Cuba
Cuba, 50 years on ... and the same challenge of making a revolution
By Lázaro Barredo Medina
Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia condemn Israel's massacres in Gaza
Dozens of protesters rallied outside the Israeli embassy in Caracas on December 28, in opposition to what one speaker referred to as “genocide” by the Israeli “occupation forces”. The protests will continue in front of the embassy, according to a rally organiser, Hindu Anderi. Anderi, a Palestinian human rights activist, thanked the Venezuelan government for its position on the conflict, but demanded concrete action, saying “solidarity needs to mean taking measures that will affect Israel economically and politically, because otherwise the condition of the Palestinian people will not change”.
Two paths in the face of the capitalism’s global fracture
Western Saharan minister: `Only one solution -- our return to our sovereign homeland'
27 February refugee camp, south-west Algeria
November 29, 2008 -- In October, a three-member delegation of Australian trade unionists visited the Saharawi (Western Saharan) refugee camps in the Hamada desert, south-west Algeria. Western Sahara has been illegally occupied by Morocco since 1975.Green Left Weekly/Links’ Margarita Windisch spoke with Sid’Ahmed Tayeb, the minister of public health for the exiled Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, when she visited the 27 February refugee camp.
The Saharawi refugee camps have now existed for close to 33 years in extremely inhumane surroundings. What has led to the Saharawis becoming refugees and what are the challenges facing the Saharawi people?
First, I would like to thank you very much for your visit. It shows us that we are not alone. This is important support that international community can give us.
By Fidel Castro Ruz
December 4, 2008 -- Following Barack Obama’s speech, on May 23, 2008, to the Cuban American National Foundation established by Ronald Reagan, I wrote a reflection entitled ``The empire’s hypocritical policy''.
In that reflection I quoted his exact words to the Miami annexationists: “[…] together we will stand up for freedom in Cuba; this is my word and my commitment […] It's time to let Cuban American money make their families less dependent upon the Castro regime. […] I will maintain the embargo.”
I then offered several arguments and unethical examples of the general behaviour of the presidents who preceded the one who would be elected to that position in the November 4 elections. I wrote:
I find myself forced to raise various sensitive questions:
1. Is it right for the President of the United States to order the assassination of any one person in the world, whatever the pretext may be?
2. Is it ethical for the President of the United States to order the torture of other human beings?
Overwhelming UN General Assembly vote against US blockade of Cuba
Of the 192 UN member states, 185 voted in favour of the resolution, while three voted against (the United States, Israel and Palau) and two abstained (Marshall Islands and Micronesia). With this result, Cuba gained another vote this year compared to 2007, when 184 voted in favour, four against (the United States, Israel, Palau and the Marshall Islands) and Micronesia abstained.
The resolution calling for an end to the blockade has been approved on 16 occasions with backing that has grown from 59 votes in 1992 to the 185 today.
Before the vote, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque spoke before the General Assembly and noted the special situation in which this resolution is taking place, an economic crisis that is being internationally felt and above all, the imminent US elections which, he observed, will produce a new president who "will have to decide whether the blockade is a failed policy."
"You are alone, isolated," said the foreign minister, addressing President George W. Bush. Pérez’ speech was loudly applauded by the General Assembly.
Sister of Cuban hero jailed in US demands `Free the Cuban Five!'
Maria Eugenia is the sister of Tony Guerrero, one of the “Cuban Five'' political prisoners held for 10 years in US prisons on “conspiracy to commit espionage'' charges for reporting on the Miami-based, W
Debemos aprender las lecciones del siglo XX para aplicarlas al comienzo del siglo XXI
Eric Toussaint
[Click HERE for the English translation]
By Eric Toussaint, translated by Federico Fuentes for Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal
Statement from the National Assembly of People’s Power