Uncategorized 179

Interview with Adriana Pérez

1 month ago Translations, UncategorizedAdriana, Cuban Five, Gerardo

Interview with Adriana Pérez
I live proud of being a woman and Cuban

By Magaly Cabrales – Cuba | lajiribilla@cubarte.cult.cu

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

Adriana Pérez Oconor has been a chemical engineer since 1995. She currently works at the Food Industry Research Institute and holds a master’s degree in that specialty. But it is not precisely her professional performance, nor her outstanding work as a deputy to the National Assembly of People’s Power, in the period between 2013 and 2018, that is the essential purpose of this interview.

This woman, with whom we talked a few days before the celebration of March 8, went from despair to the absolute happiness she lives today, in the company of her three children -Gema, Ámbar and Gerardito- and her husband Gerardo Hernández Nordelo. This happiness, however, was preceded by an anguishing road, which she only managed to travel clinging to the courage inherited from Mariana, Celia, Haydée and Vilma, among many other courageous Cuban women.

“As time goes by, you gather strength, willpower, resources and energy to face the new challenges that life imposes on you”. Photos: Courtesy of the interviewee. Taken from the family album

What was your reaction when you learned of Gerardo’s real mission in the United States?

When Gerardo left Cuba for the United States we were already married and just when he was arrested, in 1994, we had been together ten years. I was finishing the last year of my career through a course for workers, since I was working at the Tenería Habana company at the time.

The knowledge of Gerardo’s real mission was really shocking for me, a great surprise. He was doing a master’s degree in a Latin American country linked to his diplomatic career and I never knew about his mission until the whole network was discovered and its members arrested. When he was arrested, he had been in the United States for about four years. When I learned of his arrest, I learned of something that I never even suspected, nor did I imagine that he could be linked to this type of activity, to alleged espionage as initially commented on in the news that the radio stations in Florida were broadcasting. It was the only public information that was given at that time. I confess that literally, my whole world turned upside down. It was actually a mixture of emotions, because at first I had to assimilate the news. And second, how I would face a totally uncertain and unflattering future?

On the other hand, there was the family situation. Gerardo’s mother was alive and completely unaware of the activities of her youngest and only son. In that same year she had lost a daughter and for her this news would be too strong a blow, even much harder. In other words, the news, in addition to having a personal impact, also had an impact from the family point of view. This meant that I had to prepare myself psychologically for the role I had to play from that moment on. This information had to be kept secret and assumed in silence, which demanded from me all my effort, all my creativity, all the sentimental resources I could call upon.

From that moment on, I was obliged to impose myself on a world that I knew from the beginning was very difficult to bear. Many times I have been asked how I managed to do it and I have never been able to give an answer because I still don’t know how I did it. But I think that as time goes by, one gathers strength, will, resources and energy to face the new challenges that life imposes on you. And to face those challenges with emotional balance, I began to create a kind of armor that would allow me to live in tune with what was happening and at the same time assume what was coming. I was always convinced that it would be a very complicated road to walk, especially if we take into account how relations between Cuba and the United States have been historically.

At no time, however, did I stop working and, on the contrary, I was looking for things that would occupy my mind, that would not allow me to worry. I finished my master’s degree and began to study language, studies in which, although I never prospered, kept me mentally busy. At that stage, the most difficult thing for me as a person, as a human being, was the role I had to assume with respect to Gerardo’s family. He always had a very close relationship with his mother. He had inherited her nobility and sense of humor.

For me, it was a great responsibility to try to cover his absence. And I had to lie, lie a lot, something that is an element that was never before part of my personality, that I never before conceived in my behavior. I lied to everybody, I had to evade comments, to remain silent all the time and that was terrible. In fact, I was never able to achieve it and, although half-heartedly, I was revealing some parts of the truth that I kept hidden from people close to me, such as my mother, who from the beginning of our relationship felt great affection for Gerardo.

Of course, all our dreams, illusions, plans, were shattered, shattered. I was left with only two options: I could let the fact of knowing about Gerardo’s activities crush me, or I could start from the new conditions. Either I would feel like dying, giving up everything I had lived, everything I had, everything that had made me happy and that I admired, or I would start to walk this new path, dragging the sack where I had thrown everything that had broken, except love, which was the only thing that remained intact. I decided on the second option and began to adapt my plans in correspondence with the great challenges that the new circumstances brought with them.

And from that decision I set goals. The most important thing was to reach the end, even though I never knew when it would be. But I decided to reach that end with the necessary emotional balance to stay strong and, at the same time, to take care of all the fronts I had open, which were to attend to my work responsibilities and to give emotional support to both families, especially Gerardo’s. I also tried to remain socially active in the community. I also tried to remain socially active and maintain good physical and mental health.

“Gerardo always taught me that: live each day as if it were your last. And that’s what I did.”

During the relentless struggle for the Five’s release, did you ever feel alone?

I always had the extraordinary support of all these people. I also had the valuable support of my family, of the families of the Five, that we became one. I had the same support from my friends -who are many and very valuable- and from my co-workers, who, when Gerardo’s situation became public, helped me even more. It was my colleagues who assumed my absences when I participated in the solidarity campaigns in favor of the Five, in the meetings held inside and outside Cuba. They made an effort to keep the work going, taking care of my image as head of the production department. We became a great team.

Of great importance was also the support I received from Dr. Jesús Llanes Querejeta, who was my boss at the time. Professionally I learned a lot from him, as well as from his intelligence, discipline and optimism.

I cannot hide the fact that I had several moments of weakness. In that first stage of silence, which in my opinion was the most difficult, I experienced very hard, sad and painful moments. This does not mean that when our Government made the information publicly and officially known, my moods become better, but the situation became a little more bearable. There were days, for example, when I did not know how I was going to get up and if I got up I did not know how to walk. In public, I always showed great strength, but when I got home and closed the door, that strength left me, and once again I saw before I felt great despair. All the armor that I had forged, that I kept outside, disappeared. In those moments, loneliness, nostalgia, uncertainty and longing took hold of me. However, I quickly thought: if out there, in the Cuban streets and not a few in the world, there are thousands of people who are not family of the Five, who probably do not even know them and are demanding their freedom, how can I, who am the wife of one of them, be weak?

That thought forced me to get up, to get going again. And so day after day I searched for resources to cling to when I was alone. Publicly I could not, it was not fair for me to show the slightest sign of weakness, when there was, I repeat, an entire people who, moved by their patriotism, humanism, solidarity, demanded the right of their children to be in their homeland. In reality I lived through very, very difficult moments, very sad, even in some international events, which became repetitive and I almost never saw a light as a sign of progress. Many people who participated in those events did not understand that we did not tell a story, but that we lived that story, that we were part of it.

How did you deal with the two life sentences unjustly and arbitrarily imposed on Gerardo?

I learned Gerardo’s sentence immediately because kind people present at the trial informed me of it. I think it was a problem of temperament, of character, or that it was already difficult for me to be surprised by something, that could make me collapse, but the truth is that the judge’s verdict did not alarm me. The trial was held in 2001 and the sentence was pronounced at the end of that same year. I already knew, from the verdict of guilty on all charges initially handed down, that the sentence would be far from lenient and I prepared myself for life imprisonment, but never for the death penalty. And since I always kept that sentence in mind, I began to analyze what could happen next. Without having it written down, I mentally made a kind of chronogram, or goal, where I had programmed: I have the strength to wait until he completed the full sentence, and after it I would have to create new things to stick to for myself. I also had six months between the trial and the final sentence, which allowed me to draw up a strategy and the steps I had to follow.

During that time, some things happened: between June and December, we prepared a video that we respectfully sent to the judge. In that recording we referred, from the humanitarian point of view, who they were, highlighting their values. During that period, the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers also took place. And a letter to the American people had also been made public, acknowledging that the Five had never harmed the people of the United States.

There were two possibilities: one, that they tried to prevent acts like the one that happened in the Twin Towers, and two, that people like them could prepare actions of this type. In the end, we think that the judge leaned toward the second possibility because of the very strict, harsh and arbitrary verdict she issued. The judge’s behavior allowed me to prepare myself for the tougher, more complex scenario. For me, it meant the same for one or two life sentences, because we always agreed that until the last one came out, we would continue our battles, our campaigns.

The conviction was not a surprise to me, it was not shocking like the first news I had received related to Gerardo’s activities. In fact, I did not cry that day. I had already prepared myself sentimentally to endure it. I was fully aware that both Gerardo and his comrades were innocent of the charges against them; but the sentences were not for them, they were simply aimed at punishing the people of Cuba. It was demonstrated that in every conviction, particularly Gerardo’s, there was a political rather than a legal component.

Sustained by the resolution that I had to reach the end, I adapted my actions to the new reality that I had to face. The situation was much more complex and to be up to it, our struggle had to be political and public. That would be the way. I remember that one day I told my mother-in-law: it doesn’t matter that I am 80 years old, I am going to wait for him, I am going to receive him mentally healthy. And that’s what I did after the sentence. There was no way and no matter what happened I could weaken, and I began to be stricter with myself, I had to demand myself in correspondence with the new events that arose after the trial and I think that was what hurt me the most.

My life strategy was to prepare for the future day by day, even though I had no idea when it was going to come. But I still did what I could every day. Gerardo always taught me that: live each day as if it were your last. And that’s what I did, even though I felt that all the sentimental burden I was carrying was hardening me. I got so hard that I reached the last stage of the campaign terribly exhausted from a sentimental point of view. Despite that exhaustion, I found the strength to welcome Gerardo, Ramon and Tony when they finally arrived in their homeland on December 17, 2014.

Even though Gerardo’s case was the most difficult and tangled to resolve judicially, you decided to become a mother. Why?

The truth is that I had no plans to have a child. Within the life strategy that I had outlined for myself since 2001, with the arrest of Gerardo and his companions, and later his two life sentences, with no possibility of visits, meetings, the reinforced intention of the U.S. government to keep him separated, I totally discarded the idea of being a mother, because, in addition to all this, there was a biological clock on my side that had to be taken into account.

Gerardo was the one who supported this dream of being a parent the most. So out of respect, because I thought he really deserved it, I changed my mind. Although it was really more of a mutual agreement. He thought that for me as a woman it would be very sad not to become a mother and he felt responsible for it. While for my part, I was thinking about the happiness that having a child would bring him in the midst of his confinement.

Also, many members of the campaign urged us to have a child, we were a young couple and therefore we had that right. Several people were sensitized to this idea, in Cuba and abroad. Among those who supported us the most were Vilma and Raul, creators of a beautiful family. Also Olguita [Salanueva], René’s wife, a very sensitive person and mother. Meanwhile, my biological clock kept ticking.

It was in those days that Gerardo wrote his letter “To the children who are about to be born”. That made me so sensitive that I decided to undergo an in vitro insemination, which was not even widely performed in Cuba. My eggs were saved so that one day they could be inseminated. In a conversation with U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, who was visiting Havana with his wife, I mentioned to him that Gerardo and I had been deprived of so many rights that we could not even have a child, which is the greatest aspiration of a married couple. He, however, was the father of four children, in addition to having grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. Apparently, my words touched him deeply and he became one of the most supportive foreigners. When sometime later I was told that everything was ready to begin the process of assisted reproduction, I thought it was a trick, another mockery of the U.S. government. But no, there she is, our first daughter, our Gema.

“Just because of the perseverance (…) that characterizes Cuban women, I managed to get here with all my dreams turned into a beautiful reality”.

From what you have lived, from your own experiences, what do you think of Cuban women?

In that sense, the first thing I need to say is that I feel tremendously proud to be a woman and a Cuban woman. I very, very proud. In our campaigns in favor of the Five, carried out in Cuba and abroad, we always count on the immense support precisely of the women’s organization. The Federation of Cuban Women, through its eternal president Vilma Espín, opened the doors so that we could proclaim our truth in any scenario, even in the most complex ones. In those events and meetings, through our voices, Cuban women spoke.

I believe that women are the central axis of the family and we have achieved that through our lineage. We have an iron will, unbreakable, brave and determined to face and overcome any obstacle, to reach the proposed goal. Just because of the perseverance and perseverance that characterizes Cuban women, I managed to get here with all my dreams turned into a beautiful reality.

When I speak of Cuban women, the example of world record holder Ana Fidelia Quirot, who was able to overcome her accident and return to competition, immediately comes to mind. In the same way, I think of those scientists, in general of all those women in the health sector, who remain in the danger zones in the confrontation with the COVID. They constantly risk their lives to save the lives of others. A very important role is also played by housewives, who, like all women, with their daily chores, with a simple smile, with that healthy and spontaneous vanity, beautify everything that surrounds us.

“Today, she says excitedly, she is immensely happy because ‘I have Gerardo and my children by my side'”. Photo: Taken from the Facebook profile GEMA – from Cuba.

The first Latin American woman to receive the Silver Dove trophy, awarded by the Russian Federation, Adriana Pérez is also the recipient, like the other wives of the Five Heroes of the Republic of Cuba, of the 23 de Agosto, Ana Betancourt and Mariana Grajales medals. Today, she says with emotion, she is immensely happy because “I have Gerardo and my children by my side. But I would never have been able to reach this moment, which I could not even dream of years ago, if I had not had the support, the great and selfless support of hundreds of thousands of people, who from the most remote corners of Cuba and the world, fought, as much as we did, for the release and return of the Five. To them, to those who unfortunately are no longer with us, to my family, friends, neighbors and co-workers, my sincere and eternal gratitude.

Anesthetized by technology

1 month ago Uncategorized

Anesthetized by technology

No parent should be happy with this fatal prophecy, with the idea of raising their children to become manipulable automatons, only interested in fun and entertainment.

By Mary Luz Borrego, February 28, 2021 – 3:09am
Master’s Degree in Communication Sciences. Specialized in economic issues. Winner of important awards in national journalism contests.

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

First, the technologies flirted. Then they dazzled us. Now they seduce and cajole us to open the way to a dependence that is perhaps as harmful as that of alcohol and cigarettes. Science has already begun to speak loud and clear about the harmful influence of their excess, particularly for children and young people born in the digital age.

Neuroscientist Michel Desmurget, Director of Research at the French National Institute of Health, recently published the book The Factory of Digital Cretins, where he offers ample evidence of how the current excessive use of screens and devices of this nature seriously affects, and for the worse, the neural development of the newest ones.

Too many hours in front of the TV, videogames, cell phones; too much time embraced to the Internet and the banality offered on a silver platter from social networks. The result? According to studies conducted in various parts of the world, for the first time, the so-called digital natives are the first generation in history with a lower IQ than the previous one.

Such information has been documented in several nations, even with remarkable socioeconomic stability such as Norway, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, France, among others.

With technological dependence -say several international pieces of research -, the main foundations of human intelligence are affected: language, concentration, memory, general culture…; all impacts that, at the very least, inevitably lead to a significant drop in academic performance.

Quite a few Sancti Spritus parents can attest to this, after facing daily disputes with their children in this regard to get them to put down their phones and pick up their books, at least for a few minutes each day, in colloquial language.

And many parents, busy with their daily survival, have not even noticed that some of their children, either because they are clever or naive, have begun to sell or give away their identity on Facebook so that others can publish God knows what content, also presumably for a fee.

The cry in the sky at this time is not only because the addiction to digital media causes body ailments such as sedentary lifestyle, pain in the neck or back due to poor posture; because the screens can cause dryness and eye damage; because the headphones lead to deafness and even traffic accidents.

This barrage is not only related to the risks of someone manipulating an image or distorting personal data to denigrate another with physical or psychological harassment; to the alienation and avoidance of the problems that this excess of technology generates; to the emergence of models far from reality and linked to controversial prototypes of success and reputation; nor to the fact that these media are demonstrably used in the subversive war against Cuba.

It happens that now, in addition, experts assure that recreational screens underestimate the intellect and influence brain maturation, especially in the areas related to language and attention. In other words: the excessive use of digital media stultifies, affects writing and spelling, undermines the ability to think deeply and even turns children into half-wits.

It is not a matter of demonizing or renouncing the development and the obvious possibilities that technology offers by allowing access to a range of content not available to previous generations. It is essential to teach fundamental computer skills in schools, as the use of these options in a deliberate and balanced way can contribute a lot to teaching and research.

However, not infrequently, Saint Google makes it so easy for students to do research that they put aside logic and reasoning to copy any answer, without deciphering, composing, or judging the contents.

In truth, it is difficult to find a middle ground, especially during this last year, when social confinement has restricted sports and cultural practices; when it is known that children have at least their cell phones, televisions and computers at hand almost all the time; and not precisely for knowledge, but for impoverishing trivialities or recreational interests, seasoned with the distraction of endless alerts and notifications.

While it is true that during the months of pandemic these powerful digital tools have contributed a lot to work, study and socialization at a distance, it is also evident that circumstances have made humans increasingly dependent on technology.

According to international estimates, the hours spent in front of the screen vary with age, but before reaching the age of 18, children have spent the equivalent of three school decades in front of these media.

Based on the criterion that the fewer screens the better, experts recommend parents and teachers to use technology, but in moderation; to discuss its proven adverse effects with the new generations and to lead by example because it is often those who should be correcting this distortion who are the first to practice it.

France and some Asian countries have gone even further and have begun to legislate against these devices in childhood and adolescence because they consider that abusing them constitutes irresponsibility that young people will pay dearly for.

The worst theories predict that digital natives will not even understand computers well and will barely be able to use basic digital applications, buy products online, download music and movies, among other minor trades because they will grow up blinded by bland entertainment, incapable of thoughtful and intelligent attitudes, uncreative and not revolutionary at all.

Then, nothing seems more sensible than adult mediation to show, teach and guide the youngest in the fascinating world of technologies, with an eye to take advantage of their excellent advances in terms of personal growth, educational quality and intellectual development.

Without being alarmist, something urgent must be done because no parent should be happy with this fatal prophecy, with the idea of raising their children to become manipulable automatons, only interested in fun and entertainment, so that they act like mediocre fools, without dreams or thoughts of their own.

The Challenge of Breastfeeding in Cuba

2 months ago Uncategorizedbreastfeeding, motherhood, nutrition, parents

The Challenge of Breastfeeding in Cuba

By Rachel Pereda Punales
August 7, 2019

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

Breastfeeding, as a challenge, requires teamwork, a collective effort. Photo: Justin Paget/ Corbis.

Breast milk is the best food an infant can receive. It satisfies all the vital needs of the newborn, while also benefiting mothers.

“Breastfeeding is a social process and everyone must be involved. When the father, the family and the community intervene, the results will be better and represent a guarantee of health,” said pediatrician Pablo Carlos Roque.

The Coordinator of the National Breastfeeding Commission of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) said that “in Cuba we have the opportunity for successful breastfeeding, but many parents do not take advantage of it. The family’s own lifestyles sometimes hinder responsible breastfeeding”.

For the pediatrician who also holds a Master’s Degree in Comprehensive Child Care, old feeding patterns ingrained in Cuban society are also incorporated into the baby. “Some people think that it is correct to start feeding the newborn at 15 days of age and then give him juices and other complementary foods,” he said.

“Favorable views still continue around cow’s milk and many think that the child will be stronger if he/she drinks it. That mistake is still present today. The best milk is mother’s milk and it marks a person for life,” he added.

According to the doctor, cow’s milk can cause diseases and many imbalances in the long term. “Our country is affected by ailments such as hypertension, diabetes, myocardial cerebral infarctions and all this has to do with early feeding”.

In this context, the specialist assured that breastfeeding is related to social inclusion and to the role played by the father from the moment of birth.

As an objective, the Island seeks to promote the early initiation of breastfeeding -in the first hour of life-, achieving the accompaniment of the father and his equal participation in parenting issues.

Similarly, there are other barriers to an optimal procedure, and among them prevails the lack of support for mothers, fathers and families at work.

Maternity leave in Cuba is at the level of the most advanced countries, but on many occasions, women are unaware of their rights as workers and the laws that protect them in the important work of caring for the new member of society, the pediatrician stressed.

The protection of breastfeeding and support to promote more flexible and family-friendly workplaces is also the responsibility of the workplace as part of this joint process.

“Not only maternity leave, but also paternity or parental leave, are important tools to stimulate adequate breastfeeding in the best conditions,” added Roque Peña.

The specialist also mentioned the importance of milk banks, a new experience for Cuba. “A mother who is able to donate raises her child better, will give it more time to breastfeed, and will have more milk in her breasts”.

In this scenario, the campaign ‘Empoderémonos, ¡Hagamos posible la lactancia materna!’ [Let’s empower ourselves, let’s make breastfeeding possible!] invites to reflect and act so that families assume this healthier lifestyle in all senses.

Breastfeeding, as a challenge, requires teamwork, a collective effort, an alliance that supports the couple in the difficult and surprising journey of parenthood.

Breastfeeding is, above all, an act of love for our children. Photo: Ivette Ivens

Taken from Prensa Latina

To breastfeed is to love

2 months ago Uncategorizedbreastfeeding

To Breastfeed is to Love

August 5, 2015
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

More than 600 liters of breast milk have been collected since the opening four years ago of the Mother’s Milk Bank of the Doctor Agostinho Neto General Teaching Hospital, the only one of its kind in the province, which have been distributed among hundreds of Guantanamo’s children, mainly those admitted for low birth weight.

“Since last April, the collection was put into practice in the communities of the provincial capital, thanks to which there are currently about 125 donors, and only in July 15 newborns benefited from this important food,” said nurse Ada Lidia Leyva Crespo, head of this Bank.

Precisely because of the importance of exclusive feeding of newborns up to six months of age with this milk, the World Breastfeeding Week is being celebrated from August 1 to 7, which includes talks in the health areas, projection of audiovisual materials, dissemination campaigns, among other activities.

During the first six months of life, breast milk is the ideal food for children, since it provides all the nutritional substances necessary for healthy growth and protects them from infectious diseases, allergies, anemia and malnutrition; it also contributes to brain development, so it is not advisable to include other foods during this period.

Breastfeeding also helps to reduce bleeding after childbirth, to lose the fat acquired during pregnancy, prevents ovarian and breast cancer, and provides emotional satisfaction to the mother.

Support for Nobel Prize for Cuban Doctors

2 months ago UncategorizedCuba, Doctors, Lucía Topolansky, Mujica, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel Prize, Uruguay

Lucía Topolansky: If I were on the Nobel committee, I would have no doubts about the award for Cuban doctors!

By Maribel Acosta Damas, Cuban journalist, specialized in Television. She is a professor at the Faculty of Journalism of the University of Havana and holds a Ph.D. in Communication Sciences.
February 13, 2021

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

Photo: Courtesy of the interviewee.

Lucía Topolansky is the most voted senator in Uruguay. She was vice president of the Republic between September 2017 and February 2020, the first Uruguayan woman in that responsibility.

It is a symbol of the country, and not a fashion star. Guerrilla who was imprisoned, who escaped and was imprisoned again until the end of the dictatorship; tireless social fighter until today, empowered woman in the Frente Amplio government, companion in struggle and life since her youth of former Uruguayan president Pepe Mujica. Lucia is a simple woman, with straight words, a warm voice, an impressive chronological and affective memory; of life anecdotes, and plans, dreams and actions in her 76 years …

I met her years ago in Uruguay. Now the challenge was to interview her on WhatsApp. The dialogue flowed between the Havana neighborhood of La Víbora and La Chacra de Montevideo. Communications were excellent! A kind of plan A, B and C, as we are trained in Cuba, they gave us several copies of the recording, just in case … My son, a young music student put together a whole tech racket… he was still excited! And when the phone rang, she was on the other end of the line with her invariable River Plata accent:

Photo: Courtesy of the interviewee.

Lucia Topolansky-. Hi, how are you?

Maribel Acosta Damas-. How are you Lucia?

LT-. Very good. Here we are working a little at home, because as I am 76 years old, I still cannot participate myself to all the legislative activity.

MAD-. And is he in good health?

LT-. My health is perfect, what I try is to avoid getting infected with the pandemic …

MAD-. And how is Pepe?

LT-. El Pepe is phenomenal! The problem that he has, apart from his 86 years, is that he cannot be vaccinated due to a previous disease that he had, so those of us around us have to take great care not to infect him because he has no chance, even with the vaccine, and on the other hand, the vaccine will take a while to arrive …

Photo: Courtesy of the interviewee.

MAD-. And how do you feel on the farm, are you very bored, because you are used to active social life?

LT-. No, I never get bored at home because I live in the rural area of Montevideo …

MAD-. … I was there with you in 2005…

LT-. Ah good!!! We here always have things to do. Now we have planted tomatoes, corn, sunflowers, we have chickens … There is always something to do here … The one who gets bored is because he is very clumsy … And later, with the computer, I work in the Parliament’s committees remotely, I do everything I can do with all those new zoom mechanisms that now exist and that … and I am following reality and we do some meetings in my house because we do them outdoors and from a distance, a few companions, but political activity is missed. We are now in the opposition and there are no demonstrations in the street, there is nothing. So it’s very, very difficult to keep up.

MAD-. And how are they handling the Covid issue in Uruguay?

LT-. From the health point of view, we have been quite good because our government left the current government with a very solid integrated national health system, which in Latin America is the one that invested the most in health with 9.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. That with a good computer platform that allowed telemedicine, helped a lot. We are also a country with little population.

Our biggest problem is the border with Brazil, which is where part of the pandemic and the people who came from abroad have come from. At the end of the year festivities, we had an increase in infections and now we are here in summer, that made the numbers of infections rise…

And what happened to the health system is that it lost the epidemiological thread. Now they are trying to take it up again and waiting to see if the world will deign to sell us a vaccine.That’s the reality. Derived from this, our biggest problem is not health, it is economic because there were many people who lost their jobs.

MAD-. In the midst of this complex scenario, you nominated Cuban doctors for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021. How was this process?

LT-. We knew about the Cuban doctors program when it started. It caught our attention. We followed up. We saw what had happened in many African countries, in Pakistan and in other parts of the world. When in 2005 we won the government in Uruguay, the first delegation of Cuban doctors came here and there we met them live and direct. We met several delegations and they helped us to install an eye hospital because in Uruguay there is a quite aging population and one of the problems we have is cataracts. So the cataract operation was still not being done in Uruguay.

We were beginning to carry out health reform in the country; And the private ones charged a ridiculous amount, for each lens, for each operation! Then in an old hospital there was, the cataract operation was reformed and installed. The collaboration of the Cubans made it possible to perform almost 100,000 cataract operations and that was a marvel for the people who were practically blind, who had not met their grandson who had been born. That operation was called Operation Miracle. At the beginning, the operated ones traveled to Cuba but later the operation was done here, personnel were trained and that hospital is going very well.

MAD-. Does that hospital still exist providing ophthalmic services?

LT-. Yes, it still exists. The doubt we have now is that the opposition won the elections in 2019 and they do not have any sympathy for that service. We are going to fight for its defense, especially with the Retirees Association … And resuming the link with Cuban doctors, in our government, after Operation Milagro [Miracle], came the collaboration in prosthetics, uppers and lowers.

That was also wonderful because the possibility of being able to walk with a prosthetic leg changes people’s lives. Then we saw that this solidarity was a generous solidarity, because we were not in an extreme catastrophe as Pakistan could have been at the time with the earthquake, but it allowed us not only to set up these undertakings but also to train people and above all to solve the problem at a large number of Uruguayans. That for us is unforgettable!

And when we found out that he was in this process for the Nobel, we did not hesitate! What’s more, Pepe told me that he also wanted to join, what happens is due to a matter of paperwork, he did not reach the formal part of the application but he did start talking about the issue and also supports that I know about that award. The greatest importance of that award is symbolic.

It is for the world to recognize that there may be people who collaborate out of solidarity, out of vocation. We also saw everything that Cuban doctors did in Brazil during Dilma Rousseff’s term and how in those remote places of the deepest Brazil, where there is no medicine, doctors appeared who began to care for people. It was like night and day! Unfortunately, The current government of Brazil backed down with that program, but I think that when solidarity is so generous there is no doubt that it deserves the Nobel.

MAD-. You have visited Cuba several times, right?

LT-. Yes. I have been to Cuba about three times. I got to know Cuba in 2000. It was a difficult year. I was delighted because despite all the economic difficulties with this criminal blockade of more than 60 years, people were moving forward. Then I came back two more times and got to meet Fidel.

MAD-. How did you meet Fidel?

LT-. One of the times we went, Pepe was President of Uruguay. Fidel was already ill and we went to his house and he gave us a class on how to make sheep’s yogurt and the experiments he was doing. And the truth is that it was a pleasure to hear it. I had seen Fidel up close twice. In 1959 I was in the 3rd year of the Liceo and there were floods in Uruguay. The Cuban Revolution was just beginning and Fidel came to Uruguay; and with the one who was later the President of the Broad Front, General Líber Seregni,

Fidel toured all the places of the floods and later participated in a political act in the town square. I was a girl from the Liceo and I went to listen to him because at that time we did not really know what the process of the Cuban Revolution was like. Many years later, in 1985, when the dictatorship was no longer in Uruguay and Dr. Julio María Sanguinetti ruled, he invited Fidel to come and I saw him for the second time but I had never had the opportunity to speak to him until I met him in Havana. It is one of those experiences that I had that you keep for the rest of your life.

MAD-. You have always been a defender of popular causes, of the paths of the poor, your link with the city of Montevideo and its causes … and the question always assails me, how does a woman of a bourgeois origin like yours have given herself to social justice causes?

LT-. Look … when I was at the Liceo, I started going with a social worker to do social work in the peripheral neighborhoods of Montevideo, which were very poor areas, especially of people who in those years emigrated from the countryside to the city in search of Job opportunities. And there I realized that there were several Uruguay with people with different conditions. Then I got to know the world of cane cutters, which was one of the most exploited sectors in the country. And so I realized that there were other realities that not everyone was talking about and that were not headlines.

Those years were in turn of the rise of what was called the Church of the Third World, there were some in Uruguay of that line of work and we discussed a lot and there one began to become politicized, I was linked at the student level. We fought to make the bus ticket accessible to students and in this way I was getting closer to the political struggle.

What happened is that Uruguay until the end of the Korean War in the 1950s was quite good economically because the war favored commercial exchange prices and as the Colorado Party, ruling in that period, had a strong social democratic imprint, there was a certain margin of well-being and a series of interesting laws had been voted in favor of the workers such as the one known as the Law of the chair, so that people would not be standing for a long time in the workplace.

Women had won the right to vote, the right to divorce of their own free will for the woman; and this meant that Uruguay had a sui generis situation in the Latin American context. But with the end of the war that ended, here came the crisis, which later generated the dictatorship. In those years there was a lot of struggle … The economic deterioration hit the people a lot and we joined that struggle. In 1964 Uruguay had done something remarkable: the People’s Congress, where it brought together trade unionists, students, academics, small and medium merchants, small and medium producers; to all progressive people.

The discussion was, is there a possible Uruguay where we can live better? So we worked a government program. As a consequence of this, the unity of the Central Obrera was achieved in a single center, which was an enormous advance in the struggle. Afterward, the Broad Front was created. In other words, we found a formula to bring together all the forces of the left that allowed us to enter the government in 2004. We have just completed 50 years of that coalition and we hope to celebrate another 50 and more. This is how we were able to reach the government and generate changes in Uruguay, and it was within the framework of those changes that we were able to generate the programs with the support of Cuban doctors.

MAD-. Hasn’t so many years of struggle brought you frustrations or regrets?

LT-. Ayyyyy !!!! In fighting what you have to know is that when you fall you have to get up. The only fight that is lost is the one that is abandoned. We have that slogan and we have no intention of abandoning the fight because there is still a mountain of inequalities and equality is something that seems increasingly questioned in this world; the concentration of wealth in the world hits on equality and the rights of the people.

MAD- It’s true… I ask you then, do you consider yourself a feminist? He also defends the causes of women …

LT-. Look, there are tons of definitions of all kinds about feminism. I believe that what we should never forget is the class struggle. It is not just about women coming to government, political and leadership responsibilities. In some countries they put quota laws and others. However, there are women who will always be excluded due to a question of social class. So for me they are two struggles that go hand in hand; the class struggle and the feminist struggle. Not all definitions of feminism carry both components. I think we must rescue a bit of a manifesto from the French Revolution, The Manifesto of Equals, which says: “Equal even under the roof of the home”, speaking of men and women. I go for that concept.

MAD-. And has it been like this for you at home with Pepe Mujica?

LT-. Jijiji… Yes. I have been lucky in my life in that section, but we still see many situations of domestic violence in the world. Now with the confinement due to the pandemic, more have appeared. There is still trafficking in women and girls, sexual abuse … that happens and in Uruguay too. Although in Uruguay we advanced early in many aspects – in 1910 the woman in Uruguay voted and for some years the termination of pregnancy was approved – we must always be vigilant and it does not only go through the quotas of parliamentary representation … I fight there for times with my gender colleagues …

MAD-. Lucia, why didn’t you have children?

LT-. Because I was always running in life! Hehehehehe !!!!! I was very young the first time I fell prey, I escaped; later I fell prey again and spent almost 13 years in jail and then the times of life led me to other paths. I dedicated myself to the militancy but that situation did not shock me. One makes choices in life and I embraced a cause that to this day I consider fair, I have continued with it with successes and errors and I think it is worth it. That was my life option.

MAD-. Speaking of options… what is your assessment of Cuba? How do you look at it?

LT-. I look at Cuba from many angles: José Martí represented Uruguay as Consul between 1884 and 1892, when he lived in the United States; to tell you a historical fact. When I was about 10 years old I had the opportunity to meet the Cuban dancer Alicia Alonso. She danced at that time, before the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, with the New York Ballet and they came to Uruguay. The tickets were very expensive but my grandmother decided that the three female granddaughters had to see that because it was wonderful. Then she got the tickets and told us, almost threatened us: “You guys take a good look at how that lady dances because you’re not going to see anything better in the world!”

And I still have those images in my memory to this day! That was a tremendous contact with Cuba! Then there was a Cuban exile in Uruguay named Juana Callorda, She was a nurse and at night she took care of my other grandmother who was very old, and at night we would go to talk to her and she would tell us about Cuba, who Fulgencio Batista was and she told us a lot of things … Those were the indirect approaches that I was having … I am also an inveterate reader of Alejo Carpentier, that wonderful writer … and then I started reading about Cuba and I read the history of Cuba.

And when Fidel starred in the assault on the Moncada Barracks in 1953, I found out because they talked about it here … but of course, it was a quite distant world for me in those years! And after 1959 that world came closer because it was in those years that I met Fidel and then in 1963 at the Meeting of the Alliance for Progress in Punta del Este in Uruguay, Che Guevara came to Cuba. He later came to Montevideo and gave a talk in the Paraninfo of the University. The presenter of that talk was Salvador Allende and I was there.

We did not imagine that those two people; who presented Che and Che, were going to star in such important events in the history of Latin America! A Committee to support the Cuban Revolution was created. I was active there. I remember that we made a collection to buy a tractor and send a tractor to Cuba. I was following the process, reading, finding out about things … but it was almost just that I had the opportunity to get to know Cuba. I have always had that bond, I think it is a beautiful people, tremendously cultured, that has had to suffer more than 60 years of blockade… It is incredible because one reads things and cannot believe it !!!I know Nueva Trova and I would have liked to meet Haydée Santamaría … Cuba is a very valuable people that has been very cornered … One always hopes that it will end sometime …

MAD-. Do you think that the Cuban medical contingent Henry Reeve will receive the Nobel Peace Prize? Will they give it to them?

LT-. I would not know how to answer it because I do not know the composition of the Nobel committee well, but they would have to give it to them because I do not know another group of doctors from any other country that has had their attitude. I do not know. There are Médecins Sans Frontières organizations and others that are tremendously respectable, but I have never seen this deployment… If there is something left over for Cuba, it is doctors!

But that obsession with education and health in Cuba brought these results. And they also had the generosity of not keeping it at the borders, they spread it out to the world, even in countries far away from the island. I recently read an account of some Argentine doctors who met Cuban doctors in Africa when they went to fight Ebola, when no one wanted to get close … In those years when Pepe and I met Fidel, He was worried about the impact of Zika in Africa… Look, all the things that happen can be debatable for and against, but hitting Cuba for the solidarity of medicine is impossible. If I were the Nobel tribunal, I would have no doubts about the award for Cuban doctors!

MAD-. In general in these times of pandemic we have had more time to think. You, who have been more at home, who have surely had more time to analyze your reality, how do you reevaluate your political project, now in the opposition?

LT-. I still believe in my political project. Of course, many times the historical circumstances change and one adjusts the forms but the essences are the same. As long as there is inequality in the world, as long as there are so many people without eating and so much food wasted in the world, as long as there is a painfully long list of injustices; one cannot sit idly by. That is why I believe in my people and in my struggle.

MAD-. In these times of pandemic, the words solidarity and generosity seem to have been redefined. What do you think?

LT-. May the world learn from this shock! I think that from this shock we have to learn the meaning of solidarity and that there are things that cannot be commodities such as health and that we must respect nature. But I do not know if we will be up to reading the teachings of this time because the interests are incredibly powerful and with the networks, fake news etc … people get confused with colored balloons …

MAD-. How do you perceive the Latin American situation today?

LT-. The situation in Latin America is difficult but I never lose hope. I hope that the Chileans who are in the process of drawing up a new constitution, will finally put an end to everything that Pinochet left behind, and can move forward and make fundamental reforms that improve the living conditions of their people. I do not know what will happen in Peru, it is a waste country. Now we are expectant with Ecuador. I wish the best to the new Bolivian president Luis Arce and also to the Argentines who are struggling with a terrible economic heritage.

Let’s hope that the Brazilian people realize that this gentleman they have as president is not recommended. I think we are fighting and I believe in the ability of Latin Americans to fight. What hurts me the most is that we have not managed to maintain integration organizations; integrate, fight together. I believe in the great homeland, in the dream of the liberators! In America everyone is on their own and it would seem that we are angry with each other. It hurts me. The role of the OAS has been a disaster, UNASUR undid it. Let’s hope CELAC can survive. I have more questions than answers. These are the challenges we have.

MAD-. Do you know that Cuba has four vaccine candidates finishing their clinical trials and the Cuban government as well as the island’s scientific community have declared their willingness to put these vaccines at the service of the whole world, especially Latin America?

LT-. I knew they had a project called Soberana [Soveign]. I got some information on that. Unbelievably I got it through the BBC. I learned that test agreements were made with Iran. What I thought about that is that both Argentina and Mexico have vaccine production capacities and both are friendly governments of Cuba. After the investigations are done, large-scale productions are necessary. We in Uruguay have a significant number of scientists who have been working. We do not have the capacity to produce vaccines because the laboratories have closed them. Our scientists gave information about what Cuba was doing, what happens is that there is a lot of censorship at the level of the information world …

MAD-. We can send you information about Cuban vaccines. There is a lot of public information about this …

LT-. Yes. We are interested in having direct information on the countries. Knowing how far you have advanced because if there is something really important it is the exchange between scientists.

MAD-. I admire your work as a senator at this time … the work in the opposition must be very difficult when you have been a government for so long …

LT-. When I entered Parliament I was in the opposition. I worked for 5 years as an opposition in Parliament. After I worked the 15 years in our government and now I am back on this journey. Our fundamental role is to control that we do not go backwards in what we have advanced, to be able to put the needs of the people in the resonance box, which is Parliament. Now we are presenting fifteen laws that have to do with social projection, because they talk a lot about the fiscal deficit but they do not talk about the social deficit.

Also, we are collecting signatures against a very nefarious law that had the votes to approve it and we are working to see if we can repeal it through the referendum mechanism. I have fought in many different circumstances, this is one more. This opposition situation hit the younger people more because there were comrades who were 10 or 15 years old when the Broad Front won and they don’t know any other government than ours. That has been rough for them, but for those of us who are old and have many scars in our history, we know with which oxen we have to plow … hahahahahahaha …

MAD-. How is your day and Pepe’s there on the farm in times of Covid?

LT-. Well, we have many agricultural activities, what’s more, we have collaborated with the popular pots, because there are neighborhoods where it was necessary to organize soup kitchens and popular pots. So you have to help supply them because the government provides very little, and with products from our farm and from our neighbors we always bring a pumpkin, vegetables, tomatoes, eggs … also that is a motivation that one has … And we also do the work for internet and reading, studying …

We don’t waste time here … We also have three advantages: We do not have economic distress like many people who have had to go through this pandemic; second, here we have space and life. It’s not a tiny apartment where you’re locked up, is it ?! And besides, we have many years in prison, so we know what it is to be locked up !!! Hahahahahahaha !!!!!!Wherever you look at it, we have an advantage !!!

MAD-. Don’t you and Pepe fight with so much time together?

LT-. No, not at all, quite the opposite !!!! Hahahahahahaha… !!! We talk a lot… In the morning, Uruguayans drink mate, so that is a good time for conversation because mate makes sense when one takes it shared and on the road. Now inside the house there are no problems but when you go out they ask you not to share it because of the risk of contagion. That has been something hard for the Uruguayan and part of a culture and a feeling.

Pepe and I get up early because we like the morning, the most beautiful time, less hot … And in the morning when Pepe and I drink mate, we talk a lot and then when we close the day we also talk … My house, along the entire trajectory of Pepe and me, it is a house where many people come. Now we have to regulate it a bit … some come to consult something, others to talk, others to take a photo … to the point that I call our house the Oracle of Delphi hahahahahahaha … despite the pandemic that has not stopped although there are fewer people who come from abroad, because normally everyone who comes to Uruguay passes through our house…

MAD-. What is the first thing you will do when the pandemic ends and you can go out?

LT-. To fully integrate myself into my parliamentary work as a first duty, and then continue with that plan of mobilizations, we have to hold a congress of our Broad Front … There are many things ahead !!!!!

MAD-. Do you think Pepe can give me an interview too?

LT-. Yes. We can combine it. There are no problems. We combine it and it is done. Sometimes during the day he has several conversations. The other day he was speaking with the President of Mexico. And then we try to make an agenda. This phone I’m talking about is from the companero who supports us. It’s like a seven jobs because he runs errands for us, if we have to fix something at home he helps us hahahahahahaha… everything… you fix it with him who takes the agenda to Pepe… and that’s it !!!

MAD-. Thank you Lucia, for such a beautiful afternoon …

LT-. I want to give a hug to you and in your name, to all the Cuban people … do not let up, the fight pays and for Latin America we hope that better times will come!

(Taken from Cuba in summary )

The VIII Congress of the PCC: Possible Scenarios

2 months ago UncategorizedAmuchastegui, Cuban economy, Cuban Politics, PCC

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The VIII Congress of the PCC: Possible Scenarios
by Domingo Amuchastegui
February 12, 2021

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Received from the author by email.

Finally, after two months without any official mention, the announcement was made confirming the holding of the VIII Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) on April 16-19, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the proclamation of the socialist character of the revolution and the victory of Playa Giron (Bay of Pigs). Quite a few Party militants and foreign observers on the subject harbored doubts as to whether or not such a congress should be held in the current conditions of economic, social and political crisis Cuba is going through. Not a few insisted that the most important thing now is to overcome as far as possible the major crisis and leave the formalities of the congress for a major.

But, something symptomatic indicated that the congress would certainly be held: the prominent and sustained manner during several days in the Cuban official media about the holding of the Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (PCV), highlighting in these reports the reelection of the first secretary, the election of a new Politburo with many new figures and the impulse to the redesign of its economic model of changes and reforms known as Doi Moi. Such informative coverage fit perfectly as an introduction to the holding of the VIII Congress of the Cuban Communists.

And the other “letter of introduction” to the congress, was the announcements of revision and critical rectification of the first steps (especially in matters of extreme shortages, prices, salaries, monetary unification plus corruption, monetary unification, plus corruption and “kickbacks” that have unleashed a tremendous wave of unrest and discontent) linked to the implementation of the so-called “Ordinance”. These were accompanied by the much delayed green light for the promotion of micro and small enterprises, abandoning the old limit of 127 occupations for a horizon of no less than 2000 occupations, the most important announcement in the matter of very late and always postponed reforms.

With these “letters of introduction” a certain guessing game becomes necessary, that which they call possible scenarios and hypotheses, which we will be able to see in the unfolding of this next congress.

The most positive scenario would be:

—Definitive retirement of the last leaders of the so-called “historic generation,” well into their 80’s and approaching their 90’s, headed by Raul Castro and Jose Ramon Machado Ventura. This withdrawal could have a compensatory formula similar to the one carried out by the Vietnamese a few years ago when they withdrew their “historical leaders” but keeping them in a sort of advisory council, more symbolic than effective.

—Expansion of economic reforms involving the redefinition of areas such as property, limiting the State to “the fundamental means of production” (as the great majority of the best economists in the country have been demanding for many years) and substantially increasing foreign investment [“inversión extranjera” or “EI”] in a direct and mixed manner at a much more accelerated and flexible pace.

—The land must return to its original principle: to the one who works it, converting the current tenants into owners and “freeing” the agricultural cooperatives from the constant interference and suffocation by state regulations in their work and commercialization (end of Acopio). Full independence for them.

—A possible, and more functional, reduction of the institutional and bureaucratic apparatus, be it the Political Bureau, the Secretariat, the Council of State, the Executive Committee, the National Assembly (one of the most numerous in the world and which barely functions six days a year). The National Assembly should function as a permanent body.

—The changes and reforms adopted so far are presented as starting points for a more effective deepening of the redesign of the model.

—Such changes should lead to a significant reduction of unrest and discontent if they imply a significant improvement in the current levels of crisis of the model, which is perceived as the turning point towards effective recovery horizons. Such a scenario would also have a positive impact on the international interlocutors most closely related to Cuba, laying the foundations for a better image and greater attractiveness.

The less positive scenario

—Extend the terms of the “historic generation,” introducing only minor changes in the composition of the leadership at the highest levels.

—Maintain restrictive foreign investment schemes.

—Maintaining the heavy burden of party and state apparatuses.

—The adoption of very limited “patches” to the Ordinance.

—The changes made so far are presented as the culmination of the reforms.

—If this less positive scenario prevails, it will be yet another congress without any transcendence, except that of prolonging and worsening the present levels of crisis mentioned above. In the international arena, the image it would project would be particularly negative and very unattractive to more constructive levels of association.

As for possible changes in figures, the following can be pointed out:

—Effective retirement of the most important leaders of the “historic generation,” headed by Raúl Castro and Machado Ventura in their 80s and not a few approaching their 90s.

—For the leadership of the Party, Miguel Díaz-Canel -current president (59)- should take over as First Secretary and most likely as Second Secretary Lázaro Expósito Canto (65), the most recognized and efficient provincial secretary of the Party (Santiago de Cuba).

—To replace Díaz-Canel in the presidency, the most suitable candidate -with more political-diplomatic stature and experience- would be Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla (62), current Foreign Minister, with General Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja (59), executive director of the holding company known as GAESA, as probable vice-president due to his experience in the economic field and with broad international experience.

In his absence, the engineer Inés María Chapman Waugh, favorably noted for her economic management in the field of water resources. Then comes the question: Who would assume the position of Foreign Minister? The two most likely candidates: Vice Minister Rogelio Sierra, especially for his experience in the field of relations with respect to Latin America and the Caribbean or José Ramón Cabañas could also be considered, given his extensive experience in relations with the U.S. and Canada.

—Another variant to the above would be to appoint the current Vice-President and Minister of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil Fernandez (54), as second to Rodriguez Parrilla, considering his proven experience in promoting the current changes, with Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Callejas assuming his position.

—It is no less important to take a no less speculative look at the current commanders of the FAR. The “historical” division generals in their 80s and some approaching their 90s, such as Ramiro Valdés Menéndez (88), vice-president Samuel Rodiles (89), President of the Institute of Physical Planning, Ramón Espinosa Martín, Vice-Minister of the FAR; Joaquín Quintas Solá (83), Leop[oldo Cintra Frías (80), the current minister of the FAR.

They could be relieved by the so-called “generation of Africans” due to their military missions in Africa and who today are in their 60s and some of them are already entering their 70s. They could be division and brigade generals such as Onelio Aguilera (62), chief of the Western Army; Rafael Hernández (71, who is black), chief of the Eastern Army; Raúl Rodríguez Lobaina (71, also black), chief of the Central Army and the recently appointed Minister of the Interior, Lázaro A. Alvarez CaSAS (57), former vice-minister of the MININT. For Minister of the FAR, the most likely candidate is Raul Castro’s favorite and current Vice Minister of the FAR, Alvaro Lopez Miera (77).

But ultimately, the most essential thing will not be the movement of leaders and commanders, but the policy designs towards a positive change or to continue clinging to the provenly inoperative model that still prevails.

VIII CONGRESO DEL PCC: POSIBLES ESCENARIOS

Por Domingo Amuchastegui
12de febrero 2021
Recibido del autor por correo electrónico.

Finalmente, luego de dos meses sin referencia oficial alguna, se conoció el anuncio ratificando la celebración del VIII Congreso del Partido Comunista de Cuba en los dias 16-19 de Abril, coincidiendo con el 60 aniversario de la proclamación del carácter socialista de la revolución y la victoria de Playa Girón (Bahía de Cochinos). No pocos militantes del Partido y observadores extranjeros del tema, albergaban dudas sobre la conveniencia o no de celebrarse semejante congreso en las condiciones actuales de crisis económica, social y política por las que atraviesa Cuba. No pocos insistían en que lo primordial ahora es superar dentro de lo posible la mayor dicha crisis y dejar las formalidades del congreso para un major.

Pero, algo sintomático indicó que con toda seguridad se celebraría el congreso: la manera destacada y sostenida durante varios dias en los medios ofciales de información cubanos acerca de la celebración del Congreso del Partido Comunista de Viet Nam (PCV), destacándose en esas informaciones la reelección del primer secretario, la elección de un nuevo Politburo con muchas figuras nuevas y el impulso al rediseño de su modelo económico de cambios y reformas conocido como Doi Moi. Semejante cobertura informativa encajaba perfectamente como introducción a la celebración del VIII Congreso de los comunistas cubanos.

Y la otra “carta de introducción” al congreso, eran los anuncios de revisión y rectificación crítica de los primeros pasos (sobre todo en materia de carencias extremas, precios, salarios, unificación monetaria más corrupción y “mordidas” que han desatado una tremenda ola de malestar y descontento) vinculados con la puesta en práctica del llamado Ordenamiento y acompañado por la muy demorada luz verde para el fomento de las micro y pequeñas empresas, abandonando el viejo límite de las 127 ocupaciones por un horizonte de no menos de 2000 ocupaciones, el más importante anuncio en materia de reformas bien tardías y siempre aplazadas.

Con estas “cartas de introducción” se hace necesario un cierto juego de adivinanzas, eso que llaman posibles escenarios e hipótesis, que podremos ver en el desenvolvimiento de este próximo congreso.

El escenario más positivo sería:

—Retiro definitivo de los últimos dirigentes de la llamada “generación histórica,” bien entrados en los 80 y acercándose a los 90, encabezada por Raúl Castro y José Ramón Machado Ventura. Este retiro pudiera tener una fórmula compensatoria similar a la realizada por los vientamitas años atrás cuando retiraron a sus “históricos” pero conservándolos en una suerte de consejo consultivo, más simbólico que efectivo.

—Ampliación de las reformas económicas que supongan la redefinición de las áreas de propiedad, limitándose el Estado a “los medios fundamentales de producción” (como han venido reclamando la gran mayoría de los mejores economistas del país desde hace muchos años) e incrementar sustancialmente la IE de manera directa y mixta a un ritmo mucho más acelerado y flexible.

—La tierra debe volver a su principio original: al que la trabaja, convirtiéndose los arrendatarios actuales en propietarios y “liberar” las cooperativas agrícolas de la constante injerencia y asfixia de parte de las regulaciones estatales en su quehacer y comercialización (fin de Acopio). Plena independencia para las mismas.

—Una posible, y más funcional, reducción del aparataje institucional y burocrático sea el Buró Político, el Secretariado, el Consejo de Estado, el Comité Ejecutivo, la Asamblea Nacional (una de las más numerosas del mundo y que apenas funciona seis dias al año). La Asamblea Nacional debe funcionar como órgano permanente.

—Los cambios y reformas adoptados hasta ahora se presentan como puntos de partida para una profundización más efectiva del rediseño del modelo.

—Semejantes cambios deberán producir una sensible disminución del malestar y descontento si los mismos suponen una sensible mejoría en los actuales niveles de crisis del modelo, que sea percibido como el punto de viraje hacia horizontes de recuperación efectiva. Semejante escenario supondría además un impacto positivo en los interlocutores internacionales más relacionados con el tema de Cuba, sentando las bases de una mejor imagen y mayores atractivos.

El scenario menos positive

—Prolongar los mandatos de la “generación histórica,” introduciendo sólo cambios menores en la composición de la dirigencia a los más altos niveles.

—Mantener los esquemas restrictivos a la IE.

—Mantener la pesada carga del aparataje partidista y estatal.

—La adopción de muy limitados “parches” al Ordenamiento.

—Se presentan los cambios efectuados hasta ahora como culminación de las y final de las reformas.

—De prevalecer este escenario menos positivo, será otro congreso más sin trascendencia alguna, salvo la de prolongar y agudizar los presentes niveles de crisis antes apuntados. En el orden internacional, la imagen que proyectaría sería particularmente negativa y muy poco atractiva a niveles de asociación más constructivos.

En cuanto a posibles cambios de figuras, se pueden señalar los siguientes:

—Retiro efectivo de los más importantes dirigentes de la “generación histórica,” encabezados por Raúl Castro y Machado Ventura en sus 80 y no pocos acercándose a los 90.

—Para la dirección del Partido, deberá asumir como Primer Secretario Miguel Díaz-Canel -actual presidente (59)- y como Segundo Secretario más probable Lázaro Expósito Canto (65), el más reconocido y eficiente secretario provincial del Partido (Santiago de Cuba).

—Para reemplazar a Díaz-Canel en la presidencia el candidato más idóneo -con más estatura política-diplomática y experiencia- sería Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla (62), actual Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, teniendo como vice-presidente probable por su experiencia en el campo económico y con amplia experiencia internacional al General Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja (59), director ejecutivo del holding conocido como GAESA, o en su defecto a la ingeniera Inés María Chapman Waugh, destacada favorablemente por su gestión económica en el campo de los recursos hidraúlicos. Viene entonces la pregunta: ¿Quién asumiría la posición de canciller? Los dos candidatos más probables: el Vice Ministro Rogelio Sierra, sobre todo por su experiencia en el campo de las relaciones con respecto a América Latina y el Caribe o también pudiera considerarse a José Ramón Cabañas, dada su extensa experiencia en las relaciones con EEUU y Canadá.

—Otra variante a la anterior sería la de nombrar al actual Vice-Presidente y Ministro de Economía y Planificación, Alejandro Gil Fernández (54), como segundo de Rodríguez Parrilla, considerando su probada experiencia en el impulso a los cambios actuales, asumiendo su cargo Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Callejas.

—No menos importante es echar un vistazo no menos especulativo a los mandos actuales de las FAR. Los generales de division “históricos” en sus 80 y algunos acercándose a los 90 como Ramiro Valdés Menéndez (88), vice-presidente Samuel Rodiles (89), Presidente del Instituto de Planificación Física, Ramón Espinosa Martín, Vice-Ministro de las FAR; Joaquín Quintas Solá (83), Leop[oldo Cintra Frías (80), ministro actual de las FAR. Podrán ser relevados por la llamada “generación de los africanos” por sus misiones militares en Africa y que hoy están en sus 60 y tanto y algunos ya entrando en los 70. Ellos podrán ser los generales de division y brigada como Onelio Aguilera (62), jefe del Ejército Occidental; Rafael Hernández (71, negro), Jefe del Ejército Oriental; Raúl Rodríguez Lobaina (71, negro), Jefe de Ejército Central y el recién designado Ministro del Interior, Lázaro A. Alvarez CaSAS (57), ex viceministro del MININT. Para Ministro de las FAR lo más seguro es que sea el favorito de Raúl Castro y actual Vice Inistro Priumero de las FAR, Alvaro López Miera (77).

Pero en última instancia lo más esencial no será el movimiento de drigientes y mandos, sino los diseños de política hacia un viraje positivo o continuar aferrados al modelo probadamente inoperante que todavía prevalece.

Cuba to immunize its entire population

2 months ago UncategorizedCovid-19, vaccines

Cuba will be among the first countries to immunize its entire population.

Speaking at the Round Table space, the president of BioCubaFarma said that the vaccine production and distribution capacities have already been analyzed and organized for their programming until next December, once the studies of the four vaccine candidates yield the expected satisfactory results.

Published: Thursday 04 February 2021 | 11:43:53 pm.
Author: Ana Maria Dominguez Cruz

anamaria@juventudrebelde.cu

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

Cuba develops four vaccine candidates against COVID-19.

The confidence that Cuba will be one of the first countries that will be able to immunize its entire population from its existing capacities of production and distribution of vaccines against COVID-19 came this Thursday at the Round Table, dedicated to the subject.

Eduardo Martínez Díaz, president of BioCubaFarma, explained this while speaking on the radio-TV program, together with Marta Ayala Ávila, general director of the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology; Vicente Vérez Bencomo, general director of the Finlay Institute of Vaccines, and Eduardo Ojito Magaz, general director of the Center for Molecular Immunology.

Likewise, Mr. Martínez Díaz pointed out that they have already been analyzed and organized for their programming until next December, once the studies of the four vaccine candidates yield the expected satisfactory results.

He said that our scientists are working on four vaccine candidates at the same time because they all use the same type of antigen, so that the desired immune response can be achieved in all cases.

In addition, he explained that all the genetic information has been inserted in bacteria, yeast and cells of higher organisms, such as mammals, and that in the latest variants encouraging results were achieved which allowed advancing in that direction. Each one will differentiate the formulation of the vaccines, based on platforms used in previous vaccines with marked effectiveness and safety.

The President of BioCubaFarma said that “the vaccines are working well”, but we still cannot say that they are effective, “that is why we have to continue with the studies. We cannot bet on a variant and then the studies not give the expected results. In that case, we would have to start all over again”.

He emphasized that the production of several vaccines could be deployed at the same time, in case the expected results were obtained in all of them, and then the doses would be studied, according to each population group, as well as the possibility of assigning some of them to the treatment of COVID-19 convalescents.

He pointed out that, as an advantage, Cuban vaccines do not require large refrigeration chains, but temperatures of two to eight degrees Celsius. In addition, they allow for the application of successive booster doses, which is essential in view of the appearance of new variants of the virus.

Martinez Diaz insisted that it is not possible to acquire vaccines produced by other countries because there is not enough quantity to do so. “To date, only 108 million doses have been applied, which means that only a little more than one percent of the population has been vaccinated. Only 13 countries have applied more than one million doses of vaccine, including the United States and China.”

He stressed the need for an increase in the global vaccination rate and for prices to fall, so that the entire population has the possibility of protecting itself, including those living in poor countries.

COMMENTS ON WEB PAGE (Unedited):

Jorge Puerto
Friday 05 February 2021 | 07:42:28 am.
Encouraging news.

Reply
Valo
Friday 05 February 2021 | 08:22:45 am.
Bravo for Cuba. congratulations to all Cuban scientists.

Reply
Neosan72
Friday 05 February 2021 | 09:58:48 am.
The incorrect headline should read CUBA will vaccinate 100 percent of the population at the conclusion of clinical trials because you dare to anticipate events without having an idea of the effectiveness of the current vaccine projects It is very easy to write without delving into the matter and violate international procedures this can steal much credibility to the work of all scientists of our nation and I’m sure you do not have the information on the percentage of effectiveness and immunological load generated by such vaccine candidates.

Reply
Leo
Friday 05 February 2021 | 12:59:33 pm.
Hi all. I believe and trust in Cuban science and also in the managers and scientists who are in charge. If they say so it is because they know. My congratulations and hopefully they will be ready and only when they should be, not in a hurry. Greetings, Leo

Reply
neisicruz
Friday 05 February 2021 | 02:43:30 pm.
I trust in Cuban medicine, in our scientists, in the Revolution. Thank you for the effort you make every day.

Reply
Zuleika machado gomez
Friday 05 February 2021 | 06:30:39 pm.
I would like to congratulate the collective of scientists as always putting their intellect and dedication in favor of the health of our people. Let’s hope that our people continue to comply with the measures because unfortunately there are many irresponsible people who discard the established measures putting at risk their health and that of others. Without thinking that there are so many people involved in this fight who spend many days away from their families the medical and paramedical personnel who are on the front line to the cooks nurses drivers etc who are also working and can be infected who have families . To them our most sincere respect. And to the scientists of this important project a thousand blessings. And our immense gratitude . ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????♥️♥️♥️♥️

Reply
Nery Pila
Friday 05 February 2021 | 11:11:21 pm.
The universal desire to be able to have the certainty of being vaccinated efficiently and effectively against Covid is immediate, but the certainty of Cuban scientists that we will have our population and who knows how many more internationally as usual is firm and certain. Congratulations to our scientists. I trust

Reply
Ariel
Saturday 06 February 2021 | 11:21:25 am.
Israel has already vaccinated 80 ? of its population and for free, Cuba may vaccinate its entire population but still can not be given time, we must first confirm the results of their vaccines. Let’s not be sensationalist, let’s stick to reality, so that we don’t see previous campaigns on various issues that later are not fulfilled.

Reply
Raider
Saturday 06 February 2021 | 12:46:17 pm.
Since we will be among the first who will be the other nations at the top of that list and with which vaccines have they procured vaccination?

Granma Explains Feminism

2 months ago UncategorizedFeminism, Women

SUBHEAD

Feminism

My mother asks me, after reading something someone posted, what feminism is. I explain. She, who is 80 years old, looks at me, and before getting up from the armchair, she tells me in a casual tone: “Son, here, since 1959, we call it Revolution”.

Author: name | internet@granma.cu

February 3, 2021 00:02:34 AM

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

Author: Ernesto Estévez Rams | internet@granma.cu

February 3, 2021 00:02:34 AM

She confessed to me several times that she danced rock ‘n’ roll. The white variant, which was the one that became popular in Cuba, that of Elvis Presley. When she told me that she danced rock ‘n’ roll, she meant that she used to get her hair disheveled dancing to that devil’s music. She spun around, jumped, was lifted up and thrown to land again to the rhythm of the music. A neighborhood policeman, intolerant and arrogant, came with a lemon in his hand, and made the men drop the lemon inside their pants to see if it would roll down one of their legs. If you didn’t fall, you were in trouble. For the ladies, a tape measure with a visible red mark. Measuring the length of the skirt above the knee, if it was below the scarlet line, you were in trouble. Those were times when you couldn’t talk much with the police.

At that time, she sewed with her mother and sisters to earn a living and took a course in interior design as a way to improve her skills. She was the face in the ECLO of an American food brand. Standing up, smiling, she showed the products and offered samples for consumers to taste the wonders of what was advertised. Her luck wasn’t the worst either. If she had been black, she was useless as an image. For those of black complexion, their lucky destiny was to be a maid, or a servant, whatever you prefer to call them.

Then the Revolution triumphed. She enlisted as a volunteer teacher and was a compañero of Conrado Benítez. Despite her youth and inexperience, she was put in charge of several boarding schools. They were entire neighborhoods converted into schools, once run by the bourgeoisie or their cronies. Now, a school for poor women, peasant women, urban women, humble women.

Her sister also enlisted as a literacy volunteer and became a literacy teacher. The other sister, the eldest, the same luck, and what luck! They became teachers, they taught. They learned. She, the director of the school, knew all of La Lisa, La Coronela, Playa. The houses of the officers of the defeated army became schools, she became the teacher of other women. In the photos, the microphone higher than her physical stature. Speaking, guiding, directing, raising her arm in harangue, waving her hand.

She was a delegate, president of the CDR, militia member, company leader, Party militant. She was white, she married a black man from Guantanamo. A black man who fought in the underground, a black man who became a university student. A black man who is still by her side today. He was a teacher, a cane cutter, a company leader, founder of the Party. And along the way, at some point, they had time to have children. They, the two of them, neighbors to anyone, not unlike so many others in the same place, in the same circumstances.

My mother asks me, after reading something someone posted, what is this feminism. I explain. She, 80 years old, looks at me, and before getting up from the armchair, she tells me in a casual tone: Son, here, since 1959, we call it Revolution.

Poliomielitis, Covid-19 y el Socialismo

2 months ago UncategorizedCovid-19, Polio, Sabin, Salk

Poliomielitis, Covid-19 y el Socialismo

Por Louis Proyect

14 de marzo de 2020

Traducido por Walter Lippmann por CubaNews.

Paul Alexander, uno de los pocos supervivientes que quedan, pasa casi todo el día dentro de su pulmón de acero.

En 1952, cuando yo era muy joven, el miedo se apoderó de mi pequeño pueblo en Catskills y también de todo Estados Unidos. Ese año, sesenta mil niños se vieron afectados por el virus de la poliomielitis, que dejó 3.000 muertos y a miles más paralizados. Algunos niños fueron mantenidos con vida en un pulmón de hierro que funcionaba como el ventilador de hoy en día, pero que los mantenía confinados en un virtual ataúd viviente.

A ese verano lo llamaron la “estación de la polio”. En Woodridge, teníamos el lago Kaplan, un estanque mas bien, en el que nadaban los niños de por allí. Yo iba allí principalmente a caminar cerca de la playa. Un verano, nuestros padres nos dijeron que lo iban a cerrar por la epidemia de la polio. También nos advirtieron que no nos sentáramos demasiado cerca en los cines, un verdadero problema cuando la última película de Martin y Lewis tenía a los niños haciendo cola alrededor de la manzana para comprar una entrada en el Lyceum Theater de Woodridge.

FDR fue probablemente la víctima de la poliomielitis más conocida en Estados Unidos, pero muchos otros padecieron la enfermedad, como Neil Young y Francis Ford Coppola, que tuvieron casos más leves. Patrick Cockburn, nacido en 1950, enfermó de polio a los seis años. En 2005 escribió un libro sobre su experiencia, titulado “The Broken Boy” (El chico roto). En una entrevista con NPR ese año, el presentador le dijo: “Te quedó una cojera, una cojera severa. Pero usted entrevistó a otros supervivientes que estaban realmente mucho peor”. Cockburn respondió:

Sí, muchos de ellos. Un hombre que se convirtió en empresario tuvo que aprender a firmar su nombre con los dientes, con un bolígrafo clavado en los dientes y un aparato especial. A muchos otros les afectó la espalda, los pulmones y las piernas. Pero mucha gente se defendió. Conocí a un agricultor que tenía miedo de que cuando volviera a casa, por estar tan lisiado, la gente no lo aceptara. Pero, en realidad, su familia -y las familias irlandesas son muy fuertes- readaptó la granja para que pudiera manejar la maquinaria agrícola, para que pudiera ser un agricultor trabajador. Y muchas otras personas lucharon contra dificultades extraordinarias.

Para muchos médicos, el objetivo de desarrollar una vacuna para prevenir la polio se convirtió en algo primordial. FDR fundó la Fundación Nacional para la Parálisis Infantil en 1938 y promovió la Marcha de las Monedas de 10 centavos para la investigación de la polio. Cuando Harry Truman llegó a la presidencia, se comprometió a luchar contra la poliomielitis utilizando un lenguaje que recordaba al New Deal de los años 30:

La lucha contra la parálisis infantil no puede ser una guerra local. Debe ser a nivel nacional. Debe ser una guerra total en cada ciudad, pueblo y aldea del país. Porque sólo con un frente unido podemos esperar ganar cualquier guerra.

Dos médicos investigadores, judíos de Nueva York, fueron fundamentales en el desarrollo de una vacuna. Ninguno de ellos vio esto como una forma de hacerse rico. Su objetivo era únicamente salvar la vida de los niños.

Nacido en Nueva York en 1914, Jonas Salk desarrolló en 1955 una vacuna basada en virus muertos de la polio. El respaldo a su proyecto fue universal, con 100 millones de contribuyentes a la Marcha de las Monedas de 10 centavos, y 7 millones de voluntarios caminando por las calles con el emblemático banco colector.

Collection bank. 2005.3016.11.

Salk podría haber ganado millones patentando la vacuna, pero prefirió que estuviera lo más disponible posible. Cuando acudió al popular programa “Person to Person” de Edward R. Murrow, el presentador le preguntó a quién pertenecía la patente. Salk respondió: “Bueno, yo diría que a la gente. No hay ninguna patente. ¿Podría usted patentar el sol?” (Si se hubiera patentado, valdría 7.000 millones de dólares).

Da la casualidad de que Salk se graduó en el CCNY, un semillero de radicalismo en la década de 1930. No es de extrañar que J. Edgar Hoover tuviera su número. Cinco años antes de que presentara la vacuna, fue objeto de una investigación del FBI. Al escribirle a Dillon Anderson, uno de los más cercanos ayudantes de Eisenhower, Hoover recapituló sus transgresiones:

•Tres asociados no identificados de Salk, profesores de la Universidad de Michigan, dijeron que durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial Salk contribuyó a la ayuda de guerra para la Unión Soviética y fue “muy abierto” en sus elogios a ese país. Los asociados dijeron que Salk elogió los avances técnicos del país, mientras que su esposa, Donna, era aún más abierta en sus elogios a todos los aspectos de la vida soviética, escribió Hoover.

•Uno de los asociados profesionales de Salk en la U-M en la década de 1940 dijo que Salk estaba “muy a la izquierda del centro”. Otro asociado señaló que una organización liberal de la que Salk fue tesorero en 1946 se convirtió en “izquierdista” bajo el liderazgo de Salk.

•Salk y su esposa se inscribieron para votar al Partido Laborista Americano a principios de la década de 1940, dice la carta. Según un informante, el Partido Comunista se convirtió en una fuerza de control del ALP dentro de las áreas de la ciudad de Nueva York durante ese tiempo.

•Un informante informó que el hermano de Salk, Lee, era miembro del Partido Comunista en Ann Arbor en 1948.

•Según un informante, dijo Hoover, el nombre de Salk apareció en la lista de correo de la Conferencia de Nueva York por los Derechos Inalienables en 1941. El grupo fue citado como fachada comunista por el Comité de Actividades Antiamericanas de la Cámara de Representantes.

Nacido como Albert Saperstein en Bialystok, Polonia, en 1906, Albert Sabin se licenció en medicina en la Universidad de Nueva York, al igual que Salk. A diferencia de Salk, el objetivo de Sabin era desarrollar una vacuna basada en el virus debilitado de la polio. Ambas vacunas funcionaron, pero la de Sabin tenía la ventaja de poder tomarse por vía oral y ser más duradera.

Desafiando la histeria de la Guerra Fría, Sabin trabajó estrechamente con médicos y científicos del bloque soviético, lo que le valió la reputación de trabajar en una “vacuna comunista”. En un artículo titulado “La vacunación y el Estado comunista: la poliomielitis en Europa del Este”, Dora Vargha concluye que los Estados comunistas eran capaces de “hacer cosas buenas”, como ha dicho Bernie Sanders:

Tanto Oriente como Occidente compartían la percepción de lo que era el Estado comunista y su papel ideal en la prevención de la poliomielitis. Tras la aparición y la aplicación con éxito de las vacunas con poliovirus vivos, los estados de Europa del Este se consideraron especialmente aptos para lograr la eficacia en la contención -y erradicación- de la poliomielitis gracias a su participación en el desarrollo de la vacuna y su distribución. Occidente, aunque no respaldaba ideológicamente estos regímenes políticos, estaba de acuerdo. De hecho, Checoslovaquia, Hungría y Polonia se convirtieron en pioneros en la introducción, prueba y aplicación de vacunas de poliovirus vivo a escala masiva, mientras que sus pares de Europa del Este se apresuraron a seguirles en la vacunación masiva.

Desde una perspectiva geopolítica más amplia, la poliomielitis planteó cuestiones incómodas sobre el lado positivo de los regímenes comunistas (es decir, el control eficaz de las epidemias) y en poco tiempo llegó a simbolizar la ciencia “neutral” que rompía las barreras entre Oriente y Occidente. La organización vertical de los ensayos de vacunas y la inmunización, que en aquel momento se consideraba especialmente comunista y de Europa del Este, también pasó a considerarse la forma más eficaz de erradicar la poliomielitis a escala mundial.

Sabin continuó colabronado con las demonizadas sociedades post-capitalistas mucho tiempo después. En un artículo de 2014 titulado “Epidemias y oportunidades de colaboración entre Estados Unidos y Cuba”, Marguerite Jiménez describió su perspectiva internacionalista:

Varios años después de su apertura a la colaboración con la Unión Soviética, Sabin puso sus ojos en un colaborador comunista mucho más pequeño, uno que estaba mucho más cerca de casa. Sabin había viajado a Cuba varias veces antes de la revolución cubana de 1959, pero no había podido volver desde principios de los años cincuenta. A pesar de haber recibido múltiples invitaciones de funcionarios de salud pública de la isla a principios de la década de 1960, la escalada de las hostilidades entre Estados Unidos y Cuba hizo casi imposible una visita de tan alto perfil por parte de un famoso científico estadounidense.

La entusiasta búsqueda de Sabin de oportunidades de colaboración con la Unión Soviética durante la década de 1950 presagió sus esfuerzos en Cuba por superar los obstáculos políticos y el melodrama diplomático. En consecuencia, a finales de 1965, cuando el Departamento de Estado anunció una relajación de las restricciones a los viajes a las naciones comunistas por parte de ciertas categorías de profesionales, Sabin aprovechó rápidamente la oportunidad. El Departamento de Estado informó de que la relajación había respondido a la “insistencia de la comunidad médica” y se había hecho por razones de “humanidad” para promover una mayor cooperación internacional en la lucha contra las enfermedades. Aunque la investigación médica justificaba el carácter humanitario de la medida, el New York Times informó de que “la esperanza en los círculos oficiales era que los científicos médicos pudieran abrir la puerta a una cooperación más estrecha en otras áreas científicas.” Sabin envió inmediatamente copias del anuncio a sus colegas en Cuba y en veinticuatro horas recibió una invitación a través de la Misión Permanente de Cuba ante las Naciones Unidas.

Finalmente, tras casi dos años de planificación, Sabin llegó a La Habana el 4 de diciembre de 1967. Durante su estancia en Cuba, tuvo la oportunidad de visitar y reunirse con personas de una amplia gama de instituciones científicas y médicas, así como de hospitales, policlínicas e instalaciones de investigación. Aunque otros elementos de su viaje se hicieron públicos gracias a un puñado de artículos periodísticos sobre el tema publicados tanto en Estados Unidos como en Cuba, lo que no es comúnmente conocido es que durante su viaje, Sabin se reunió con Antonio Núñez Jiménez, un joven y prominente líder dentro del régimen de Fidel Castro y presidente de la Academia de Ciencias de Cuba. Sabin describió a Jiménez como una persona “de armas tomar” y “muy agradable”.

Ayer me acordé de Salk y Sabin tras leer un informe del Instituto de Investigación Sunnybrook, un hospital asociado a la Universidad de Toronto. Titulado “El equipo de investigación ha aislado el virus COVID-19”, revelaba que el Dr. Robert Kozak, la Dra. Samira Mubareka y el Dr. Arinjay Banerjee habían aislado el coronavirus del síndrome respiratorio agudo severo 2 (SARS-CoV-2), el agente responsable del actual brote de COVID-19.

Esa información sería fundamental para desarrollar una vacuna. Al describir su descubrimiento, Arinjay Banerjee se mostró muy en la tradición Salk/Sabin: “Ahora que hemos aislado el virus del SRAS-CoV-2, podemos compartirlo con otros investigadores y seguir trabajando en equipo. Cuantos más virus estén disponibles de este modo, más podremos aprender, colaborar y compartir.”

Colaborar y compartir. Eso no sólo es necesario para superar el COVID-19, sino para salvar al mundo de la destrucción capitalista.

Farhad Manjoo, uno de los únicos columnistas de opinión del New York Times que se pueden leer, estaba en lo cierto cuando escribió que “todo el mundo es socialista en una pandemia”. Escribió:

Puede haber un resquicio de esperanza: ¿Y si el virus obliga a los estadounidenses y a sus representantes a reconocer la fuerza de un ethos colectivista? El coronavirus, de hecho, ofrece algo así como un anticipo de muchas de las amenazas a las que podríamos enfrentarnos por los peores efectos del cambio climático. Como el virus no discrimina y es casi ineludible, nos deja a todos, ricos y pobres, en el mismo barco: La única manera de que cualquiera de nosotros esté realmente protegido es si el más pequeño de nosotros está protegido.

Amén.

…

The Virus of Inequality

2 months ago UncategorizedCovid-19, inequality, virus

The virus of inequality or inequality in the virus

Two reports warn of a truth, the deadly Covid-19 pandemic has increased inequities and global differences and although anyone can get sick, those with lower incomes add up much more in the statistics, are poorer and will have less access to the hopeful vaccine …

Author: Juana Carrasco Martin

juana@juventudrebelde.cu

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

The combined wealth of ten of the world’s richest people could pay for vaccines to immunize everyone Author: Twitter Published: 02/02/2021 | 03:38 pm

Oxfam has been adamant that the combined wealth of the world’s ten richest people could pay for vaccines to immunize the entire world. At the same time, the International Labor Organization stated in a report that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused the loss of 255 million jobs.

Social inequity, unequal opportunities to access goods and services such as housing, education or health are among the consequences of the world’s health situation, where more than 103 million people have fallen ill and more than two million have died, and the count continues, while the vaccines already in use, which are not enough and are the object of disputes between first world countries that can afford them and are among their manufacturers, do not seem to be distributed fairly….

Those who have called it the virus of inequality are right. Here are some data that prove it.

The Oxfam report is titled “The Inequality Virus: Reuniting a coronavirus-torn world through a fair, just and sustainable economy,” and it announces all that it means and is needed.

Paul O’Brien, vice president of Oxfam America, in an interview with Democracy Now, noted of the pandemic situation: “The 10 richest people ended up making half a trillion dollars during the pandemic. The richest thousand got back all the money they lost in the pandemic, and they reached the same level of wealth in nine months. But at the same time, it has been disastrous for people at the extreme end of poverty.”

The report of this international confederation of 19 non-governmental organizations, which carry out humanitarian work in 90 countries under the slogan “working with others to combat poverty and suffering”, as they describe it on the Internet, warns that in the face of these exorbitant profits of billionaires, poor people will not recover from the economic and health crisis for at least a decade. If it does, it should be noted.

“In every country we looked at, inequality has worsened during the pandemic,” O’Brien added.

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) pointed out that this economic crisis and the slow exit from it will lead to the closure of 2.7 million companies in the region alone and some 8.5 million more workers will lose their jobs, in an emergency that by 2020 had already led to a significant drop in growth and economic contraction.

The economic recovery will be fragile and uneven, is the sharp forecast of ECLAC; the painful conclusion for millions of Latin Americans and Caribbeans who were already going through a limited growth, to which now add the consequences of the pandemic as the lower export of raw materials and the collapse of tourism, among other indices in decline.

ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, added other significant data in red: 54 percent of the region’s labor force does not have social protection or access to public health services.

Of this proportion, 57 percent are women, and this index added an aggravating factor that is reproduced in other regions of the world, even in developed countries. The International Labor Organization also brought its concerns to the 51st World Economic Forum in Davos, which met virtually this week and not in its usual snowy retreat in the Swiss Alps.

Globally, the pandemic cost workers $3.7 trillion in lost income and the destruction of the equivalent of 255 million jobs in 2020, four times the impact of the 2009 global financial crisis, the ILO reported.

But the summit meeting of politicians, businessmen and representatives of social and cultural organizations, which this time did not take place as usual in Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain, did not exactly provide prodigious solutions at a peremptory moment for the planet. On the contrary, the widespread resurgence of the coronavirus, and even the new strains, highlighted the old weaknesses of health systems around the world, the injustices, the inaccessibility to medical care and vaccination that should be for everyone.

The slogan “The Great Reset” was crushed by an avalanche, and in this January 2021, as in the novel of the great writer, the problems discussed at the Davos Forum and the lack of intention to address them from what is fair, can be seen as the decadence of a way of life where the selfishness of those who only count profits in their finances over world health takes precedence.

The pandemic is conjunctural, although of extreme gravity. That is why its combination with structural problems, the same ones year after year, multiply the effects of inequity.

Check it out in these statements by Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, when the bloc intensified stricter monitoring of vaccine exports to countries outside the union. This is the case of the United Kingdom, because they had invested billions of euros and that “companies must now deliver” their vaccines to the 27 member states. “… We will set up a transparency mechanism for vaccine exports. Europe is determined to contribute. But it also means business.”

Ultimately that is the transparent truth,. The EU is a union of high-income rich countries, home to 342 billionaires; however, 123 million people at risk of poverty also reside there, Oxfam reported.

So what should we leave for the always neglected Africa? Cyril Ramaphosa, president of the African Union and of South Africa – one of the countries most affected by the coronavirus and even contributing a new strain, apparently of greater spread and lethality -, during his speaks at the 51st edition of the Davos Economic Forum, rightly criticized what he defined as “vaccine nationalism”, that is, the implementation of this selfish and inhuman attitude of hoarding, which hinders an equitable distribution of vaccines. “The rich countries of the world went out and acquired large doses (…) Some even acquired up to four times more than what their population needs excluding other countries”, a denunciation that he joined to the substantial comment: an increase in poverty is “expected for the first time in decades” and added, “the challenges we face were not created by the virus, they were created by us”.

You and I are not “us”, it is clear who fall into that category in the current pandemic and in the ancestral ills of that continent, the most powerful nations of the world that were colonial or neo-colonial empires.

The AFP news agency commented in this regard that bilateral agreements between governments and companies manufacturing vaccines against the Covid-19 virus could raise the prices of the drug and limit its supply to some regions.

Of course, the EU is not alone in this hoarding, where the United States and Donald Trump’s promise-threat that his country would be the first to be immunized and the willingness to buy all the vaccines produced in the world takes the lead.

Ramaphosa ratified the necessary denunciation: “We are concerned about vaccine nationalism (…) The rich countries of the world are holding on to these vaccines and we say: release the excess vaccines you have ordered and stockpiled”.

Reuters reported these days that the United Kingdom ordered 367 million doses of seven different vaccines for its population of approximately 67 million inhabitants, and the European Union secured almost 2.3 billion doses for a population of 450 million inhabitants.

However, the African continent, with some 1.3 billion inhabitants, barely completed 600 million doses of the international vaccine Covax, under the aegis of the WHO, which is also being requested by the rich countries.

We are faced with the confirmed presence of inequality in the midst of the terrible coronavirus.

Uncategorized 179

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Uncategorized 179

Interview with Adriana Pérez I live proud of being a woman and Cuban

Anesthetized by technology

No parent should be happy with this fatal prophecy, with the idea of raising their children to become manipulable automatons, only interested in fun and entertainment.

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The VIII Congress of the PCC: Possible Scenarios by Domingo Amuchastegui February 12, 2021

VIII CONGRESO DEL PCC: POSIBLES ESCENARIOS

Por Domingo Amuchastegui 12de febrero 2021 Recibido del autor por correo electrónico.

Cuba will be among the first countries to immunize its entire population.

Speaking at the Round Table space, the president of BioCubaFarma said that the vaccine production and distribution capacities have already been analyzed and organized for their programming until next December, once the studies of the four vaccine candidates yield the expected satisfactory results.

Feminism

My mother asks me, after reading something someone posted, what feminism is. I explain. She, who is 80 years old, looks at me, and before getting up from the armchair, she tells me in a casual tone: “Son, here, since 1959, we call it Revolution”.

Poliomielitis, Covid-19 y el Socialismo

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The virus of inequality or inequality in the virus

Two reports warn of a truth, the deadly Covid-19 pandemic has increased inequities and global differences and although anyone can get sick, those with lower incomes add up much more in the statistics, are poorer and will have less access to the hopeful vaccine …

Tags

Interview with Adriana Pérez
I live proud of being a woman and Cuban

The VIII Congress of the PCC: Possible Scenarios
by Domingo Amuchastegui
February 12, 2021

Por Domingo Amuchastegui
12de febrero 2021
Recibido del autor por correo electrónico.