Granma 299
Broad Support for MAS in Bolivia
Broad popular support for MAS in Bolivia
The audiovisuals show a compact crowd, with the presence of many young people carrying the flag of the original peoples, known as Wiphala
Author: Granma | internet@granma.cu
February 3, 2020 23:02:39
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Thousands of people who support the Movement Towards Socialism joined to support the Arce-Choquehuanca duo for the May 3 elections. Photo: ANSA
The social networks are publishing videos of a massive demonstration by the population in La Paz, Bolivia, to support the registration of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) candidates on the last day of the term granted by the Plurinational Electoral Tribunal for this administration, said PL.
The audiovisuals show a compact crowd, with the presence of many young people carrying the flag of the native peoples, known as Wiphala. They march from the Plaza San Francisco in La Paz to the headquarters of the electoral body in the Bolivian capital.
As it is known, the registration period for the Bolivian political alliances and parties for the presidential elections of May 3 ended this Monday and from now on the electoral campaign for each of the registered candidates begins.
According to the Plurinational Electoral Tribunal (TEP), eight presidential candidates are registered, including the duo of Luis Arce and David Choquehuanca, for the MAS, while the right is divided between the self-proclaimed president Jeanine Áñez; former president Carlos Mesa, and Luis Fernando Camacho.
Meanwhile, Evo Morales presented a request before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to demand that the entity issue a precautionary measure in his favor that guarantees respect for his right to run for the Plurinational Legislative Assembly by MAS.
Recently, lawyers Patricia Hermosa and Wilfredo Chávez were arrested. They were to present before the electoral authorities the documentation required to register Evo as a candidate for the Plurinational Legislative Assembly.
Two Months in Bolivia Without Cuban Doctors
How Does Two Months in Bolivia Without Cuban Doctors Translate?
An intense and insulting campaign against the medical collaboration that Cuba provides to the world characterized the U.S. imperial strategy implemented in 2019. It found submissive governments that preferred to leave their people without health care, in order to play along with the White House.
by Nuria Barbosa León
January 24, 2020
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
More than 160 nations have received help from Cuban doctors in 56 years of collaboration. Photo: Manuel Guillermo Wong Reme Photo: Granma
An intense and insulting campaign against the medical collaboration that Cuba provides to the world characterized the U.S. imperial strategy implemented in 2019. It found submissive governments that preferred to leave their people without health care, as long as they played along with the White House.
One example is the recent statements made by the self-proclaimed president of Bolivia, Jeanine Áñez. On January 22, at the ceremony to celebrate the founding of the Plurinational State, Áñez once again used hackneyed arguments against the altruism of Cuban health professionals.
In response to such fallacies, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, in his Twitter account, described the lies of the coup leader as vulgar. He urged her to explain to her own people that, after the return to Cuba of the collaborators, as a result of the violence to which they were subjected, more than 454,440 medical visits had been cancelled.
He also said that the two months of absence of Cuban doctors in that Andean-Amazon nation have resulted in almost a thousand women who have not received specialized assistance in their deliveries, and 5,000 surgeries, as well as more than 2,700 ophthalmological durgeries, which were not performed. “They are not just figures, they are human beings,” wrote the Head of Cuban diplomacy.
The dismantling of the programs based on Cuban medical cooperation has been financed with more than $3 million, granted by the Agency for International Development (USAID), a U.S. institution that provides funds for different aggressive actions against governments that Washington does not like.
The Cuban medical brigades in Brazil, Ecuador and Bolivia disappeared as a result of all this persecution by the United States, which questioned the professionalism and dedication of the more than 400,000 Cuban health workers who, in 56 years, have carried out missions in 164 nations.
This campaign to discredit Cuba is led by the White House National Security Council under the sponsorship of senators and congress members associated with the anti-Cuban mafia in Florida and right-wing State Department officials.
They invent the premise of a supposed “modern slavery” and “human trafficking” for Cuban doctors and hide the humanistic sense of such missions abroad. These have helped to recover health indices such as the decrease of infant mortality and maternal deaths; the curing of infectious diseases by epidemics and others.
They do not know that Cuban doctors, before leaving, receive training about the place where they will work. They sign a contract of employment with all the legal guarantees and where the terms to be fulfilled by both parties are made explicit. They take with them a medical record with the updating of their vaccines, plus the legalization of their professional titles.
Several countries even require these professionals to take knowledge tests, and medical authorities from these countries travel to Cuba to take tests in languages other than Spanish.
Those who go on medical missions do so absolutely freely and voluntarily. In Cuba, their families receive their full salary or it is kept in a bank account, while they have a stipend in the country of destination, along with other benefits (payment of accommodations, electricity, water and basic services).
The compensation Cuba receives for the cooperation it provides goes towards the financing, sustainability, and development of the public health system, which is free for one hundred percent of Cubans. This is something difficult to understand in the capitalist world, where a good part of the health services are paid for.
All the discrediting promoted by Washington is accompanied by attempts to re-establish the so-called Parole Program for Cuban Medical Professionals, which existed until January 12, 2017. This encourages desertion, payment of tickets and legal services, provision of U.S. visas and travel documents to aid workers in third countries. Its is the sabotaging bilateral agreements signed with them, depriving them of their services and depriving us of highly qualified human resources.
Today, the response to this new war has been to continue saving lives, providing health and welfare. While the governments denigrate the stories of Cuban internationalism, the beneficiaries are grateful and recognize that this achievement completely transcends geopolitical interests and any ideology.
In context
– November 2018:
Cuba decides to return home to its brigade in Brazil, because President Jair Bolsonaro questioned the dignity and professionalism of our doctors present in 3,600 municipalities in that country, which between 2013 and 2018 provided health coverage to 60 million Brazilians.
– May 2019:
The Secretary-General of the OAS presided over a conference to accuse Cuba of alleged crimes against humanity, based on Cuban medical cooperation abroad.
– June 2019:
The State Department, in its Report on Trafficking in Persons 2019, denounced Cuba’s international medical cooperation.
– July 2019:
USA The US imposes visa restriction sanctions on Cuban officials linked to medical missions.
– July 2019:
The Agency for International Development (USAID) provides three million dollars for projects against Cuban doctors abroad.
– During 2019:
U.S. Embassy and U.S. government officials went to authorities in several countries to inquire into accurate data on Cuban medical cooperation, with the aim of finding ways to eliminate it.
– October 2019:
The Government of Ecuador decides to conclude the health agreement with Cuba, alleging economic reasons, but spreading slander in the press about the participation of Cubans in the protests carried out by the Ecuadorian people.
– November 2019:
There were 26 serious incidents against our aid workers in Bolivia, and therefore the medical mission in that country was terminated.
– Throughout the year 2019:
27 bilateral legal instruments were signed in Cuba with 23 countries.
Sources: Minrex Declaration: The United States Crusade against Cuba’s International Medical Cooperation, December 5, 2019, and “Continue to promote Cuban health as a reference for the world”, Minsap report 2019.
Cuba Bets on Burley Tobacco
Cuba Bets on Cultivation of Burley Tobacco
“National demand is low and has been covered over the years. But exports in the form of raw materials offer us many possibilities,” said Félix Ramón Fernández, director of the pre-industrial division of the Tabacuba business group.
by Ronald Suárez Rivas | ronald@granma.cu
January 30, 2020 20:01:27
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
PINAR DEL RÍO: With the purpose of increasing exports, and attending a demand that today is not in conditions to cover, Cuba increases the plantating of burley tobacco.
During the current season, the plan is to reach some 1,700 hectares, distributed between the municipalities of Consolación del Sur and Pinar del Río, but the program to develop this crop aims to grow much more.
Félix Ramón Fernández, director of the pre-industry department of the Tabacuba business group, explains that there is currently confirmed demand from foreign customers for 5 000 tons. However, the country’s production will only be able to reach around 2,000 this year.
This is why increasing burley cultivation is one of the sector’s priorities.
Although currently only pineapple fertile lands are harvested, the official says that it will also be taken to other territories in the center of the country, in order to raise production to 10 000 tonnes.
However, the main focus will be on Vueltabajo, where it has already begun to replace dark tobacco in some of the Consolación del Sur and Pinar del Río plantations.
Fernández points out that burley production was very depressed, and was aimed solely at the Cuban industry.
“National demand is low and has been covered all these years. But export in the form of raw materials offers us many possibilities.
Justo Luis Fuentes, president of Tabacuba, assures that “this type of tobacco is very coveted in the world today. Therefore, the increase of its production constitutes a fundamental line of work, for the increase of exports.
“Cuban dark tobacco is also in great demand, but we have a greater quantity of that,” he adds.
Introduced into the country in 1947, in the area of Herradura (municipality of Consolación del Sur), burley is a type of blond tobacco that is mainly used in cigarette blends, due to its ability to retain aromas.
Cuba: 200 Cases of Leprosy Every Year
Cuba reports around 200 cases of leprosy every year, a disease that is well supervised and controlled on an outpatient basis
Many of the affected patients experience some form of discrimination and exclusion and therefore face mental health problems, such as depression or anxiety.
by Web Editor
January 29, 2020
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Many erroneous beliefs are related to leprosy, but specialists in the field prefer to point out three truths about it:. It is curable, it is not contagious because it ceases to be transmissible beginning with the first doses of treatment and it does not produce deformities or disability if it is diagnosed in time.
World Leprosy Day is observed on the last Sunday of January, this time on the 26th. Dr. Raisa Rumbaut Castillo, head of the National Leprosy Program of the Ministry of Public Health, explained that every year in Cuba an average of 200 new cases of both sexes are reported, from all provinces, mainly Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Camagüey, Ciego de Ávila and Havana, the latter because of the number of migrants it receives.
Many of the affected patients experience some kind of discrimination and exclusion and therefore face mental health problems, such as depression or anxiety. In view of this, this year’s theme will be: Stigma and human rights of people affected by leprosy.
The doctor stressed that unlike other countries where treatment is only supervised in the first dose, in Cuba leprosy patients receive free, supervised and controlled care (on an outpatient basis) in primary health care, that is, through the Family Doctor and Nurse Program. Patients are no longer isolated in sanatoriums (formerly called leprosaria).
The also First Degree specialist in Epidemiology and Master in Infectious Diseases said that this treatment is donated by the World Health Organization (WHO), which recently decreed that every January 30 (and from this year) will be commemorated the World Day for Neglected Tropical Diseases (WTD), which includes leprosy.
Apart from the fact that there is no neglected disease here, both dates will be remembered on 30 and 31 January with a national scientific day to be held in the capital, at the Comandante Manuel Fajardo University Clinical Surgical Hospital, which will be supported by the Cuban Dermatology Society.
Leprosy is a chronic disease that affects the peripheral nerves and the skin, but has no defined symptoms. This is why specialists call it a “great simulator”.
However, the most common symptoms are light patches of skin (brown and red), which may or may not have sensitivity disorders. That is to say, difficulties in differentiating the cold temperature from the hot one in the affected areas, as well as the loss of the sensation of pain.
The risk of contagion is very low and the incubation period, on average, is five years, but it can be as long as two years and as long as 20 years. The bacillus penetrates through the skin or the mucous membranes of the body and evolves slowly, progressively affecting the nervous system and the skin. This means that close and repeated contact with an untreated patient is required.
The first news of the disease in Cuba is dated January 17, 1613 and corresponds to the act of the Cabildo, when a group of neighbors from Havana, reported that “there are 4 or 6 people touched by the San Lazaro disease that have come from outside”. This document, of importance for the Medical History of Cuba, indicates the beginning of the leprosy endemic.
Every year, according to WHO data, around 200,000 new cases are diagnosed in the world, with India (more than 120,000 cases), Brazil (more than 28,000 cases) and Indonesia (more than 18,000 cases) being the nations with the greatest number of reports of the disease.
For years this organization has proposed to eliminate this disease. The goal was for each nation to achieve a prevalence rate of less than 1 case per 10,000 inhabitants. Cuba has been meeting this goal since 1993, and is now in the post-elimination phase.
“Behind a leprosy patient, there is always the one who infected them. That is why the most important thing is to interrupt transmission,” said the doctor.ef
Kobe Bryant Rises to Eternity
Kobe Bryant Rises to Eternity
Kobe Bryant’s tragic death in a helicopter crash along with eight others – including Gianna, one of his four daughters – leaves immense pain, even for those who are not sports fans
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Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Author: Yosel E. Martínez Castellanos | yosel@granma.cu
January 27, 2020 23:01:53
Kobe Bryant junto a su hija Gianna. Photo: AP
Basketball player Kobe Bryant is gone and leaves an immense pain, even in those who are not sports lovers. His tragic death, in a helicopter crash with eight others – including Gianna, one of his four daughters – on Sunday outside the city of Los Angeles, has been the news of the world for the last 48 hours.
The American shooting guard was a worthy heir to the legacy sown by Michael Jordan, considered the best player in the sport’s history. Kobe won everything: two Olympic gold medals, five NBA championship rings, two laurels for the most valuable player in the finals of that prestigious league and an award for the most outstanding basketball player, are several of the prizes he won, all with the Los Angeles Lakers club.
But Kobe made a name for himself beyond sports, for conveying values of justice and helping those who have needed it most financially. The “Black Mamba”, as he was known, was and will be an example to follow.
His departure has been commented on by personalities from the sports, political, social and cultural worlds, who through social networks dedicated countless words of praise to him.
Among the comments expressed by the personalities stand out the words professionalism, respect and love he felt towards the game.
Besides being described as an excellent man, capable of encouraging others not to give up their dreams and see their objectives fulfilled.
A natural competitor, as he was, was not defeated by death. He was victorious by winning millions of hearts.
Tribute to Father Sardiñas
Tribute to Father Sardiñas on the 55th Anniversary of his Passing
With the placing of a floral offering in the name of the Cuban people, and a pilgrimage to his tomb in the Colon Cemetary in Havana, Guillermo Isaías Sardiñas Menéndez, the priest known as the Father of the olive green cassock, was recalled yesterday on the 55th anniversary of his death
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Author: National Editor | internet@granma.cu
December 24, 2019 01:12:18
A CubaNews translation.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.
Photo: Dunia Álvarez
With the placing of a floral offering in the name of the People of Cuba and a pilgrimage to his tomb, in the Colon Necropolis, in Havana, the priest Guillermo Isaías Sardiñas Menéndez, known as the Father of the olive green cassock, was evoked yesterday on the 55th anniversary of his death.
Major General José Carrillo Gómez, president of the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution (acrc), highlighted the personality of the former chaplain of the Rebel Army who came down from the Sierra Maestra with the rank of Commander, while Monsignor Ramón Suárez Polcari, chancellor of the Archbishopric of Havana, said a prayer in tribute to this distinguished personality. Also present were Caridad Diego, head of the Office of Attention to Religious Affairs of the Central Committee of the Party, Brigadier General Delsa Esther Puebla Viltre and members of the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution (ACRC), as well as representatives and religious leaders of our country. (National Editor)
The Siege of Túpac Katari
The Siege of Túpac Katari
On November 15, 238 years had passed since the dismemberment of the Bolivian indigenous leader. Along with thousands of his followers, he surrounded the city of Nuestra Señora de la Paz [today’s La Paz] for several months creating chaos and sowing panic among the Spaniards who lived in the small city
November 20, 2019
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Portrait made by Gastón Ugalde and located in the Legislative Palace, in La Paz. Photo: Taken from the Internet
November 15, marked 238 years since the dismemberment of the Bolivian indigenous leader Túpac Katari. Together with thousands of his followers, he surrounded the city of La Paz for several months, creating chaos and sowing panic among the Spaniards and their descendants who inhabited In the small town.
Before dying, Katari formulated this prophecy: “I will die but I will return and be millions.” The historic phrase was rescued by Aymara leader Evo Morales when he assumed the presidency of Bolivia in 2006, and his government began to work for the demands for the rights of the original peoples.
Katari’s real name was Julian Apaza Nina. He was born in 1750 in the Aymara community of Ayo Ayo, province of Sica Sica, near La Paz, the son of a miner who died in the mines of Potosí. This indigenous leader led one of the most important rebellions against Spanish colonialism in Upper Peru, along with his wife, the heroine Bartolina Sisa and her younger sister Gregoria Apaza.
The heroine Bartolina Sisa, wife of Túpac Katari. Photo: Internet
Legend has it that when Julian was born in 1750, two huge condors settled in the nearby mountains. One represented the Aymara and the other, the Quechua. Thus they learned that this child would be very important for the two native communities. That’s what happened.
The young Julian adopted the pseudonym of Túpac Katari in tribute to the indigenous leaders Túpac Amaro II and Tomás Katari, to fight against Spanish domination, organizing the indigenous and mestizos for the great rebellion he was preparing.
An army of more than 40,000 indigenous people from different regions such as Calamarca, Caracato, Sapahaqui, Laja and Viacha, led by Tupac Katari, twice surrounded the city of La Paz in 1781. Their seige lasted for one hundred and nine days, causing serious damage to the Spanish forces. This was mainly due to lack of supplies, however, troops sent in aid from Argentina prevented the fall of the city.
Katari was betrayed, imprisoned and sentenced to be executed through dismemberment, which took place on November 15, 1781, in the small town of Peñas, two hours from El Alto.
He was made to walk around the main square, his tongue was cut, he was quartered by stretching his limbs by four horses. They pierced his head over the tip of a pillory to intimidate the rebels. And as if that were not enough, parts of his body were exposed in different regions.
But his example led to other uprisings that achieved the expulsion of the conquerors of Bolivian land. And the fence was sculpted forever as the indigenous epic that bent the Spanish conquerors for a few months.
Now in Bolivia, a reissue of that siege is taking place. Representatives of social organizations of the city of El Alto, and the federations of coca leaf producers of El Chapare, decided to encircle La Paz. They demanded that the murders of the peasants and the mobilized people cease; human rights violations cease and the legitimate government and not the coup be restored.
In a tweet from Mexico, President Evo Morales recalled the Bolivian indigenous leader: «Spanish imperialism thought that by tearing up Tupac Katari 238 years ago, it would cut off the strength of the people to break the chains of colonialism. Today, more than ever, the fight continues. Before the repression of the racist coup, we repeat the sentence: I will return and be millions!,” he wrote.
Sources: Internet
Saint Lazarus Day in Cuba
Saint Lazarus Day, a Cuban Cultural Tradition
BabalúAyé, “as he is also compared by the association of the believers in the Yoruba religion”, means “King or Father of the World”, Shangó’s brother
December 18, 2019
by Endrys Correa Vaillant | internet@granma.cu
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
In the houses, the altars are also prepared and worshipped. Photo: Endrys Correa Vaillant
Babalú Ayé, “as he is also compared by association with believers in the Yoruba religion”, means “King or father of the World”, Shangó’s brother.
The Chinese also see in Babalú Ayé a resemblance to one of the eight immortals of their mythology, Li Xuan, who, like Saint Lazarus or Babalú Ayé, wears thick cloth rags, is crippled on one leg, helps himself with crutches and is a lover of animals.
In these days, on the eve of December 17, his day; the devotees of this saint venerate him in different ways. Some slide with a stone on their backs, others walk barefoot or with flowers and candles. What almost everyone agrees on is that they go to the National Sanctuary of Saint Lazarus in El Rincón to deposit all their offerings. Some ask for health, others for protection, or for themselves and their families.
In El Rincón we find people of all kinds, from different places in Cuba and other countries. Even the riders go with their horses to bless them (they do it on December 17 and January 17).
It is normal to see them in the strollers known popularly as spiders moving in groups of up to 20 to fulfill their task. They arrive at the Rincón and go to the fountain in search of holy water, take it to the father of the church to bless it and cleanse their beasts to rid them of all evil, it is part of the ritual.
Like the Virgin of Charity, Saint Barbara or the Virgin of Rule, Saint Lazarus, will always have in Cubans, followers who will worship him to face his challenges, calamities and hardships. Faith in him manages to cross borders and clings to those who feel it and make it theirs.
THE LEGEND
Legend has it that Babalú Ayé, being a very womanizing man, was advised by Orula to control himself in this way because he could contract serious diseases, which he did not do. One day he met an irresistible woman, went to have fun, and when he woke up the next day his body was covered with malignant sores.
The elders of the village, seeing his condition, sewed his tongue with twelve diloggún (a divinatory system of the Osha Rule that uses the cauri snail in the hand of 18 or 21 pieces, depending on the orisha in question) and expelled him from the place.
His brother Shangó took him to Orula who, after scolding him for his disobedience, advised Shangó to look for Osain to prepare a remedy with herbs that would cure the disease. Babalú Ayé had to clean himself with them, bury the ebbó (cleaning and purification work) and go to a village where he would be proclaimed king. Ogún gave him two dogs to accompany him on the journey.
Fulfilling to the letter what Orula had told him, Babalú Ayé went to look for the place that Orula had described to him. When he buried the ebbó, it began to rain heavily and the sores that had afflicted it disappeared. To his surprise, as he entered the village he realized that everyone there was suffering from a serious illness, and the villagers who saw him went to meet him in veneration. This was because according to them, the cure for their ills would come with the man who arrived in the rain. Babalú Ayé, who knew some of Osain’s secrets of healing, began to care for the sick and was proclaimed king of the place.
Note: The data taken from the book “Con bendición de todos” by the professor and researcher Valentina Porras Potts.
The Cardinal of Cuba, Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez, also participates by blessing everyone. Photo: Endrys Correa Vaillant
Great effort and energy are needed to keep the promises. Photo: Endrys Correa Vaillant
Carlos Manuel, who walked six days with that stone from Centro Habana, has been a pilgrim for 15 years. Photo: Endrys Correa Vaillant
Photo: Endrys Correa Vaillant
Photo: Endrys Correa Vaillant
Photo: Endrys Correa Vaillant
Photo: Endrys Correa Vaillant
Argentine Abortion Rights Expanded
Alberto Fernández enforces guarantees for legal abortion in Argentina
On Friday the government of President Alberto Fernandez launched measures to guarantee non-punishable abortion in Argentina
Author: Digital Editor | internet@granma.c
December 14, 2019 10:12:32
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Alberto Fernández, President of Argentina. Photo: AFP
On Friday the government of President Alberto Fernandez launched measures to ensure in Argentina non-punishable abortion, such as setting a deadline of 10 days to perform it, without changing the law prohibiting the free termination of pregnancy.
“The anti-rights always use any kind of arguments and even justice for not complying with the law. This is just a procedural guide or protocol. It’s public health, it doesn’t make sense to turn it into a religious or political debate,” Health Minister Ginés González García told La Red radio station.
Abortions are legal in Argentina only when the woman’s life is in danger or when the pregnancy was the result of rape.
“We are respectful [of doctors] who raise conscientious objections, but this cannot be an alibi for [health] institutions not to comply with the law,” the minister said at a press conference.
A period of 10 days is established for the performance of the abortion from the moment the Legal Termination of Pregnancy (ILE) is requested.
A bill authorizing legal, safe and free abortion was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in 2018 but failed in the Senate.
Since then, anti-abortioni sectors have intensified pressure and obstacles to comply with the non-punishable abortion law that has been in force since 1921, and there are even provinces that refuse to comply with the law.
Fernández announced that he will promote a new debate on abortion in Congress, where the pro-government bloc is the first minority in the Lower House and the president has a majority in the Senate.
The minister explailned that the protocol helps “health workers be backed by the law because in controversies [with anti-abortionists] they are frightened or intimidated.”
“The protocol says what the health teams should do, medical evaluations, what is the bibliography to consult and the medication used,” said González, who is in favor of legalizing abortion. He said the protocol complies with World Health Organization recommendations.
A controversy had erupted in November when the outgoing government of President Mauricio Macri vetoed a protocol similar to the one implemented this Friday, despite the fact that it had been signed by the former Minister of Health, Adolfo Rubinstein, who had to resign.
Non-governmental organizations claim that in Argentina there are between 370,000 and 520,000 clandestine abortions a year. (CUBADEBATE)
The Empire’s Unconventional War Strategy
The Empire’s Unconventional War Strategy and Organized “Civil” Violence
In several Latin American countries, in Iran and elsewhere where governments not in the interests of the U.S. rule, the CIA special forces establish as a mode of interference the creation of violent groups apparently disorganized and spontaneous, which seek to sow chaos, to criminalize social protests and to justify the murderous action of security forces.
Author: Raúl Antonio Capote | internacionales@granma.cu
December 11, 2019 01:12:56
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
What happened in Bolivia demonstrates Washington’s strategy to destabilize the region and impose its interests. Photo: TELESUR
While the repressive forces in Ecuador confronted the people who were demonstrating against the neo-liberal measures of Lenín Moreno’s government, and while the security forces murdered, tortured and kidnapped the participants in the protests, Ecuadorian television broadcasted SpongeBob dolls. Any attempt to present the truth was censored.
Apparently disorganized and spontaneous violent groups acted. Their objective: to sow chaos, to criminalize protests and to justify the homicidal action of the security forces.
In Chile, after the lethargy cultivated with care by the media and fertilized by years of terror, the people woke up. The sons of Lautaro, Caupolicán and Allende defied the security forces. On October 14, 2019, high school and university students organized to massively evade [hiked prices for] the Santiago subway. The reason, a protest to the rise in the value of the ticket. But it was only the beginning, it was just a spark. Faced with the real situation of inequality created by neo-liberalism in that country, the protest became radicalized and generalized.
While the demonstrators, mostly young people, raised their arms to show the peaceful nature of the marches, violent events occurred in several places. Groups with no apparent relationship between them, alien to the demonstrators, were responsible for these events. The denunciation made by several people situates them in scenarios where Carabineros forces acted, to which some videos uploaded to social networks show them, even participating or stimulating the looting.
Here, too, the mass media opt for silence, for the criminalization of protest, while the forces of order murder, rape, and beat as in the “best times” of the dictatorship.
In Bolivia, a set of factors came together to bring about the fall of the government of Evo Morales. They were not only elements of internal dynamics, cyber attacks, espionage and propaganda tasks, destabilization campaigns, they were also criminal groups with no apparent connection between them, allied with military and police forces involved in the plot, external diplomatic action and intervention by destabilizing agents of the U.S. Embassy.
Bands of criminals protected by the narrative of “popular indignation,” for alleged electoral fraud, took control of the cities, carried out roadblocks in the style of the Venezuelan guarimberos, burned institutions, made threats, committed murders, tortured on the streets, and humiliated social and political leaders.
These right-wing criminal groups, armed, invisible to the media, acted with absolute coordination and took strategic points of the capital of the country, an example was the seizure of Bolivia TV, which shows a great advance preparation. They did not act at random: they directed their blows with precision, they knew against whom to proceed, they kidnapped, murdered and destroyed, selectively.
It was not a question of the people dissatisfied with a fraud that never happened, but of well-planned aggression. The people of Venezuela and Nicaragua, who have been victims of these unconventional acts of war, are well aware of this.
Not only in Latin America
The M.O. is not exclusive to our region. Last November, Iran suffered a wave of violence that destroyed 730 banks, 70 service stations, 140 government buildings and more than 50 security force bases.
Thousands of angry protesters took to the streets for days and attacked gas stations, banks and government buildings following the announcement of rationing and a 50% increase in fuel prices.
Here again, the tactic used in Bolivia is repeated: armed groups, perfectly coordinated and trained, act on the ground. Using the “swarm” technique, the groups communicated with each other and concerted actions using text messages to meet at points of attack.
The aggression came to a halt when the government turned off the Internet and wireless networks. Iranian security forces succeeded in capturing several CIA agents acting in these alleged anti-government groups.
Political Action Groups
In a 2003 book, Special Ops: America’s Elite Forces in 21st. Century Combat, the author states:
“Highly confidential, the Special Operations Division is considered the pre-eminent special operations unit in the world. Members are the elite of the elite. This is due to the sources from which the organization recruits its members: Special Mission Units, such as the Delta Force and the United States Special Naval Warfare Development Group…”.
The Special Activities Center (SAC), a division of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), is responsible for conducting undercover operations known as “special activities”. Prior to 2016, the unit was called the Special Activities Division.
Within the SAC there are two separate groups: the Special Operations Group (SOG) for tactical paramilitary operations and the Political Action Group (PAG) for covert political operations.
The Political Action Group (PAG) is responsible for covert activities related to political influence, psychological operations and economic warfare. With the rapid development of technology, cyber-warfare was included in its missions.
The SAC offers its services to the President of the United States as an option when military and diplomatic actions are not politically viable or feasible.
The Political Action Group conducts covert operations to bring about political change. Covert intervention in a foreign election is considered by the sac the most important form of political action. This could include financial support for “appropriate” candidates for the United States, support with specialized media, technical support for public relations, resources to influence the vote, participation in political organization, legal advice, publicity campaigns and what they call “other means of direct action”.
According to SAC specialists, political decisions can be influenced by active values, such as the uprising of U.S. officials, pressure on officials and political leaders to make official decisions aligned with U.S. policy and objectives. In addition, they can develop mechanisms for the formation of public opinion favorable to U.S. interests, actions that involve the covert use of propaganda.
They may employ officials to work as journalists, use influential agents, operate media platforms, plant certain stories or information in places where it is expected to come to light “naturally,” or try to deny and/or discredit information that is in the public domain.
Most U.S. experts consider the SAC the current special operations force, perfect for unconventional warfare.
Some examples of the company’s political action programs were actions to prevent the Italian Communist Party (PCI) from winning elections in 1948; already in late 1960, the 1953 Iranian coup d’état; Chile 1953; Guatemala 1954; Indonesia in 1957, as well as the provision of funds and support to the Solidarity union in Poland 1981, attempted coup d’état in Venezuela 2002; coup in Honduras 2009, Nicaragua 2018, Juan Guaidó’s self-proclamation in Venezuela, attacks on the Venezuelan National Electric System (SEN) 2019, etc.
As clear as water: the presence more than once of officials and agents of the US special services in the field denounced during these actions, plus the recognition in public documents of their interventionist actions against governments that are not related to them, proves the direct interference of the United States in these blows, which only have a soft name, because they have left a mark of blood and suffering in all parts of the world.
To foresee is the word of order, the progressive forces, the leaders of the left must be prepared and prepare their peoples. It is necessary to be willing to give everything, to face with intelligence the Yankee plans and to win.
Fountains:
A Guide to America’s Special Operations Units : the World’s Most Elite Fighting Force. Da Capo Press.Southworth, Samuel A. & Tanner, Stephen. 2002. U.S. Special Forces.
At the Center of the Storm: My Life at the CIA. Harper Collins. Tenet, George. 2007.
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