATO allies in the
Middle East is in
crisis.”

“Thanks to Sadat’s betrayal at Camp David, the Palestinian Arab State has not come into existence, despite the United Nations agreements of November 1947, and Israel has become a powerful nuclear force allied with the United States and NATO.

“The U.S. military-industrial complex supplies tens of billions of dollars every year to Israel and to the very Arab states
that it subjugates and humiliates.

“The genie is out of the bottle and NATO doesn’t know how to control it.

“They are going to try and take maximum advantage of the lamentable events in Libya. No one is capable of knowing at this time what is happening there. All of the figures and
versions, even the most improbable, have been disseminated by the empire through the mass media, sowing chaos and misinformation.

“It is evident that a civil war is developing in Libya. Why and how was this unleashed? Who will suffer the consequences? The Reuters news agency, repeating the opinion of the well-known Nomura Japanese bank, said that the price of oil could
surpass all limits.”

“…What will be the consequences for the food crisis?

“The principal NATO leaders are exalted. British Prime
Minister David Cameron, informed ANSA, `…admitted in a speech in Kuwait that the Western countries made a mistake in supporting non-democratic governments in the Arab World.’”

“His French colleague Nicolas Sarkozy declared, `The prolonged brutal and bloody repression of the Libyan civilian population is repugnant.’”

“Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini declared `believable’ the figure of one thousand dead in Tripoli […] `the tragic figure will be a bloodbath.’”

“Hillary Clinton declared, `…the bloodbath is completely unacceptable and has to stop…’”

“Ban Ki-moon added, `The use of violence in the country is absolutely unacceptable.’”

“…’the Security Council will act in accordance with what
the international community decides.’”

“‘We are considering a number of options.’”

“What Ban Ki-moon is really waiting for is that Obama give
the final word.

“The President of the United States spoke Wednesday
afternoon and stated that the Secretary of State would leave for Europe in order to reach an agreement with the NATO European allies as to what measures to take. Noticeable on his
face was his readiness to take on the right-wing Republican John McCain; Joseph Lieberman, the pro-Israel Senator from
Connecticut; and Tea Party leaders, in order to guarantee his nomination by the Democratic Party.

“The empire’s mass media have prepared the ground for action. There would be nothing strange about a military intervention in Libya, which would, additionally, guarantee Europe almost two million barrels of light oil a day, if events do not occur beforehand to put an end to the presidency or life of Gaddafi.

“In any event, Obama’s role is complicated enough. What would the Arab and Islamic world’s reaction be if much blood is spilt in this country in such an adventure? Would the revolutionary wave unleashed in Egypt stop a NATO
intervention?

“In Iraq the innocent blood of more than a million Arab citizens was shed when this country was invaded on false pretences. Mission accomplished, George W. Bush proclaimed.

“No one in the world will ever be in favor of the deaths of
defenseless civilians in Libya or anywhere else. I ask myself, would the United States and NATO apply that principle to the defenseless civilians killed every day by yankee drones and this organization’s soldiers in Afghanistan and Pakistan?

“It is a danse macabre of cynicism.”

While I was meditating on these events, the United Nations
debate scheduled for yesterday, Tuesday, October 25 on the “Necessity of ending the commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba began. This is omething
which has been demanded by the vast majority of this institution’s member countries for 20 years.

This time the numerous elemental and just arguments – which for United States governments were no more than rhetorical exercises – revealed, like never before, the political and moral weakness of the most powerful empire ever to have existed, and to whose oligarchical interests and insatiable thirst for
power and riches all the planet’s inhabitants have been subjected, including the very people of that country.

The United States is tyrannizing and plundering the globalized world with its political, economic, technological and military might.

That truth is becoming more and more obvious in the wake of the honest and courageous debates which have taken place in the United Nations during the last 20 years, with the support of states which one would imagine are expressing the will of the vast majority of the planet’s inhabitants.

Before [Cuban Foreign Minister] Bruno’s speech, many country
organizations expressed their points of view through one of their members. The first was Argentina, in the name of the Group of 77 plus China; followed by Egypt, in the name of the Non-Aligned Movement; Kenya, in the name of the African Union; Belize, in the name of CARICOM; Kazakhstan, in the name of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation; and Uruguay, in the name of MERCOSUR.

Independently of these expressions of a collective nature,
China, a country of growing political and economic weight in the world, India and Indonesia strongly supported the resolution via their ambassadors; between the three of them they represent 2.7 billion inhabitants. The ambassadors of the Russian Federation, Belarus, South Africa, Algeria,
Venezuela and Mexico did likewise. The impassioned words of solidarity expressed by the ambassador of Belize, speaking
on behalf of the Caribbean community, and those of St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Bolivia, resonated among the poorest countries of the Caribbean and Latin America.

Their arguments in the context of the solidarity of our people –
despite a blockade which has already lasted 50 years – will be a constant stimulus for our doctors, educators and scientists.

Nicaragua spoke before the vote, to bravely explain why it would vote against this perfidious measure.

The United States representative also spoke before the vote, in
order to explain the inexplicable. I felt sorry for him. It is the role that they assigned to him.

At the hour of voting, two countries were absent: Libya and Sweden; three abstained: Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau; two voted against: the United  States and Israel. Adding together those who voted against, abstained or were absent: the United States, with 313 million inhabitants; Israel, with 7.4
million; Sweden, with 9.1 million; Libya, with 6.5 million; Marshall Islands, with 67,100; Micronesia, 106,800; Palau, with
20,900, the total amounts to 336.948 million, equivalent to 4.8% of the world population, which has already risen to seven billion this month.

After the vote, speaking in the name of the European Union, Poland explained the votes of members of this bloc which, in spite of its close alliance with the United States and its obligatory participation in the blockade, is against this
criminal measure.

Subsequently, 17 countries addressed the Assembly to explain, resolutely and decisively, why they voted for the resolution against the blockade.

I will continue Friday the 28th.

Fidel Castro Ruz
October 26, 2011  9:45 p.m.

Translated
by Granma International

 


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ARIZONA SHOOTINGS – THE NEED FOR RESPECT IN DEALING WITH POLITICAL DIFFERENCES

January 14th, 2011
There has been some discussion about the use of inflammatory language that may have contributed to the recent shooting in Arizona.
I sent the following comment to an on-line newspaper that carried a very important article about this issue:
 
Mr Des Ryan
Editor
InDaily
4 Cinema Place(off Vaughan Place)
ADELAIDE SA 5000

indaily@solsticemedia.com.au

  
Dear Mr Ryan
 
Thank you for posting Susan Mitchell’s very thought-provoking article Words can kill – or heal (InDaily 14.1.2011).
 
I think her analysis about the reasons for the recent tragic shootings in Arizona are very sound. Sarah Palin, the Tea Party and their fellow travellers
should reconsider much of their inflammatory rhetoric in terms of the effect this may have on certain mentally ill citizens. This is especially so in a country
like the US where full health care is only available for a very wealthy minority. A 2007 report by the US Surgeon General found that mental illnesses are the second leading cause of disability in that country and that they affect 20% of all Americans. It is estimated that less than half of all people with mental illnesses receive treatment due to factors such as stigma and lack of access to care. This means that little track is kept on mentally ill individuals – let alone those who have firearms and could be dangerous to members of the public.
 
The situation regarding mental health in Australia is also far from perfect.
 
When there are also organisations like the National Rifle Association, which are constantly promoting the rights of all citizens to have firearms, this does help to increase the chances that there are many more deaths from firearms.  It comes as no surprise that Sarah Palin is a member of the NRA and is a strong advocate for its aim to increase firearm ownership in the US. 
 
Palin’s attitudes and rhetoric sound very similar to those held by key people involved in The Family, an extremely right wing fundamentalist Protestant organisation that has existed in the US for about 75 years. This organisation has opposed many important human rights initiatives in the US and has promoted many suppressive regimes around the world. Suharto’s dictatorship was one of them.
 
In its early years, it was an apologist for Nazism and helped to have Nazi war criminals who escaped to the US to be accepted by the national community. It organises the National Prayer Breakfasts, which originally were erroneously called the Presidential Prayer Breakfasts. The purpose of these functions is to make contact with and influence high profile individuals. It is very influental amongst senior business people and key individuals in both the Republicans and the Democrats (including Hillary Clinton).
 
I liked Susan Mitchell’s approach that we should promote healing words and actions during major political crises like the recent shootings in Arizona, the floods in Queensland and the arrival of asylum seekers to our shores. It seems to me that an important way to thwart the aims of groups such as the Tea Party, The National Rifle Association, The Family etc and in politics is to demand that all people are treated with respect. All too often, our western parliamentary system condones bullying and disrespectful attitudes and behaviours.
 
We need to change this.
 
Yours sincerely
 

Andrew (Andy) Alcock
  Email:        andyalcock@internode.on.net

InDaily Friday, 14 January 2011

Words can kill – or heal

OPINION                   SUSAN MITCHELL

Two recent events, both destructive, have reinforced my belief in the power of words. For when it comes down to it, all we have as human beings to link ourselves, one with another, is the power of our words.

The recent shooting of a United States congresswoman, who was the target of a deranged man, forces us to ask the question: Why do these events constantly happen in the US.  Well, of course, there is their constitutional right to bear arms, and in Arizona they also have the right to wear concealed weapons.

But most people in America do not shoot other people, despite these rights. It is too simplistic to simply blame lack of regulations to control the ownership of guns. No doubt if they had our regulations there would be fewer shootings, but there is much more to this problem than that. The perpetrator of this shooting was clearly mentally ill and the treatment of such people in our communities is yet another issue.

It is too easy to dismiss this incident as an isolated event seemingly unconnected with the national climate and its use of words. Politico.com has reported on a 300 per cent increase in threats made against members of Congress. Clearly something about the current state of America has not only prompted more threats against elected government officials, it has also encouraged more disturbed people to act out their illness by threatening or engaging in acts of violence. I don’t believe it is something in the water; I believe it is something in the language being used in all aspects of the media and the internet.

The sheriff responsible for dealing with the Arizona shooting agrees. He believes it is “the vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the television business”. The language these pundits use is toxic. It encourages, explicitly or implicitly, acts of violence against those whom it sees as a threat to their so-called way of life.

These threats are usually aimed at politicians, government officials and journalists.  The language used has been allowed to get out of control, and once the words are out of control the actions of some of the disturbed will inevitably follow.

Words have real power. They can harm or they can heal. Remember that old saying about how sticks and stones will hurt your bones but names will never kill you? It is wrong. Words and names can kill you.

So where are these toxic words coming from? Overwhelmingly, it is the political forces of the right. If you watch the Fox television cable station on Foxtel, you will be alarmed at the number of broadcasters and presenters who suggest that those who oppose their opinions should be removed by whatever means necessary.

Jokes about shooting government officials or beheading journalists are commonplace on programs hosted by Glen Beck, the main instigator of The Tea Party rallies. The congresswoman was allegedly shot because she backed healthcare reform and the humane treatment of immigrants. Acts of government tyranny, according to those on the right.

The excuse is that the Glen Becks are merely responding to public demand. We all know how easy it is to whip up public hatred against governments. The point is how we should treat those who pander to anger and stoke the flames of  fear and violence.

It is easy to take the high moral ground and claim such things do not happen in Australia. The fact is they do and certain radio presenters were fined for stoking racial hatred that led to the violence on Cronulla Beach in 2004.

Every time another load of so-called “boat people” arrive on our shores, certain Right-wing broadcasters try to increase their ratings by using toxic rhetoric such as “illegals” and “aliens” to whip up fear and loathing of refugees.

We all know fear sells. The question is: Why should we allow it to have a microphone? Such purveyors of hatred and fear must not be treated with respect.

Meanwhile, in Australia, all our news coverage has been focused on the floods in Queensland. Initially there was an attempt to make political mileage out of this crisis by suggesting the Government should have built more dams, and I have received a few emails suggesting the Gillard Government is too quick to give money to our neighbours when they are in crisis and not generous enough with our own people. However, the toxic rhetoric that seeks to place one set of humans in crisis against another has been largely absent from our airwaves. So far.

The words that have been used by our political leaders have been calm, informative,  orderly and reassuring. I have been very proud of the manner in which Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and Prime Minister Julia Gillard have stood side by side and, with warmth and strength, reassured the flood victims they are not alone, that we are all with them and that together we will get through this disaster.

The power of those words has linked one human being to another throughout the country. The power of those words made people who were afraid, lost and distraught feel less alone.

People in positions of power – either in politics or the media – have a responsibility to use words that heal in times of crisis, not words that hurt.

By their words, shall we know them.

www.susanmitchell.com.au

  

 

 
 


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