Kamis, 10 Mei 2012

Cuba offshore drilling may hit oil reservoir soon





By William E. Gibson, Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — A Spanish company drilling an exploratory well north of Havana is within a week of reaching its target: an oil reservoir believed to lie under Cuban waters roughly 60 miles from Florida.

That’s the word from energy and environmental experts who met in Washington on Thursday to discuss plans to prevent or respond to a potential oil spill and protect South Florida’s delicate coastline.

The experts, who are in touch with Cuban officials and the Spanish company Repsol, say the drilling has been done in a slow and safe manner. But they warned that plans to respond to a potential oil spill are still hampered by the U.S. embargo of Cuba, which restricts the equipment and personnel that can be sent to prepare in case of a blowout.

“In every way, I think the Cuban approach to this is responsible and appropriate to the risk they are undertaking,” said William K Reilly, former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under former President George H.W. Bush.

But the U.S. government, he said, “has not interpreted its sanctions policy in a way that would clearly make available in advance the kind of technologies that would be required.”

That includes capping equipment needed to stop a major leak, he said. “That includes even the spare parts to a blowout preventer.”

He and several oil industry and environmental experts urged President Barack Obama to grant a general license for American companies to rush into Cuban waters without restriction to help stop a spill at its source.

The staging area for needed equipment should be in Cuba for a fast response, they said, but instead it is being assembled by Helix Energy Systems near Tampa. Some equipment will also be housed in South Florida.

The Coast Guard cannot enter Cuban-controlled waters without permission from the Cuban government. But Coast Guard officials say they are increasingly confident that the Cubans would allow them to help cap and contain a spill at the source.

The initial drilling is within a week of reaching the depth needed to tap an expected reservoir beneath Cuban waters, said Lee Hunt, past president of the International Association of Drilling Contractors.

“The desirability for a command center in a Cuban port for spill-response staging is very high,” Hunt said. “The likelihood of it happening? Nil.”

Intacta la Política Hostil de Estados Unidos Contra Cuba

La Habana, 10 may (Prensa Latina) A casi cuatro años de la asunción del presidente estadounidense, Barak Obama, las expectativas de un cambio de actitud de su gobierno respecto a Cuba están muy lejos de cumplirse, consideró aquí una diplomática de alto rango.

  Si bien Obama adoptó algunas medidas de carácter positivo para la relación entre ambos países, los aspectos fundamentales que caracterizan la política hacia la isla no han sido modificados, afirmó la directora de América del Norte de la Cancillería cubana, Josefina Vidal.

En una entrevista concedida a la cadena televisiva CNN en español, difundida aquí, la funcionaria subrayó que las sanciones económicas como el bloqueo, cuyas pérdidas al país son estimadas en 975 mil millones de dólares, siguen intactas.

"Tampoco han sido revisados los llamados programas para promover cambios en Cuba, que son programas ilegales en nuestro país, en tanto tratan de buscar un cambio que solo a nuestro pueblo le compete adoptar o decidir", comentó.

Vidal expresó, además, que continúan las transmisiones radiales y televisivas diseñadas contra la isla; y la permanencia del país en las listas negras del Departamento de Estado que tratan de deslegitimar a la nación caribeña.

Asimismo, reiteró la disposición cubana a sostener un diálogo político, abarcador de todos los problemas, para identificar áreas de interés común e impulsar la cooperación bilateral.

Respecto al caso del estadounidense Alan Gross, encarcelado aquí por actos contra la independencia nacional, la funcionaria señaló que los medios tratan de equiparar su proceso con el de René González, antiterrorista cubano que cumplió una sentencia de 13 años en Estados Unidos y se encuentra bajo libertad supervisada.

Al ser interrogada sobre una petición de Gross de visitar a su madre enferma, Vidal aclaró que los casos son distintos, pues el norteamericano se encuentra al inicio de su condena, y como ocurre en otros países, en tales condiciones no está permitido que las personas salgan del territorio donde cumplen su sanción.

Recordó que Gerardo Hernández, otro de los cinco cubanos apresados junto a René González en 1998 por informar de acciones terroristas perpetradas en el sur de la Florida contra la isla, perdió a su madre mientras cumplía su pena de cárcel y no se le permitió viajar para visitarla.

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JG: I again choose to sound like a broken record. There is no difference between George W. Bush policies toward Cuba and those of Barack Obama.

The U.S. imperialists want to destroy Cuba.

All I can do is vote against both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. The two capitalist parties are giving me TWO PIECES OF GARBAGE! 

Rabu, 09 Mei 2012

Solidarity Forever!

When the union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run,
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun;
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one,
But the union makes us strong.
CHORUS:
Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
For the union makes us strong.
Is there aught we hold in common with the greedy parasite,
Who would lash us into serfdom and would crush us with his might?
Is there anything left to us but to organize and fight?
For the union makes us strong.
Chorus
It is we who plowed the prairies; built the cities where they trade;
Dug the mines and built the workshops, endless miles of railroad laid;
Now we stand outcast and starving midst the wonders we have made;
But the union makes us strong.
Chorus
All the world that's owned by idle drones is ours and ours alone.
We have laid the wide foundations; built it skyward stone by stone.
It is ours, not to slave in, but to master and to own.
While the union makes us strong.
Chorus
They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn.
We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn
That the union makes us strong.
Chorus
In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold,
Greater than the might of armies, magnified a thousand-fold.
We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old
For the union makes us strong.




Letter of Cuban Interests Section Chief to CNN's Wolf Blitzer






Click on the two .png graphics files below to make it easier to read.
or
Click here to see the English version at Cuba's MINREX
 






 








Senin, 07 Mei 2012

Beware When the U.S. Government Disseminates Two Words: Dissident & Transition


You do not have to be an expert in politics or ideology to realize that the U.S. government is an imperialist government.

You will probably turn around and ask me: what is imperialism?

In Das Kapital, Karl Marx considered imperialism to be part of the prehistory of the capitalist mode of production. Conversely, Lenin defined imperialism as "the highest stage of capitalism", the era in which monopoly finance capital becomes dominant, forcing nations and corporations to compete for control over resources and markets all over the world. Lenin's theory of imperialism has since been adopted by a majority of Marxists. (Source: Wikipedia)

The U.S. government is an imperialist government. Of that there is no doubt. Its history is very clear: it seeks to subjugate the lands of other peoples. It seeks, legally or illegally, to advance the interests of its huge capitalist corporations. It never defends the interests of the working class. Both George W. Bush and Barack H. Obama are imperialists.

Both Dubbya & El Negrito have always tried to advance and promote “dissidents” and “transitions.”

They must think that the peoples of the world are stupid.

In the case of a nation that is closest, geographically, to the United States – Cuba – they have used those two words ad nauseum.

What they really mean is: we seek to take over your country (using mercenary dissidents, like Yoani Sanchez, Coco Fariñas, the Ladies in White and others) and transition your nation back to capitalism.

Or like Sherlock Holmes would have said: “Elementary, my dear Watson!”

Francois Hollande says to the French people: MERCI


The Four Semi-Finalists in Cuba's 51st National Baseball Series

Western Region: Industriales vs Matanzas

Eastern Region: Ciego de Ávila vs Granma

JG: I am putting my money on the Industriales Blue Lions.

Che Guevara Will Remain Part of Reno Airport Art Exhibit

Source: Fox News

Minggu, 06 Mei 2012

SOCIALISTS WIN IN FRANCE!

Yippee! The French have given Sarkozy the boot. He is French toast now! Is Obama next?

5/7/2012 update: Wall Street Journal: François Hollande has pledged to shift the economic hardship on to the rich and soften austerity measures.

JG: There are more of us, proletarians, than there are rich capitalist millionaires and billionaires. UNITE!

Jumat, 04 Mei 2012

For a Socialist Victory in France on Sunday


Arise children of the fatherland
The day of glory has arrived

To arms citizens! 
Form your battalions!
Lets March, lets march!
So that the impure blood
Waters our fields!



Fidel Castro is a friend of ours

The Florida Courier

Written by Fcadmin | 03 May 2012

Miami Marlins baseball manager Ozzie Guillen got in trouble recently for comments he made about Fidel Castro, and the Cuban-Americans in Miami-Dade County got extremely upset. No one said Guillen lied, but the Venezuelan-American former baseball player was suspended for offending Miami's Cuban community.

Not too long ago, Fidel Castro announced his retirement from his position as Cuba’s leader. Cuban-Americans express mixed reviews of the sudden announcement, which came on the heels of an extended illness. Many Florida politicians were quick to disparage Castro, calling him "a dictator" and other less-than-amorous names.
  
Different to us

To many African-Americans and people of African descent throughout the world, Castro regime has a much different connotation.

Blacks see Castro as a friend and a freedom fighter, mainly due to his role in sending Cuban troops to Africa to fight alongside the Africans fighting for their lives against apartheid and other colonialist powers. Castro even offered to help distressed Blacks in New Orleans with medical and other support, but the U.S. government refused that offer.

When the world’s superpowers turned their heads and allowed racism and colonialism to flourish in Africa, Castro sent troops and equipment to the continent that was essential in turning Africa’s political tides.

South Africa’s Nelson Mandela has spoken highly about Castro and Cuba’s contributions to African freedom. For showing his love for Castro and Cuba, Mandela was routinely booed by Cuban-Americans whenever he visited America.

Revolutionary history

Cuba has a history of many revolutionaries and freedom fighters of African descent. Today, Cuba has a very diverse government compared to governments in Western countries. Blacks that hold very high governmental positions there right now.

Though many of the United States’ most vocal critics of modern-day Cuba are not of African descent, Black Cubans living in America oftentimes are not as hostile. Many Blacks remember when Cuba was a playground for organized crime families. When casinos where thriving and money was flowing into the island, American Jews were a prevalent part of the Cuban community. In fact, a rudimentary investigation will reveal that many Cuban-American politicians, businessmen and professionals in the United States practice Judaism right now.

Let Cubans decide

The people of Cuba should decide what government they want and also which government leaders that they want, just as we are deciding who we want as America’s governmental leaders right now.

How long will Americans try to influence or decide who runs the governments and countries around the world? Interference in the affairs of Cuba is no different than interfering in Iraq, Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon, Grenada, Palestine, Libya, Egypt or anywhere else.

I can understand why some Cuban Americans seek to have a distinguishable change in Cuban politics and/or its government. They certainly have a right to disagree with the status quo.

However, as far as Fidel Castro goes, I ain’t mad at him.

May the best political philosophy win this battle of ideologies!

Contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants.net.

"Like" The Gantt Report page on Facebook.

Last Updated ( Thursday, 03 May 2012 13:21 )

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JG: Very well said Lucius. What the imperialists don't like is that Fidel doesn't kiss their asses, like Batista did.

The Team That Forever Changed Baseball and America: The 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers

Who is Behind Luis Posada Carriles and his Miami Terrorists?

Emilio Milian Was a Victim of the Miami Terrorists


I used to listen to Emilio Milian on the radio when I lived in west Dade County. He had guts. From his inimitable Radio Fe he would denounce the Miami terrorists. His "Tribuna Abierta" was open to all callers,  not only the right wingers, like El Triple Feo does in Radio Mambi.

Emilio paid the price. His two legs were blown up by a bomb of the Miami terrorists.

This is the type of "democracy" that they want to take to Cuba?

Miami: Still America's Bomb Capital

From January 1, 1959 Till Today

Rabu, 02 Mei 2012

Cuba's May Day Parade: "To Capitalism We Will Never Return"


By Jeff Franks

HAVANA (Reuters) - A red-tinged sea of Cubans marched through Havana's Revolution Square on Tuesday in a May Day parade that affirmed the government's intention of assuring a communist future for the Caribbean island.

With President Raul Castro looking on from beneath a giant statue of Cuban independence hero Jose Marti, hundreds of thousands of workers wearing red shirts and waving red flags filed through the vast plaza where Cuba holds its biggest political rallies.

The theme for this year's parade was signaled early when the first row of marchers carried a sign that said "Preserve and Perfect Socialism," which has become the mantra of Cuba's aging leaders.

Raul Castro, 80, has launched a series of reforms encouraging more private initiative and reducing state dominance of the fragile Soviet-style economy put in place after Cuba's 1959 revolution.

He has said his goal is not to replace communism but to take steps to strengthen it for the future.

Lest the message was not clear, the national television broadcast of the parade focused on a sign that read "To Capitalism We Will Never Return."
In the heavily orchestrated event, workers carried pictures of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, his revolutionary comrade Ernesto "Che" Guevara and Marxist heroes such as Vladimir Lenin and Frederick Engels.

The words "Unity and Victory" and "Long Live the Socialist Revolution" were flashed across the television screen.

Fidel Castro, who is 85 and led the country for 49 years before stepping down in 2008, did not attend the parade for the sixth straight year. The president's older brother has said he cannot endure long periods under the tropical island's intense sun.

President Castro, who wore a straw hat against the sun, waved and smiled at the marchers but did not speak, leaving that to Communist Party official and labor leader Salvador Valdes Mesa.

He talked of the need for greater productivity from Cuban workers and the importance of the economic reforms to communism's future.

"The revolution and socialism are fused," Valdes said. "Unity will be the key to preserve and consolidate the nation and the economic and social conquests (of the revolution)."

The reforms include plans to slash a million jobs from the government's bloated payrolls and, in a break from the past, to encourage people to start their own small businesses.

The country of 11 million people now has more than 371,000 people working for themselves, according to government figures.

As they did last year, some of the self-employed, or "cuenta propistas" as they are known in Cuba, marched in Monday's parade alongside the state workers who make up most of the island's labor force.

Cuba's May Day celebration always brings in labor leaders from around the world, including 1,800 from more than 100 countries this year, the master of ceremonies for the parade said.

One of them, Leonardo Lagarde of Uruguay, explained the attraction.
"This is the Mecca. We dream of coming on May 1 to celebrate with the Cubans, who are the light in the road for the rest of Latin America," he said before joining the parading masses.

A Cuban doctor, Angel Felipe, agreed.

"To be here today is an honor. It's a pride and a commitment that we should all have," he said.

(Additional reporting by Rosa Tania Valdes; Editing by Tom Brown and Bill Trott)

Florida Governor Rick Scott wants to have his cake and eat it too

The governor has no guts. He just signed an anti-Cuba bill, and an hour later he backpedaled.

Here are some excerpts from an article at the Canadian Business News:

MIAMI (AP) — Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill on Tuesday banning the state and local governments from hiring companies that do business in Cuba. But in a surprise turn an hour later, Scott wrote that the bill would not be implemented.

Florida International University Political Science Professor Dario Moreno said the law could still go into effect, but if the governor chooses not to enforce it, it's essentially invalid.

------

JG: Only the United States Congress can pass laws which regulate trade between the U.S. and other nations. The Florida law is basically unconstitutional and the courts will hold it invalid. 

Selasa, 01 Mei 2012

I hope that the Cuban Goverment ends the $170.00 extortion and SCAM "fee"

Most people do not know this, but if you were born in Cuba, and you left the island between January First, 1959 and the last day of December of 1970, and you now live outside the island and you want to visit your family, the Cuban government requires that you hand over to them $170.00.

In my opinion, this is an extortion and a SCAM.

I was recently scammed by an unscrupulous capitalist businessman in Tampa, who passes himself as a "progressive" Cuban. So, buyer beware!

Read the Fox News article titled "After 50 years Cubans hope to travel freely."

Senin, 30 April 2012

Cuba's Jaime L. Cardinal Orteaga Speaks



Published on Apr 26, 2012
 
Jorge Dominguez, Vice Provost for International Affairs at Harvard University, moderated a discussion on the role of the Catholic Church in Cuba with Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, Archbishop of Havana, and Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston. The Cardinals discussed the important role the Catholic Church has played in Cuban history and the active role it plays in social services today. This event was co-sponsored by the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies.

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JG: Jesus said in his Sermon at the Mount:  "Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they shall be called the Children of God."

Did you hear that Barack Obama? LIFT THE CUBA EMBARGO!

Sabtu, 28 April 2012

More on the Miami Terrorist Bombing

FBI investigating fire at Cuba travel company in Coral Gables

The FBI and ATF have joined the investigation into a “deliberate” fire at the Coral Gables office of a Cuba travel company.

Terrorist's Fire-Bomb Cuba Travel Agency

 


 

Miami Terrorists Fire-Bomb Cuba Travel Agency

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (WSVN) -- Fire investigators are examining the charred remains of a Coral Gables business believed to have been the target of a fiery attack.

Vivian Mannerud suspects that someone tossed a Molotov cocktail at the building where she has operated an international charter flight business that specializes in trips to Cuba since 1982. Most recently, the Archdiocese of Miami hired the company, Airline Brokers Company Inc., to transport 300 people from South Florida to the island for the Pope's historic visit, at the end of March.

Mannerud received a call from the alarm company at 3:15 in the morning, Friday. She arrived on the scene to find her business gutted and charred with the windows blown out. "Very, very sad," she said. "It's horrible, but it's just hard," she said. "It's a sad thing for my country."

Mannerud spent most of Friday afternoon sobbing outside of her business, as investigators looked through the rubble and cleaned up the scene. "It might have been intentional," said Mannerud, convinced that someone purposefully set her company up in flames. "I can only tell you what my gut is telling me."

She was finally allowed into her business to retrieve a computer hard drive which, she says, she needs to file a report with the Department of Homeland Security.

The business has been controversial for many years, sending thousands of people to their native Cuba, and some have shown negative feelings toward it in the past. Mannerud believes someone may have hit the building with a Molotov cocktail, but stops short of naming any possible subjects. "There's people that do not agree with the charter flights to Cuba and will go to any lengths to stop them," she said.

The ATF, FBI and Fire Marshal enlisted the help of a K-9 unit to sniff out accelerants or anything else suspicious inside the structure. The trained dog sat down several times, signifying it found something, which put officers on alert.
The business owner said she has been targeted in the past, but she is not alone.

Three separate incidents occurred in 1996, in which companies who do business with Cuba were attacked by fire bombs. Mannerud said, "In my 32 years of business, I've seen this happen to many other people."


Mannerud plans to rebuild these offices. She said she is not giving up on what she does, and she believes in providing those charter flights to Cuba. "I will continue, if I have to sit on this sidewalk and write things with a chalkboard," she said.

Investigators have cleared the scene. They will take everything they extracted from the scene and send it in as evidence. It can take weeks before it is determined whether or not the blaze was intentional.

---

JG: Cuba Journal has contacted the White House. See Below.

A Miami, Florida, business which specializes in travel to Cuba was fire-bombed last night.

What is the comment or reaction of the White House?

Signed,

Jorge R. Gonzalez


Publisher/editor of Cuba Journal

Kamis, 26 April 2012

The Top Two Cuban Baseball Players Today


Jose Dariel Abreu - Cienfuegos



Alfredo Despaigne - Granma


The photos are courtesy of Radio Rebelde which has a very interesting article titled Principales Peloteros liderean Coeficiente JAS de la Serie 51.

More Great Photos: Industriales vs Cienfuegos

The quarter finals between Industriales and Cienfuegos are tied. Each team has won one game.

Click here to see more great photos from Cubadebate.

Grandfather of fake Cuban exile U.S. Senator Marco Rubio was ordered deported


The Republic of Columbus, Indiana, reports the following:

LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ  Associated Press

Miami — An  immigration  judge ordered U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio's maternal grandfather deported back to Cuba in 1962, according to federal records obtained by The Associated Press under a Freedom of Information Act request.

Pedro Victor Garcia eventually was allowed to stay in the U.S. permanently when Congress passed the Cuban Adjustment Act in 1966. But it's unclear what happened in between.

Read more...

Cuatro Gatos or 150 gatos?

I do not like the Miami Herald. That is a well known fact. It is a reactionary newspaper and it is stridently anti-Cuba. It is full of gusano "reporters."

But some times you have to read what people that you do not like are saying, just to stay informed of all the available opinions and news.

Yesterday, one of the premier gusanos who writes at One Herald Plaza, Juan Tamayo, wrote about Cuban diplomats in Washington will host emigres for talks on U.S. policy toward the island.

I was invited, but I am not attending, and here is my reason. There are more than one million Cubans leaving outside the island.  150 Cubans meeting at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington D.C. is a very tiny number of Cubans. Could it be that these 150 are under the direct control of the Cuban government? I do not know. I am too independent to be controlled either by the Cuban government or the United States government.

Rabu, 25 April 2012

What Karl Marx Did Not Say. The Problem of Sectarianism.


I am not a Marxist expert. I am just a humble person expressing his beliefs and opinions.

Karl Marx did not say “White workers of the world, unite!”

Karl Marx did not say “Black workers of the world, unite!”

Karl Marx did not say “Brown workers of the world, unite!”

Karl Marx simply said “Workers of the world, unite!” That umbrella includes everyone who sells his labor and works for a living, rather than clip bond coupons and then takes them to the bank. Capitalists do not sweat their brow.

But in today's world the problem of sectarianism is very big and it keeps on growing. Sometimes it seems to me that just about every person wants to form their own little group. They see the trees but do not see the forest. They all want to have “rights” but no one seems interested in responsibilities.

Those who promote sectarianism are the TRUE ENEMIES of the working class.

Those who promote the interests of so-called "people of color" are committing great errors.

The Spanish Republic of the 1930's was overthrown because socialists, communists, anarchists, syndicalist, republicans, liberals, progressives and many other groups were each marching under their respective flags of sectarianism. The fascists, the nazis and the capitalists were all united under the banner of the Generalissimo and a corrupt and reactionary church. You know the rest of the story.

Can you believe that in the United States of the XXI century there are communists (CPUSA) and socialists (SPUSA) who are defending the capitalism of Barack Obama? They say that, he is the lesser of two evils. What these dummies fail to realize is that unbridled capitalism is the REAL evil that we have to fight and defeat. Otherwise the labor exploitation, and the scams and frauds of modern-day capitalism will continue unabated.

Barack Obama is a capitalist. Mitt Romney is a capitalist. I know one person who used to contribute posts at Cuba Journal, who was more interested in defending the race of Barack Obama, than in defending ALL of the working class masses or defending Cuba. He saw the trees, but he did not see the forest.

Divided we fall. Unless there is true unity under the banner of ALL of the working class, the enemy will keep on winning, and keep on laughing all the way to the bank.

Let us not forget that Barack Obama continues the genocidal Cuba embargo/blockade. He does not deserve the votes of the working class.

The Best Photos About Cuban Baseball Always Come From Cubadebate

Click on this link: Industriales abre con victoria el play off. (+ Fotos y Video)

The Blue Lions (Industriales) defeated the Green Elephants (Cienfuegos) in their first quarter-finals game at Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana.

Jose Dariel Abreu could not do a thing against the excellent pitching of Odrisamer Despaigne.

Blogger has a new "look." So far, I do not think it is an improvement.

Cuba Journal will look the same when you access it and look at it, but the construction and editing of a new post has been made more cumbersome and complicated.

The editor/publisher is not in charge, Google (and Blogger) are.

Senin, 23 April 2012

Alfredo Despaigne: The New Cuban Home Run King

Yesterday was the last day of the regular season for the 51st Cuban National Baseball Series.

Alfredo Despaigne connected his home run number 36 to become the undisputed Cuban home run king.

Tomorrow, the playoffs for the 51st Series start.

The teams who will play in the quarter finals are as follow:

Western Region: Matanzas vs Sancti Spíritus; Industriales vs Cienfuegos.

Eastern Region: Villa Clara vs Granma; Las Tunas vs Ciego de Ávila.

Kamis, 19 April 2012

The Dragon


The Dragon is the next spacecraft for the exploration of The Last Frontier. It is manufactured by Space X, a private U.S. company.

The following story is from the Brevard Times.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

SpaceX Falcon 9 To Launch Dragon Capsule April 30, 2012

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida -- The second SpaceX demonstration launch for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program is scheduled for Monday, April 30, 2012 following the completion of NASA's flight readiness review,. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon capsule will liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. There is a single instantaneous launch opportunity at 12:22 p.m. EDT.

During the flight, SpaceX's Dragon capsule will conduct a series of check-out procedures to test and prove its systems, including rendezvous and berthing with the International Space Station (ISS). The primary objectives for the flight include a flyby of the ISS at a distance of approximately 1.5 miles to validate the operation of sensors and flight systems necessary for a safe rendezvous and approach. The spacecraft also will demonstrate the ability to abort the rendezvous. After these capabilities are successfully proven, the Dragon will be cleared to berth with the ISS.

Related: NASA gives all-clear for SpaceX launch April 30

What the Capitalist Businessmen of Amnesty International Do With Their Time


JG; When you receive a letter from them asking you for a "donation" this is what you will get for your money.

About Elections

Times change. Many countries throughout our imperiled planet are changing. It is time that peaceful change should come also to both Cuba and the United States.

It is time that both neighboring countries to the south and north of the Florida straits institute truly democratic elections.

An election where you have only one party is not a free election. An election where you have two branches of the same party is not a democratic election either.

It is time for both countries to modify their constitutional charters so any type of citizens party can be created without interference from the ruling elites. And those ruling elites should not put election obstacles, so that their citizens can freely elect their choice of candidates.

In the United States, the two branches of the Capitalist Party alternate holding the reins of power. In Cuba, only one party, the Cuban Communist Party rules always. No opposition is allowed.

Neither the United States nor Cuba can call themselves democracies. They are effectively one-party states. In the U.S the capitalist ruling elites disguise the dictatorship of Big Capital. It is easily digested by the gullible, the uneducated, and the non-intelligent masses. The Democrats and the Republicans are not two separate political parties. They are just two branches of the same tree. They represent the interests of Big Capital and not those of the working class. Those are my beliefs.

In the last century, to my knowledge, only two elections can truly be called democratic in the U.S. One in Minnesota, where Independent Jesse Ventura was elected governor of that northern state, and another contest in Vermont where Independent Socialist Bernie Sanders was elected to the U.S. Senate seat from that state. The two ruling branches of The Capitalist Party lost those two elections. That was democracy in action. That happens only once in a blue moon.

When the two branches of The Capitalist Party, the Democrats and the Republicans, alternate “winning” an “election,” the electoral process can not be deemed as truly a democratic process. The two branches constantly prevent minor parties from participating in the political process. The most vivid example is when minor parties candidates are denied access to “debates.” Only the candidates of the two branches of The Capitalist Party can participate in those debates. Those “elections” are a huge farce.

Cuba should amend its constitution to abolish the “one party” rule. Then the rest of the world can start calling Cuba a democracy, but if they adopt the same system that operates in the United States, the political processes will be prostituted, as happens too often in the land of Lincoln.

Rabu, 18 April 2012

Emite el Gobierno cubano Declaración sobre la Cumbre de las Américas


18 Abril 2012

Declaración del gobierno revolucionario: Por la segunda independencia

En Colombia, Cartagena de Indias, quedó demostrado que hay un abismo creciente entre “Nuestra América” martiana y “el Norte revuelto y brutal que nos desprecia”. Allí se produjo una rebelión de la América Latina y el Caribe contra la imposición de “un gobierno y medio“, que ejercía un veto imperial a los párrafos del proyecto de Declaración Final de la llamada Cumbre de las Américas que reclamaban el cese del bloqueo y la exclusión de Cuba de los eventos hemisféricos.

Desde la anterior Cumbre del 2009 se disiparon las ilusiones sobre la política del presidente Obama, se abrió una brecha entre sus discursos y sus actos, no hubo mayor cambio en la política hacia América Latina y el Caribe, el bloqueo a Cuba continuó e, incluso, se endureció en el sector financiero, pese a la condena internacional y el voto abrumador de la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas, con el objetivo de “provocar hambre, desesperación y el derrocamiento del gobierno” lo que ahora se conoce como “cambio de régimen”.

El ALBA se reunió el 4 de febrero pasado, en Caracas, en ocasión de conmemorar la heroica Rebelión Cívico-Militar de 1992, adoptó una Declaración sobre la Soberanía Argentina de las Malvinas, otra sobre el bloqueo y consideró injusta e inaceptable la imposición de la exclusión de Cuba de estos eventos. El presidente Correa afirmó resueltamente que de no resolverse esta cuestión, Ecuador no asistiría a la Cumbre de Cartagena, lo que sacudió a la región. Esa valiente posición fue el preludio de lo ocurrido.

El presidente Raúl Castro Ruz dijo allí: “Yo quiero agradecer a Ustedes, presidente Correa, a Evo y a todos Ustedes estos planteamientos… Es un tema de vital importancia, tienen toda la razón. Nosotros jamás hemos reclamado que se tome una medida como esa, pero no por eso vamos a dejar de apoyar esta que consideramos muy justa”.

El presidente de Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, quien nos visitó, de manera respetuosa, y recibió como respuesta del presidente Raúl Castro Ruz que Cuba, en caso de ser invitada a la Cumbre, asistiría, como siempre, con todo respeto, apego a los principios y a la verdad, tuvo el mérito de introducir directamente el tema del bloqueo y la exclusión de Cuba.

El presidente Evo Morales, que había sido el primero en cuestionar dicha Cumbre en la reunión de febrero del ALBA en Caracas, dio la batalla en Cartagena y afirmó “estamos en una etapa de desintegración. No es posible que un país pueda vetar la presencia de Cuba, por tanto, no hay integración y con la ausencia de Ecuador, como una ausencia justa en protesta al veto de Estados Unidos hacia Cuba, ¿de qué integración podemos hablar?”.

El presidente Chávez, el 13 de abril pasado, exclamó “ahora, en verdad, si estos dos gobiernos, Estados Unidos y Canadá, se niegan a discutir temas tan profundamente consustanciados con el ser de la América Latina y el Caribe, como el tema de Cuba, de la hermana Cuba, de la solidaria Cuba, o el tema de las Islas Malvinas, ¿para qué más Cumbres de las Américas entonces?; habría que acabar con esas Cumbres. Antes, había escrito: “Clamamos, igualmente, por el fin del vergonzoso y criminal bloqueo a la hermana República de Cuba: bloqueo que, desde hace más de 50 años, ejerce el imperio, con crueldad y sevicia, contra el heroico pueblo de José Martí”.

Daniel Ortega, en masivo y juvenil acto de solidaridad con Cuba, el 14 de abril, en Managua planteó: “yo creo que es el momento del gobierno de los Estados Unidos para escuchar a todas las naciones latinoamericanas de las más diversas ideologías, de los más diversos pensamientos políticos; desde los pensamientos más conservadores hasta los pensamientos más revolucionarios, pero ahí están todos coincidiendo en que Cuba tiene que estar presente en estas reuniones o no habrá próximas Cumbres llamadas o mal llamadas de las Américas”.

Resultó impresionante la sólida postura unitaria de Nuestra América en torno al bloqueo, la exclusión de Cuba y a las Malvinas. Fue esencial la firmeza y la dignidad de la Presidenta de Argentina en la defensa enérgica de esas causas.

Nos sentimos orgullosos cuando la presidenta de Brasil, Dilma Rousseff defendió con serena dignidad ante Obama, que la Patria Grande solo puede ser tratada como igual y confirmó la postura común en apoyo a Argentina y a Cuba.

Los líderes de los países del Caribe mostraron la solidez de la Comunidad del Caribe (CARICOM) y que esta y la América Latina son igualmente indivisibles. Su defensa de la soberanía argentina de las Malvinas y su tradicional y categórico respaldo a Cuba fue trascendental.

Las fuerzas de izquierda, los movimientos populares, las organizaciones sindicales, juveniles y estudiantiles, las organizaciones no gubernamentales reunidas todas en el Congreso de los Pueblos, en Cartagena, expresaron emotiva solidaridad con Cuba. La Reunión Interparlamentaria de las Américas adoptó una condena a la exclusión y el bloqueo a nuestro país.

Estados Unidos subestimó que el 2 de diciembre del 2011, en Caracas, en el Bicentenario de la Independencia, bajo el liderazgo de Chávez, en el 55 aniversario del Desembarco del Granma, había nacido la Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños (CELAC), lo que el líder de la Revolución Fidel Castro Ruz anticipó en febrero del 2010, al escribir que “ningún otro hecho institucional de nuestro hemisferio, durante el último siglo, refleja similar trascendencia”.

Cuando se eligió en esa primera Cumbre a Cuba, como Presidente de la CELAC en el 2013, el General de Ejército Raúl Castro Ruz declaró: “con las decisiones que aquí adoptamos y con el trabajo conjunto de los últimos tres años, reivindicamos más de dos siglos de luchas y esperanzas. Llegar tan lejos nos ha costado esfuerzo, pero también sangre y sacrificio. Las metrópolis coloniales de antaño y las potencias imperiales de hoy han sido enemigas de este empeño”.

Obama tampoco parece entender el significado de la victoria bolivariana del 13 de abril del 2002 ni de que, precisamente ahora, se cumplen diez años del golpe de estado organizado por su predecesor, con el apoyo de la OEA y del gobierno español de Aznar, contra el presidente Hugo Chávez, con el que se pretendió aniquilar a la Revolución Bolivariana y asesinar a su líder. Como le recordó el canciller venezolano Nicolás Maduro, mirándole a los ojos, en memorable discurso en la Cumbre de Cartagena, el gobierno norteamericano persiste en la conducta de intervenir en los asuntos internos de Venezuela y de apoyar a los golpistas convertidos ahora en candidatos electorales.

El presidente Obama debería percatarse de que la Cumbre de Cartagena no fue propicia para aconsejar democracia a Cuba. Menos si quien pretendió hacerlo estuvo allí totalmente aislado, obligado a ejercer un veto imperial por falta de ideas y de autoridad política y moral; se dedica a la demagogia, en camino a unas elecciones escabrosas. Mejor, debiera ocuparse de sus guerras, crisis y politiquería, que de Cuba, nos ocupamos los cubanos.

Estados Unidos nunca quiso debatir acerca de las terribles consecuencias para América Latina y el Caribe del neoliberalismo ni sobre los inmigrantes en Estados Unidos y Europa separados de sus familias, retornados cruelmente o asesinados en muros como el del Río Bravo. Tampoco aceptó jamás hablar de los pobres que son la mitad de la Humanidad.

El imperio y las otrora metrópolis coloniales no escuchan a los “indignados”, a sus ciudadanos y minorías que viven en la pobreza en esas sociedades opulentas, mientras salvan con sumas exorbitantes a banqueros corruptos y a especuladores. En la superpotencia, el 10% de las familias controlan el 80% de la riqueza. Esos recursos son suficientes para resolver los problemas del planeta.

Lo nuevo en Cartagena es que buena parte de los gobiernos, con naturales diferencias y distintos enfoques, demandaron un modelo alternativo que privilegie la solidaridad y la complementariedad frente a la competencia fundada en el egoísmo; procure la armonía con la naturaleza y no el saqueo de los recursos naturales ni el consumismo desenfrenado. Pidieron que se asegure la diversidad cultural y no la imposición de valores y estilos de vida ajenos a nuestros pueblos; que se consolide la paz y se rechacen las guerras y la militarización.

Hicieron un llamado a recuperar la condición humana de nuestras sociedades y a construir un mundo donde se reconozca y respete la pluralidad de ideas y modelos, la participación democrática de la sociedad en los asuntos de gobierno, incluida la consulta de las políticas económicas y monetarias; se combatan el analfabetismo, la mortalidad infantil y materna, las enfermedades curables. Se reclamó el acceso tanto a la información libre y veraz como al agua potable; se reconoció la exclusión social y que los derechos humanos son para el ejercicio de todos y no para usarlos como arma política de los poderosos.

El gobierno de Estados Unidos esta vez tuvo que escuchar, no una voz casi única como fue durante décadas, ni una escasa minoría hasta hace poco. Ahora, fueron mayoría los pueblos que hablaron en la Cumbre por boca de sus Presidentes y Jefes de Delegaciones para dar este debate imprescindible, o a través de la actitud de los que no fueron. La Cumbre tuvo que ser censurada porque el imperio escucha con oídos sordos.

En Cartagena, quedó al desnudo la Doctrina Monroe de “América para los(norte) americanos”. Como si nadie recordara el engaño de la Alianza Para el Progreso, en 1961, y de la Iniciativa Para las Américas o ALCA, en 1994; han querido timarnos ahora con la “Alianza Igualitaria”.

Como predijo, en un evento internacional en la misma Cartagena, el 14 de junio de 1994, el Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz las llamadas Cumbres de las Américas sólo han beneficiado al Norte.

José Martí, cuando juzgó una reunión similar, en Washington, hace 105 años, escribió: “después de ver con ojos judiciales los antecedentes, causas y factores del convite, urge decir, porque es la verdad, que ha llegado para la América española la hora de declarar su segunda independencia”.

Durante el propio evento, el ALBA hizo oficial y público que, sin un cambio radical de la naturaleza de estas Cumbres, no asistirá más. Otros líderes continentales, también lo han advertido.

De la OEA, ese cadáver insepulto, ni hay que hablar.

A la República Argentina le asiste el derecho inalienable de soberanía sobre las Islas Malvinas, Georgias del Sur y Sandwich del Sur y los espacios marítimos circundantes.

Cuba recuerda que la Patria Grande no estará completa hasta que el hermano pueblo puertorriqueño ejerza su derecho inalienable a la autodeterminación y Puerto Rico, esa nación latinoamericana y caribeña, sometida por Estados Unidos al colonialismo, alcance su plena independencia.

Con un sólido consenso de soberanía regional y defensa de nuestra cultura, dentro de nuestra rica diversidad; con casi 600 millones de habitantes; con enormes recursos naturales; Nuestra América tiene una oportunidad para resolver los graves problemas de extrema desigualdad en la distribución de la riqueza y puede, con su fuerza ya evidente, contribuir al “equilibrio del mundo”, a la defensa de la paz y a la preservación de la especie humana.

Para ello, frente a los intentos de dividirnos y descarrilarnos que otra vez vendrán, necesitará mantenerse unida.

Nadie olvide en el Norte, que hace 51 años, el pueblo cubano defendía ya, a estas mismas horas, una Revolución Socialista en las arenas ensangrentadas de Playa Girón, y que, desde entonces, “todos los pueblos de América fueron un poco más libres”.

La Habana, 18 de abril del 2012

(Tomado del diario Granma)

Mensaje de René González al pueblo de Cuba



Publicado por Raisa Martín Lobo en 9:38 AM

El luchador antiterrorista René González, uno de los Cinco Héroes condenados en Estados Unidos, reiteró su disposición a seguir la larga batalla por la justicia en un mensaje en que agradece al pueblo de Cuba su solidaridad.

Mensaje de René González al pueblo de Cuba

14 de abril de 2012

“Año 53 de la Revolución”

Mensaje a mi pueblo:

Queridos compatriotas:

De regreso al mundo del absurdo tras una muy breve visita a la patria que ha suscitado en algunos las más diversas elucubraciones -muchas de un nivel de insania que sólo los detractores de nuestra sociedad pueden ejercitar- es tiempo de saldar una deuda con nuestro pueblo a través de estas palabras.

No van dirigidas a quienes esperaban criticarnos anticipando que mi estancia en Cuba se convirtiera en un acto político y ahora lo hacen porque resultó en un ejemplo de discreción; ni a los que auguraban que no regresaría y ahora se buscan las más disímiles racionalizaciones porque lo hice. Se trata del elemental deber ante un pueblo que recibió como suyo el alivio que significó este paréntesis, muchos de cuyos hijos en el mejor espíritu solidario y generoso esperaban seguir mi visita. Sólo a estos últimos las debo.

Como bien se informó la solicitud de mi viaje a Cuba tuvo un carácter humanitario en el marco de la letra y el espíritu de la figura jurídica de libertad supervisada. No se trató ni de un favor ni de una demanda política, sino de una situación prevista por las leyes y cuya solución fue tramitada en el más estricto apego a las mismas.

En el mismo ánimo de respeto a la legalidad que nos ha guiado desde el principio de este proceso era imprescindible que no convirtiéramos mi estancia en la patria en algo que no se ajustara a la naturaleza de tal solicitud. En ello iba nuestra palabra y se ponía en juego el espacio moral que durante estos años hemos conquistado, los Cinco, en esta historia.

De lo anterior se desprende la poca exposición que se dio a la visita, y que puede haber parecido sorprendente para algunos. Estamos seguros de que esta explicación será comprendida por todos los que nos quieren, y que veían en mi estancia la posibilidad de algunas demostraciones públicas de regocijo y alegría.

Las limitaciones que impuso la naturaleza de mi viaje hicieron esto imposible, más allá de lo que se pudo propiciar espontáneamente en algunos lugares en que mi presencia era ineludible por razones de obligado agradecimiento o pasadas vivencias; añadidas las restricciones de tiempo dadas por el encuentro con mi familia y el compartir con mi hermano enfermo; motivo directo de mi viaje.

De mis breves andares por nuestras calles y del contacto espontáneo con parte de nuestro pueblo me traigo recuerdos imborrables, que me sirven de inspiración y me dan fuerzas. De cubanos de todas las procedencias recibí en estos días un cariño fluido, sincero, respetuoso de la condición de mi visita y de la discreción que requería, expresado en todas las maneras posibles.

Sé que a través de cada uno de esos compatriotas me estaba llegando el afecto de los millones que hubieran querido estar al tanto de nuestra estancia. A todos -tanto los que me privilegiaron con su contacto como los que no- les quiero expresar mi profundo agradecimiento ya sea por sus muestras de generoso respeto como por sus expresiones de solidaridad y buenos deseos para con mi hermano.

De regreso al mundo del absurdo me dispongo a seguir en esta larga batalla porque se nos haga justicia. Era imprescindible que mi conducta en Cuba fuera de extrema moderación. Era impensable que no regresara. Me traigo en el corazón las intensas vivencias de estos hermosos catorce días junto a mi pueblo, con el que algún día celebraremos el regreso de los cinco.

Por lo pronto a todos, en nombre de mi familia y en el propio, llegue nuestro más profundo agradecimiento.

Y en nombre de los cinco, les reitero que no les fallaremos y seremos siempre dignos de ustedes.

Un fuerte abrazo.

René González Sehwerert

Selasa, 17 April 2012

U.S. Senator Bingaman Discusses U.S. relations with Cuba

US diplomacy with Cuba were discussed in a recent Senate meeting.

"It is past time to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba and end the embargo," states Bingaman.

According to the Senator, policy with Cuba has been heavily dictated by Cuban Americans while ignoring the example set by other Latin American countries, who openly trade with the communist country.

"We are out of step with our policy with Cuba. People who want to see our government change it's diplomacy with Cuba will (also) see changes in our policy with Cuba", says Bingaman.

Source: The Burque Blotter

Time to include Cuba

Los Angeles Times Editorial

April 17, 2012

Once again, Cuba was absent from the Summit of the Americas. Yet the communist nation might as well have attended the gathering last weekend in Cartagena, Colombia, because it took center stage, despite U.S. efforts to focus on other issues.

Ecuador'spresident refused to attend the summit in protest of Cuba's exclusion. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Brazil'sDilma Rouseff, both moderates rather than left-wingers, said there should be no more Summits of the Americas without Cuba. A leftist bloc of nations that includes Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia and some Caribbean countries said it won't participate again unless Cuba does. And the meeting ended without a final joint declaration because the United States and Canada refused to agree to language specifying that Cuba would be invited to future summits.

The controversy should serve as a wake-up call to the United States: The policy of banning Cuba from the gathering of the hemisphere's leaders for nearly 18 years is backfiring. It hasn't led to regime change any more than the 50-year-old U.S. trade embargo on Cuba has; it hasn't persuaded President Raul Castro or, before him, his brother Fidel to embrace democratic reforms, hold free elections or abandon human rights abuses. Instead, it has fueled frustration among Latin leaders. Today, the United States is the only country in the hemisphere that has not restored diplomatic relations with Havana. Even the Organization of American States, sometimes called an instrument of U.S. foreign policy, cleared the way for Cuba to return to the group in 2009.

The Obama administration has denied that its goal in excluding Cuba is to keep Cuban American voters in Florida happy during a presidential election year. Whatever the reason, the position is not playing well with leaders in the region, who see embargoes and political isolation as anachronistic policies from the Cold War era.

The United States should abandon its push to keep Cuba from attending the Americas summit. Engagement, not isolation, is the best way to encourage change without alienating allies.

Senin, 16 April 2012

Hillary Clinton at the Havana Bar & Lounge in Colombia


Secretary of State Clinton partied at Café Havana, but won’t consider lifting embargo against the REAL Havana

JG: She is a woman who has no self-respect.

Summit of the Americas says NO to the United States & Canada

The Summit of the Americas ended with a total repudiation of Barack Obama's Cuba policies. It also rebuffed the Prime Minister of Canada. Cuba will not accept pressures from their two northern neighbors. The island will not surrender its sovereignty to imperialist powers.

The Latin American and Caribbean nations must continue with the orderly creation of CELAC, where both the U.S. and Canada will be excluded. The OAS is a dead horse.


Division on Cuba ends Summit of Americas @ Canada.com

April 16, 2012

Political leaders from the Western Hemisphere ended their summit Sunday seriously divided over the contentious issue of Cuba, as Canada and the United States blocked an attempt by Latin American nations to bring the communist Caribbean country into their fold.

The weekend summit ended frostily when the leaders of more than 30 countries failed to produce a final declaration about their work.

The reason for that failure was that the leaders were unable to reach a consensus on a key issue - the Latin American countries want Cuba to be invited to the next summit of the Americas in three years, in Panama.

Cuba has not participated in the Organization of American States (OAS) - the backbone of the summits - since the early 1960s but had indicated it was interested in attending this year's gathering at the Colombia seaside resort city of Cartagena.

The following report is from Cubadebate:

Cuba: la ganadora silenciosa de la Cumbre de las Américas

Artículo completo de Reuters por Pablo Garibian

16 Abril 2012


No se alcanzaron acuerdos trascendentes, reinaron las divisiones entre latinoamericanos y estadounidenses y hasta algunos presidentes se fueron dando un portazo, pero quedó una silenciosa ganadora de la Cumbre de las Américas: Cuba.

Por primera vez en la historia, presidentes izquierdistas y conservadores de la región limaron sus asperezas y se plantaron frente a Estados Unidos exigiendo que el Gobierno de la isla sea sumado a las reuniones continentales.

Aunque el reclamo fue vetado por Estados Unidos con apoyo de su vecino Canadá, renovó las presiones sobre Washington y sobre la patrocinadora de la cumbre en Cartagena, la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA).

“(Pasamos) del llamado consenso de Washington, el proyecto neoliberal que se nos quiso imponer, a un naciente consenso sin Washington para la unión de América Latina”, dijo el domingo Nicolás Maduro, canciller de Venezuela, país que es el principal aliado de Cuba en el hemisferio.

La sorpresiva unidad de Latinoamérica -una región dividida durante décadas entre ideologías de izquierda y de derecha- muestra la menguante influencia de Washington.

Estados Unidos se opone a incorporar a Cuba en las Cumbres de las Américas porque asegura que La Habana no muestra avances democráticos y políticos suficientes para reintegrarse a la OEA, de donde fue expulsada en 1962 poco después de que estallara la revolución de Fidel Castro.

Y mantiene un embargo comercial sobre la isla de cinco décadas que algunos dicen que es arcaico.

“Cuba seguramente volverá a tener protagonismo en otro tipo de convocatorias que se van a abrir, mientras que Estados Unidos pasará a sufrir el aislamiento y el señalamiento que ha vivido Cuba”, dijo el analista en asuntos internacionales Vicente Torrijos, de la Universidad El Rosario de Bogotá.

Para una parte de Latinoamérica, la OEA es un sistema de diplomacia dominado por Washington que no ha logrado mantenerse al ritmo de los cambios en la región.

“Me asombró hoy escuchar el discurso de José Miguel Insulza en Cartagena. Pensaba que quien hablaba en nombre de la OEA, se ocuparía al menos de reclamar el respeto a la soberanía de los países de este hemisferio que a lo largo de siglos fueron colonizados”, dijo el ex presidente cubano Fidel Castro, en un comentario publicado en Cuba Debate el domingo por la noche.

“La Cumbre de Cartagena tiene escenas que no serán fáciles de olvidar”, sostuvo.

ADIOS AL PATIO TRASERO

Las críticas contra la OEA llegaron al punto en que 33 países del continente, con la intencional ausencia de Estados Unidos y Canadá, crearon en Caracas a fines del año pasado la Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños (CELAC).

Aunque la idea del presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez de reemplazar a la OEA con el nuevo organismo es bastante ambiciosa, al menos la CELAC le restará algo de influencia a la organización con sede en Washington.

“Parece que Estados Unidos todavía quiere aislarnos del mundo, piensa que va a seguir manipulando a Latinoamérica, (pero) eso va terminando”, dijo el presidente boliviano, Evo Morales, en una entrevista con la cadena de televisión Telesur.

“Yo siento que es una rebelión de países de América Latina frente a Estados Unidos”, agregó.

Hasta hace dos décadas, Washington lideraba el continente y la mayoría de las economías latinoamericanas estaban alineadas a las políticas de su mayor socio comercial.

Pero la indiferencia de Estados Unidos en los últimos años, combinado con una mayor solidez de las economías de la región y el creciente peso comercial de China -ya es el principal socio comercial de Brasil y de otros vecinos- instalaron el sentimiento de que Washington ya no es indispensable.

“Hay un mundo que se nos abre a la región muy interesante, con muchas posibilidades y que por lo tanto hoy nuestro destino no está atado de ninguna forma a una decisión norteamericana”, dijo en una reciente entrevista con Reuters Diego Guelar, ex embajador argentino en Washington.

“Nosotros fuimos el patio trasero, hoy la realidad no es así”, agregó.

Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua y Venezuela resolvieron no participar en las próximas Cumbres de las Américas en las que Cuba no sea invitada.

“Al final de cuentas no es ningún favor que se le estaría haciendo a Cuba, sino un derecho arrebatado que se le estaría reconociendo a Cuba”, sostuvo el presidente de Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, que estuvo ausente en Cartagena en apoyo a la isla.

(Con información de Reuters)

Sabtu, 14 April 2012

We will have to waint until monday to see Barack Obama wearing a guayabera

Va a lucir como un fósforo apagado!

Boston:com: The Stubborness of Barack Obama

By Frank Bajak and Vivian Sequera

Associated Press / April 14, 2012

Boston.com

CARTAGENA, Colombia —
A summit of 33 Western Hemisphere leaders opens Saturday with the United States and Canada standing firm, but alone, against everyone else's insistence that Cuba join future summits.

U.S. President Barack Obama has been clinging stubbornly to a rejection of Cuban participation in the summits, which everyone but his northern neighbor deems unjust.

------

JG: He will be a one term President, just like his predecessor, the Peanut Farmer.

Jumat, 13 April 2012

An elevator for a Motor Home that Mitt Romney would be proud of!

As Barack Obama Becomes More & More Capitalist and Less & Less Progressive, His Income Tax Payments Are SHRINKING!

The president and first lady reported a joint adjusted gross income of $789,674 last year and paid $162,074 in total federal taxes, or about 20.5%.

He is getting very close to the tax rate that Mitt Romney pays.

My son pays higher taxes than Barack Obama. He works for a living!

Leon Trotsky's History of the Russian Revolution


“During the first two months of 1917 Russia was still a Romanov monarchy. Eight months later the Bolsheviks stood at the helm. They were little known to anybody when the year began, and their leaders were still under indictment for state treason when they came to power. You will not find another such sharp turn in history especially if you remember that it involves a nation of 150 million people. It is clear that the events of 1917, whatever you think of them, deserve study.”
--Leon Trotsky, from History of the Russian Revolution

Regarded by many as among the most powerful works of history ever written, this book offers an unparalleled account of one of the most pivotal and hotly debated events in world history. This book reveals, from the perspective of one of its central actors, the Russian Revolution’s profoundly democratic, emancipatory character.

Originally published in three parts, Trotsky’s masterpiece is collected here in a single volume. It serves as the most vital and inspiring record of the Russian Revolution to date.

About the author

Leon Trotsky was a key leader of the Russian Revolution. Forced into exile in 1928, Trotsky devoted the rest of his life to fighting the degeneration of the revolution and rise of a new dictatorial regime. Vilified and isolated, he fought an uncompromising battle with the Stalinist bureaucracy, defending the revolutionary and internationalist principles upon which the revolution was based. In 1940, he was murdered by an agent of the Stalinist regime.

Reviews


“[T]he greatest history of an event that I know.”
--C. L. R. James

“In Trotsky all passions were aroused, but his thought remained calm and his vision clear.... His involvement in the struggle, far from blurring his sight, sharpens it.... The History is his crowning work, both in scale and power and as the fullest expression of his ideas on revolution. As an account of a revolution, given by one of its chief actors, it stands unique in world literature.”
--Isaac Deutscher

“[I]t’s hard to keep potent historical truths bottled up forever. New data repositories are uncovered. New, less ideological, generations of historians grow up. In the late 1980s and before, Ann Druyan and I would routinely smuggle copies of Trotsky’s History of the Russian Revolution into the USSR—so our colleagues could know a little about their own political beginnings.”
--Carl Sagan

Available at Haymarket Books

If You Like Cookies and Tin, Here Is a Beutiful One

Calderon Says Cuba, Mexico Friends Again


By Jeff Franks

HAVANA | Thu Apr 12, 2012 2:56pm EDT

(Reuters) - Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared Mexico and Cuba friends again on Thursday at the end of a visit that included talks with Cuban leader Raul Castro to patch up strained relations between the two countries.

Calderon, speaking to reporters as he prepared to leave Havana for Haiti, said the problems of the past had been replaced by a new cordiality, affirmed by the signing of accords to increase cooperation in areas such as oil and healthcare.

He also condemned the 50-year-long U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.

"Through this official visit, Cuba and Mexico have begun a renewed stage of our relationship," Calderon said at the Havana airport.

"They have been two extraordinary days for Cuba and for Mexico in that their mutual affection has been found again."

Calderon met with President Raul Castro on Wednesday and had what he described as "a frank, open dialogue befitting the leaders of two sister countries."

Both agreed it was time to restore their long friendship even if, as Calderon said on Wednesday, they did not agree on all matters.

"The friendship of Mexicans and Cubans is something that will last forever, beyond any situation," Calderon said. It was not known if he met with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who is Raul Castro's older brother and was succeeded by him in 2008.

Mexico once prided itself on having warm relations with Cuba despite the hostility of the United States, its superpower neighbor, toward the island's communist government.

But when conservative Vicente Fox was elected Mexico's president in 2000, he took a less sympathetic line toward Cuba which led to a series of spats with Fidel Castro.

They clashed over human rights, and in 2002 Fox told the revolutionary leader that he could attend a Mexican-hosted diplomatic summit, but had to leave before then-U.S. President George W. Bush arrived.

'VILE TRAITOR'

Fidel Castro recorded the conversation, then made it public in an embarrassing episode for Fox.

Fidel Castro, who is 85 but has a long memory, called Fox a "vile traitor" for the incident in a 2009 column published in Cuba's state-run media.

That same year, Calderon, who succeeded Fox in 2006, angrily cancel led an official visit to Cuba after the island government suspended flights between the two countries at the height of a health scare over swine flu.

Now, said Calderon, both he and Raul Castro had "agreed to increase trade and investment," as well cooperation in health, education, culture and sports.

Trade between the two countries total led $373 million in 2011, the Mexican government said.

Among the accords signed was a non-binding letter of intent for state oil company Pemex to look into "the possibility of participating and investing in the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons" in Cuba's part of the Gulf of Mexico contiguous to Mexican waters, Calderon said.

The non-binding nature of the letter of intent means there is no guarantee Pemex will proceed with the evaluation.

"Pemex does not have the capital and/or technology for their own development so I do not see how they would do it in Cuba," said Cuba oil expert Jorge Pinon at the University of Texas.

"If they do it, it would be totally political."

A consortium led by Spanish oil company Repsol YPF is drilling the first of what could be a series of wells in Cuba's part of the Gulf of Mexico, where Cuba says it may have 20 billion barrels of oil.

The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated a more modest 5 billion barrels.

According to Mexican press reports, the two governments were to discuss Cuba's debt of more than $400 million to Mexico, but Calderon did not mention it.

He condemned the U.S. trade embargo and praised Cuba for its role in forming CELAC, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, a hemispheric organization created in 2010 that Cuba and its socialist ally Venezuela have promoted as an alternative to the U.S.-dominated Organization of American States.

Calderon flew to Haiti from Havana and was to go to Cartagena, Colombia, for the Summit of the Americas, which the OAS has helped organize.

Cuba, which is a former member of the OAS, was not invited to the hemispheric summit despite a strong push by several left-leaning Latin American countries, led by Ecuador, to have it invited. The United States, which will be represented by President Barack Obama at the event, strongly opposed inviting Cuba.

(Additional reporting by Rosa Tania Valdes and Nelson Acosta; editing by David Adams and Mohammad Zargham)

Lets Sing a Song for the Honor and Glory of Cuba

Troubadours sing to and for Cuba in Santiago

Ozzie Guillen Is a Man of Unquestionable Courage


To live in the most fascist city, and cesspool of the United States, and to say "I love Fidel Castro," adding "You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that motherfucker is still there." you have to have big cojones.

Many non-Cuban Latinos share Guillen's positive view of Castro

Kamis, 12 April 2012

A Photo that Barack Obama and his Miami Fascists @ Babalu Blog Don't Want You to See

Batista's soldiers executing a rebel by firing squad in 1956.

Source: Wikepedia

It has been reported on the Internet, that General Fulgencio Batista, was admitted as an honorary and secret member of the Democratic Party of the United States.

Where did Barack Obama learn to do extra-judicial executions? From the General!

Rabu, 11 April 2012

Barack Obama

Jorge R. Gonzalez ‏ @PolkCubiche @Twitter

Barack #Obama has been a disaster as POTUS! The voters will fire him in November 6, 2012. LIFT THE #CUBA #EMBARGO, YOU DUMMY!

1:19 PM - 11 Apr 12

Ozzie Guillen is Very Lucky that The Miami Terrorists Did Not Put a Bomb in His Car

Salon.com

Guillen’s pro-Castro candor

The Miami Marlins' manager is lucky to get a suspension. Not so long ago, he might have received a car bomb.

Tuesday, Apr 10, 2012 6:30 PM EDT

By Jefferson Morley


There’s not much reason to doubt that baseball manager Ozzie Guillen admires Fidel Castro. He said so five years ago in an interview with Men’s Journal. When asked to name the toughest man he knew, Guillen replied, “Fidel Castro. He’s a bull—- dictator and everybody’s against him, and he still survives, has power. Still has a country behind him. Everywhere he goes, they roll out the red carpet. I don’t admire his philosophy; I admire him.’’

No one cared about that macho thought because Guillen was skipper of the Chicago White Sox at the time. As the newly hired manager of the Miami Marlins, Guillen repeated the notion to Time last week–”I respect Fidel Castro,” he said. “You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that [expletive] is still there”–and he found himself on the brink of unemployment.

As Miami’s Cuban-American talk radio hosts whipped up a storm of protest, the Marlins denounced Guillen and suspended him for five games. On Tuesday the chastened manager repudiated his statements, said Castro was a bad man, and apologized “on my knees.” With Guillen’s job hanging in the balance, most sportswriters attributed the controversy to his big mouth: He is known for insulting gays and admitting he likes to get drunk often.

But Guillen’s real problem is Cuban Miami, where enforcing the anti-Castro party line is a more popular pastime than baseball, not the least because the Marlins owners arranged to stick the city’s taxpayers with the bill for their new $640 million ballpark in Little Havana while depriving local residents of legal parking spaces. The combination of Guillen’s candor, Miami politics, and the Marlins’ arrogance is what has brought the Cooperstown-bound skipper to the brink of being fired.

The city has never shown much tolerance for people who say nice things about Castro. In 2000, Jim Mullin, editor of the city’s alternative weekly New Times, compiled a chronology of violent intolerance that has few parallels in modern America. In 1975 a Cuban American man was murdered after advocating closer relations with Castro’s Cuba. In 1978, an anti-Castro talk radio host had his legs blown off by a car bomb because he dared criticize his fellow exiles for resorting to violence. In 1983, the Little Havana branch of a Miami bank was bombed because one of its executives had negotiated with the Castro government for the release of 3,600 political prisoners. In 1998, a bomb threat emptied a concert hall during a performance by Compay Segundo, a 91-year-old musician made famous by the movie “The Buena Vista Social Club.” All told, Mullin found more than 40 instances of bomb threats and explosions directed at people who had somehow offended the anti-Castro orthodoxy.

A 1994 Human Rights Watch report on the sorry state of free speech in Miami concluded, the city is “dominated by fiercely anti-Communist forces who are strongly opposed to contrary viewpoints.” The HRW reports linked these forces to “acts of repression ranging from shunning to violence.” The reports found “significant responsibility” by the government at all levels, including “direct harassment by the government and government support of groups linked to anti-free speech behavior.”

That tradition continued this week when two local politicians injected themselves into the controversy by calling for Guillen’s firing. The call was echoed by a vigilante group known as Vigilia Mambisa, which describes itself as “a hard-line, right wing, Anti-Castro, Anti-Communist group of dedicated Cuban-American demonstrators … known for their rapid response to calls for protest aired on Miami Spanish-language stations.” The group is calling for a boycott of the Marlins until Guillen is fired.

The problem is Miamians are already boycotting the Marlins. The team ranked 28th out of 30 major league teams in attendance last year. Dario Moreno, a professor of political science at Florida International University, said, “I don’t think this is a free speech issue. There’s a lot more tolerance than there was 30 years ago.” Moreno noted that south Florida’s three Cuban-American congressional representatives and the state’s Cuban-American senator have not called for Guillen to be fired.

“This has more to do with the Marlins and a community that invested large sums of money in their stadium over the objections of lots of people,” Moreno said. “The promise was that they would bring the community together and give us something to be proud of. It’s not working out very well.”

Moreno says he thinks Guillen may be able to keep his job if the Marlins muzzle Guillen (good luck with that) and reach out to the community. “The baseball fans are willing to let this one go by if he just promises to not talk politics,” Moreno said.

“As a Christian, I accept his apology,” said Alberto Muller, a former newspaper columnist who spent 15 years in a Cuban prison. “But in Miami, not everybody is a Christian.” Muller thinks Guillen will be fired.

A Miami Herald online reader survey found 57 percent of 2,500-plus respondents saying Guillen’s five-game suspension was sufficient punishment. If Guillen only loses his job for expressing admiration for Fidel’s toughness, it will be a sign of civic progress. Not long ago, he might have lost his legs or his life.

Abril 11, 1895: José Martí y Máximo Gómez Desembarcan por La Playita de Cajobabo

Dicha grande

Recuerdan desembarco de José Martí y Máximo Gómez por La Playita de Cajobabo, el 11 de abril de 1895

Armando Hart Dávalos
digital@juventudrebelde.cu
10 de Abril del 2012 22:12:41 CDT


En la noche del 11 de abril de 1895, envueltos en la oscuridad, con el mar tormentoso y bajo lluvia gruesa, en un bote con el timón perdido se aproximan a la tierra cubana José Martí y Máximo Gómez, junto a otros cuatro patriotas. Como un alivio, en medio de tanta adversidad, una luna roja ilumina el momento del desembarco en una pequeña playa pedregosa en la costa sudoriental, que Martí nombra en su diario como La Playita, al pie de Cajobabo. En ese mismo diario define emocionado ese primer contacto con la tierra cubana con la frase «Dicha grande».

Se inicia un recorrido por el territorio de su amada Cuba que duraría 38 días hasta su caída en combate en Dos Ríos y que hoy recordamos, en el aniversario 117 de aquel desembarco, con respeto y admiración, como parte de la memoria sagrada de la patria.

Al desembarcar en Cuba, Martí estaba consciente que debía enseñar con el ejemplo y sin ser un guerrero asumió el reto de venir a encabezar, junto con Gómez y Maceo, la guerra de independencia que había organizado y convocado. Ese sentido ético es la razón más profunda para venir a Cuba y poner su propia vida en la balanza del peligro: «El hombre de actos —había dicho él— solo respeta al hombre de actos (…) ¡La razón, si quiere guiar, tiene que entrar en la caballería! y morir, para que la respeten los que saben morir».1 Estaba consciente de que ese era el único modo de ejercer con sus ideas una influencia mayor para el presente y futuro.

Como he señalado antes, el valor de su decisión heroica está en que ella constituía una exigencia de la tarea política y revolucionaria que se había planteado. Guiado siempre por principios éticos, sabía que era necesario predicar con el ejemplo incluso a riesgo de su propia vida.

Se ha convertido en una necesidad para la cabal comprensión de los procesos en marcha hoy en Estados Unidos profundizar en el pensamiento martiano, que nos ofrece una visión precisa de la época que le tocó vivir y de la historia de aquel país a fines del siglo XIX, sus costumbres, su acelerado desarrollo económico, los procesos electorales inescrupulosos y corruptos, las carencias en su vida espiritual junto a la más nítida y fascinante descripción de las ideas que se gestaban en esa nación en la antesala de su estreno como potencia imperialista, precisamente con su irrupción en la guerra que libraban los cubanos contra España para despojar a esta de los restos de lo que fuera su imperio colonial en América y en Asia.

Impresiona comprobar lo acertado de sus previsiones, veedor profundo, de una intuición y capacidad de análisis y de proyección de futuro realmente sorprendentes.

Hoy es más necesario que nunca antes promover los valores humanistas presentes en el pensamiento de nuestro Héroe Nacional y en la cultura cubana como escudo eficaz para defender nuestra unidad y nuestras conquistas y rechazar las campañas injerencistas y distorsionadoras de nuestra realidad, que en Europa y Estados Unidos se fraguan para aislar y destruir la Revolución.

Estamos conscientes de la importancia decisiva de esta batalla que libramos no solo por Cuba y su pueblo bloqueado y agredido, sino también por todos los que aspiran a un mundo de paz, igualdad y justicia con alcance verdaderamente universal.

Han transcurrido 117 años de aquel acontecimiento y hoy el legado ético, político y filosófico de José Martí se ha convertido en un referente indispensable para encontrar los caminos prácticos que nos permitan salvar a la humanidad y a la naturaleza de una debacle de proporciones incalculables.

Por eso, podemos afirmar que Martí sigue vivo y actuante entre nosotros y que, al igual que la Generación del Centenario ayer, que no lo dejó morir a los cien años de su natalicio, cuando Fidel Castro lo proclamó como el autor intelectual de la Revolución Cubana, estamos llamados a preservar su rico legado para las generaciones presentes y venideras y a promover desde la familia, la escuela, y los medios de comunicación masiva, sus ideas patrióticas y antiimperialistas y a darles continuidad a sus enseñanzas éticas y políticas en el relevo más joven.

1 José Martí: “Discurso en conmemoración del 10 de Octubre de 1868”, Nueva York, 10 de octubre de 1890, en Obras completas, t.4, Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, La Habana, 1991, p. 252.