THE REAL INTENTIONS OF THE “PARTNERSHIP OF EQUALS”

Reflections by Comrade Fidel

THE REAL INTENTIONS OF THE “PARTNERSHIP OF EQUALS”

Yesterday was a long day. I was paying attention to the ups and downs of Obama in Chile since noon, as I had done the day before with his adventures in the city of Rio de Janeiro. That city, in a brilliant challenge, had defeated Chicago in its aspirations to be the home of the 2016 Olympic Games when the new president of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize laureate was looking like a rival of Martin Luther King.

Nobody knew when he would arrive to Santiago de Chile and what a president of the United States would do there when one of his predecessors had committed the painful crime of promoting the overthrow and physical death of their heroic president, horrible tortures and the murders of thousands of Chileans.

I for one was trying to follow the news that was coming in about the tragedy in Japan and the brutal war unleashed against Libya while the illustrious visitor was proclaiming the “Partnership of Equals” in the region of the world where wealth is distributed in the worst way.

Among so many things, I lost track a bit and saw nothing of the lavish banquet for hundreds of people being served the delicacies nature offered from the sea. The banquet had been served in a Tokyo restaurant , the city where one can pay up to 300,000 dollars for a fresh blue-fin tuna, they had collected up to 10 million dollars.

That was too much work for a young man of my age. I wrote a brief Reflection and then went to bed for a long sleep.

This morning I was refreshed. My friend wouldn’t be arriving to El Salvador until after mid-day. I requested the cable dispatches, Internet articles and other recently arrived material.

I saw in the first place that, because of my reflections, the cables had given importance to what I had said about my position as First Party Secretary and I shall explain as briefly as possible. Concentrating on Barack Obama’s “Partnership of Equals” , a matter of so much historical importance – I say that seriously – I didn’t even remember that next month the Party Congress would be taking place.

My position on the subject was basically logical. Once I understood the seriousness of my state of health, I did what I thought, in my opinion, wasn’t necessary when I had that painful accident in Santa Clara; after the fall, treatment was tough, but my life was not in danger.

On the other hand, when I wrote the Proclamation on the 31st of July it was clear to me that the state of my health was extremely critical.

I immediately set aside all my public duties, adding to the proclamation some instructions to provide security and tranquility for the population.

It wasn’t necessary to specifically step down from each one of my duties.

For me, my most important duty was that of First Party Secretary. Because of ideology and on principle, in a revolutionary stage, that political position carries the highest authority. The other position I held was that of President of the Council of State and Government, elected by the National Assembly. Both posts had replacements, and not by virtue of some family connection, something I have never considered to be the source of right, but due to experience and merit.

The rank of Commander in Chief had been granted me by the struggle itself, a matter of chance more than because of any personal merit. The Revolution itself, in a subsequent stage, correctly designated headship of all armed institutions to the president, a function that in my opinion, ought to fall to the First Party Secretary. I consider that that’s how a country such as Cuba should be, having had to face an obstacle as considerable as the empire created by the United States.

Almost 14 years went by since the previous Party Congress; it coincided with the disappearance of the USSR, the socialist bloc, the Special Period and my own illness.

When gradually and partially my health was recovered, the idea didn’t even cross my mind about the need to proceed formally in order to expressly resign from any position. At that time, I accepted the honour of being elected as Deputy to the National Assembly, something that did not demand my physical presence and with which I might share my ideas.

Since I have more time than ever now to observe, to inform myself and to lay out certain points of view, I shall modestly fulfil my duty to fight for the ideas I have defended throughout my modest life.

I beg readers to forgive the time I have spent in this explanation that above-mentioned circumstances have forced me to undertake.

The most important matter, which I cannot forget, is that rare partnership between millionaires and starving people as proposed by the illustrious President of the United States.

Those who are well-informed, those who know for example, the history of this hemisphere, its battles, or even the history of the Cuban people defending their Revolution against the empire that, as Obama himself acknowledges, “now lasted for longer than I’ve been alive”, will surely be amazed by his proposal.

It is well-known that the current president is a good wordsmith, circumstances that, together with the economical crisis, growing unemployment, losses of homes, and deaths of American soldiers in the stupid wars of Bush, helped him to obtain his victory.

After observing him well, I wouldn’t be surprised that he was the author of the ridiculous name with which the massacre in Libya was baptized – “Odyssey Dawn” – that unsettled the dust of the mortal remains of Homer and those who contributed to the forging of the legend in the famous Greek poems, even though I admit, perhaps, the name was created by the military chiefs who are managing the thousands of nuclear weapons with which a mere command from the Nobel Peace Prize laureate can determine the end of our species.

His speech to whites, blacks, native peoples, mestizos and non-mestizos, religious or non-religious peoples of the Americas delivered in the Palacio de la Moneda Cultural Centre was distributed in a true copy by United States embassies everywhere, and it was translated and spread by Chile TV, CNN, and other broadcasting stations in other languages as I would imagine.

It was in the style of the speech he gave in the first year of his term in Cairo, the capital of his friend and ally Hosni Mubarak, whose tens of billions of dollars taken from the people were supposedly known to a president of the United States.

“…Chile shows that we need not be divided by race […] or ethnic conflict”, he assures us, and thus the American problem was erased from the map.

He obsessively insists almost immediately that “…our marvelous surroundings today, just steps from where Chile lost its democracy decades ago, …” Everything other than saying coup d’état, the murder of the honourable General Schneider, or the glorious name of Salvador Allende, as if the government of the United States had absolutely nothing to do with it.

The great poet Pablo Neruda, whose death was prompted by the treacherous coup, was quoted more than once, in this case to affirm our beautifully poetic “guiding stars” which are “struggle” and “hope”. Has Obama forgotten that Neruda was a Communist, a friend of the Cuban Revolution, a great admirer of Simon Bolivar who is reborn every hundred years, and inspiration for the Heroic Guerrilla Ernesto Guevara?

I was admiring Barack Obama’s profound knowledge of history almost from the very beginning of his message. Some irresponsible advisor forgot to explain to him that Neruda was a member of the Chilean Communist Party. After a few other insignificant paragraphs, he recognizes that “Now, I know I’m not the first president from the United States to pledge a new spirit of partnership with our Latin American neighbors. Words are easy, and I know that there have been times where perhaps the United States took this region for granted.”

“…Latin America is not the old stereotype of a region - in perpetual conflict or trapped in endless cycles of poverty.”

“In Colombia, great sacrifices by citizens and security forces have restored a level of security not seen in decades.” Over there, there was never any drug trafficking, paramilitary or secret cemeteries.

In his speech, the working class does not exist, nor do landless peasants, or the illiterate, or infant and maternal mortality, people becoming blind, or victims of parasites such as Chaga or bacterial diseases such as cholera.

“From Guadalajara to Santiago to Sao Paolo, a new MIDDLE CLASS is demanding more of themselves and more of their governments”, he states.

“When a coup in Honduras threatened democratic progress, the nations of the hemisphere unanimously invoked the Inter-American Democratic Charter, helping to lay the foundation for the return to the rule of law.”

The real reason for Obama’s marvellous speech is explained in inarguable fashion in the middle of his message and in his own words: “Latin America is only going to become more important to the United States, especially to our economy […] We buy more of your products, more of your goods than any other country, and we invest more in this region than any other country. […] we export more than three times as much to Latin America as we do to China. Our exports to this region -- which are growing faster than our exports to the rest of the world -- …”. One can perhaps assume from this that “when Latin America is more prosperous, the United States is more prosperous.”

Further on, he dedicates insipid words to real facts:

“But if we’re honest, we’ll also admit that […] progress in the Americas has not come fast enough. Not for the millions who endure the injustice of extreme poverty. Not for the children in shantytowns and the favelas who just want the same chance as everybody else.”

“…political and economic power that is too often concentrated in the hands of the few, instead of serving the many”, he said verbatim.

“...we are not the first generation to face these challenges. Fifty years ago this month, President John F. Kennedy proposed an ambitious Alliance for Progress.”

“President Kennedy’s challenge endures – ‘to build a hemisphere where all people can hope for a sustainable, suitable standard of living, and all can live out their lives in dignity and in freedom.”

It is incredible that he now comes up with such an awkward story, an insult to human intelligence.

He has nothing left other than to mention, among the great calamities, a problem that originates in the colossal US market of lethal weapons: “Criminal gangs and narco-traffickers are not only a threat to the security of our citizens. They’re a threat to development, because they scare away investment that economies need to prosper. And they are a direct threat to democracy, because they fuel the corruption that rots institutions from within.”

Further on he reluctantly adds: “But we’ll never break the grip of the cartels and the gangs unless we also address the social and economic forces that fuel criminality. We need to reach at-risk youth before they turn to drugs and crime.”

“...as President I’ve made it clear that the United States shares and accepts our share of responsibility for drug violence. After all, the demand for drugs, including in the United States, drives this crisis. And that’s why we’ve developed a new drug control strategy that focused on reducing the demand for drugs through education and prevention and treatment.”

What he doesn’t say is that in Honduras 76 per every 100,000 inhabitants are dying as a result of violence, 19 times higher than in Cuba where practically, despite proximity to the United States, that problem hardly exists.

After a bunch of similar bits of foolishness, about weapons headed for Mexico that are being seized, a Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Inter-American Development bank, with which he says they are increasing the Microfinance Growth Fund for the Americas and promises to create new “Pathways to Prosperity” and other highfalutin terms that he pronounces in English and Spanish, he returns to his outlandish promises of hemispheric unity and he tries to impress his audience with the dangers of climatic changes.

Obama adds: “And if anybody doubts the urgency of climate change, they look -- they should look no further than the Americas -- from the stronger storms in the Caribbean, to glacier melt in the Andes, to the loss of forests and farmland across the region.” Without the guts to acknowledge that his country is the one most responsible for that tragedy.

He explains that he is proud to announce that “…the United States will work with partners in this region, including the private sector, to increase the number of U.S. students studying in Latin America to 100,000, and the number of Latin America students studying in the United States to 100,000.” We already know how much it costs to study medicine or any other profession in that country, and the shameless brain drain being practiced in the United States.

All his empty words ends with praise for the OAS that Roa described as the Ministry of Yankee Colonies when our Homeland unforgettably made an accusation in the United Nations, informing that the government of the United States had attacked our territory on April 15th of 1961 with B-26s painted with Cuban flags; a shameless event that in 23 days will be 50 years old.

Thus he believed that everything was completely ready to proclaim the right to subvert law and order in our country.

He openly confesses that they are “allowing Americans to send remittances that bring some economic hope for people across Cuba, as well as more independence from Cuban authorities.”

“…we’ll continue to seek ways to increase the independence of the Cuban people, who I believe are entitled to the same freedom and liberty as everyone else in this hemisphere.”

Later he recognizes that the blockade is damaging Cuba, depriving the economy of resources. Why does he not recognize the intentions of Eisenhower, and the declared United States aim when he applied it was bringing the Cuban people to their knees by hunger?

Why is it still in place? How many billions of dollars does the compensation the US must pay our country come to? Why are they keeping the 5 Cuban anti-terrorist heroes imprisoned? Why aren’t they applying the Adjustment Law to all Latin Americans instead of allowing thousands of them to die or get injured on the border imposed on that country after having stolen more than half of its territory?

I ask the President of the United States to pardon my frankness.

I harbour no hard feelings against him or his people.

I fulfill the duty of laying out all that I think about his “Partnership of Equals”.

The United States will get nothing from creating and stimulating the mercenary profession. I can assure him that the best and most well-educated young people in our country, graduates from the University of Informatics Sciences, know much more about the Internet and computer science than the Nobel laureate and President of the United States.

Fidel Castro Ruz
March 22, 2011
9:17 p.m.

MY SHOES ARE TOO TIGHT

Reflections by Comrade Fidel

MY SHOES ARE TOO TIGHT

While the damaged reactors spew radioactive smoke over Japan and monstrous-looking planes and nuclear submarines launch deadly charges tele-directed onto Libya, a North African Third World country with barely six million inhabitants, Barack Obama was spinning a tale for the Chileans that sounded like one I used to hear when I was 4 years old: “My shoes are too tight, my socks are too warm; and I carry in my heart the little kiss you gave me”.

Some of his audience was taken aback in that Cultural Centre in Santiago de Chile.

When the president looked anxiously over his audience after mentioning perfidious Cuba, expecting an explosion of applause, there was icy silence. Behind him, oh, yes! felicitous coincidence! among all the other Latin American flags, there precisely was Cuba’s.

If he were to turn for a second, over his right shoulder he would have seen, like a shadow, the symbol of the Revolution on the rebel Island that his mighty country wanted to destroy, but could not.

Anybody would be, without a doubt, extraordinarily optimistic if they were expecting the peoples of Our America to applaud the 50th anniversary of the mercenary Bay of Pigs invasion, 50 years of cruel economic blockade of a sister country, 50 years of threats and terrorist attacks that cost thousands of lives, 50 years of plans to assassinate the leaders of the historic process.

I heard myself being mentioned in his words.

In truth, I gave my services to the Revolution for a long time, but I never eluded risks nor violated constitutional, ideological or ethical principles; I regret not having better health so that I could carry on serving the Revolution.

I resigned, without hesitation, all my state and political positions, including that of First Secretary of the Party, when I became ill and I never tried to exercise them after the Proclamation of July 31, 2006, even when I partially recovered my health more than a year later, although everyone continued to affectionately address me in that manner.

But I am and shall continue to be as I promised: a soldier of ideas, as long as I can think or breathe.

When they asked Obama about the coup against heroic President Salvador Allende, promoted as many others by the United States, and about the mysterious death of Eduardo Frei Montalva, murdered by agents of DINA, a creation of the American government, he lost his composure and began to stammer.

The commentary on Chilean television at the end of his speech was, without a doubt, accurate when it stated that Obama had nothing to offer the Hemisphere.

As for me, I don’t want to give the impression that I felt any hatred for his person, much less for the people of the United States; I acknowledge the contributions many of its sons and daughters have made to culture and science.

Obama now has before him a trip to El Salvador tomorrow, on Tuesday. There he is going to have to be quite inventive because, in that sister nation in Central America, the weapons and training received from the governments of his country spilt much blood.



I wish him bon voyage and a bit more good sense.


Fidel Castro Ruz
March 21, 2011
9:32 p.m.

We are One

We Are One International Solidarity Rally @ Peace Arch Park, Peace Arch Border Crossing

Date: Saturday April 2, 2011 from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm

Join unions from the United States (Washington and Oregon) and Canada (British Columbia) at the international border to stand in solidarity with workers who are struggling to keep their right to collectively bargain.

April 2 at 2:00 pm
Peace Arch State Park (US)
Peace Arch Provincial Park (Canada)

To download a copy of the poster, click here.

ID Requirements:

Please note the staging area for the rally will be on the U.S. side of Peace Arch Park. The information that we have been provided by CBSA is that participants could be asked for proof of Canadian residence and/or proof of citizenship/immigrant status. The easiest way to provide this would be through a Canadian passport. In the alternative, government issued photo id (i.e.- driver’s license) and birth certificate or Canadian immigration document.

Transportation:

Rally attendees are encouraged to car pool. Some unions are providing bus transportation for their members. As well the B.C. Federation of Labour will be providing bus service from Scott Road Skyrtrain station. If you are interested in further details regarding buses, or would like to confirm you will be using the bus charter system please email buses@bcfed.ca or continue to check this page for updates.

The Rebel Spell – It’s a Beautiful Future

It’s a Beautiful Future is the third full-length album by Vancouver punks The Rebel Spell. The highly anticipated album won’t disappoint fans of the band, which has built an increasingly known and loved name for itself in the punk scene since 2003.

The album takes on the threat posed to our future by the capitalist system with its environmental destruction, war, and repression. Its title track explores a futuristic dystopia characterized by oppression, hunger, and environmental apocalypse. “It Can’t Just Be Me” adds a piano to the equation while decrying a world under the watchful eye of big brother.

But “Uncontrollable”, a powerful song which introduces a violin to The Rebel Spell’s sound, deals with the unbreakable will of the people to struggle and win against all odds, and “Feel the Same” is a call to action against the injustices perpetrated by the powerful. The last track on the album, “The World Turned Upside Down” talks about the Diggers, English agrarian socialists who were active during the 1600’s before being violently crushed. While it is a cover of an English folk song written in 1643, it can also be seen as a parting rallying cry to turn today’s world, with all its injustices, upside down.

These are only a few of the twelve tracks featured on It’s a Beautiful Future, but there’s no filler here. Every one of them has something to say, and says it in the form of powerful, rousing, sing-a-long punk rock. The future may be bleak or beautiful, but what will define it will be the struggle of the people for a better world.

Statement on Libya

The World Federation of Democratic Youth condemns the bombing of Libya by NATO and its members, under the excuse of defending the “human rights” of the protestors that want to overthrow Kaddafi’s government.

In fact, the simple act of recognition of the rebels as a partner for dialogue by the European Union and other structures represents in itself, a provocation to the sovereignty of Libya and an unacceptable interference on the Libyan issues.

The double standards of imperialism are further clear when in case of the Saudi troops entering Bahrain to smash the ongoing popular movement or in case of the suppression of the peoples’ movement in Yemen, the imperialist states prefer to remain silent, supporting the ongoing brutal repression.

Eight years after the invasion of Iraq and eleven after the bombing of Yugoslavia, imperialism is yet again betting on confusing the minds of the peoples of the world to justify an invasion to a country with the sole motivation of stealing its resources and taking over its geostrategic position. If imperialism had ever before any honest worry with the Libyan people, what would justify the high level of relation between the government of Kaddafi with France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and the very USA until some months ago?

Once again, we underline that we reject the suppression of the rights of protestors in Libya, but we underline that the only solution is a peaceful understanding between all parts inside Libya and that a military intervention is totally unacceptable, as we believe that only the Libyan people is able to solve its own problems.

The overthrown of Soviet Union brought us only war and withdrawal of rights – the struggle for the youth rights continues

Dear comrades,On behalf of the CC/HQ of WFDY let me first of all thank to our comrades of KJO for the opportunity given to us to organize this seminar in the framework of our CENA meeting. It is highly important that we can take benefit of all opportunities together to debate and deepen our collective thoughts on important matters for the youth and the anti-imperialist movement.

From the perspective of the CENA Coordination, when proposing this theme about the 20 years of the overthrown of Soviet Union, we meant mostly to rise among the members of WFDY the possibility to strengthen our knowledge and reflection in a year when, as happened with the 20 years of Fall the Berlin Wall, it is more than likely that imperialism and its tools take this sad anniversary to intensify their anti-communist crusade, both at ideological and political level, so that we can further consequences of this sad fact, both there and in each of our countries.

Furthermore, it is important to say that, unlike what imperialism and bourgeois forces like to say, this is not at all an action of nostalgia, but indeed an event were can look at the past with our eyes on the future, facing the present challenges in better conditions for the battles we all have ahead of us now and in the coming years.

Without any aim to empty the debate and the coming speeches of the comrades present at this seminar, let me just remark some aspects that can be considered as our starting point on our discussion:

1) The existence of the Soviet Union meant an unprecedented (direct and indirect) support to the struggles of the people and youth. Not only the Soviet Union made possible that imperialism did not have a free pathway for its wars and interventions, as it created better conditions for the peoples’ movements of national liberation. The examples are almost as many as the number of countries in Asia, Africa and Middle East. Furthermore, it is undeniable the vital contribution of the Red Army to defeat the Nazi Fascist threat and victory of the progressive forces in the WW II.

2) The achievements at social and political level in the Soviet Union were of a remarkable power to the struggles of the workers and peoples of the entire world. Basic social rights that today are being denied to the new generations, were achieved by the soviet people before the 1960’s, which represented not only an example that it could be made as a pressure in itself for the bourgeoisie in the capitalist countries to be forced to accept the demands of the workers and the youth.

3) The very high standard of scientific research, cultural production and sportive performance, changed the life of all mankind in a truly revolutionary way. Even if nowadays the system tries to hide the origin of most of these achievements, their existence are deeply connected with a system and a country that privileged the well being of the human being and not the profit.

4) All these 3 aspects had a direct influence in the creation and huge growth of WFDY, with a big contribution by the Soviet youth, but also with its achievements and solidarity with the youth struggling in all countries around the world, that allowed WFDY and the Festival’s movement to be a truly international and powerful organization.

Dear comrades,

Many times we hear that, 20 years ago, the Soviet Union “fell apart”, “collapsed by itself” or even “died”. Imperialist powers aim to implement the thesis that the socialist system (or in more recent times, any social oriented measure) has no sustainability and, therefore, collapses by itself.

Please note that I do not mean to say that, during the decades of existence of the Soviet Union there were no mistakes or wrong decisions, not at all. However, it cannot be undermined the powerful offense that at all levels the Soviet Union suffered in the framework of the imperialist attempt to defeat it - as it eventually happened through the conquering of the power of counter revolutionaries, whose present statements and options clearly show where they stand.

In fact, as an extension of that same ideological approach, soon after the overthrown of Soviet Union, imperialism tried to impose the idea that mankind had reached the final formula of development, the so called “end of history” and adjacent theories. In a word, that there was no point struggling or fighting, because there was no better place to go than the capitalist system, that was not only the best, but the only possible.

Sadly, even in WFDY, just 6 years after the splendorous WFYS of Moscow, these theories penetrated and we were close to give up and disband it. That didn’t happen, not only because of some organizations will (also that, of course), but because any theory of “end of history” was insufficient in face of the growing attacks suffered by the youth and peoples at national and international level. Furthermore, it is important to point out how WFDY was able to keep itself with the contribution of its members, defeating the thesis that it was an organization dependant on the states, particularly on the Soviet Union.

As years went by, it was more clear that the world after the Soviet Union was a more violent and inhuman one. Particularly for the peoples of the countries of the former Socialist Block, but for all mankind, in general, the consequences started to be felt as wars and conflicts started to be spread all over by the invisible hand of imperialism. Iraq, Uganda and the Balkans (in a process that only ended with the so called “independence” of Kosovo in 2008) others are bloody examples of this reality.

NATO, the organization of the fascists and their friends, that was founded to fight all progressive powers as well as any progressive movement, gained new strength as the main vehicle of imperialism to spread war and destruction wherever the peoples’ opposed the imperialist domination. The highest moment so far, was in 1999, when after recognizing that it is not a defensive organization, it bombed the Yugoslavian people to tear the country even more apart.

At social level, also massive unemployment, widespread of precariousness and the privatizations of public services lead to a situation of fast increase of inequalities, injustice and poverty for millions of people all around the world, since the economic groups and its allied powers felt now more comfortable to withdraw the rights achieved by struggles of decades.

Despite all this, the struggle continued and not even worst conditions stopped the workers and youth of struggling for their rights, resisting in most cases, but also achieving victories in others, as it is the fantastic example of the victory of the South African people against the apartheid regime in 1994.

Comrades,

It is true that the conditions are worse, making achievements for the workers and the youth more difficult, but it is also true that there is no other way than the organized and militant struggle to resist and fight back. The less the peoples organize themselves and struggle, the faster and bigger the offensive upon them - it is only necessary to look at many of the Eastern European countries to realize that.

It is also true that the overthrown of Soviet Union created a more complex international scenario, where the disputes are no longer between right and wrong or good and bad, but in most cases between two poles of one same imperialist order, where common strategies and rivalries live side by side within the same actors, as the USA, European Union, Japan and other emerging powers.

Those are the conditions we have and it is in them we have to struggle. They are difficult, but they are not impossible to overcome. The signs are everywhere and every day present, not only in big and famous processes as Latin America or some of the movements in the Middle East (which we of course salute), but in the schools, the companies and the neighborhoods where the peoples, workers and youth are resisting bravely and also attaining victories.

For that, WFDY calls upon all young people to never quit struggling and to continue in a persistent and organized way, as not only it is possible, but necessary to win!

(WFDY speech at seminar in Wien_Austria with the same title as the speech, on March 13, 2011)

Europe and North America members of WFDY gather in Wien!

Last weekend, March 12, the Regional Commission of Europe and North America of WFDY gathered in Wien (Austria). This meeting had the presence of 16 organizations from 13 different countries.

The meeting was a significant opportunity for WFDY members to interexchange experiences of the struggles developped in each country against imperialism and for the rights of the youth, as well on the intense activity taken forward by each of WFDY members.

It was also an opportunity to debate and make a collective evaluation on the 17th World Festival of Youth and Students, which was considered a great success, both for its intense and rich preparatory process, as well as for the days in South Africa themselves.

Furthermore, the meeting allowed all organizations to coordinate common actions, with special highlight to the fact action decided for March 24 to remember the imperialist attack against Yugoslavia (11 years ago) and take to the streets the rejection of any sort of imperialist intervention in Libya.

Finally, this occasion was also an opportunity for an open meeting with KJO members and for a seminar about the consequences of the overthrown of Soviet Union (occured 20 years ago), as well as for a visit to the “Red Wien”, where participants could learn about the historical struggle of the Austrian working class.

The next CENA meeting will take place in Germany, hosted by SDAJ, in July.

End the bombing of Libya now, for a peaceful solution not imperialist war

International Commission, Young Communist League of Canada

Tuesday, March 22st

Foreign bombing and invasion is dangerously worsening the situation in Libya, the Young Communist League’s International Commission said today, condemning U.N. resolution 1973, US “Operation Odyssey Dawn” and Canadian “Operation MOBILE.” Peace-loving youth and students must demand the Canadian Harper Conservative government immediately withdraw its troops and warships and support a peaceful, political solution to the crisis resolved by the Libyan people.

Resolution 1973 – the so-called no-fly zone banning civilian and military air travel – authorizes an act of war. The U.S. and NATO have a ‘free pass’ to not only enforce a terrible storm of air strikes, bombardment and a naval blockade but also to launch attacks on any Libyan military units that they claim threaten the population.

Whatever we think of the Ghadafi regime, imperialist intervention will be a disaster for the Libyan people. Widespread circulation of petitions by groups like “Avaaz.org” calling for such actions have confused some progressive youth, but the doctrine of “Humanitarian interventionism” by the past colonizers of Africa is hypocritical and must be opposed:

For a fraction of the government’s gigantic military budgets, Canada could supply vital medical aid to Africa;
The Canadian government is already implicated in the deaths of tens of thousands in the occupation of Afghanistan as well as anti-democratic 'regime-change' in Haiti, Honduras, and elsewhere;
The Harper Conservatives have not lifted a finger at the bloody suppression (by imperialism’s allies) of the uprisings in Yemen, or the protests in Bahrain, where Saudi troops have invaded, and they are staunch supporters of the Zionist apartheid state of Israel;
There is nothing “Humanitarian” about a war which violates a countries fundamental right to sovereignty;
‘Operation Noble Anvil’ (the 1999 illegal NATO war on the former Yugoslavia, using the same Canadian military aircraft) cluster bombed hospitals, trains and buses, towns and villages and columns of refugees – killing over a thousand civilians.
As we approach the bloody anniversary of NATO's illegal war in Yugoslavia on March 24th, history shows us that this new blitzkrieg is not about democracy but profits, natural resources, and geo-strategic interests. Calgary-based Suncor energy reportedly pumps over $5 million from Libyan oilfields, daily.

The Harper Conservative government’s actions are also crude chauvinistic electioneering on the eve of a Federal election campaign which could be fought on the question of billion-dollar military spending for new fighter jets, and the fact this anti-democratic government has been declared in contempt of parliament for drastically low-balling the price-tag of its war spending. Shame!

The Latin American ALBA block, the African Union, the World Federation of Democratic Youth, Peace forces, Communist and Worker's Parties, as well as China and Russia have condemned this new imperialist war. We call upon all peace-loving and progressive youth in Canada to chose this side of the picket line, petition the government and most importantly, organize and join demonstrations in the streets to end the bombing now.

Joint Statement of Communist and Workers' Parties Against imperialist aggression in Libya

The imperialist killers headed by the USA, France, Britain and NATO as a whole and with the approval of the UN started a new imperialist war. This time in Libya.

Their allegedly humanitarian pretexts are completely misleading! They throw dust into peoples' eyes! Their real goals are the hydrocarbons in Libya.

We, the Communist and Workers' parties condemn the military imperialist intervention. The people of Libya must determine their future on their own, without foreign imperialist interventions.

We call on the peoples to react and demand the immediate cessation of the bombings and of the imperialist intervention!



Algerian Party For Democracy And Socialism, PADS
Communist Party of Armenia
Communist Party of Azerbaijan
Communist Party of Australia
Communist Party of Bangladesh
Workers’ Party of Bangladesh
Communist Party of Belarus
Workers’ Party of Belgium
Brazilian Communist Party
Communist Party of Brazil
Communist Party of Britain
New Communist Party of Britain
Party of the Bulgarian Communists
Communist Party of Canada
Socialist Worker`s Party of Croatia
Communist Party of Denmark
Communist Party in Denmark
Communist Party of Estonia
Communist Party of Finland
Hungarian Communist Workers’ Party
Unified CP of Georgia
Communist Party of Greece
Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India [Marxist]
Tudeh Party of Iran
Communist Party of Ireland
Workers’ Party of Ireland
Party of the Italian Communists
Communist Party of Kazakhstan
Socialist Party of Latvia
Lebanese Communist Party
Communist Party of Luxembourg
Communist Party of Malta
Communist Party of Mexico
Popular Socialist Party of Mexico
New Communist Party of Netherlands
Communist Party of Norway
Communist Party of Poland
Portuguese Communist Party
Communist Party of Russian Federation
Communist Workers' Party of Russia – Revolutionary Party of Communists
UCP- CPSU
Communist Party of Soviet Union
New Communist Party of Yugoslavia
Party of the Communists of Serbia
Communist Party of Slovakia
Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain
Syrian Communist Party
Communist Party of Sweden
Communist Party of Turkey
Labour Party (EMEP), Turkey
Communist Party of Ukraine
Communist Party of Venezuela

PARTNERSHIP OF EQUALS

Reflections by Comrade Fidel

PARTNERSHIP OF EQUALS

Saturday evening, the 19th, after a sumptuous banquet, NATO leaders ordered the attack on Libya.

Of course, nothing could occur without the United States claiming its irrefutable role as supreme leader. From its command post of that institution in Europe, a senior official declared that “Odyssey Dawn” was about to begin.

World public opinion was deeply touched by the tragedy in Japan. The number of victims of the earthquake, the tsunami and the nuclear accident has kept on growing. By now there are thousands of dead, missing and radiation contaminated. Resistance to the use of nuclear energy will also grow considerably.

The world is suffering, at the same time, the consequences of climatic changes; shortages and prices of foods, military spending and the squandering of natural and human resources are increasing. War was the timeliest event that could happen at this time.

Obama’s trip through Latin America moved into the background, people were hardly paying any attention to it. In Brazil, the contradictory interests between the United States and this sister nation have become evident.

We cannot forget that Rio de Janeiro competed with Chicago to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

Obama wanted to win over the South American giant. He spoke of the “extraordinary rise of Brazil” that has impressed the international scene and he praised its economy as one of the economies with the fastest growth rate in the world, but he showed not even the least commitment in supporting Brazil as a permanent member of the privileged Security Council.

The Brazilian president did not hesitate in expressing her disagreement with the protectionist measures the US is applying on Brazil with the tariffs and subsidies that have constituted a mighty obstacle for the economy of that country.

Argentine writer Atilio Boron states that “ […] what interests [Obama] most as administrator of the empire is advancing control of Amazonia. The main requisite of this plan is to slow down, since it is something he cannot stop, the growing political and economic coordination and integration that is happening in the region: this had been very important in sinking ALCA in 2005 and frustrating the secessionist conspiracy and coups in Bolivia in 2008 and Ecuador in 2010. He also has to try to sow the seeds of discord between the most radical governments in the region (Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador) and the “progressive” governments, mainly Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay…”

“For the boldest US strategists, the Amazon river basin, just as the Antarctic, is a free-access area where national sovereignties are not recognized...”

Tomorrow Obama moves over to Chile. His arrival is preceded by an interview he gave to the newspaper El Mercurio that was printed today, on Sunday, in which he confesses that the “Debate in the Americas”, as he calls it, is based on a “partnership of equals” with Latin America that practically leaves us breathless as we recall the Alliance for Progress that preceded the mercenary Bay of Pigs expedition.

Obama literally confesses that the US vision for the hemisphere […] is based on the concept of a partnership of equals that he has pursued ever since becoming President of the United States.

Obama stated that he shall also focus on specific areas where they can work together, such as economic growth, energy, security and human rights’…

That vision, he emphasized, has the aim of ‘improving common security, expanding economic opportunities, ensuring a clean energy future and supporting the democratic values we share’.

…promoting a safe, stable and prosperous Hemisphere where the United States and their partners share responsibilities on key regional and global issues...

As we can see, everything is marvellously beautiful, worthy of being buried just like Reagan’s secrets, to be published within 200 years.

The problem is, as informed by the DPA Agency, according to a survey carried out by the newspaper La Tercera, “…in 2006, 43 percent of the Chilean population was rejecting nuclear plants”.

“Two years later the rejection rate rose to 52 percent and in 2010 is reached 74 percent.” Today, after what happened in Japan it has reached “...86 percent of Chileans...”

We only have to ask Obama one question. Taking into account that one of his illustrious predecessors, Richard Nixon promoted the coup and the heroic death of Salvador Allende, the torture and murder of thousands of persons, would Mr. Obama be asking forgiveness of the Chilean people?



Fidel Castro Ruz
March 20, 2011
8:14 p.m.

Tens of Thousands in Beirut rally against sectarianism

By Simona Sikimic
Daily Star staff
Monday, March 21, 2011



BEIRUT: Thousands of protesters congregated in Beirut Sunday calling for the end of “the sectarian regime.”

The march was the third of its kind in less than a month and attracted more than double the numbers seen at the last event on March 6, when some 10,000 were estimated to have hit the streets, organizers said.

Beginning at Sassine Square at noon, the crowd weaved its way to the Interior Ministry in Sanayeh, waving Lebanese flags and shouting slogans including “Game over sectarianism” and “Yes to equality, yes to a citizenry whole and complete,” before singing the national anthem outside the ministry.

“We were surprised at the turnout but, of course, we are extremely happy,” said Omar Deeb, a march organizer. “This shows how important the cause is and we are only going to keep pushing forward.”

While the protest was largely peaceful, a skirmish broke out at one point between security forces and several protesters who became aggressive following the reading of the movement’s manifesto, which demands widespread democratic reform and the passage of a new election law.

It also incorporates a call for greater economic justice and the small group of “no more than 10 to 20 people,” thought to belong to an independent leftist organization, objected to the clause not having more prominence in the statement, Deeb said.

The growing turnout has been attributed to wider national participation. People from various regions across the country chartered buses to ferry supporters to the event. Similar protests are planned next week in Jbeil, Sidon and Aley, with another Beirut march expected to take place next month.

“The Lebanese people need change,” said protester Rabab Hakim, who travelled from the Chouf to attend the last two marches. “We have tried this regime but we know that the sectarian regime has given us nothing but violence, war and death.”

Lebanon operates on a power-sharing system based on its various officially recognized sects. A certain number of parliamentary seats are allotted for each sect and the presidency is reserved for a Maronite Christian, the post of Prime Minister for a Sunni and the role of Parliament speaker for a Shiite.

“We are here to call for the end of the sectarian regime,” said Ali Mustafa a university student who attended the protest with friends. “People are excited, you can feel it in the atmosphere.”

In addition to demanding the abolition of sectarianism, the movement is reaching out to various pro-secular groups, such as those seeking the introduction of civil marriages. It has also won the support of many anti-corruption activists who say sectarianism fuels the problem.

“You cannot divide the religious and sectarian system from corruption,” said protester Ghassan Nasser, who attended the last two marches. “The division of power and the division of the cake breeds all aspects of corruption, morally, materially and politically.

“I’m from the older generation and I fought my whole life to see this country have another system where people can express their dreams and have a state without any religious interference. [But] it is becoming more and more obvious that the young generation is even more religious.”

Although predominantly a youth-based movement that largely recruited supporters through social media, all ages and walks of life were present at the march Sunday.

Around 200 activists have thus far become involved in organizing the protests, but although many belong to civil society groups or political parties, they are required to participate as individuals to prevent any faction hijacking the cause.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s Amal Movement caused controversy last week for publicly urging its supporters via television broadcasts aired on the Amal-affiliated NBN to join the demonstrations. Berri has been a long-time critic of political sectarianism, but his proposed plan of abolishing sectarianism through a national committee as stipulated by the 1989 Taif Accords is in contradiction with the demands of the anti-sectarian campaign that is targeting both the sectarian system and its leading figures.

The move has only further exasperated skepticism about the movement.

“I don’t know what reality these people are living in, but Lebanon is simply not ready to give up sectarianism,” said Beirut-based engineer Joe Baaklini, who lives near the protest route. “Many [of] these people are clever enough to vote for the right politician but they represent a tiny fraction, and the majority of Lebanese are only loyal to their different religious leaders.

“This is merely a ploy to increase the influence of certain political factions.”

Other protesters, however, were more optimistic.

“Nothing is unrealistic if you believe in change and there is civil power and [popular support]. The recent revolutions [in the Arab world] have shown us that,” said Sanaa Hassan, an activist from the Chouf and member of Lebanese NGO Bilad (House of non-violence and non-sectarianism). “But we have to speak up and act if we want our children to grow up in peace.

“I already had to live through a war and I do not want the same thing to happen to my children and grandchildren.” – Additional reporting by Van Meguerditchian

Arab League: Air strikes 'go too far'

Sunday 20 March 2011
Bill Benfield
Reprinted from Morningstaronline.co.uk

Arab League chief Amr Moussa heavily criticised the air strikes on Libya today, saying they had gone well beyond what the league had backed and were causing civilian deaths.

The Arab League's support for a no-fly zone last week was instrumental in overcoming reluctance at the United Nations for action in Libya.

The UN authorised not only a no-fly zone but also "all necessary measures" to protect civilians.

But Mr Moussa said the military operations had gone far beyond what the Arab League backed.

He said that "what happened differs from the no-fly zone objectives" and "what we wanted was civilians' protection, not shelling more civilians."

Security council member China, which was among five countries that abstained from Thursday's UN vote, also voiced disquiet, expressing "regret" over the air strikes.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said that China "consistently disagrees with the use of force in international relations."

In a statement posted on the ministry's website, he said that China "hopes the situation in Libya resumes stability as soon as possible" to avoid escalation of a military conflict.

And fellow council member Russia went even further, calling on the international military force striking against Libyan targets to stop its "indiscriminate" use of violence.

A statement issued by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said the air strikes exceeded the mandate of the security council resolution, which authorised necessary measures to protect civilians.

He said that the US and European air raids have hit non-military targets in the Libyan capital and three other cities.

As a result, he said, 48 civilians have been reported dead and more than 150 wounded, while a medical centre was partially destroyed.

Meanwhile, in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI issued an urgent appeal to military and political leaders to consider the safety of Libyan civilians and ensure that they have access to emergency aid.

The Pope said that the outbreak of hostilities had sparked "great fear and alarm in me" and said he was praying for peace in the region.

He directed his appeal to "those who have the political and military responsibility to take to heart the safety and security of citizens and guarantee that they have access to humanitarian aid."

editor@peoples-press.com

Yemen: Tanks moved onto streets

Yemen saw massive demonstrations against US-backed President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Saturday as crowds tens of thousands strong clashed with security forces.

Bill Beanfeild,
Morningstaronline.co.uk


In the capital Sanaa the government had to bring out tanks and other military forces to protect key buildings as crowds swelled.

Protesters also stood their ground in the city of Mualla, surging out of their destroyed encampment and encircling a police station.

More than a month of daily protests calling for political freedom and an end to corruption have presented President Saleh with the most dire challenge in his 32-year rule in Yemen.

In the bloodiest day of the uprising, Yemeni forces killed at least 46 people and injured hundreds in the capital on Friday, with snipers firing on demonstrators from rooftops.

On Saturday, police fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters at a camp in Mualla.

At least 13 people were wounded, including three hit by live rounds.

Thousands surged out of the camp and surrounded a nearby police station in an attempt to seize it.

Police opened fire and security troops demolished their encampment but confrontations continued.

Protesters chased security forces out of Dar Saad and took control of the city.

Dar Saad has witnessed some of the deadliest clashes in the past few days in which seven people have been killed.

Protesters have set fire to the main police station, torched police cars and blocked roads to stop troops from bringing in reinforcements.

In Sanaa soldiers in tanks and armoured personnel carriers took up positions at junctions and key buildings, including the presidential palace, state TV building and other government institutions. Soldiers searched motorists and passers-by.

Orders to implement a large-scale military operation aimed at emptying main squares of protesters within the next 48 hours have been issued by the authorities, who are said to be planning to arrest opposition leaders soon.

The violence was condemned by the UN and the US, although it is still sending Yemen's government $250 million (£154m) in military aid this year.

Several prominent members of the ruling Congress Party announced their resignations on Saturday.

Among them were two former culture ministers, the head of the state-run Saba news agency and the Yemeni ambassador to Beirut.

Even the Yemeni president's own tribe has called on him to step down.

editor@peoples-press.com

GOOD CONDUCT CERTIFICATE

Reflections by Comrade Fidel

GOOD CONDUCT CERTIFICATE

In these bitter days we have seen pictures of an earthquake that reached 9 on the Richter Scale with hundreds of strong after-shocks, and a tsunami 10 metres high whose waves of dark waters dragged tens of thousands of people between cars and trucks over homes and 3 and 4 storey buildings.

Sophisticated mass media has been saturating our minds with the news of civil wars, arms trade associated with drugs that in just five years have killed more than 35,000 people in Mexico, climatic changes in various countries, asphyxiating heat waves, mountains of ice melting at the poles, torrential rains, shortages and growing prices for foods. We really need some consolation and this has just reached us via that life-saving angel of our species, the United Nations Security Council and its colossal invention: good conduct certificates.

Of course we already know, through the Europa Press Agency, that the number of persons who died as a result of the earthquake and the tsunami were 6,539, and 10,259 were missing, “according to the latest toll”.

Although we still do not know “the exact whereabouts of thousands of people”, the governor of a prefecture has suggested that the survivors ought to move to another part of Japan.

“Damaged airports, ports and highways are being gradually repaired”, a Japanese news agency states.

The British agency Reuters was less optimistic when it stated that “a ‘Chernobyl solution’ could be the last resort” but authorities say that “it is still too soon to talk about long-range measures and that first we have to try to cool the plant’s six reactors and the fuel-storage pools.”

Professor Murray Jennex at San Diego State University in California said: “They (reactors) are kind of like a coffee maker. If you leave it on the heat, they boil dry and then they crack, …”

“Putting concrete on that wouldn’t help keep your coffee maker safe. But eventually, yes, you could build a concrete shield and be done with it.”

Another dispatch from the European agency stated:

“We launched a ‘race against the clock’ to cool down the reactors, declared General Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano.”

“‘We are dealing with a very serious accident’, said Amano after meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, in reference to the Fukushima nuclear plant.”

Without a doubt, the world had been jolted by the unexpected accident in Japan, that moved even the foundations of the planet’s energy development; 442 nuclear plants were functioning, great need for repairs; the Chernobyl accident in 1986 had paralyzed construction programmes of new facilities which were about to resume and be extended.

Wouldn’t our concerns over NATO’s war actions in northern Africa to occupy the rich Libyan fields of light oil and ensure the enormous energy resources in the Middle East after the revolutionary eruption in Arab nations be exaggerated?

Serious threats of a new economic crisis were upsetting economists.

Bad news on the political front keeps on coming.

AFP states that thousands of Shiite demonstrators were shouting anti-government slogans near Manama after Friday prayers, even though Bahraini authorities have prohibited crowds from gathering.

“Repression […] this week caused at least eight deaths: four demonstrators and four police.”

“‘We are ready to sacrifice our blood and our souls for Bahrain’, shouted the demonstrators.”

“Bahraini authorities decreed the exclusion state this week […] within this small kingdom where the US has a base for its Fifth Fleet.”

AFP, March18, 2011

“More than 30 died and around a hundred were injured on Friday after demonstrators were shot at as they demanded the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh in Sanah, according to a new toll reported by medical sources.”

“‘Most of those injured were hit by bullets to the head, neck and chest area’, a doctor told AFP.”

This is a close United States ally that also has the support of Saudi forces.

AP, March 18, 2011

“King Abdullah (of Saudi Arabia) spoke after Muslim prayers on Friday. He thanked residents and security forces for being ‘the hands’ of national stability.”

“Islamabad, March 18, (AFP) – thousands demonstrated on Friday in the streets of several Pakistani cities to protest against the American unmanned plane attack that killed 35 people this week and the liberation of a CIA employee who was being held for murder.” He had been set free after two million dollars had been paid to the relatives of the two men he killed in a Lahore street.

Why do we have the Security Council, the veto, the anti-veto, the majority, the minority, abstention, speeches, demagoguery and the solemn declarations of Ban Ki-moon?

Above all, why do we have NATO, its 5.5 million soldiers (according to highly qualified specialists) and its 19,845 tanks, 57,938 armoured vehicles, 6,492 fighter jets, 2,482 helicopters, 19 aircraft carriers, 156 submarines, 303 surface vessels, 5,728 nuclear missiles, tens of thousands of atomic bombs with the destructive power equivalent to hundreds of thousand times the capacity of those dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

There is more than enough of such stupid power, it wouldn’t be used, nor can it be used; we would need dozens of planet such as Earth. Its only purpose is to demonstrate the waste and the chaos generated by capitalism.

We can dedicate our time to other things, less sinister and more ludicrous.

For example, the DPA agency informs us:

“Port-au-Prince, March 18, 2011. The arrival of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Port-au-Prince this Friday cannot have taken anyone by surprise.”

“January 19: From South Africa, Aristide published an ‘open letter’ where he says he is ‘ready’ to return to Haiti’ at any time to ‘contribute as a simple citizen in the field of education’...”

“January 20: The American State Department is opposed to the return of Aristide before at least the end of the electoral process...”.

The State Department has gotten mixed up even in this: it was the US that gave birth to Papa Doc, and it had overthrown and expelled President Aristide to Africa 7 years ago.

A Notimex dispatch, dated in Panama today, March 18th, informed that WikiLeaks revealed the entry of US warships to Panama:

“The covenant was signed on April 15, 2009 so that military vessels could enter Panamanian waters between May 3rd and the end of Torrijos’ term on June 30th this year, when the president was succeeded by the right-wing Ricardo Martinelli.

“‘Until now, the Panamanian government has always refused to do this requirement arguing that operations with the United States Army were a sensitive matter for Panamanians’…”

Another interesting tale about the trickery of US foreign policy is told today by AP:

“Chile and the United States signed a nuclear energy treaty on Friday, despite the fears of the spread of radiation in Japan”.

“The fear arises after a devastating earthquake and subsequent tidal wave severely affected the nuclear reactors in a plant on the north-eastern coast of Japan”.

“The treaty was signed on Friday morning by US Ambassador Alejandro Wolff and Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs Alfredo Moreno.”

“…White House officials were not able to confirm the highly awaited signing which one supposes would be a notable event during the visit to Chile on Monday of President Barack Obama.”

But no matter, appearances can always be life-saving and public opinion can be manipulated by appearances; White House officials emphasized “that the treaty focuses on training nuclear engineers and not on the construction of reactors.”

Since Japanese nuclear technology is basically Yankee, their technicians surely would acquire more experience studying what happened in that beleaguered country whose population was victim of a cruel and unscrupulous predecessor of the current president of the United States.

Who are Obama, NATO and Ban Ki-moon going to fool with good conduct certificates?

Fidel Castro Ruz
March 18, 2011
8:54 p.m.