Many demonstrations in the United States
Many demonstrations in the United States
Students and youth join a massive march for our lives against gun violence
By Juventud Rebelde digital@juventudrebelde.cu
A CubaNews translation.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.
WASHINGTON, March 24.- Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Washington and 800 other U.S. cities on Saturday in a massive protest called the March for Our Lives, in protest against continued acts of armed violence in schools and public places across the country.
The New York Times emphasized that the protesters marched “outraged by a recent massacre in a South Florida school and energized by the students who survived… demanding action against armed violence.
The largest and most influential marches took place in Washington, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, and Houston.
In Parkland, Florida, where a former student killed 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with a firearm, the tragedy that triggered the march, less than a mile from where the shooting occurred, participants chanted, “Enough is enough! and “Stop it!».
In Washington, many posters called for “Never again!”. “Books, not guns,” said one of the banners in New York’s Central Park, where Paul McCartney remembered his friend John Lennon, who died in that city, a victim of gun violence.
Participants in the March for Our Lives call for changes in laws that up until now allow for the relatively easy purchase of weapons, as well as a ban on the sale of automatic rifles and increased security controls in schools.
The influential National Rifle Association (NRA) has a great weight on U.S. lawmakers who have refused to change the laws.
In Washington, protesters marched with photographs of students and teachers killed in school shootings and chanted slogans like “No more guns! and “No more NRA!” reported the British BBC.
About 69 percent of Americans believe firearms laws should be tightened, according to a new Associated Press and Public Affairs Research Center poll.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
Brazilian anti-violence activist shot to death
LEADING FIGURES
Brazilian anti-violence activist shot to death
The event caused a stir in Brazil, as she was a woman respected and admired by Brazilians for being a fervent advocate for social causes.
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Author: Gabriela Ávila Gómez | internet@granma.cu
20 March 2018 21:03:48
Marielle Franco
Place of birth: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Date of birth: 27 July 1979
Date of Death: March 14, 2018
Occupation at the time of her death: Sociologist and councillor in Rio de Janeiro
Political affiliation: Socialism and Freedom Party
Alma Mater: Catholic University PUC and Federal University Fluminense (master’s degree)
Photo: Taken from TN.COM
“Another murder of a young person who may enter the Military Police account. Matheus Melo was leaving the church. How many more will it take for this to end?” That was the last message on the social networking site Twitter from Rio de Janeiro city councilor Marielle Franco, who paradoxically became the next victim just 24 hours later.
Criticizing the military intervention ordered a month ago by the de facto president, Michel Temer, the activist had emerged from an act of defense for black women and was riding in a car when the shooting began.
According to the Brazilian daily O Globo, the goal was to reach the councilor, who was shot five times. The driver also died in the accident and only one of the advisors who accompanied her survived.
The event caused a stir in Brazil, as she was a woman respected and admired by Brazilians for being a fervent advocate for social causes. There have been several marches and mobilizations called by political parties and social movements under the slogans “Luto e luta” (Mourning becomes fighting), “Murdering police, they will not silence us” or “Warrior woman who died for the people”. Demonstrations were also held in Argentina.
Marielle Franco was a woman, young, black, a favela woman, but she managed to make all these elements – still discriminatory for many – her driving force in the struggle, and from every possible platform she dedicated herself to raising her voice against racism, machismo and the abuses committed by the police in Rio de Janeiro.
The activist was born and raised in La Maré, one of the most violent slum complexes in Rio. At the age of 18 she became pregnant and dropped out of school, but later she attended night classes. Thanks to a scholarship, she obtained a degree in Sociology from the Catholic University PUC, one of the most prestigious in the country. She also held a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Federal University of Fluminense.
One of the events that marked her in her youth and that defined her later line of work was the death of her best friend due to a stray bullet in the Maré; this led her to work on the denunciation of violence within the favelas.
In 2006, she became parliamentary assistant to Marcelo Freixo, He was an emblematic deputy who fought terror unfounded by militias in the favelas. Years later, Franco headed the Commission for the Defense of Human Rights and Citizenship of the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro.
At the time of her death, Franco was a member of the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), and on this political platform she became the fifth most votes for municipal legislator in 2016.
Both the councilor and the PSOL were among the biggest critics of the military intervention ordered by Temer.
In this context, Franco became the rapporteur of a commission set up in the Rio municipal chamber to report on possible abuses committed by the military in this intervention.
She gained respect and admiration for the ideas she promoted: that of a greater presence of women, especially black women, in politics, the defence of human rights and her denunciations of the abuses committed under the pretext of stopping the violence in Rio.
In the palace of the Municipal Chamber, where the activist’s remains were veiled, the steps were covered with flowers and banners.
Many organizations and personalities around the world have called on the Brazilian authorities to explain this brutal act, which they describe as a “political assassination”.
In the midst of the investigation, based on the hypothesis of premeditated murder, it emerged that the ammunition that ended Marielle Franco’s life was part of lots sold to the Federal Police of Brasilia in 2006. This fact that opens another discussion and raises the question: was it the activist murdered by the police?
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
Supporters and Opponents of Peace in Korea
Supporters and Opponents of Peace in Korea
By Manuel E. Yepe
http://manuelyepe.wordpress.com/
Exclusive for the daily POR ESTO! of Merida, Mexico.
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann.
According to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the surprise announcement of a summit in May between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to address the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula marks a “historic milestone” on the road to peace in the region.
Through a presidential spokesperson, Moon declared this through the South Korean delegation that traveled to Washington after the inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang, after the U.S. president agreed to hold the meeting proposed by Kim.
The German and Japanese governments described the event as “a success story of international pressure,” but were cautious in describing the likely consequences of such a meeting.
For their part, China and Russia, both powers with veto power in the UN Security Council, reasoned that this is “a step in the right direction”, after advocating a diplomatic solution to the conflict throughout last year. This was in open contradiction to Washington’s position, which led to the imposing of sanctions against North Korea and even to agitation for the military option.
Beijing, Pyongyang’s main ally in the region, said through a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry that the proposed major meeting is a way out of the conflict by means of a “double suspension”, in which Seoul and Washington would have to stop their military maneuvers in exchange for North Korea stopping its nuclear tests.
It is no secret to anyone that South Korea is full of people, including leaders, who object to their country’s neocolonial relationship with the United States. Many people even admire, although they do not applaud, the North Korea’s extreme defense of national sovereignty in the context of its tense relations with the US superpower. They deplore the contrasting situation of a virtual occupation of South Korea.
The invitation extended by the President of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to a dialogue would be the first meeting in history between the leaders of the United States and North Korea. It includes the offer to suspend the testing of weapons and the discussion of issues related to the North Korean nuclear program.
With Trump’s acceptance, the inter-Korean thaw of the Winter Olympics, the announcement of the summit in April, and now the dialogue at the highest level are closed. This is in stark contrast with the climax of the escalation that until last year confronted Kim and Trump. It raised tensions in the region and the world following Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests that led to heavy UN Security Council sanctions on Washington’s initiative.
It is clear that if Kim’s meeting with Trump is held in May after the inter-Korean summit, humanity will have taken a significant step towards a serious and complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Many factors and people who have contributed to this goal must be recognized, including the role played by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who will be in power for a year in May. He has made efforts to bring the country closer to its northern neighbor ever since he took office. South Korea is practically a gigantic US military base. Washington has no less than 30,000 troops of its own in an extremely tense relationship with North Korea. Using its status as the world’s only superpower, the United States systematically threatens the DPRK with all kinds of international sanctions.
Therefore, it’s not surprising that the South Korean leader, perhaps the main driving force behind the rapprochement between Washington and Pyongyang, invited Trump to support the effort. He predicted that “he [Trump] will receive praise from the people, not only from the two Koreas but also from those who want peace throughout the world for accepting Kim Jong-un’s invitation,” according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap
What did not fit in well with the peace-friendly environment on the Korean peninsula was the announcement by the South Korean Ministry of Defense that the United States and South Korea will conduct new military exercises on April 1.
However, anyone who objectively analyzes developments on the Korean peninsula in the light of history’s lessons will have to recognize that the unshakable firmness of its principles with which the Korean communists have defended the independence of this Asian nation as the only way to curb the unbridled appetites of U.S. imperialism today.
March 26, 2018.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
Much More Than a Brand Name
Much More Than a Struggle Over a Brand of Rum
By Manuel E. Yepe
http://manuelyepe.wordpress.com/
Exclusive for the daily POR ESTO! of Merida, Mexico.
The arguments that have been taking place for years between the French corporation Pernod Ricard and the U.S.-based Bacardi company since shortly after the triumph of the revolution in Cuba are rooted in political realities that far outstrip the apparent battle for the Bacardi and Havana Club rum brands that have lasted for more than half a century.
The controversy derives from the fact that the Cuban popular victory of 1959, which led to the revolution in power on the island, was followed by, among other popular demands, the inescapable commitments made by the rebels to the people. These included agrarian reform, the literacy campaign, the urban reform, the nationalization of public energy, water, and communications services, and the large industries. The government of the revolution set out to agree mutually satisfactory compensatory solutions with those affected and succeeded in almost all cases.
The then-owners of the Bacardi rum company skillfully managed to register the firm in Bermuda and prepared to resist nationalization. They took the documents and individuals of some of the company’s directors from Cuba. But they were unable to extract the talent and the century-old expertise and inventiveness of the humble teachers and other workers who have made the product of their efforts famous. Neither do the characteristics of water, climate, and other irreplaceable elements.
Then there followed an extensive period of legal disputes in which shipments of the original Bacardi rum from Cuba were systematically confiscated for claims that the counterfeiters were making progress, often through bribes and always supported by pressure from Washington.
Finally, the Court in The Hague ruled that the Bacardi firm should retain the right to the Bacardi brand and the bat symbol, but did not admit that the origin of the product was identified as having been made in Cuba since the previous trade name was ‘Bacardi de Cuba’.
Faced with this situation, the real Cuban producers invited the prestigious French liquor company, Pernod Ricard, to form an association to produce in Cuba and distribute its proven rum throughout the world under the name Havana Club. It’s trademark was registered until 1964 in the United States Patent Office by its previous owner, José Arrechabala, who, following the nationalization of its factory, had renounced the trademark and declined to renew it.
The Arechabala family had founded the distillery in the city of Cárdenas in 1878, and in 1934 sold rum under the name Havana Club in the United States, apparently in contravention of the “prohibition” or “dry law” laws then in force there.
With the acquisition of the “Havana Club” brand by the Pernod Ricard/Cuba Ron consortium and the support of an intensive advertising campaign, sales grew significantly in more than 100 countries. Due to the laws of the imperialist blockade of Cuba, the United States remained the only country in the world where Cuban rum could not be sold.
Alarmed by this situation, the Bacardi organization, which in its relationship with Cuba has always been more oriented towards political reprisals than business, opted to prolong the legal battle by focusing on the use of the Havana Club trademark. To that end, Bacardi tried to present itself as a legitimate purchaser of the rights to the Arechabala family’s trademark. “After the Cuban regime confiscated the Arechabala brand without mercy and by force, Ramón Arechabala personally transcribed the recipe and gave it to Bacardi as an agreement between the two families, both exiled from their homeland,” was his desperate and foolish argument.
In 1999, using its political ties in Washington, Bacardi managed to get Congress to approve the so-called Section 211, which allowed it to market under the brand name “Havana Club” in the USA. This ad hoc legislation was condemned by the World Trade Organisation but has allowed Bacardi to sell a fake ‘Havana Club’ made in Puerto Rico in the United States.
The book “Ron Bacardi: The Hidden War” and the documentary “The Secret of the Bat” show the relationship of the Bacardi company with the ultra-right-wing and Cuban-American mafia in Miami. They also reveal the participation of its team of lawyers in the drafting of the Helms-Burton Act. This law, in 1996, codified all the provisions that had formed the economic blockade of Cuba since 1959 into a single legal instrument so that not even a new US President could abrogate the genocidal siege without the approval of Congress (as happened to Barack Obama).
March 23, 2018.
Opportunity Knocks Once
Opportunity knocks once
Alberto N Jones
March 20, 2018
Upon my return from an 18-month specialized training course in the German Democratic Republic in 1966, we were debriefed at the Veterinary Medical School in Havana about our training and experience. Among the non-academic issues I discussed was the high living standard, impeccable education, rigid discipline and overabundance of food and personal goods, in which only tropical produce was scarce or missing.
Speaking with other Cuban students in other socialist countries, I learned, that the situation was similar to the GDR, for which I was proposing Cuba could tap a 500 million people market without competition, to provide these needed goods, while creating thousands of jobs and millions of dollars for the Caribbean and Central America.
I was harshly rebuked by those who could not see a Cuba transformed into a tropical garden nor an importer of these products from neighboring countries without access to millions in the socialist camp. Today, other countries, not Cuba, are the providers of these highly-demanded agricultural products.
Fifty-two years later, history repeats itself. This time, it is gun violence that is devouring the United States and after the Parkland massacre on February 14, 2018, it has brought to the forefront, the vulnerability, dangers, and the likelihood, that many school children have substantial odds, of not making it through high school.
This tragic reality should elicit a response from Cuba, which has educated tens of thousands of students on the Isle of Youth in the 70’s. Today, it still trains thousands of students from over 100 countries around the world for free, knowing none of them will die of gunshots in Cuba.
On the other hand, Cuba’s economy is in a shambles and the moral and material needs of the population is at its peak. Salaries are insufficient, the population’s satisfaction is at its lowest level and the development of basic infrastructure is stalled for lack of funds.
Cuba can guarantee the lives of millions of students, while earning hundreds of millions of dollars, by educating these children for profit, by hiring tens of thousands of active and retired educators, doctors, psychologists, arts and sports trainers, desperate to earn a decent salary.
Up until the mid 19,
60’s, professionals in Cuba held 2, 3 or more jobs, displaying an unparalleled level of productivity, until it was mistakenly decided that each person could hold just one job, encouraging laziness and loss of morale.
Hundreds of abandoned middle schools in the countryside, other large buildings in cities that once were schools or office buildings, can be refurbished quickly or built, to begin offering parents in the US, a safe haven for their children.
Tourism is so far, one of the country’s main sources of income. Education and Health, well-compensated, encouraged and managed, can easily surpass all others.
Viet Nam is one of Cuba’s closest allies. It underwent its worst economic disaster with famine, boat people and more, following its 1975 collectivization until that was changed in 1986. The Doi Moi or Renovation policy was adopted at the 6th Party Congress. and has transformed Viet Nam into the second largest producer of Coffee and Rice in the world with a 138 billion dollars GPD. By 2015, it is expected to become the 21st largest economy in the world with an average 6-8% annual growth and having reduced a 70% unemployment in 1975 to 9% today.
Cuba has all the ingredients to become the Viet Nam of the Caribbean. No one needs to reinvent the wheel nor copy from others. Viet Nam laid out a successful plan that has turned it into the fastest growing country in Asia, which Cuba should explore.
March Renews Calls for U.S. Gun Control
March to Renew Calls for Strengthened U.S. Arms Control
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Washington, Mar 24 (PL) New calls to strengthen gun control in the United States will emerge today during the March for Our Lives in this capital and hundreds of other U.S. cities and countries.
The initiative, which will begin here at noon near the Capitol, is organized by the Never Again movement, which was born out of the will of survivors of the deadly February 14 shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas School in the city of Parkland, Florida.
On that day, former student Nikolas Cruz, 19, killed 17 people and wounded the same number with a legally acquired AR-15 rifle.
A pro-gun control group, Everytown for Gun Safety, is also helping students plan and coordinate the event, which has among its demands restricting the sale of large quantities of ammunition.
According to the official website of the march, for which celebrities such as George Clooney and Steven Spielberg have contributed monetary resources, the idea is also to create a law banning assault weapons used in mass shootings.
It also seeks to strengthen the system of background checks for buyers of such devices, including those who obtain them online or at gun shows.
The day before, Marjory Stoneman Douglas students met in Washington D.C. with Congress members, who were demanded many more actions against guns.
“America, we are your future. Why won’t you protect us?,” asked student Demitri Hoth during a press conference at the Capitol with dozens of colleagues.
In his opinion, the politicians still have ‘time to do the right thing’, and he insisted that ‘we students have been victims of the obvious inaction of our government, but never again’.
Other students also attended a vigil at the National Cathedral and a concert led by the rock band Fall Out Boy, according to press reports.
‘This is a time for action. We need the support of Parkland youth and children across the country,’ said Pete Wentz, a bass player in the group, in a statement.
We support them and we must demand that our legislators do more to end this gun violence crisis,’ he added.
Some Democratic legislators in favor of the Never Again movement’s stance attended the press conference and argued that student pressure has made a difference.
Specifically, they referred to a proposal included in the spending plan for government operations through September that will encourage state and federal authorities to report more data to the background check system for weapons buyers.
tgj/dsa
Spielberg supports women’s movement
Spielberg supports women’s movement against sexual abuse (+ video)
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews
London, 20 Mar (PL) Filmmaker Steven Spielberg today supported the Time’s Up movement in this capital city, organized by women in Hollywood industry following accusations of sexual abuse against Harvey Weinstein.
So far, the director is the most recent and reliable voice to have made public his support for the campaign, which he describes as an historic moment in cinema’.
Today we are in the presence of an authentic, positive scenario in the sector, thanks to the movement promoted by our colleagues, and which my wife and I supported from the beginning, said that film authority.
The last few months have been diverse for the industry; also for gender and race, because we must seek equality in all senses; that is why I speak out and I am infinitely grateful to Time’s Up, he said.
I think in 10 years we’ll look back and realize what a decisive moment we’re living in right now,’ said the director.
Spielberg strengthened his support for sexual abuse actions during the Legend of Our Lives award gala, an honorary laureate presented by the British film magazine Empire.
The award was presented to the filmmaker on Sunday in recognition of his extensive and plausible film career, which includes emblematic films, including E.T., the Alien, 1982; Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List, 1993; and most recently, The Post: The Pentagon Archives, 2017.
The Hollywood star will release the movie Ready Player One on March 28th, about a near future in which humanity is hooked on a video game called OASIS.
The detonator explodes when the founder hides a treasure within the hobby when he dies and whoever finds it will obtain a great fortune. It is a race for the discovery of the century that has so far been very well accepted by critics.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
Reporting Sexual Abuse by a Phone App
Belgian Woman Can Report Abuse by a Phone App
March 19, 2018
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Mobile application in Belgium: “Don’t touch my friend”. Photo: RP-Online.
Mobile App to Combat Sexual Abuse
Mobile App Created in Belgium to Combat Sexual Abuse
Under the name “Don’t touch my friend”, the initiative allows women to anonymously report by pressing a button.
By Juventud Rebelde
A CubaNews translation.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.
Mobile app to combat sexual abuse Author: Internet Published: 16/03/2018 | 03:41 pm
BRUSSELS, Belgium, March 16.- The Belgian authorities announced today that the new mobile application (app), created to enable women to report cases of sexual harassment, is now available.
Under the name “Don’t touch my friend”, the initiative allows women who are harassed on the street or in the subway to anonymously report the harassment at the touch of a button, according to PL.
This way, other people who are registered in the app and are nearby will receive a warning and can help the victim. These “street angels”, as they are called, can be either men or women.
As a result of the data collected by the application, city officials can take immediate action.
A civil society organization and Brussels official Bianca Debaets developed the app based on a similar one used in France since October 2016.
Several territories also implement apps to fight sexual harassment. One of the most relevant cases is “Safecity”, which is used in 50 cities in India, Kenya and some other countries.
Ahed Tamimi’s trial postponed
Trial of Palestinian Youth Activist Ahed Tamimi postponed
By By: Javier Cortines
Published: 03/14/2018
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews
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