Trump, President of the United States
Trump, President of the United States
By Dr. Néstor García Iturbe
April 7, 2017
CubaNews translation by Walter Lippmann.
Recently Donald Trump has begun to show that he is already learning to behave as a true president of the United States. This was shown yesterday, when he ordered that more than fifty Tomahawk missiles be launched against a Syrian air base, under the pretext that the Syrians had used chemical weapons against civilians and opposition troops.
Bashar al-Assad, who was accused of ordering the attack, which was actually launched by the opposition forces themselves, who have been handed over by Turkey. This action in no way benefited the United States’ position in the Syrian conflict, when it was argued that it was no longer a priority of its foreign policy to overthrow Assad.
The true beneficiary of what happened is Israel. It was quick to endorse the attack and encourage an appropriate response from the United States. Trump’s positions have also been strengthened, as he justifies the requested increase in the Pentagon’s budget and allows him to show a strongman image to his Chinese guest, Xi Jimping, with whom he must analyze, among other things, the situation of North Korea’s atomic development.
Among those demanding this type of action is Hillary Clinton, who came out of her lethargy last Tuesday, stating that “the United States ought to bomb Syrian military air bases in response to the apparent chemical attack.” The big American press has commented on the fact, but it has not condemned it. So far, as far as I know, no major popular demonstrations against Trump are being organized for the bombing of the Syrian base.
Of course, we will always find those who want to magnify this situation as another sign of their aversion to Trump and that they are still suffering from Hillary’s defeat. Expressing himself thus was a sign of his ignorance in relation to what the United States represents in the world, what his foreign policy is and how a president of that nation acts. By the way, in Trump’s case, although he deserves to be criticized for bombing the Syrian base, we can say that by comparing this with what was done by Obama, Winner of the Nobel Prize for War, he still reveals himself to be a beginner.
In Afghanistan, where US troops are still found, bombings and other military actions have cost the American taxpayer more than $3 billion, the death of about 2400 military and hundreds of thousands of civilians.
In Iraq, the ongoing military adventure has cost more than $6 billion, 4500 military personnel killed, 33,000 wounded and more than one million Iraqi civilians killed.
In Libya, daily bombings ordered by the binomial Obama-Hillary cost $1.1 billion, in addition to the Libyan military, and killed more than 80,000 civilians. Still, war continues and civilians continue to die.
In Syria, where the Obama administration began its participation in the war on September 10, 2014, activities began precisely by bombing different facilities in the capital and other cities as part of supporting anti-government forces. It is estimated that the bombings have cost about $800 million dollars, in training and logistical support to the rebels $600 million. As a result of the bombings and actions carried out by the rebels, more than 100,000 civilians have died and a large part of the country has been destroyed.
We could say that Trump is still warming up, he started pitching in this inning and he may give a good performance, but to beat pitchers like Obama he needs a lot more experience.
I hope this will help some of our compañeros gain a true understanding of a US president’s way of acting and not be surprised when he orders a bombing of a military base or a coup in Venezuela. That is part of his job.
Jodie Foster meets the Acosta Dance Company
Jodie Foster meets the Acosta Dance Company
American actress and film director Jodie Foster is visiting Havana, where she attended an “Acosta Danza” rehearsal this Thursday and held a dialogue with the members of the company founded and directed by Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta.
From the presence of Foster, winner of two Oscars for best actress in 1989 and 1992, at the headquarters of “Acosta Danza” the photos talem posted on the page of the set on Facebook, which she appears with the dancers.
Foster witnessed the rehearsals of “Belles Lettres,” a piece by New York City Ballet’s resident choreographer, Justin Peck. It will be premiered in the upcoming spring season of “Acosta Danza,” scheduled for April 21-23 at the “Alicia Alonso” Gran Theater of Havana.
Peck created Belles-Lettres in 2004 for the NYCB. It became became one of the trump cards of the American choreographer right away.
He was also able to appreciate the preparation for the work “Fauno” by the Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi and the duet “Nosotros” by Cubans Beatriz García and Rafael Reinoso, according to Lester Vila, a spokesman for Cuban dance company .
Jodie Foster, internationally recognized for her roles in films such as “Taxi Driver”, “Silence of the Lambs” and “Panic Room”, now joins a list of US artists. Who have visited Cuba following the approach initiated by Havana and Washington in December 2014 and the diplomatic thaw that took place months later.
Since then, Cuba has become a tourism destination, and has been visited by American film actors such as Robert de Niro, Ethan Hawke and Tim Robbins, and music figures such as Madonna, Katy Perry and Rihanna and the rocker Jon Bon Jovi.
A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.
Josie Foster visits the studio of the Acosta Dance Company. Photo: Facebook/Acosta Danza
Josie Foster visits the studio of the Acosta Dance Company. Photo: Facebook/Acosta Danza
Josie Foster visits the studio of the Acosta Dance Company. Photo: Facebook/Acosta Danza
Jodie Foster shares with CENESEX specialists
Jodie Foster shares with CENESEX specialists
Jodie Foster discusses the work of the National Center for Sex Education (Cenesex) with Dr. Mariela Castro. Photo: Taken from the Facebook of Mariela Castro.
A CubaNews translation by Walter Lippmann.
Recently, actress and American film director Jodie Foster was in Cuba. During her visit to Havana, the winner of two Oscars for Best Actress in 1989 and 1992 shared with specialists from the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX).
Dr. Mariela Castro Espín shared her impressions about the meeting with Jodie on Facebook today:
“It was a pleasant surprise that the American actress Jodie Foster showed interest in knowing about our work at Cenesex Cuba, during her recent private visit to the Island with her wife, Alexandra Hedison, and her sons Charles and Kit, with whom we had a beautiful family evening” .
Open to scientific search, exchange of experiences and dialogue of knowledge, CENESEX counts on professionals of recognized prestige from different scientific disciplines who use a comprehensive approach in the study of sexuality.
Foster, whose performances in Taxi Driver, The Silence of the Lambs and Panic Room have always been in the memory of her followers, has now been added to the list of artists of the United States who have visited the Island after the approach initiated by Havana and Washington in December 2014.
Jodie Foster took a family photo with Cenesex specialists. Photo: Taken from the Facebook page of Mariela Castro
Jodie Foster together with her wife Alexandra Hedison. Taken from the Facebook page of Mariela Castro.
During her visit to Havana, the winner of two Oscars for Best Actress in 1989 and 1992 shared with Cenesex specialists. Photo: Taken from of the Facebook page of Mariela Castro.
Yevgeny Yevtushenko: Poetry Himself
Yevgeny Yevtushenko: Poetry Himself
At the International Poetry Festival of Havana, with the presence of this outstanding Russian poet, a reading of his work was made at the Casa del Alba Cultural de La Habana
Author: Madeleine Sautié | madeleine@granma.cu
May 30, 2016 21:05:48
A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.
Yevgeny Yevtushenko read his poetry at the Casa del Alba Cultural.
Photo: by the author
Much and much deserved is his notoriety. Among the main epithets he was given was that of being, if not the most, at least one of the most famous poets in the world. For this reason, the International Poetry Festival of Havana (FIPH), which now extends its epilogue to the east of the country, reserved among its events a unique reading by Yevgeni Yevtushenko. It was an occasion when the Casa del Alba Cultural Center in the country’s capital city welcomed him with a new audience that –on more than one occasion– applauded him.
Nominated more than once for the Nobel Prize for Literature, the poet, born in Siberia, Russia, in 1933, is familiar with crowds that gather to listen to him. At the age of 22, his love poetry gave him a popularity that grew with his readings in public spaces. In two occasions 6500 people crowded the Kremlin theater to enjoy his poetry.
In the life of this singular being –unique for his authentic poetry and his peculiar way of dressing– reading has been a common exercise. This time it was one more of his typical expressions. Yevtushenko read his poems for more than 90 minutes and between them he gave his audience those sparks that he usually inserts to even more brighten up his astonishing poetry.
After reading excerpts from his book Dora Franco, written in 2011, “with the permission of its heroine, “the Colombian model who accompanied him during his tour of that country where he arrived in his youth as part of a Latin American poetry tour, Yevtushenko chose, among other poems “The Execution of Stenka Razin”; “In the Country Called More or Less”; and “The Key of the Comandante”, dedicated to Che Guevara.
The reading of The Execution … allowed the public to enjoy the 14 different rhythms he mentioned before starting. This is a song to freedom and the evocation of a just leader who defended the peasants. Claiming to have had the illusion of witnessing the facts described in the epic song, the poet read aloud the text in which he describes the public execution of the hero. With remarkable impetus he reached the concluding verses: On the Tsar’s head/chilled by those devilish eyes/the Cap of Monomakh began to tremble/ and, savagely/not hiding anything of his triumph/Stenka’s head burst out laughing at the Tsar!
The key … served to listen to this man, who claims to be a bearer of a poetry that is “a personal confession put into verses,” from his political stance, which allows him to write with exquisite beauty events such as the death of the Heroic Guerrilla and disapproval of converting his sacred image into merchandise. “We do not know, sir, we do not know …” / Where is the key to the future? / The fear of not finding it, panic grabs us. / But the key is in your hands, / I’m sure. / (…) To the left, / boys, / always to the left / but not to the left / of your heart.
In the Country … one can see the poet’s critical and foresightful gaze against evils that corrode the best political purposes, such as bureaucracy, corruption and opportunism, among other human vices that violate the integrity of character, all expressed with great irony. (I would like to stand in front of God, as I am, / not as someone more or less. / Not being more or less happy / in this more or less life … / In this more or less freedom.
But the poet of the great audiences –whose work has been translated into more than 70 languages– and who stirred so many hearts more than six decades ago with his intense love verses, now at 83 years of age, has still much to tell us about the most universal of feelings.
In the presence of his wife Masha, he read –once again for her– and for all: I Love You More than I Love Nature, a poem with which he begins his book Stolen Apples, recently published by the collection Sur of the FIPH (still available at bookstores).
I love you recklessly / as an abyss, not as a small ravine. / I love you more than all possible, / and also more than all the impossible. He read and everyone could see this other side of the poet: earthly and in love. He continued: I love you more than my homeland / because my Homeland is you. Masha is perhaps the inspiration; but the emotion was shared, because we knew we had witnessed poetry itself.
Frank Manitzas (1931-2017)
Frank Manitzas (1931-2017)
By Dr. Néstor García Iturbe
March 19, 2017
A CubaNews translation.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.
On March 12, 2017, the American journalist Frank Manitzas died.
Among the journalistic assignments he covered were the assassination of Robert Kennedy, and the coup d’état against Salvador Allende, during which his house was assaulted by the gendarmerie under the orders of Pinochet and his family was arrested at gunpoint.
In the year 1980 during the Mariel was in Cuba with Peter Jennings, a presenter of the American television. He made articles on Cuba’s advances in medicine and education, and won several threats against his life.
During his travels in Latin America, he frequently denounced the CIA’s activities against governments and leftist movements.
He was a journalist with a high professionalism, ethics and human feelings.
Dr. Néstor García Iturbe
========================
During his tenure with CBS in (1967 to 1974) Frank Manitzas covered the assassination of Robert Kennedy, the lunar landing and Pinochet’s coup in Chile. He’s pictured here with CBS News legend Walter Cronkite. Courtesy JB Diederich
Frank Manitzas, a Dupont-Columbia Award-winning journalist who covered the world’s first heart transplant in 1967, Robert Kennedy’s assassination in 1968, the 1969 moon landing, the Iran hostage crisis in 1979-81, Augusto Pinochet’s coup in Chile in 1973 and the Mariel boatlift in 1980, died Sunday.
Manitzas, who coordinated news coverage for ABC, CBS, NBC and the Associated Press for 40 years, was 85.
“He was my bureau chief at the ABC News bureau in Coral Gables — during the most turbulent times in Latin America,” said ABC News correspondent John Quiñones, host of “What Would You Do?” “I arrived there as a rookie correspondent in 1982 and Frank was my guiding light through all kinds of mayhem in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama.
“Frank was a reporter’s reporter,” Quiñones continued. “He was brash and unrelenting in pursuit of the truth — the kind of journalist who never took ‘no’ for an answer. Time and again, ABC beat all the other competing network producers on the story — whatever it was — because Frank would get there first. He seemed to be everywhere, charming everyone from presidents and diplomats to guerrilla leaders, cab drivers and telephone operators — always in his trademark guayabera and with his warm and engaging Texas drawl. If I ever traveled without him he would yell at me on my out the door, ‘Just tell them Frank Manitzas sent you.’ Sure enough, doors would swing open upon my arrival anywhere from Mexico to Cuba, Brazil and points beyond.”
EVERYONE SEEMED TO KNOW FRANK AND EVERYONE LOVED HIM. AT A TIME WHEN DICTATORS, DEATH SQUADS AND THE CIA WERE WREAKING HAVOC IN LATIN AMERICA, HE WAS THERE, FEARLESSLY SOUNDING THE ALARM AND SHINING THE LIGHT OF JOURNALISM ON THE DARKEST CORNERS OF THE CONTINENT. BY DOING SO, HE LITERALLY MADE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE.
ABC News correspondent John Quiñones.
To daughter Elena, Manitzas was “just my Daddy” — a kind and good-humored man. “Other than being a great journalist and always on top of the story he was just really a good person and caring about other people. That’s what I learned from him.”
Born to Greek immigrants who settled in San Angelo, Texas, the Texas A&M journalism graduate bore witness to some of the 20th century’s biggest stories during a career that stretched from the AP in 1955 through his retirement from ABC News as its bureau chief for Latin America in Coral Gables in 1994. Post-retirement, he continued as an independent journalist covering Cuba and the Americas for various websites.
His work often put him in danger. Manitzas reported live on the streets of Santiago, Chile, when the government of Salvador Allende was overthrown in September 1973. The Manitzas home was raided in an allanamiento (a break in). His wife Nita, an outspoken Latin America expert and supporter of the victims of the new military regime, was held at gunpoint, as were their two children.
“Our house was searched and they were going through these papers from the wire service and all of a sudden all of these Playboy magazines fall to the floor,” Elena recalled. Her mother giggled but was secretly terrified the intruders would search the attic and find her stash of forbidden Allende posters.
Manitzas came home after the raid, Elena said. “Dad says, ‘What’s new?’ Runs upstairs,” then races to his office to file the story. “Later, when he comes back, he says, ‘Are you OK?’”
MANITZAS PENNED UNPOPULAR EDITORIALS WHILE AT TEXAS A&M TO ALLOW WOMEN ENROLLMENT IN THE EARLY 1950S — “A&M GOES COED OR IT GOES TO HELL” —MORE THAN A DECADE BEFORE IT HAPPENED.
Said longtime friend Bernard Diederich, a retired Time bureau chief for Miami and the Caribbean: “He was very good and became persona non grata in those areas where the military took over and very much a hands-on reporter.” Diederich remembered the time he saw Manitzas flying down the road on the back of a motorcycle to cover Pope John Paul II’s historic visit to Mexico in 1979.
During the bloody 1987 schoolhouse massacre in the wake of Haiti’s first free elections in 30 years, Diederich’s son JB and Manitzas, along with members of his ABC News crew, were shot at. Some were injured. “It was Frank who had us evacuated on a Learjet,” JB Diederich said.
In 1980, during the Mariel boatlift, Manitzas did a week-long series with ABC anchorman Peter Jennings from Cuba on advances in medicine and education on the island. His reports led to death threats.
However, not all of his reporting was fraught with danger. In 1967, he traveled to South Africa to cover the first heart transplant done by Dr. Christiaan Barnard, who insisted it was much ado about very little, that he had performed many successful liver transplants. “Have you ever told a woman, ‘I love you with all my liver?’” Manitzas countered.
FRANK WAS AN OLD SCHOOL JOURNALIST. HE WAS LIKE A SECOND FATHER TO ME. HE HAD AN INFECTIOUS SMILE AND LOVED HIS PROFESSION, BUT HIS BIGGEST LOVE WAS ALWAYS RESERVED FOR HIS LATE WIFE NITA AND HIS KIDS NICK AND ELENA.
Miami photojournalist JB Diederich.
As CBS special effects producer, Manitzas was also in charge of the recreation of the lunar landing in 1969, just in case live video reception fizzled. He designed a big, hollowed-out lunar module and had someone pose as an astronaut inside a space suit. Of course, that poor “astronaut” learned quickly that earth’s gravity made that suit so much heavier here than on the moon, his daughter Elena said.
Manitzas sometimes did his work too well. When conspiracy theorists found out about his footage, it gave them ammunition for years that the lunar landing was a hoax concocted by TV.
Manitzas is survived by his son Nikola and daughter Elena Manitzas, siblings Marie Crumly, George, Mary and Demetrios (Jimmy) Manitzas and his six beloved cats. His wife, Nita, died in 2008. The family will be holding a private gathering at their home.
The family requests donations to the Committee to Protect Journalists or similar organizations like Amnesty International, ACLU, Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Cuban Studies or WOLA.
Howard Cohen: 305-376-3619, @HowardCohen
We are All Ecuadorians
We Are All Ecuadorians
By Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada
A CubaNews translation.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.
“Everything can be bought except the heart,” proclaimed candidate Lenin Moreno in Guayaquil at the close of his campaign that will culminate on April 2 with the ballot to decide who will be the next President of Ecuador. Already the former Vice-President had defeated all the others in the February elections in which he achieved a crushing vote and was a few votes short of obtaining the required majority -40% – to avoid a second round.
Then some spokesmen of the oligarchy threatened to “burn Quito” if Moreno, who got over a million votes more than the banker Guillermo Lasso, was proclaimed victor. Lasso, a character of this ungrateful memory, an ex-Minister directly linked to the disaster that in 1999, among other things, eliminated the sucre as Ecuador’s own currency, forcing the adoption of the dollar as a local monetary unit, and which led to the mass flight of about two and a half million Ecuadorians suddenly thrown into poverty.
Next Sunday, Ecuadorians will have to decide whether to return to that painful stage or continue to advance along the path of the Citizen Revolution initiated by President Rafael Correa ten years ago. It’s record, in terms of a more just redistribution of national income, raising from misery to two million people and shows remarkable progress in education and public health, an admirable work in roads, transport and communications and above all, the rescue of national sovereignty and a clean government dedicated to the benefit of the majority . No one has done so much in such a short time for justice in one of the most unequal countries of the Earth and had to do it in very difficult conditions as a result of the fall of oil prices, a huge earthquake and other natural calamities.
A ferocious and multi-million dollar media campaign is committed to confusing the people, promoting collective amnesia and dragging it to vote against itself. It is now time for the Ecuadorians to decide.
But what is at stake goes beyond the small and beautiful country. Next Sunday, Ecuador will literally be at the center of the world. There will also be decided the future of an emancipated Latin America in front of an Empire that seeks to restore its battered hegemony.
Initially posted to Ajiacomix, March 29, 2017:
https://ajiacomix.wordpress.com/2017/03/29/todos-somos-ecuatorianos/
A necessary and united mobilization
La Opinion
A necessary and united mobilization
This is the time to achieve unity to deal with Trump
By EDITORS
Google translation.
Revised by Walter Lippmann.
Immigrants Rights mobilization 2006
There were hundreds of thousands of people who marched on March 25, 2006 in Los Angeles. / Archive PHOTO: ARCHIVO / JEFF GRACE / IMPREMEDIA
BY: EDITORS
24 MARCH 2017
In 2006 the immigrant community throughout the nation went out massively against the H.R. 4437, the law which was to criminalize all undocumented. Now we live another moment of urgency that requires a similar demonstration of repudiation. The date is 1st. May 1st to denounce and resist against a cruel immigration policy.
Today the situation is much worse than that of 11 years ago.
Before the mobilization was preventive. The purpose was to warn of a threat that appeared to justify the persecution of the undocumented.
Now that threat has become a reality. H.R. 4437 failed, but its designs are being implemented by President Donald Trump more than a decade later.
The president’s campaign rhetoric that relied on anti-immigrant resentment came true with his executive orders. The criteria were extended so that a person could be deported and a freedom of action was given to the agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.
The result is a policy that has terrified the Latino community due to its arbitrariness, its methods and its impact on the family.
In cities and states of our country, it is seen that the fear of ICE ‘s aggressive actions, for example, is reducing the attendance of Latinos at church,. And the drop in the number of reported crimes, such as domestic violence and sexual abuse – for fear of deportation – worries Los Angeles police.
There are arrests they make in the courts, in the vicinity of schools and even the Dreamers. These are outrageous as the accounts of separated families and detainees who are not on the list.
This May 1st is the time to protest against this persecution in a coordinated and effective manner, unlike the disorderly “Day without Immigrants” on 16 February.
International Labor Day represented the migrant worker for a long time in the United States. Now the march has ample support from the labor sector which feels the impact of the Trump administration.
We join this protest. To march without fear, not to buy and to support the immigrants that day even if it is with a sign of support in the window of an automobile.
This is the time to resist with all the legal weapons at our disposal. Let’s use them!
Public Masturbation in Cuba
Since when has there been public masturbation in Cuba?
By Roberto Alfonso Lara, February 7, 2017
A CubaNews translation.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.
Elena has a sort of magnet for that. Going home or on her way to work, her eyes seem condemned to stumble upon the same scene. On a park bench, behind the post, hidden in any bush or in some old construction site, she finds the man who masturbates; he looks at her and comes out of his den to tempt her.
She suffers the “fate” of a society where flashers assault public spaces, determined to solve, openly, what they do not achieve on a personal level or in intimacy with their partner. She has knocked on doors several times and presumes that nobody is listening. No one responds when she claims to feel somewhat raped, everyday, on the street.
Women are the main target of this sexual aggression if we consider the common intention of the act or the underlying cultural background: machismo. By showing their genitals and masturbating in public places, men in fact exercise their power against women. But, is this only a gender-related problem?
Despite their sex, there is no choice for those who bump into addicts bent on showing the size of their penises and getting excited in broad daylight. When the person displays toward the stalker an attitude of surprise, panic or simple rejection –almost always going out of their way– it is because the person feels that her or his rights have been invaded and therefore violated.
Although women are the most affected, the problem concerns all citizens and should be addressed from that perspective. This involves a security issue: who can feel safe and protected while sexual flashers are present in the spaces we share?
Movie theaters used to be their favorite site, today they do not waste time in distinctions. Elena finds them everywhere, and sees them approaching her, chasing her, with their dicks in their hands, fully aware of the panic they cause. She is frightened and has come to see me in despair. She doesn’t know what street to take to get home in the evening.
Few people report the crime to the police, it’s true. But… what happens if they do? Do Cuban laws strongly condemn these cases of sexual harassment?
Decree Law 141, on the contravention of public order, sets a fine of 40 pesos to those who “offend modesty or good customs with lewd exhibition”. There is no other provision about it, not even to define the limit or scope of the lewd act. And the small fine, well … it’s almost like paying a cheap license to masturbate out in the street.
Without rigorous measures against those who violate collective coexistence, and go to the extreme of sexually harassing women and disrespecting an elementary norm of civility, every effort to eliminate the problem will suffer the same “fate” as Elena’s when, after knocking on many doors, she feels no one cares about her fear.
Yes, masturbation is a legitimate way of experiencing sexuality, but doing it visibly in open places is detrimental to the human condition. Neither institutions nor society as a whole should remain indifferent to this type of violence.
It is said that the first complaint in Cuba against masturbators in public places was registered in 1881. It is painful to say this: how long will Elena have to wait?
Tribute to the First Women’s Antiaircraft Regiment
- English
- Español
Tribute to the First Women’s Antiaircraft Regiment
March 15, 2009 00:53:09 GMT
A CubaNews translation.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.
At the Museum of the Revolution, the 25 years of existence of this regiment was remembered. The regiment was created by initiative of Vilma Espin, eternal president of the Cuban Women Federation.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) in the capital paid tribute to the first anti-aircraft artillery regiment of women, created by initiative of Vilma Espin, eternal president of the Cuban Women Federation (FMC), according to AIN.
During a ceremony at the Museum of the Revolution, the 25 years of existence of this regiment were remembered. Reserve Colonel Mirta Garcia Llorca was in command of this regiment from 1984 to 1991.
After placing a wreath at the eternal flame to the Heroes of the Fatherland at the Granma Memorial, the women shared their experiences and remembered the founding years. The myriad tasks performed on behalf of the FAR and the FMC, particularly during international missions and in Cuba, were also remembered.
The event, chaired by Major General Antonio Enrique Batlle Lusón, Hero of the Republic of Cuba, and by Yolanda Ferrer, secretary general of the women’s organization, was a propitious moment to recount the significance Cuban women have had as part of the Cuban people in uniform.
It also recognized the efforts of the FAR, the UJC, the FMC and the High School Student Federation (FEEM) to comply with the Women’s Voluntary Military Service, a vital link in the incorporation of young girls to the defense of our homeland.
At the end of the ceremony, Brigadier General Ramon Martinez Echevarria, of MINFAR, stressed the merits of these women who stepped forward at a time when the country urgently needed their presence in the Armed Forces and reiterated the altruism and courage with which they faced different missions.
The First Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment of Women was founded on March 8, 1984, and many of its members are still active within the FAR and the MININT, while others are active in different sectors of Cuban society.
Homenaje a Primer Regimiento Antiaéreo Femenino
15 de marzo de 2009 00:53:09 GMT
En el Museo de la Revolución fueron recordados los 25 años de existencia de este órgano armando, que surgió por iniciativa de Vilma Espín, eterna presidenta de la Federación de Mujeres Cubanas
Las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (FAR) rindieron homenaje en la capital al primer regimiento femenino de artillería antiaérea, una iniciativa impulsada por Vilma Espín, eterna presidenta de la Federación de Mujeres Cubanas (FMC), informó la AIN.
Durante una ceremonia en el Museo de la Revolución fueron recordados los 25 años de existencia de este órgano armando, al frente del cual estuvo desde 1984 hasta 1991 la coronel de la reserva Mirta García Llorca.
Tras colocar una ofrenda floral en la llama eterna a los Héroes de la Patria en el Memorial Granma, las féminas intercambiaron experiencias y rememoraron los años fundacionales y las innumerables tareas cumplidas por encargo de las FAR y la FMC, en particular en misiones internacionalistas y en suelo patrio.
El acto, presidido por el Héroe de la República de Cuba, general de división Antonio Enrique Lusón Batlle, y Yolanda Ferrer, secretaria general de la organización femenina, devino oportuno recuento de lo que ha significado la mujer cubana como parte del pueblo uniformado.
Asimismo, se reconoció el esfuerzo de las FAR, la UJC, la FMC y la Federación de Estudiantes de la Enseñanza Media (FEEM) en el cumplimiento del Servicio Militar Voluntario Femenino, un eslabón imprescindible en la incorporación de las jóvenes a la defensa de la Patria.
Al término de la ceremonia el general de brigada Ramón Martínez Echevarría, del MINFAR, destacó los méritos de estas mujeres que dieron el paso al frente en momentos en que el país urgía de su presencia en las Fuerzas Armadas y reiteró el altruismo y la valentía con que enfrentaron disímiles misiones.
El Primer Regimiento de Artillería Antiaéreo Femenino se fundó el 8 de marzo de 1984, y muchas de sus integrantes se mantienen en activo dentro de las FAR y el MININT y otras en diferentes sectores de la sociedad cubana.
Why does Obama decide 8 days before what he could have decided 8 years ago?
- English
- Español
CUBA-USA: WHY DOES OBAMA DECIDE 8 DAYS BEFORE WHAT HE COULD HAVE DECIDED 8 YEARS AGO?
By Dr. Néstor García Iturbe
January 3, 2017
A CubaNews translation.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.
Each action should carry an analysis. If the action is carried out in the field of foreign policy the analysis should cover different aspects. It is very unlikely that an action in foreign policy has no impact on domestic policy.
Mr. Obama, eight days before finishing his term, modifies the policy of “dry feet” “wet feet,” something he should have done eight years ago, when he undertook the Presidency of the United States. He has really been slow in this matter, as in others.
What are the consequences of maintaining the policy of “dry feet” “wet feet” for eight years?
According to the statistics of the United States Government’s Coast Guard Service, during those eight years about 32,000 people were caught at sea, trying to reach the United States. More than 3,200 people did not reach the US coasts and died at sea. In the fiscal year 2015-2016 the Coast Guard reported having seized at sea 7,358 people from Cuba.
To this figure should be added those who entered illegally by land, mainly along the border with Mexico. This other figure is estimated at about 20,000 people.
In addition to this, a little more than 8,000 health professionals accepted the Plan that allowed them to enter the United States after leaving the mission entrusted to them.
As the policy aimed at stimulating these illegal entrances was that practically all those who could violate immigration controls and become “dry feet” were admitted to the US and were granted under the Cuban Adjustment Act –even if they did not fully qualify under it– the Act cost approximately $680 million dollars annually to US taxpayers. In the eight years that Obama took to eliminate this policy, he spent just over $ 4 billion. Of course, they were not out of his pocket, but they should be added to everything spent on actions against the Cuban Revolution.
Now that Trump is arriving at the White House, this is another of Obama’s maneuvers to leave the scene “hot” and provoke a measure beneficial to Cuba and even the United States, whether maintaining it is considered or not.
The Gestapo Mafia of Miami has already come out against the measure. They consider that it is one of the “favors” that Obama has made to Cuba; a little late, by the way. This removes an important element in their hostile arguments that is precisely to promote the illegal and disorderly emigration of those who “flee from communism”. No matter that some of them die in the attempt: these can also be used for propaganda purposes.
Now the ball is on Trump’s court. Perhaps Obama, unwillingly, solved a problem for him.
Trump has spoken out against illegal immigration: remember the wall, the Muslims, and anyone trying to enter the United States without obtaining the corresponding visa? It does not seem logical that he will complicate something already solved; mainly because it was not his decision, it was Obama’s. This can help him in the analysis that he will make of all the Executive Orders: to leave this one and say that he will only cancel or modify those that harm the United States. This benefits them and is in accordance with the policy that he wishes to follow.
Let’s wait and see what the unpredictable Trump decides.
CUBA.- EU.- ¿PORQUE OBAMA DECIDE 8 DIAS ANTES LO QUE PODÍA HABER DECIDIDO 8 AÑOS ANTES?
Por Dr. Néstor García Iturbe
Cada acción debe llevar un análisis. Si la acción se realiza en el campo de la política exterior el análisis debe cubrir distintos aspectos. Inclusive es poco probable que una acción en política exterior no tenga su repercusión en la política interna.
El señor Obama, ocho días antes de terminar su mandato, modifica la política de “pies secos” “pies mojados”, algo que debía haber realizado hace ocho años, cuando asumió la presidencia de los Estados Unidos. Realmente se ha mostrado lento en este asunto, al igual que en otros.
¿Qué consecuencias ha traído el mantener la política de “pies secos” “pies mojados” durante ocho años?
De acuerdo con las estadísticas del Servicio de Guarda Costas del gobierno de Estados Unidos, durante esos ocho años fueron capturados en el mar, intentando llegar a Estados Unidos, cerca de 32,000 personas, no llegaron a las costas estadounidenses y murieron en el mar un poco más de 3,200 personas. En el año fiscal 2015- 2016 el servicio de Guardacostas informó haber capturado en el mar 7,358 personas procedentes de Cuba.
A esta cifra debe agregarse aquellos que ingresaron ilegalmente por vía terrestre, principalmente por la frontera con México, lo cual se calcula en cerca de 20,000 personas.
Además de esto un poco más de 8,000 profesionales de la salud se acogieron al Plan que les permitió ingresar en Estados Unidos después de haber abandonado la misión que se les había confiado.
Cómo la política seguida para estimular estas entradas ilegales era que prácticamente todos los que podían violar los controles de inmigración y se convertían en “pies secos” se acogían a la Ley de Ajuste Cubano y se les concedía el hacerlo, aunque no calificaran totalmente para eso, la mencionada Ley costaba aproximadamente 680 millones de dólares anuales al contribuyente estadounidense. En los ocho años que Obama se demoró en eliminar esta política, gastó un poco mas de 4,000 millones de dólares. Claro que no eran de su bolsillo, pero que deben sumarse a todo lo gastado en acciones contra la Revolución Cubana.
Cómo Trump está al llegar a la Casa Blanca, esta es otra de las maniobras de Obama para dejarle “caliente” el escenario y provocar que una medida beneficiosa para Cuba y para los propios Estados Unidos, sea analizada si se mantiene o no.
La Mafia Gestapo de Miami ya se pronunció en contra de la medida. Consideran que es uno de los “favores” que Obama le ha hecho a Cuba, un poco tarde, por cierto. Esto les quita un elemento importante en sus argumentaciones hostiles que es precisamente promover la emigración ilegal y desordenada de los que “huyen del comunismo”. No importa que algunos de ellos mueran en el intento, esos también pueden utilizarse para los fines propagandísticos.
Ahora Trump tiene la palabra. Quizás Obama, sin quererlo, le resolvió un problema.
Trump se ha manifestado en contra de la inmigración ilegal, recuerden el muro, los musulmanes y todo aquel que intenta entrar en Estados Unidos sin obtener la visa correspondiente. No parece lógico que algo resuelto lo vuelva a complicar, sobre todo porque no fue su decisión, fue la de Obama y eso puede servirle en el análisis que realizara de todas las Órdenes Ejecutivas, para dejar esta y decir que solamente cancelará o modificará aquellas que perjudican a Estados Unidos. Esta los beneficia y está acorde a la política que él desea seguir.
Esperemos para ver que decide el impredecible Trump.
– Dr. Néstor García Iturbe es editor del boletín electrónico El Heraldo (Cuba) sarahnes@cubarte.cult.cu
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