Granma 299
State Gastronomy: Everything in CUP
Gastronomic Services of State Commerce: Everything in CUP
It should be noted that there are more than 7000 state-run restaurants, bars and other catering establishments in the country, and only 10 % of them were allowed to sell in dual currency.
by Yaditza del Sol González
March 4, 2020
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
The elimination of cucumber sales in these establishments is intended to achieve greater control in the management of trade and gastronomic activities, as it allows a single accounting record to be established for the products marketed. Photo: Ariel Cecilio Lemus
The units of the state trade system that provide gastronomic services already carry out all their commercial activities in coupons, and payment in cucumbers is not appropriate for the purchase of certain products that were previously sold in this currency, such as beers, soft drinks, cigars, water, ice cream, jams and alcoholic beverages.
All these commercial actions will be carried out only in CUP, taking into account the current conditions of automation of the accounting systems of these units.
Arturo Vazquez, director of organization and systems of the Ministry of Interior Commerce (Mincin) explained that this measure is part of the improvement of retail trade of local subordination and does not include the chains of stores in foreign exchange, whether TRD, Palmares, Cimex or others, nor the Sylvain.
This is undoubtedly a measure that has caused great concern among readers, whether because of the lack of institutional communication prior to the effect of such a procedure, consumers’ concerns about the existence of exchange funds or about the conversion rate applied to goods.
According to the Deputy Minister of the sector, Miriam Perez, the elimination of the sale in CUC in these establishments is a response to the purpose of achieving greater control in the management of commerce and gastronomic activities, since it allows for the establishment of a single accounting record of the products marketed.
It should be pointed out that there are more than 7000 units in the country that carry out gastronomic activities on a State basis, i.e. bars, restaurants and others, and only 10% were authorized to sell in dual currency.
This group was selected as part of a scheme that, at the time, allowed the Trade to be self-financing in CUC, in addition to being an element of support for the budgets of other expenses, commented the Deputy Minister. This meant that, in the same restaurant, certain offers were paid in coupons and others in CUC, which had become a recurrent complaint from consumers.
Yosvany Pupo, general director of Services of the Mincin, explained that what was assumed is not part of a previous measure to the process of monetary unification, but that it responds to the improvement of the management of the commerce and cannot be analyzed out of that context. “In addition, there is no price increase in what we offer and, therefore, the Cadeca conversion rate of 1 CUC x 25 cup is applied,” he explained.
However, in the case of products that had official price lists in CUP, the price already established is assumed. For example, the domestically-produced canned soft drink, which used to be sold at .50 CUC, now costs 10 CUC, and not 12.50 CUC.
Offending Carriers Do Not Go Unpunished
Offending Carriers Do Not Go Unpunished
As a result of the allegations of popular control, an information note announced that measures were applied to 208 incumbents and contractors, the most frequent forms of indiscipline being price violations and travel restrictions.
March 4, 2020
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Some private individuals contribute to the movement of the population. Photo: Endrys Correa Vaillant
Cuba does not live with impunity, which is why the people feel supported by the measures taken against those who violate the stipulations of the Council of the Provincial Administration of Havana, regarding the maximum prices to be charged by private transporters circulating in the capital.
The General Directorate of Transport in Havana reported that 62 transport operation licenses had been withdrawn from the holders and 44 vouchers from their contracted workers, in addition to 199 contraventions.
As a result of complaints by the popular control, an informative note announced that measures were applied to 208 holders and contracted workers, with the most frequent forms of indiscipline being violations of prices and the limitation of trips.
Similarly, 11 vehicles were found to have committed repeated violations, to which cancellation measures were applied (table 1), as well as 45 vehicles whose drivers do not have an operating license (table 2).
In response to the country’s call to join forces in the fuel crisis caused by the impact of the U.S. blockade, it was also evident that some state car drivers remained non-compliant by not stopping at the places with the highest concentration of people.
In the month of February, 983 vehicles were reported and 773 measures were applied to different agencies and entities, including the ministries of Construction, Transportation, Public Health, Communications, Agriculture, Industry, Energy and Mines, Culture, Food Industry and Tourism, the Business Administration Group, Water Resources, as well as religious institutions and agencies.
Likewise, it is worth noting that there are still 46 entities that have not applied the measures corresponding to the offenders, which will be summoned to analysis by the Governor, as part of the approved organizational measures.
The population has the right to demand compliance with the provisions regarding maximum prices for private carriers.
In the event of non-compliance, it can report it through the different established channels, informing the registration number, date, time and place of the event, by telephone: 188820 or 7-881-9264 of Attention to the Population of the General Directorate of Transport.
Also, through the websites: www.dgtph.transnet.cu, of the General Directorate of Transport, and www.lahabana.gob.cu (the Citizen’s Portal).
Also, through the e-mails: oap@getrans.cu, centrollamadas@getrans.cu, and atencionciudadana@mitrans.gob.cu, of the Mitrans.
Evo Denounces Manouvers Against MAS
Evo Morales Denounces Maneuvers of
the De Facto Government Against MAS
The former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, made this Tuesday, through his official Twitter account, a call to the international community to accompany the Bolivian people in the upcoming elections.
March 4, 2020
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Thousands of people who support the Movement Towards Socialism joined to register the Arce-Choquehuanca binomial for the May 3 elections. Photo: ANSA
The former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, made a call to the international community to accompany the Bolivian people in the upcoming elections through his official Twitter account on Tuesday.
Morales announced that the coup leaders will try to disqualify the candidates of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) before May 3rd.
According to a survey released by the Bolivian TV channel ATB, MAS, which places former Economy Minister Luis Arce as a candidate for President and former Foreign Affairs Minister David Choquehuanca as Vice President, at a 32.6% voting intention.
Then comes Comunidad Ciudadana (cc), with 19.2%, which again presents Carlos Mesa as a candidate for President, and Gustavo Pedraza to be elected Vice President.
In the poll, the Juntos alliance also took a position, led by the self-proclaimed interim president, Jeanine Áñez, and Samuel Doria Medina, who accumulated 18.2%.
If these figures are repeated during the official vote, a second round of voting should be held. It is required that a candidate must have more than 50% of the votes or 40% with a 10-point lead over the runner-up to win directly.
U.S.-Backed Deal Exposed
ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT
The U.S.-Backed Agreement (Scam) of the Century Exposed
U.S. President Donald Trump announced from the White House on January 28 his peace plan to “resolve” the historic conflict between Israel and Palestine, a scam that seeks to get the Palestinian people to accept an agreement that curtails their sovereignty
By Enrique Moreno Gimeranez | enrique@granma.cu
February 20, 2020
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
It could definitely qualify as the Scam of the Century. U.S. President Donald Trump announced from the White House on January 28 his peace plan to “resolve” the historic conflict between Israel and Palestine, a document titled “Peace for Prosperity. A Vision for Improving the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli Peoples,” internationally referred to as the Agreement of the Century.
“This vision of peace is fundamentally different from past proposals. In the past, even the best-intentioned plans were simple in their objectives and had complicated conceptual frameworks. In contrast, our plan is 80 pages long and is the most detailed proposal ever presented,” Trump presented his grand strategy.
But, in addition to the numerous international resolutions and historical keys that he threw away, in his proposal for an Agreement the magnate President overlooked an unavoidable detail: any project for peace and the solution of this conflict must necessarily involve two actors: Palestine and Israel. The Palestinian side was not included in the elaboration of the plan and only the Israeli premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, attended its presentation in Washington. Taking into account only this essential element, the pact was born by itself wounded to death.
“There were no brief or detailed talks with the US administration on the so-called Century Agreement. Palestine is opposed to everything related to the agreement,” Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for the Arab nation’s presidency, had previously stated.
In the face of such actions by the United States, it is impossible not to recall the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898, between the governments of the United States and Spain. On that occasion, Washington and Madrid defined the situation of several territories, without the participation of representatives from Cuba, the Philippines, Guam or Puerto Rico. They avoided the sacrifice of the Cuban people during several years of wars of independence. Decades later, imperialism recycles a similar script and leaves the Palestinian people, the main victims of the conflict with Israel, out of the picture.
According to the BBC, the design of the plan took about three years and had among its “architects” Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The truth is that the moment of presentation of the controversial pact was very appropriate, both for Trump -wrapped in a scenario of impeachment and electoral campaign- and for Netanyahu -accused of corruption-. Perhaps, both dreamed of scoring points in foreign policy and at the national level, but the applause did not reach the expected dimensions.
Who wins and who loses with the American project?
If only Tel Aviv sat at the negotiating table, we can imagine the answer. The question becomes much more complex as we examine the different points of the agreement.
“Jerusalem must be recognized internationally as the capital of the State of Israel. Al Quds (or another name selected by the State of Palestine) must be internationally recognized as the capital of the State of Palestine,” the document states.
Accordingly, the U.S. embassy to the State of Israel will remain in Jerusalem and, following the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Agreement, the U.S. embassy to the State of Palestine will be in Al Quds (the Arabic name for Jerusalem), which would be located in the East Jerusalem section, territory that includes Abu Dis. In addition, other nations are encouraged to relocate their embassies to those locations.
“This is the most controversial and unavoidable point for the Palestinians (…). I will not engrave (my name) in my history and that of my country as the one who sold Jerusalem, because Jerusalem does not belong to me, but to everyone,” said the leader of the Palestinian National Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas, at an extraordinary session of the Arab League on February 1 to study the peace plan.
This contravenes international law and numerous UN resolutions on the subject, including UN Security Council Resolution 478 of 1980, which censured in the strongest terms and declared null and void the 1980 Jerusalem Law – by which Israel annexed Jerusalem as its ‘eternal and indivisible’ capital after the Six Day War – and urged UN Member States to move their embassies to Tel Aviv in protest.
However, it follows the maneuvers of Donald Trump who, since December 2017, had announced the controversial decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to begin the process of transferring the U.S. embassy to that city.
So far, the governments of Guatemala and Honduras were the only Latin American countries that supported Washington’s decision and moved their embassies and trade offices to the Holy City, respectively.
Other controversial points of the Deal of the Century turn out to be that it allows Israel to annex part of the West Bank, while the Palestinians are promised several territories in the Negev desert. In addition, the Arab state will have access to the Israeli ports of Ashdod and Haifa.
The West Bank and Gaza would be linked by a tunnel through Israel. The existing Israeli settlements in the West Bank (considered illegal under international law) would be incorporated into the State of Israel. Israel would undertake not to build new settlements, expand existing ones or approve plans for construction in the areas that would become part of the Palestinian State. In exchange, two areas of comparable size to the Gaza Strip would be created south of this enclave: one would be an advanced industrial zone and the other an agricultural and residential area.
Palestine will have the opportunity to have an independent state within four years, provided that they disarm groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
“A realistic solution would give the Palestinians all the power to govern themselves, but not the powers to threaten Israel. This necessarily implies limitations on certain sovereign powers in Palestinian areas,” the plan outlines. Thus, Israel will control the airspace over the Arab state and the territorial waters of Palestine off the Gaza Strip. Two crossings on the border with Jordan, which will be included in the Palestinian road network, will also be under Israeli control, says RT.
The Cuban position
Cuba’s position on the Accord (Scam) of the Century was expressed on Twitter by our foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez: “A biased and misleading repudiation of the US peace plan that enshrines the Israeli occupation and violates the inalienable right of the Palestinians to have their own state on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital and the return of the refugees.
Cuba has also reaffirmed its unrestricted support for a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, based on the creation of two States. This would allow the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination and to have an independent and sovereign State with the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the right to the return of refugees.
The Greater Antilles has expressed in various international forums, to the Palestinian Government and people, its unwavering solidarity and support for Palestine’s accession to full membership in the United Nations.
Parasites, Trump and Gone with the Wind
Parasites, Trump and Gone with the Wind
Viewers who’ve seen Parasites, and know of its quality, still scoff at the critical mess cooked up in Colorado, especially after the film’s producers responded that the problem is that the president can’t read subtitles. But what did Trump mean when he said “let’s bring back Gone With the Wind”?
by Rolando Pérez Betancourt | internet@granma.cu
February 25, 2020 22:02:03
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Gone With The Wind frame. Photo: Film frame
No one is forced to applaud a film praised by half the world, but at least, before giving an opinion, you should see it.
In his harsh criticism of the Oscar-winning film Parasites, President Trump let it be known that it was unknown, which did not prevent him from accusing it of being foreign, because it speaks another language, has subtitles, its protagonists are Asian, and – this last must have been blown by any advisor on the return from the cinema – it is a political and social allegation against the system that he reveres!
The film world already knows that anyone who tries to challenge the president’s actions will be diminished by insulting Twitter messages. Thus, Meryl Streep is “a second-rate actress,” Robert de Niro “a very low IQ individual,” Black director Spike Lee “a racist,” actor Alec Baldwin (who mimics him on Saturday Night Live) a conspirator “who should be punished along with the show,”. This recently led Baldwin to compare him to Hitler, and the latest pearl of the show, from a few days ago, during the election meeting in Colorado, where he criticized Brad Pitt – “I was never a big fan of him; he stood up and said a smart thing, he’s a smart guy”- because the actor, after receiving his Oscar, joked about the political process, without witnesses, who “judged” Trump.
The flag-waving minions of the Republican Party cheered when the president, on the campaign, was bewildered by Parasites’ Oscar, and called for a return to the days of awarding films like Gone with the Wind. This was a warning from the top of the establishment to the winds of change that – for the sake of maintaining hegemony and other considerations – seem to be coming to the Hollywood Academy: “… a
South Korean movie! What was that about? We have enough commercial problems with South Korea already. On top of that, we’re giving them the Best Film of the Year… Was it good? I don’t know. Let’s bring back Gone With the Wind, please. Twilight of the Gods. So many great movies…
Viewers who’ve seen Gone With the Wind, and know of its quality, still mock the critical mess cooked up in Colorado, especially after the film’s producers responded that the problem is that the president can’t read subtitles, but what did Trump mean by “let’s bring back Gone With the Wind?”
First-hand conservatism and racism, no more and no less, and along with it, offensive misinformation, unless, knowing the terrain he was treading on, he didn’t care about restoring the laurels of an anthological film, yes, but in the background of evaluations after it was established that, in addition to its racist overtones, it didn’t lack syrups and other tricks to idealize the slave-owning past of the South.
In the middle of the 21st century, the myth of Gone with the Wind, elevated to the empyrean by the enormous marketing that accompanied it, slips and cannot be sustained. A little over two months ago, on December 15, 2019, it was 80 years since its massive premiere in Atlanta. However, Hollywood preferred to go overboard and exalt instead The Wizard of Oz, also from 1939.
In the documentary The Legend Goes On (2014), the prestigious American sociologist Camille Paglia situates in a simple way what the film was: “it is not honest with what the slaves of that time felt”.
In August 2017, the Orpheum Theatre, a historic movie theater in Memphis, decided to withdraw its annual exhibition of Gone with the Wind after the bloody racial clashes that took place in Charlottesville (Virginia), where it became clear that race relations are still a pending issue in the United States. Trump received harsh criticism for his verbal lukewarmness towards white supremacists, a sector encouraged by the Republican boom: “It’s both groups’ fault,” Trump said in those days, washing his hands of where the attacks had come from, like the neo-Nazi who killed a woman with his car.
While there is no shortage of Gone with the Wind advocates as material from which critical lessons can be drawn. It’s all very well for it to be seen as an epoch-making cinema classic, but its racist weight is too strong for the new, non-conservative generations to take into account. This, without losing sight of the fact that, as a commercial film, the film crowned the Hollywood of spectacular sound and color alongside the proclaimed star system.
The all-powerful producer [David] O. Selznick is known to have emptied Margaret Mitchell’s romance novel of anything that might be critical of Southern racists. These inluded references to the Ku Klux Klan founded by America’s far-right in 1865 with veterans of the Civil War. But it is enough to see how the liberated blacks, potential criminals, are represented to be intoxicated by the racist stench that emerges from the film.
The Hollywood Academy tried to mitigate the issue by giving Hattie MacDaniel the secondary Oscar, the first black actress to receive it, for her good performance as Scarlett O’Hara’s “Mamie”. The horror came later, when, at the awards ceremony, for being black, and also a lesbian, she was seated on a separate bench, far away from her fellow filmmakers, and then she was not allowed to attend the banquet of the winners because the segregationist laws did not allow it.
Bringing back Gone With the Wind films to face films like Parasites?
No way to think of a respectful response.
Culture of Violence in the USA
Culture of Violence in the USA:
More Guns Than People
A shooting, which occurred on February 26th in the city of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has so far left seven dead
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Author: Raúl Antonio Capote | internacionales@granma.cu.February 28, 2020 01:02:35
@granma.cu.Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Police cordoned off the area of the incident in Milwaukee, where a shooting left seven people dead.
Photo: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Once again, firearms are the protagonists of a painful act of blood, pain and death in the United States. A shooting, which took place on February 26 in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has so far left seven people dead. According to local police, among the dead is the attacker, who was apparently a former employee of the Molson Coors brewery, where the incident occurred.
The city’s mayor, Tom Barret, called the incident a terrifying episode. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul also arrived at the scene.
“This is heartbreaking. My heart goes out to the Molson Coors employees, their families and the entire Milwaukee community. The Criminal Investigation Division of the Department of Justice is on the scene and will continue to assist local authorities with whatever they need,” tweeted Josh Kaul.
Police have cordoned off the area of the incident. Nearby businesses and enterprises in the area were closed as a result of the shooting, the fourth of the year in the United States, which has so far claimed 12 lives.
The last such event in Milwaukee was in August 2012, when a white supremacist terrorist killed six people.
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic nominee for the U.S. presidency, recently devoted most of his speech at a Democratic gala in Las Vegas to harsh criticism of the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers, promising to hold them accountable if elected President.
After lamenting the “carnage in the streets,” according to El Nuevo Día, and the anguish of families who lost loved ones to gun violence, Biden said he will not rest until they can sue gun manufacturers and ban assault weapons.
Joe Biden misquoted statistics on the number of Americans killed by gun violence since 2007. The mistake occurred while discussing gun control during the Democratic debate in Charleston, S.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 25, when he spoke of more than 150 million Americans killed by guns that year, according to Hispantv, a figure no doubt exaggerated in the midst of the debate for the Democratic nomination. But it reflects the plight of the American people in the hands of unscrupulous gunrunners and politicians who make a career out of suffering and death.
The Legacy of 2019
Official figures show that in 2019 there were 44 shootings that left 224 victims. However, a report by the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) handles much higher statistics that not only refer to deaths caused by single shooters, but to all deaths from firearms.GVA notes that at least 38,730 people were shot dead. Of these, 14,970 were victims of homicides, murders, intentional shootings or use defensive, a number very similar to that recorded in 2018, which was 14,789.
The nonprofit group, which documents firearms incidents across the country, counted 23,760 suicides involving some type of weapon.
The organization defines “mass shootings” as events in which at least four people are injured and “killings” as incidents in which at least four people are killed. It confirmed that in 2019 there were 409 mass shootings and 30 killings in that country.
He points out that there are also fatalities in family disputes, crimes of passion, gang fights, assaults and robberies, and from firearm accidents.
The areas where most of these incidents occur are Louisiana, Mississippi, North Florida, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, followed by North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York, according to the gva report.
In the United States, there are approximately 200 million to 350 million firearms in the hands of citizens; however, these figures are highly inaccurate, due to the lack of a national census and federal documentation of control of such weapons.
The ease of acquiring almost any type of firearm and the state laws that allow its carrying and use, plus the culture of violence, rooted in the foundations of the nation, are the main causes of the high number of fatalities.
Source: Reuters, AP, EFE, Gun Violence Archive (GVA).
Bolivia – Report “Finds Out” What We All Knew
Report “Finds Out” What We All Knew: There Was No Fraud in the Elections Won by Evo Morales
Electoral integrity specialists Jack Williams and John Curiel of the MIT (Election Data and Science Lab), concluded that “there is no statistical evidence of fraud” in Bolivia, as denounced at the time by the OAS.
By Raúl Antonio Capote | internacionales@granma.cu
February 28, 2020
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Photo: Taken from the Internet
The Washington Post on Thursday published an analysis by electoral integrity specialists Jack Williams and John Curiel of the MIT (Election Data and Science Lab), which concludes that “there is no statistical evidence of fraud” in Bolivia, as the Organization of American States (OAS) denounced at the time.
“On the contrary, it is highly probable that Evo Morales passed the ten percentage point mark in the first round,” the report states.
After the results of the MIT investigation were published, Evo Morales declared from his Twitter account that this is “one more evidence of the monumental theft that Mesa, Áñez, Camacho and Almagro did to all Bolivians.
According to The Washington Post, specialists Jack Williams and John Curiel indicated that according to their studies and the results that were released in preliminary form by the Bolivian Electoral Tribunal, the Movement towards Socialism party (MAS) would have obtained at least 10.49 percentage points more than the opposition candidate Carlos Mesa.
Mexico announced that it will demand that the OAS “clarify and explain the deficiencies in its report. In this sense, a third party will be formally requested to carry out a comparison of both studies and elucidate the discrepancies.
New Spawn of Useless Psychological Warfare
Measure 191: New Spawn of Useless Psychological Warfare
Granma offers details of other ways to send remittances
By Raúl Antonio Capote | internacionales@granma.cu
February 28, 2020
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Trump’s most recent action against the Cuban family, starting with the cancellation of remittances sent through Western Union from countries other than the United States, confirms an old modus operandi typical of psychological warfare designed in the company’s manuals.
The logic behind the method is described in agency documents that were declassified in the late 1990s. They explain that the proper way to break resistance is to create a violent rift between people and their ability to explain themselves and understand the world around them. The constant blows that affect the normal rhythm of life, that affect the daily life of individuals, can create serious psychological disorders.
As with other decisions taken previously against the people of Cuba, in order to incite discouragement, the measure 191 that the U.S. Government “imposes” on the Caribbean nation is part of the set of techniques outlined to provoke a state of shock.
The constant “rain” of measures, almost all of them announced on Thursdays or Fridays, is intended to directly affect such important things as transportation, cooking fuel, and electricity generation, and to place the citizenry in a state of deep disorientation and unrest, of depression and anguish.
The aim is to cause people to fall into a state of regression and fear, to be unable to think rationally, which, according to the CIA, would limit resistance to zero and make them act against themselves.
More than the economic damage that this strategy may cause, the aim is to create a psychological state of defeat, which, together with other covert actions, may generate chaos and ungovernability.
It is not only Western Union that operates in sending money. The American company shares the market with other competitors in the rest of the world.
Money can be sent to Cuba through bank transfers, bank to bank, through travel agencies or using electronic cards, for example, the American International Service (AIS).
Magnetic cards for purchases in freely convertible currency allow deposits that can be made by bank transfers from abroad, through correspondent banks. In addition, Fincimex has commercial relations with more than ten international companies for sending money.
Bolivian Golpistas Want Lithium Privatization
MAS Presidential Candidate Denounces Lithium Privatization as a Target for Coup in Bolivia
Former Bolivian economy minister and presidential candidate for the Movement towards Socialism, Luis Arce, denounced on Wednesday that the privatization of lithium is one of the objectives pursued by those who perpetrated last year’s coup d’état.
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Author: Redacción Digital | internet@granma.cu
February 26, 2020 14:02:29
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Luis Arce, denounced that the privatization of lithium is one of the objectives pursued by those who perpetrated the coup d’état:
Former Bolivian economy minister and presidential candidate for the Movement towards Socialism, Luis Arce, denounced on Wednesday that the privatization of lithium is one of the objectives pursued by those who perpetrated the coup d’état last year.
In his Twitter account, Arce stated that “(…) the coup d’état was not against the Indian but because of lithium. It was designed by transnationals interested in its privatization along with gas (…)”.
This denunciation, which reiterates those made previously by former president Evo Morales, comes in response to the call for transnationals to invest in Bolivian lithium.
Lithium is considered the energy of the future, because of its properties and use in the manufacture of batteries for electronic effects.
Bolivia has 70 percent of the world’s proven reserves of this mineral (around 21 million metric tons), most of which are in the Uyuni salt flats, in Potosí.
During the Morales government, lithium production began to be industrialised, with the aim of generating 4.5 billion dollars a year for the country’s development.
Sanders recognizes Cuba’s contributions
Bernie Sanders recognizes Cuba’s
contributions in education and health
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders recognized Cuba’s role in sending doctors around the world, as well as progress in education
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Author: Web Editor | internet@granma.cu
February 25, 2020 09:02:35
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Bernie Sanders: Photo: Prensa Latina
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, now one of the strongest Democratic Party candidates for the November presidential election, recognized Cuba’s role in sending doctors around the world.
“It would be a mistake not to declare in Cuba that they have made some good progress in health care,” the 78-year-old politician admitted in an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes program broadcast Sunday.
“They are sending doctors all over the world. They’ve made some progress in education,” said the Vermont senator who is running against Republican Donald Trump for the Nov. 3 presidential election.
As it turns out, presenter Anderson Cooper asked the current Blue Force nominee to explain his comments in 1985, when he praised some of the social programs implemented by the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro.
According to a video clip from more than 30 years ago, the senator said at the time that Fidel Castro “educated the children, gave them medical care, totally transformed society.
Although he made it clear that his “socialism” is not that of Venezuela or Cuba and stressed that the kind of society he believes in is the kind that exists for him in countries like Denmark, Finland and Sweden, the legislator said it is “unfair to simply say that everything is wrong” on the island.
“When Fidel Castro took office, do you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program,” Sanders emphasized, referring to the cultural revolution that in just one year (in 1961) made it possible to eradicate illiteracy and provide universal access to the various levels of education free of charge in the Caribbean country.
On October 17, 1962, during the inauguration of the Victoria de Girón Institute of Basic and Pre-clinical Sciences in the Cuban capital, Fidel Castro announced the government’s decision to provide aid in the field of health and said that 50 doctors would be sent to Algeria.
“Today we can only send 50, but in eight or 10 years, who knows how many, and we will be helping our brothers,” the Cuban leader warned at the time.
Almost six decades later, more than 400,000 health workers from the Greater Antilles have carried out missions in some 164 countries, while with the same disinterest 35,613 health professionals from 138 nations have been trained on the island free of charge.
As expected, his comments provoked the anger of the most extremist sector of Cuban Americans in South Florida, who oppose any rapprochement with the Caribbean island.
In 2016, Sanders defended diplomatic relations with Cuba, which he said “will result in significant improvements in the lives of Cubans and help the United States.’
In addition, he has reiterated his position regarding the elimination of the blockade that both Republican and Democratic administrations have maintained for nearly six decades.
But watch out, warn observers, his praise must be viewed with caution, despite the fact that it differs from Trump.
By the way, during the televised program, Sanders, who describes himself as a democratic socialist, promised that if he becomes president he hopes to use the “federal government to protect the interests of working families.”
In that sense, he stated that in the United States the government works for the very wealthy and although without mentioning his name he said that the president of the United States is a pathological liar.
In early February, in his State of the Union address, the occupant of the Oval Office attacked Medicare for All, one of Sanders’ main proposals.
For the Republican, this health plan seeks to destroy American health care.
Recent polls show that Sanders continues to be unstoppable, winning comfortably in Nevada’s Democratic caucuses on Saturday, and increasing his support among Latino voters, second only to former Vice President Joseph Biden.
Source: Prensa Latina
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