Blockade 34

Cuba in the foreign policy of the USA

3 months ago CubaDebate, Translations, , , , , , , ,

cuba-debate

Cuba in the foreign policy of the United States of America

By Carlos Fernández de Cossío
In this article: Blockade, Blockade against Cuba, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, Cuba, Politics, Foreign Policy, United States, Cuba-U.S. Relations, Cuba-U.S. Relations

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, Cuba’s deputy foreign minister. Photo: Cubaminrex.

Speech by the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Dr.C. Carlos Fernández de Cossío, during the twentieth edition of Conversations Cuba in the Foreign Policy of the United States of America, which is being held at the Higher Institute of International Relations (ISRI).

Ambassador Rogelio Sierra, rector of ISRI, thank you for hosting us; Doctor of Science José Ramón Cabañas, ambassador and director of CIPI; dear friends and participants:

On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I thank you for the opportunity to participate in this event and to listen and learn from the deliberations.

I am also grateful for the opportunity to share the Ministry’s vision, particularly that of the U.S. Directorate General, in a forum that has a well-earned authority as a venue for academic and intellectual deliberation and analysis on Cuba-U.S. relations.

The theme selected for this year is: “U.S.-Cuba Relations in a New Global Scenario”.What I propose to do is to share our vision on the bilateral scenario in the year that is coming to an end.

The global scenario has certainly changed. The conflict in Europe has posed a new challenge for the international community. The tendency to try to divide the world in two, something Cuba warned about some years ago, seems to be gaining strength.

Important political changes have taken place in our region, which we assume with enthusiasm. Meanwhile, we continue to observe the persistent tendency to destabilize legitimate governments with the active participation of the OAS.

The scenario that has not experienced truly perceptible changes is that which characterizes relations between Cuba and the US.

We recognize that bilateral steps have been taken this year. Both governments have taken steps in that direction. These are not unilateral actions by one of the parties. I am going to refer to some of those steps that have taken place this year.

First, I am going to refer to migratory cooperation. It is natural that this is an area that carries weight since bilateral agreements have been in place for several decades. These are agreements that require review, updating and revision of how they are implemented. When I say review, I do not mean changing them, but examining them and having bilateral discussions on the occasion of those agreements.

But more important than that is that there is an irregular migratory phenomenon that affects both countries and this requires dialogue, communication and cooperation. Unfortunately, since a round of talks that took place in 2018, exchanges on migration between the two countries had been suspended, and there have been significant breaches of the agreements.

We had two talks this year: one in April, in Washington, D.C., and one in November, in Havana. They were productive talks in the sense that we confirmed the validity and importance of the agreements; we ratified the mutual political commitment to the fulfillment of the agreements; we identified areas that require greater attention, and we had the opportunity to analyze issues that are not properly reflected in the agreements, but have a great influence on the irregular migratory flow. There were no new agreements, nor did we have a total coincidence in what we discussed, but they were conversations that both parties identified as productive.

Also on the migration issue, in the fiscal year that ended on September 30, the U.S. government fulfilled for the first time since 2017 the commitment to grant 20,000 visas annually. This is something that had been unfulfilled since 2017. Most of those visas were granted and delivered in Guyana, but some began to be processed and delivered in Havana.

Already the U.S. Government announced that, in the first days of January, the totality of those services will return to its embassy in Havana.

In addition, we have had exchanges of experts on false documentation, for example. There have also been operational exchanges between the Cuban Coast Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard, in what has been a particularly difficult year in terms of irregular departures by sea. Cooperation has been maintained between both services for the interception on the high seas and the return to Cuba of those who are intercepted.

This year, we have already agreed to hold talks on law enforcement and compliance. There have also been exchanges on cooperation in dealing with oil spills, on health and there will be others on the environment.

This year, on the occasion of two disasters suffered by our country, there was an offer of humanitarian aid from the U.S. Government, without political conditions, which Cuba thanked and accepted. In the first case, it was on the occasion of the fire at the supertanker base in Matanzas: the U.S. Government immediately offered technical assistance and this led to telephone communications with regard to the fight against the fire. Later on, it offered material aid and Cuba was able to communicate what our priorities were in this regard. The U.S. Government finally offered 100 suits with protective equipment for firefighters, which will soon be delivered to the Cuban authorities.

On the occasion of Hurricane Ian in the province of Pinar del Río, the U.S. Government also offered material aid in the amount of two million dollars for the repair of roofs and houses, which should begin to arrive in January. In both cases, this aid was offered without political conditionalities and was gratefully accepted.

There has also been a greater degree of dialogue this year between the State Department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government agencies. These are all mutual steps of a bilateral nature that are of some importance and cannot be ignored.

But there are also developments in the opposite direction. For example, how can we explain the recent designation of Cuba as a country of special concern regarding religious freedom? It is a designation made without any real basis, with arguments that are dishonest, which is not unusual. One may ask: who do they want to please?

It can no longer be said, as we are sometimes alleged, that it is a question of political pressures in an election year since the elections are over. It has already been demonstrated that pretending to compete with the Republicans in the aggressiveness towards Cuba did not even win the Democrats a single vote in Florida. It is an action that one cannot explain what political motivation it has.

In May, the U.S. Government announced a group of measures. They were announced with what in the United States they call hype, a lot of fanfare. It is worthwhile to dwell on the measures announced.

The first of them is the commitment to allow again remittances to Cuba. That was in May and there is still no regular flow of remittances to Cuba. Secondly, is that the announcement was made without any commitment to dismantle the measures announced by the Trump administration to disrupt remittances. Thirdly, if there is to be a flow of remittances in the near future greater than what exists today, it will be due more to steps taken by Cuba than to actions taken by the U.S. government.

Another of the measures announced was to boost Internet penetration and interconnection in Cuba. We are forced to ask ourselves what is the coherence of this announcement when, by a decision of the U.S. Government, access to more than 200 private commercial websites is prohibited for Cubans. I am not referring to government websites, but private ones; among them, about 20 belong to Google. This refers to sites in the area of education, science and technology, health, art, culture and innovation.

What is the consistency of the Government when it announces that it is committed to the promotion of the Internet and at the same time prohibits by Government regulation that Cubans have access to these sites?

A few weeks ago it was announced that a U.S. Government Advisory Committee recommended rejecting a commercial operation that would connect a submarine Internet cable to Cuba. This forces us once again to ask ourselves what is the consistency of the U.S. Government when it announces its commitment to promote the Internet and at the same time cuts off Cuba’s access to the Internet.

It is possible that it is the same consistency that the U.S. Government has when it proclaims that its priority with respect to Cuba is the promotion of human rights and the well-being of the Cuban people.

Another of the measures announced was the possibility of commercial flights from the United States to different Cuban provinces. This has been fulfilled.

The measure of providing more facilities for travel in groups has also been fulfilled. Individual travel is still prohibited.

Another of the measures announced was to take actions to help the emerging private sector, which is one of the most inconsistent measures for several reasons.

In the first place, the existence of the economic blockade has a negative impact in absolute terms on any sector of the Cuban economy. The U.S. government may propose to establish exceptions, but that private entrepreneur is still going to encounter the effects of the blockade in his daily life. That is one inconsistency.

There is a second inconsistency: the promotion of the private or non-state sector in Cuba is part of the development of the Cuban economy. It began to be conceived some 12 years ago. We delayed in its design, implementation, and regulation, but it is our promotion.

However, the United States Government, and it does not hide saying it, intends to promote the private sector, not to help the development of the Cuban economy, not to improve the standard of living of the population, not to help a majority sector of the population, but it identifies it as an instrument of political subversion.

They dream of using it to erode the public sector, the Cuban State, and the public administration, on which education, health, citizen security, electricity and water services, the guarantee of social justice and the overcoming of economic and social differences depend. He makes no secret of his ambition to use this sector as a political weapon.

If exceptions to the blockade are introduced, with the dream of undermining the revolution, we will not oppose [them]. We are not going to oppose [them]. If this allows for greater prosperity of any sector of the Cuban economy, we are not going to put obstacles in its way. If it manages to devise exceptions that benefit some and continue to punish others, we will not try to prevent it either. But they are making a major mistake in political terms in trying to promote the private sector as a weapon to undermine the nature of Cuban society.

These actions announced in May are very limited, but as we said at the time, we do identify them in a positive direction, even if they are inconsistent in many cases. There is no doubt that they and the areas of cooperation I mentioned are a contrast to the last two years of the Trump administration and to 2021. This is part of what describes the bilateral relationship.

But to describe it seriously and objectively, in our opinion, we have to pay attention to two fundamental issues. In the first place: which are the areas to which the U.S. Government devotes more human resources, financial resources, and more working hours.

If one takes into account the number of officials working in the Treasury Department who are dedicated to enforcing the economic blockade, the number of US diplomats in many parts of the world who are dedicated to pursuing each and every one of Cuba’s financial transactions, the number of pronouncements made in the US Congress.

If one takes into account the impact on the Cuban economy and Cuban society, which is the second factor, on the daily life of each and every Cuban, the impact on Cuba’s relations with third countries, there can also be no doubt that the economic blockade continues to be the central and defining factor of the bilateral relationship, seconded -taking into account these factors- by political subversion, to which tens of millions of US taxpayer dollars are devoted every year. A government’s budget is supposed to reflect the government’s priorities.

On the basis of that analysis, of the application of the blockade and its impact today, it can be said with sufficient confidence that the current US government, that of Joseph Biden, is the one that has applied the blockade most aggressively and effectively of all those that the Cuban Revolution has known. It is the one that punishes the most, the one that harms the daily life of Cubans and the economy as a whole the most. Here I include all the Administrations since Eisenhower to date. That is what characterizes today the United States Government and its current policy towards Cuba. I insist the one that most aggressively and effectively applies the economic blockade.

Some will take this as a historical merit. In practice, he is applying with absolute and surprising loyalty, not only the blockade as it existed before but the policy of maximum economic pressure that was designed by his predecessor, Donald Trump.

One has reason to wonder what the president of the United States could have done or what he can do to fulfill, not only what he promised his constituents in 2020, but also to fulfill his stated priority of promoting human rights and caring for the welfare of the Cuban people.

The president, since taking over the White House, could have removed Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List. At the time it was taken, that measure had not even taken effect yet, since the days defined by law had not elapsed.

As soon as it was announced by the Trump administration, there was immediately a letter from several prominent U.S. congressmen, Democrats, questioning the decision. The U.S. Government knows the impact of this measure, it cannot be claimed to ignore it. A few weeks after the designation, 45 banks and financial institutions that had a long-standing relationship with Cuba severed their ties with our country.

This has an impact on our trade, on our possibilities of obtaining credits, on the ways to make payments. It is a devastating impact. And even today, by virtue of its presence on that list, Cuba is still encountering commercial and financial organizations that refuse to interact with it for fear of reprisals from the U.S. Government.

The U.S. Government knows that the arguments used were dishonest. The main argument was even already denounced by the current Colombian Government, but that does not seem to move a Government whose priority, apparently, is the welfare of the Cuban people.

The list to which Cuba does belong is the U.S. List of Terrorist Victims, which is not a short list, by the way.

The U.S. President may also have suspended the possibility of action in U.S. courts on claims brought under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act. This has a deterrent impact on our development purpose of attracting foreign capital.

This Government could have ceased the practice of pressuring African, Asian and Latin American governments to refuse medical cooperation from Cuba. I am referring to the pressures exerted two or three weeks ago, from governments telling us that “we have received a visit either from an envoy or from the US embassy, warning us that if we receive Cuban doctors, we will be engaging in slavery and human trafficking practices”.

This U.S. action, of course, seeks to prevent medical services for tens of thousands of people, which is what Cuban doctors do. It is known that in countries that are more developed than Cuba, or wealthier than Cuba, Cuba receives financial compensation for those services. This is totally legitimate, in accordance with United Nations resolutions on South-South cooperation and pronouncements by the G-77 and the NAM.

The objective is to discredit the Cuban Revolution and deprive Cuba of financial resources, necessary for the economy, for development. This is not consistent with a concern for the well-being of Cubans.

The U.S. president could have also done, and has not done, to put an end to punitive measures, threats and persecution of fuel exporting companies, transportation companies, port agencies, insurance and reinsurance agencies; all aimed at depriving Cuba of fuel supplies that our country requires to function.

Since mid-2019, this has had an extremely severe impact on the economy and the life of Cubans, not only because we have had to stop industries, reduce transportation, and have affected electricity services, but we are forced to pay premiums for the fuel we import on account of the risk assumed by whoever sells us oil or whoever transports it.

With this impact, explain to the Cuban population that the U.S. Government has the welfare of the Cuban people in mind.

The U.S. Government was able to abolish an absolutely arbitrary list of restricted entities, formed with dishonest arguments and with total superficiality. In some cases, they took Trip Advisor as a reference and saw the most popular places for U.S. visitors, and put them on the list. So, some of us here are banned from going to the Rum Museum, for example.

All these measures are aimed at cutting off the sources of income of the Cuban economy. That is how they were designed by the predecessor government and that is how they are applied, to deprive us of energy sources, of access to technology and to deprive us of attracting the capital required for the country’s development.

They all bear the fingerprint of Donald Trump and his administration. All of them were established with dishonest arguments that the current government no longer even takes the trouble to deny.

We know that the U.S. Government and some Americans do not like to hear about the economic blockade. Some present it as something in bad taste, as something old-fashioned or something anachronistic or something that does not contribute to dialogue.

But if you live here, how can you not talk about the blockade? Those who work every day to promote bilateral relations with the United States, how can they not talk about the blockade? The officials who every week have to decide how to allocate the scarce resources that the economy has to solve the needs of the population, how can they not talk about the blockade and think about the blockade constantly?

We know that in the United States it is common that racists do not want to talk about racism. I believe that there are even bills for legislation against education on racism. Those who enforce the blockade do not want people to talk about the blockade, which has an impact on everything: on the electrical service, on the availability of medicines and materials for medical services; on the ability to obtain inputs for food production; on transportation; on production; including the production of construction materials.

The U.S. Government cannot claim that it is unaware of this impact and that its conduct influences this impact.

For months now, the narrative is being promoted that it is incumbent upon Cuba to offer gestures; that steps have been taken by the Biden administration that have not been reciprocated; as if Cuba is in debt; when it is known that there is no action taken by the Cuban Government against the US Government, against any US organization, against any US individual, against the welfare of anyone in the United States. However, this narrative persists and they even send us messengers with this idea.

The current deplorable state of bilateral relations is not Cuba’s responsibility.

Cuba has not missed a single one of the commitments it made between 2015 and 2016. The U.S. government has destroyed the relationship.

Today’s reality is the result of a design that was conceived with total frankness by the government of Donald Trump, who, at least, had the honesty to proclaim what he intended to do.

Our government has said and reiterated with sufficient clarity that we are willing to move towards a respectful and constructive relationship with the United States. This is Cuba’s position and anyone who follows the statements made by our government or anyone who follows the actions of the Cuban government can verify it.

In spite of the natural distrust that the conduct of the United States in the last five years may generate, there is no real argument capable of casting doubt on Cuba’s disposition. In practice, we have been demonstrating it with the steps that have been taken this year.

Nor, of course, should there be any doubt that we are approaching this progress on the basis of absolute respect for our sovereignty.

The United States Government cannot pretend to treat Cuba as if it were part of its territory, or treat Cuba as if it were a colonial dominion, or treat Cuba as if it were an adversary defeated in a war. We are none of the three.

Within the territory of the United States there are states, I will give, for example, the state of Mississippi, where poverty is close to 20%, where there is malnutrition estimated at 15% of the population, where there are practices that deprive people of the right to vote. No one in the United States can imagine that, by virtue of these realities, the Federal Government would decide to apply a system of coercive measures against the population of the State of Mississippi, cut off its electricity, cut off its financial relations with the rest of the American Union, prohibit it from trading and prohibit the rest of the Americans from traveling there. But even if the federal government were to do so, Mississippi is within the United States, within the sovereign prerogatives of the federal government. Much to the chagrin of some Americans, Cuba is outside the territory of the United States.

More than half of the population of Puerto Rico is said to be leaving the country, and the economy of this Latin American sister nation is bankrupt. If the United States applies an economic blockade, it would be a crime and Puerto Rico is a colonial possession of the United States.

If the United States had applied an economic blockade against the German population after World War II, it would have been interpreted as a crime against the people of the country that was a defeated adversary in the war.

Cuba is none of the three. It is not within the United States, it is not a colony of the United States, and it is not an adversary that the United States has defeated.

This policy has no moral, legal and, of course, political explanation.

We are convinced that progress is beneficial for both countries and for both peoples. We are convinced that it is necessary. We are also convinced that it would be welcomed by the nations of the Americas and, furthermore, we are convinced that it is possible.

It requires, of course, political will and courage, as existed a few years ago.

Those conditions do not seem to exist today in the United States.

The bet, as President Díaz-Canel points out, continues to be to asphyxiate the Cuban economy, and to try to provoke social collapse and a political crisis in Cuba.

The United States has failed in that purpose, but it does not fail to cause enormous damage and makes us pay a high cost that is reflected in the economic depression of the country and that is also reflected in the extraordinary flows of Cuban migrants.

No one could be surprised by these flows.

It is an established truth that the economic depression in any country or region, the depression of living conditions, are factors that promote migration and that adverse conditions in any country can drive migration, due to natural disasters, wars when there are wars, famines, social instability, there may be insufficient economic policies. That happens anywhere in the world. It happens in the United States where there are cities that had two million inhabitants and today have less than 700,000.

What is unique to Cuba, what is a particular characteristic of our country is that there is an extraordinary foreign force promoting economic depression and thus driving migratory flows. This is what experts call the “push” effect.

We have discussed this with the U.S. Government. They know our point of view and our argumentation in that sense.

As we have said on more than one occasion, we will continue to build bridges with the U.S. society in all possible fields and we will try to continue promoting the most constructive and respectful relationship possible with the U.S. Government.

We will also continue in our efforts to ensure our economic sustainability, even in the prospect that the economic blockade will last for many years to come.

I wish you success in your deliberations and may they contribute to the common understanding and to the purpose that I believe we all share of bringing our two nations closer together.

Thank you very much.

Díaz-Canel receives AMLO (+video)

10 months ago Granma, Translations, ,

 

Díaz-Canel received President of Mexico (+video)

During the fraternal meeting, both parties highlighted the good state of bilateral relations, which will reach their 120th anniversary on May 20, and expressed their willingness to continue deepening the bonds of brotherhood that unite us.

Author: Granma | internet@granma.cu
Monday May 9, 2022 01:05:42 AM

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

Foto: Estudios Revolución

The President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, held official talks on Sunday with the President of the United Mexican States, His Excellency Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is on a working visit to our country.

During the fraternal meeting, both parties highlighted the good state of bilateral relations, which will reach their 120th anniversary on May 20, and expressed their willingness to continue deepening the bonds of brotherhood that unite us. They also acknowledged the positive progress in economic-commercial, investment and cooperation relations, and ratified the will to continue strengthening these ties, taking advantage of the potential of both countries.

The Cuban President thanked Mexico for its historic support in the battle to lift the US economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba. The meeting was also an opportunity to highlight the existing cultural ties between Cuba and Mexico, which have deepened with the participation of the Aztec nation as the guest of honor at the 30th Havana Book Fair.

At the end of the talks, a Declaration between the Government of the United Mexican States and the Government of the Republic of Cuba and a Cooperation Agreement between the Ministry of Health of the United Mexican States and the Ministry of Public Health of the Republic of Cuba were signed.

The distinguished visitor was accompanied by His Excellency Mr. Marcelo Luis Ebrard Casaubón, Secretary of Foreign Affairs; the respective Secretaries of Health, National Defense and the Navy, Jorge Carlos Alcocer Varela, General Luis Cresencio Sandoval González and Admiral José Rafael Ojeda Durán; Lázaro Cárdenas Batel, Coordinator of Advisors to the President; and the Mexican Ambassador to Cuba, Miguel Ignacio Díaz Reynoso, among other officials.

Present for the Cuban side were the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla; Army Corps General Álvaro López Miera, Minister of Minfar; the Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz; the Minister of Public Health, José Angel Portal Miranda, and the Cuban Ambassador to Mexico, Marcos Rodríguez Costa, among other officials.

LÓPEZ OBRADOR RECEIVED THE NATIONAL ORDER JOSÉ MARTÍ

From the hands of President Díaz-Canel, this Sunday López Obrador was also awarded the José Martí National Order, the highest decoration granted by Cuba, for which he said he felt honored and grateful.

Díaz-Canel reaffirmed to his Mexican counterpart that “this was a desired, expected and longed-for visit, in which we can convey to him all the admiration, respect and affection you have here, for your expressions and gestures toward the Cuban people.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador replied that it could already be, as writers say, a commonplace to talk about the friendship between Cuba and Mexico, but that he was here to reaffirm the brotherhood and solidarity between both peoples.

The Mexican President arrived in Cuba at dusk on Saturday, and accompanied by the Vice President of the Republic, Salvador Valdés Mesa, he began the Sunday day with the laying of a wreath at the monument to José Martí, in the Plaza de la Revolución.

Martí, he said shortly after, “I admire him as much as I admire Bolívar and our Juárez”.

After ten o’clock on a historic Sunday night, President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez bid farewell to Cuba’s dear friend. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was returning to Mexico.

Urgent Alert from Puentes de Amor

11 months ago CubaDebate, Translations, , , , , ,

cuba-debate

Alert! Urgent! Actions are being prepared to sabotage the Miami anti-blockade caravan and the Bridges of Love movement.

April 25, 2022

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

Brothers and sisters: For months the extreme right has fiercely attacked the Miami caravan against the blockade and the Puentes de Amor/Bridges of Love movement. They have branded us as “communists”, “agents of the Cuban government”; lately they have also accused us of being “counterrevolutionaries”. Yes, just like that. The traditional anti-Cuban right-wing has achieved a strange communion with some characters who call themselves “revolutionaries” and attack our movement equally.

They have tried many offenses aimed at getting us out of the way. But without success. Every day more and more people raise their voices to demand the end of the blockade against Cuba and the construction of Bridges of Love between the peoples of Cuba and the United States.

Now the Miami right-wing, articulated by Maria Elvira Salazar, Mario Diaz-Balart, Channel 41 and the hating YouTubers, are trying to use a new tactic.

They resort to ill-intentioned people and try to create confusion and chaos in the Miami Caravan. The latest thing they have come up with is to hold a “revolutionary” counter caravan. Yes, as you read it: “revolutionary”. It is difficult to understand this puzzle, but opportunism plays unusual cards.

Let there be no doubt in anyone’s mind: the creation of this contra caravan is carried out by the same hands that pull the strings of confrontation and rage against the Cuban family. [They are] the same hands that have no scruples in engendering in Washington all the plans and proposals aimed at adding more fire to the pressure cooker in an attempt to make it explode at once, to make Cuba burst.

Now they are using extremists and sectarians who call themselves “leftists”.

In this war against the people of Cuba, and against the caravans, it seems that anything goes. From Miami, with photos of leaders of the Cuban Revolution as a backdrop, they try to legitimize their divisive discourse. While they brand us as “counterrevolutionaries”, they shamelessly appropriate the messages of Puentes de Amor/Bridges of Love. The tactic of confusion of symbols and false flags is not new. They attack, denigrate, defame and intimidate anyone who supports #PuentesDeAmor.

Our caravans are part of a diverse and inclusive movement, centered on the love of family, made up of people of diverse faiths and ideologies. It is not a political movement but a citizen and humanitarian movement. The saboteurs want to make this a reason for “suspicion” because they do not tolerate diversity.

They go as far as xenophobia and rant against someone like Peter Seidman, an experienced fighter for civil rights in the U.S., and one of the organizers of the Miami Caravan. They slander him because he is “American” and “Jewish”. They have even accused Max Lesnik, founder of the Alianza Martiana and an old revolutionary, of being a “CIA agent”. What could they not have said against me? My status as a veteran, a combat medic in the Iraq war two decades ago, is used as proof that the leader of Puentes de Amor/Bridges of Love is a “war criminal”. The goal is to “defame him so that something remains”.

To confuse even more, they claim that the caravan movement and Bridges of Love have a secret agenda to carry out a “soft coup” in Cuba and overthrow the government. Things are true Sancho!

In the face of this barrage of attacks we declare:

Puentes de Amor/Bridges of Love is a movement and organization created in the United States, which seeks to educate the American people and the elected politicians in this country, about the need to lift the sanctions that weigh on the Cuban people. Our goal is to end the blockade of Cuba.

Puentes de Amor welcomes all those who, beyond ideologies, want the blockade to be lifted and Cuba’s national sovereignty to be respected. Neither Puentes de Amor, nor the Miami Caravan, had, has, nor will have any intention of interfering in Cuba’s internal affairs.

We alert our followers and friends, Cubans in the United States and around the world, journalists and social communicators: the counter caravan that they want to orchestrate for May 22, 2022, in Miami pursues only one goal: to undermine the Miami Caravan, disarticulate its members and weaken the #PuentesDeAmor movement.

We invite Cubans and non-Cubans to join the caravan against the blockade that will take place on Sunday, May 29, 2022. People from all over the United States will travel to Miami to give their support to those who raise their voices there to end the criminal blockade that weighs on the people of Cuba.

They will not divide us! They will not confuse us! We will not stop until the blockade on Cuba is lifted! Our priority is love! The family is sacred!

Cuba yes, blockade no! Puentes de Amor/Bridges of Love!

Carlos Lazo
Organizer of Puentes de Amor/Bridges of Love!
April 25, 2022

(Taken from Carlos Lazo’s Facebook account)
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UNEDITED TRANSLATION OF COMMENTS ON CUBADEBATE:

ERNESTO said:
All our support to the professor and the good Cubans in Miami!!!! We know that this “revolutionary leader” is a friend of Maria Elvira, he doesn’t mess with Otaola and company, besides he has a lousy moral conduct. And as my grandmother used to say, a lazy person is a thief’s apprentice. In this case, since he has not wanted to work, he has sold himself to the highest bidder using the false image of a revolutionary inquisitor. We will not be fooled by this puppet. Long live the bridges of love! Thank you Professor Carlos Lazo for so much effort.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 17:18/ REPLY
Ernesto said:
You are clear brother. Edmundo’s behavior is out of the question. Every time I see him in a direct throwing dirt on bridges of love and Lazo and our president Diaz Canel and and Soberon, I remember how he came out with an immoral video, a guy alienated and does all that under cover of a photo of our commander. Lazo is right, that is paid for and inspired by the Miami right wing.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 18:27/ REPLY
Carmen Glez said:
all movements and caravans to be done with a good purpose. End the blockade. Lifting of the sanctions. Remove Cuba from the expury list of countries welcome the revolutionary caravans And let’s stop defaming Edmundo Garcia. He has always been exposed to the greatest defamations. He has been fighting against this mafia for years and years. Without giving up his Revolutionary principles. Loving and following the Legacy of our Undefeated Commander. They have no evidence to the contrary. . Let’s be serious.

26 APRIL 2022 AT 5:41
Abelino said:
You are correct brother. Edmundo “revolutionary leader” is a person with unparalleled moral rot. He attacks Lazo, Israel el de Buena fe, Soberon, our president Dias Canel, and he does it with a photo of the commander in chief in the background, he is pitiful and disgusting. Here we are alerted to this character. Here they already know him.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 18:33/ REPLY.
The whip said:
EXCELLENT COMMENT,MR. USUAL BUM,AND NOW OPPONENT TO THE CUBAN PEOPLE AND GOVERNMENT DOES NOT WANT TO WORK AND THE BEST WAY TO LIVE WITHOUT WORKING HERE IN MIAMI,IS CASHING CHECKS FOR DISUNITING AND ATTACKING EVERYTHING THAT IS GOOD FOR CUBA.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 18:36/ REPLY
Alfredo said:
Much clarity in his words. It is very unfortunate that a gentleman who chooses to call himself a revolutionary before as is edmundo Garcia is the bearer of so much rottenness of the ultra-right in Miami against the Cuban people and bridges of love. How is it possible that this gentleman does not attack the people who call for strong sanctions against Cuba and only attacks bridges of love.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 23:20/ REPLY
Alexei said:
My previous comment was not published I am going to tone down my comment haber si me publican.
I live in Holguin Cuba I am daily on social networks and YouTube directs, defended the revolution, I have many direct cuts in which channels that drive today Carlos Lazo, the host of the channel, denigrate the revolution and Fidel.
I really don’t understand anything

26 APRIL 2022 AT 9:37/ REPLY.
Mercedes said:
Alexei, false very false what you say. The channels that denigrate the revolution are those of Reinaldo Tinima Tv where you participate, those of Edmundo Garcia, where you participate, those of Otaola, Eliecer, Felipe, eñ Protestón, Lazo does not participate in those channels. I also live in Holguín. If you really support our process and the Cuban people, stop following those channels that denigrate the revolution and join those who fight for the Cuban family, the Guajiro, Doctors Cordoví, Pellizcando. And yes, it seems that you do not understand anything. Edmundo denigrates the revolution, right now he is attacking Cubadebate, Soberón, Cuba and threatening to go to the Miami media. Take off your blindfold brother, so you understand what is at stake here.

26 APRIL 2022 AT 12:28
EL LÁTIGO said:
Alexei,is it serious what you are saying?on what channel are you always on?Reynaldo Escobar ring a bell?here don’t come here to lie and try to defend the person who you have also attacked him,or do you have a bad memory?LONG LIVE THE BRIDGES OF LOVE.

26 APRIL 2022 AT 16:45
Otto Anibal said:
If you do not understand anything you call yourself revolutionary and do not get out of CONTRAREVOLUTIONARY channels, eye, and even with key in them, then what do you think how are we ??. Right now Edmundo and since yesterday, he is trying to denigrate Cubadebate, he blatantly lies about this media, he offends….well, you better than anyone know how he gets, then ??, you will go and tell him why he attacks, you don’t understand him at all ????

26 APRIL 2022 AT 19:26
Elvira said:
The truth that us haters no longer have nothing to invent, a “revolutionary” caravan. You have to have a lot of cynicism, chutzpah and lack of ethics. I support our brothers of Puentes de Amor who beyond the borders fight against the genocidal blockade that suffocates their people and for the union of good Cubans wherever they are. Bravo to them!

25 APRIL 2022 AT 17:23/ REPLY
Susana de la Flor said:
… “Bridges of love”…, yes, true, we need many bridges made with love, that unite and save us….

25 APRIL 2022 AT 17:28/ REPLY
Worry and occupy 70 said:
The truth will prevail. When the feeling for Cuba is genuine, lies and hate, fall to the deepest. Long live the sons and daughters who love their homeland. Down with the blockade!

25 APRIL 2022 AT 17:33/ REPLY
Paloma said:
It is worrying, I have always felt fear for the integrity of the Bridges of Love movement, the haters in their perverse actions are capable of anything, they do not have an ounce of dignity or shame
#CubaVive
Thank you for your love

25 APRIL 2022 AT 17:57/ REPLY
siboneyes said:
The movement of solidarity and friendship with Cuba, including the caravans, marches, rallies against the criminal US blockade, IS ON MAXIMUM ALERT. Solidarity and Friendship all over the world… Unite! May they not steal our speech, our terms, our words, our verb and strategies of defense and denunciation, our revolutionary language. May they not rob us of our sure, firm and well-defined steps, our certainty of victory and confidence in a beautiful future. Solidarity, cooperation and disinterested help, friendship, altruism, generosity, kindness, detachment, selflessness, fraternity, comradeship, brotherhood, communion, are words that opportunists, profiteers, lackeys, traitors and bootlickers in the service of the empire do NOT know how to pronounce or use. They combine it all with money, with mercenarism. Let us NOT be fooled and let us NOT take the initiative, brothers in solidarity! let us unite in a single bridge of love and tenderness, a bridge that unites the peoples of the United States and Cuba, the Cuban families separated by visceral hatred, lies and rancor designed from that monstrous, perfidious and horrendous place that is Miami, a single bridge of love, affection and affection that extends through valleys and mountains, rivers, seas and oceans, forests and prairies, between rainbows and clouds and unites all the peoples of the world. Greetings.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 18:09/ REPLY
Ernesto Martinez said:
You could see that coming. The one leading these attacks is Edmundo Garcia. From counter-revolutionary to revolutionary and now he has even become an opponent of the Cuban government. The sad thing about this is that he launches all this venom against Lazo and against bridges of love and has confused good people. The confusion occurs because Edmundo does this work under the cover of photos of the commander in chief. Fidel, from his grave, must be very upset with this character. Don’t be discouraged professor, the people of Cuba love and respect him.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 18:14/ REPLY
Gloria Hardwig said:
100%agree with you!!!

25 APRIL 2022 AT 22:41/ REPLY
Eliades said:
Prof. Lazo did not say the name, but we know that the quitacolumnista, the traitor is Edmundo Garcia. Sad and demoralized character that one. It is common knowledge that Edmundo gives his tongue to Maria Elvira Salazar. This guy is poisonous and betrays even his mother. Don’t worry Lazo, Edmundo is not fooling anyone anymore. Here we are alert.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 18:20/ REPLY.
Gloria Hardwig said:
THESE REFLECTIONS CONTAINED IN THIS ARTICLE, ARE WORTHY OF DEEP ANALYSIS! LONG LIVE THE BRIDGES AND CARAVANASSS FOR OUR PEOPLE!!!!!

25 APRIL 2022 AT 18:34/ REPLY
Pepe said:
We support you Carlos for your courage, honesty without limits and intelligence. The values that you stand for are pure and have to triumph. Take care of yourselves from evil and hatred. We support you with all our strength from Cuba

25 APRIL 2022 AT 19:01/ REPLY
Aida said:
Vivan los Puentes de Amor viva la familia cubana abajo lis odiadores como el Inmundo Garcia.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 19:02/ REPLY
Diana Rosa Hernandez Aguilar said:
It is incredible to see how the enemies of the people of use all kinds of unscrupulous actions to eliminate those who try to support us, to help us.
The Blockade is Real.
So is the anti-Cuban mafia.
Bridges of Love, regardless of the circumstances, the attacks, the discrediting against them, seek to unite the Cuban family, seek what every Cuban with love for his homeland should do, fight against this criminal blockade until it is destroyed.
On the 29th with Bridges of Love in caravan and against the sanctions that weigh on my country.
On the 29th I go with Bridges of Love.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 19:05/ REPLY
Mas said:
Thank you, love will always unite us, no.matter distance.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 20:39/ REPLY
Miguel Fernandez Sierra said:
It is shameful that Cubans who were akin to the REVOLUTION in recent times have twisted the path. I have been participating in these caravans the last three times in Miami and I can affirm that we are all against the BLOCKADE and in favor of good relations between Cuba and the USA! Down with the BLOCKADE and long live the bridges of LOVE! Greetings!

25 APRIL 2022 AT 19:05/ REPLY
Aida said:
Vivan los Puentes de Amor viva cuba Viva la familia cubana El tal inmundo es un odiador y opositor del pueblo de cuba y su gobierno.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 19:05/ REPLY
ArielN said:
I would like to know the sense that those who try to sabotage a gesture of kindness do not tell him a revolutionary taste valla, pq.many are not but humanism will never be well seen who condemns or attacks it, as it will not be well seen who uses it as a facade.
Rivers have always had clear waters and murky waters but in the end both end up in the same sea.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 19:14/ REPLY
Daniel Andres said:
My respect for them , the way is love , not building walls but building bridges of love , the Cuban family needs it , why can’t relations be normal , despite the differences between the two countries , by their fruits you will know them , those who love and build , those who hate and destroy

25 APRIL 2022 AT 19:29/ REPLY
Miguel said:
Those who truly love Cuba are not going to be misled by that crude maneuver. All my support for Puentes de Amor.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 19:44/ REPLY
Macondiana said:
Professor all the love in the world is not enough to thank you. On behalf of the Cuban family, thank you and a thousand times thank you! Fuerza Puentes de Amor!!!

25 APRIL 2022 AT 19:55/ REPLY
Quindo said:
“the homeland rises on the united shoulders of all its children. One does not have the right to isolation: one has the right to be useful” José Martí.

Bridges of love is a good project that seeks to influence to lift the criminal blockade that makes the homeland suffer, which is laudable, but if we look at the media supports of this project as was the Protestón, creator of the Miami caravan, and the youtube channel “Pellizcando” leave much to be desired by the positions assumed and the sometimes grotesque way of treating those who think differently from them.

There is a marked protagonism of the leader of this movement, which many do not like given the positions he assumes, at times, with important people of this movement who brand the revolution, our government as a “dictatorship”. This does not please the revolutionaries in spite of the laudable objective.
If it is said that it is not a political movement, without ideology, inclusive, these manifestations should be on the margin of the movement because they undermine, create doubts.

This proclamation, this declaration, although it intends to alert about the contenders who intend to boycott this project and take a parallel path: the important thing would be not to give reasons to question this noble purpose and to analyze the causes of why it is questioned and to eliminate everything that casts doubt on the good and legitimate intentions.

Any action that contributes to the lifting of the blockade is praiseworthy, wherever it comes from, but it is necessary to follow clear paths to prevent censorship and disqualification: everyone has the right to defend what they believe to be just.

“There are no two ways to go if you want to succeed” and “whoever asks for love must inspire respect” José Martí.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 20:21/ REPLY
Maria Cristina said:
What kind of thing bro. Pellizcando en Vivo collects refills for people in Cuba, helps the Caravanas, and you dare to defend and not mention a denigrating and denigrated man who attacks our president Diaz Canel and you say that Pellizcando says rude things. How sad brother, you may be good people but you are very confused and do not see that one of the biggest traitors in the Cuban emigration is Edmundo Garcia. I am glad Cubadebate exposed this. Here in our country people are clear. Don’t try to confuse us.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 22:28/ REPLY.
Luciano said:
Recharges? How many recharges according to the money they receive? Here families recharge their families. Those recharges you talk about 99% are “earned” by the same person. Have you seen a financial report of what is collected? What did these riffraff do when they were fighting against the blockade, not embargo as they call it. According to them “blockade” is the internal blockade of Cuba. Dale, bring out your evidence.

26 APRIL 2022 AT 9:02
Abigail said:
Luciano, you are the Herald journalist, counter-revolutionary who has not visited Cuba for 30 years. Luciano, Herald journalist liar, advisor to Edmundo now campaigning to create a dissidence of “revolutionaries” in Miami. Look how the “unknown” contributions rained down on Edmundo yesterday, he collected almost a thousand dollars, there is a lot of money in Miami to attack Cuba. We here know who you are and who Edmundo Garcia is, wolves of the same anti-Cuban pack. long live Cuba! long live the revolution! long live the bridges of love!

26 APRIL 2022 AT 10:33
Kindo said:
Dear Maria Cristina, I state my opinion from what I see, what I hear. Nobody is absolutely right. Neither you nor me. I opine by evidence: ask Victoria a Cuban living in Havana if she was not offended. Whatever the reasons, there is no reason to denigrate anyone.
How does recharging help: only to connect to the internet or to sell the balance, no more.
It is not admissible that they brand the government as a tyranny, they do it; that Fidel has already passed, that he is in a stone, that now there are other circumstances: they marginalize his legacy. Do we have to accept that? Besides, it is inadmissible to use milk donations in tones of bachata, laughter, double meaning. Can you imagine what Fidel would have done if he had seen these demonstrations? Can you imagine? He would have dispensed with them: “The manner of giving is worth more than what is given” (Pierre Corneille). Solidarity is based on the purity of intentions, of acts, and does not admit this type of manifestations. Imagine if the solidarity aid that our country gives to others were acted in this way: Do you think we would be credible? Cuba is credible because of the seriousness of its actions; because of the principles it upholds; because of an exemplary and respectful practice of solidarity since 1959 until today. Nothing justifies, not even the tons of milk given, to use them in a tone of laughter, of amusement: to say things like: “milk on top, milk underneath; milk everywhere” and I say no more. I don’t find that funny, and I don’t think anyone can find that funny. He who serves with love, respects and even more so in the circumstances we live in. I do not criticize, I point out. You cannot cover the sun with a finger and as Martí said: “what is, is”.
Solidarity is not only an act of love, but also an act of respect.

26 APRIL 2022 AT 14:11
Watching the bulls from the sidelines said:
Dear, if we remember well so much detail about Marti’s platforms and phrases, well we should equally remember that Fidel, clarified that in Cuba there was a dictatorship, it is the dictatorship of the proletariat. As for the intensity of offense meter, clearly, to send to hell the president of any country, ranting about the youth of that country, in reference to prostitution, among other things said by Ed. G., will agree that it is much more outrageous and denigrating, for those offended revolutionaries, than the use of the word dictatorship. The Pellizcando en Vivo platform lent the channel to promote the caravan at a time when there was no platform for it, but its primary objective is not to promote the caravan. Watching the bulls from the sidelines, since no disqualifications have ever been said about the Cubans and the leaders of the island, from the mouth of the leader or leaders of the bridges of love. Grotesque, however, is what is done from platforms such as those that you Quindo, subtly and unintentionally legitimizes (intentionally or not) the right to rant (right to free speech), using as an instrument to do so the disqualification of the Pellizcando en Vivo channel, establishing a manipulative parallelism with the Protestón platform. The Pellizcando Platform has thousands of things to improve, as any work, however it is obvious that it is completely and diametrically different from the Protestón platform. Please, before issuing criteria, it would be good to try to be truly impartial, investigate the causes and evolution of why we have reached this situation and only then delegitimize, criticize or praise, but always with substantial arguments. Let us always use the power of well and honestly crafted argument and not the argument of power or our preference.

26 APRIL 2022 AT 2:03/ REPLY.
Mario said:
Mr. cute. Or Kindongo. I don’t give 3 shits how you think. Pinching live of which fills me with pride and pleasure to be a member. It brings more to our project of bridges of love and to the Cuban people. Than many revolutionary debtors like Edmundo Garcia and many of his confused followers. He is not only a revolutionary and patriot who hides behind a picture of the Comandante on his back and attacks the current president and many of the leading apparatus in Cuba and serious and honest people who believe that love is what unites. Which side are you on? The one that wants to live off history and cover up the present and the future? History is respected and kept in the soul. But the present and the future are carried in the mind every day to seek a better welfare for our people. You do not know the reality of certain YouTube that when hoisting an image their thinking is in the limelight and the interests of feeling indispensable that is EDMUNDO GARCIA. Pellizcando is an entity of respect and love. Where a group of friends and Cubans without selfishness and taboos, neither political nor religious. We share as a family what little we have with our people and you have never heard in this group that the Cuban government should make changes, that is a problem of the Cuban government to make reforms and take the people forward as it has always done. Join real projects and limit yourself to judge. A hug we wait for you in bridges of love and united to the topic pinching. To fight side by side to lift the sanctions.

26 APRIL 2022 AT 10:33/ REPLY
Kindo said:
Dear Mario, the first thing you should do is to treat others with respect. Do you think it is civic to treat others this way: “Mr. Cute. Or Kindongo. I don’t give 3 shits how you think”. You can think, have an opinion different from mine: give your arguments that is what counts, not this aggressive language that does not give you more reason: it makes you ugly. Arguments are what is valid, the rest is superfluous. I excuse you.

26 APRIL 2022 AT 14:07
Carmen García Gutierrez said:
All our support , dear friend Carlos Lazo Thanks to all those who demand love Cuba and are in solidarity with our people .Down with the Genocidal Blockade. And Criminal imposed by the U.S. government to Cuba.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 20:40/ REPLY
Yipsydiazcgmaul.com said:
How can we help them from Cuba?

25 APRIL 2022 AT 20:44/ REPLY
Juan Carlos Subiaut Suarez said:
Dear Carlos Lazo:
Many times, when there are no more elements to discern on which side is the truth and choose a criterion, one relies on seeing the opposite side, who attacks him, who is against what is being raised, who in one way or another, is allied with the enemy, even if he uses false flag criteria, even if he uses phrases and positions of our patriotic referents. The fact that they have done it and are doing it against him and against the movement he represents is, no doubt, evidence of his growing success and the fear of our enemies that he will continue to reap them.
A few days ago, in response to what was said by several forum members, I commented on the matter:
¨I respect the opposing positions, but, like any struggle, this one is heterogeneous, as heterogeneous is the composition and interests of the groups that participate in it. I am a Cuban from here and I have more grounds to fight against the blockade, because I suffer its consequences daily, so I try to see, above the differences of criteria, a position, which is the fight against the blockade, and based on it, to achieve a united front. The effectiveness of all these initiatives, without forgetting the value, more in the spiritual than in the material sense, of sending donations, is to achieve an increase in the awareness of the issue in the American society. The blockade is part of a set of legislations, regulations and other measures, so its deactivation will occur when the elimination of these measures begins to be debated and approved by the U.S. government. Then, I applaud any initiative, which may have nuances, even internal struggles for positions, leaderships, etc., but whose direction coincides with the struggle against the blockade. This is the main task.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 20:56/ REPLY.
Miguel said:
For me it is clear that whoever attacks Puentes de amor, under whatever banner, is serving the interests of Cuba’s enemies.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 22:06/ REPLY
Reynier said:
Thank God at last !!!, thank you CubaDebate for echoing these words of Professor Carlos Lazo, it is good enough that these pariahs hiding behind the images of the Commander in Chief, and wearing a false uniform of Revolutionary attack with impunity the leaders of the Revolution, branding them as ignorant, influence peddling, corrupt, clumsy, bunglers and I do not know how many more adjectives, denigrating both the current leaders of the country and the movement of Bridges of Love….

25 APRIL 2022 AT 21:07/ REPLY.
Agustin said:
The world upside down. If we follow the guideline raised among the good Cubans in Miami must be the youtuber “Protestón Cubano”, the unmentionable Erick Concepcion, other youtuber like the famous “Captain etc” who says that “Pozada Carriles” is innocent, who disrespects our Sara González and her song “A los héroes” by the way that we are still in the April of Girón, or the no less ineffable Liber who refers that our FIDEL is in a stone and that he is part of the past. All close collaborators of Mr. Lazo and his “bridges”. All of them accusing those who reject them for being what they are, GUSANOS and that they find a space in a site like this one to continue doing their work with the support of those who should take the trouble to look for public and abundant information on these subjects. I hope you publish this comment. I am Cuban and revolutionary. It would be a disappointment for me not to see this opinion while others may say things to the contrary. Greetings

25 APRIL 2022 AT 21:07/ REPLY
Eliades said:
No amigo. Proteston decanted from the movement and betrayed, as did Edmundo Garcia who attacks our president, not only Lazo and Soberon and Israel Rojas and Johama Tablada. A demoralized drug addict, a sexual aberrate, who when he saw that the cause was bigger than him, he sided with Otaola and Maria Elvira. Why is he attacking our president and not attacking Otaola? Why is he attacking ICAP and not attacking Maria Elvira? Why is he trying to destroy the caravans and not trying to destroy the blockade? Edmundo Garcia is a traitor to the people of Cuba and if you follow him you are well screwed.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 22:17/ REPLY
Luciano said:
Bring out the proof that he is paid or supported by Maria Elvira or OtaOla, but bring them out and bring out the proof that everything that has been said about Carlos Lazo’s gusanera is false because it’s all in videos. Dale get your proofs out.

26 APRIL 2022 AT 9:07
Tomas said:
False very false what you imply. Edmundo Garcia attacks our president Dias Canel, Fernandez Cosio, Soberon Johana Tablada and you still defend Edmundo. This article is not about the protester who killed himself, it is about Edmundo Garcia and his attack against the caravans and against the people of Cuba. And if you are on Edmundo’s side, you are not a revolutionary,

APRIL 25, 2022 AT 22:33/ REPLY
Abraham said:
You can be a revolutionary but at no time lose perspective. It is true that all those you mention in your writing at times have had those pronouncements, however that does not prevent them from agreeing with the idea that unites us all and makes us equal. All of them, beyond their ideologies or different ways of thinking, support the Cuban family of which you and I are a part, just as they all demand the lifting of the U.S. blockade. And that is the achievement of Bridges of Love, it brings together Cubans of different ideologies and thoughts with the one and only objective of demanding the lifting of the blockade imposed for more than 60 years.

APRIL 26, 2022 AT 6:51/ REPLY
Miguel said:
That is the idea, all those who love Cuba and the Cuban family should be united in this objective. Creating division among us is the goal of the enemy to continue crushing the Cuban people.

26 APRIL 2022 AT 11:03
Mario said:
Puentes de amor should be respected by all good Cubans inside and outside. You don’t have to be a communist to respect the laws of a country. They say we are children of the Lord. Lord that none of us know and respect. Bridges of love is a light where at least we can have political or religious differences but it is for the common good of our people. Our people our elders and children. From town to town. Governments come and go. The Commander was a worthy and humane son. Raul was a continuity and a great leader is DÍAS CANEL whom his people and all follow him except for a few behaviors. Each people is the one who chooses. Let us respect our people. Who is Edmundo Garcia? Who is Ota Ola ? Who is Eliezer and comparsas ? I am puentee de amor soy tim PELLISCANDO I am neither communist nor catholic or religious. I am an atheist but with a heart in the center of my chest to love and respect my people and my country whoever runs it. My duty is to support what my people decide. Long live bridges of love viva cuba viva your government who will know how to get your people ahead.

26 APRIL 2022 AT 7:53/ REPLY
red315 said:
Everything you express I have been able to see in the channels that support Carlos Lazo, in which he himself participates with some frequency. I am also Cuban (in Cuba) and like everyone else I live in spite of the blockade. One thing is clear to me, those who have arguments to defend their positions can challenge any person, just as the latter can demonstrate their truth. We all want the blockade to end and to have relations with the whole world but the first and fundamental thing is to preserve the ethics and morals that have allowed this small country to be the future longed for by many in the world. Without them the revolution would be mortally wounded, and they can remove the blockade at any time.

26 APRIL 2022 AT 14:24/ REPLY
tania said:
And to think that many believe that they really say they want the best for Cubans. Yes the best ….. hypocrisy and chutzpah. How they do everything possible and impossible to axficiarnos. Their democracy is completely confused, they act in a contrary and illogical way.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 21:21/ REPLY
Alejandro Martinez said:
Well said, bridges of love! Edmundo is a dissident.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 22:09/ REPLY
Sigo la Lógica said:
reality is the only criterion of truth, if the caravan and bridges of love is in favor of Cuba and the improvement of relations with the elimination of the blockade, who is served by an attack on that movement, things are almost always simpler than they seem.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 22:30/ REPLY.
Cubaneo said:
Brother lazo they will never be able to divide us as in 63xyears they have not been able to with the Cuban revolution we believe more love bridge know why they do that because they are failed and they are always like that some low and miserable free homeland or motir by sovereign Cuba and independent of yankee ingeremcia.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 22:33/ REPLY
simple said:
the truth is defended with actions, and whoever puts his chest to danger as does bridges of love deserves all our respect and support, the column removers will always be to destroy the work of the revolution, no need to say the name of those who have lost honor and dignity, they do not deserve a minute, just look at the coven even with photos of the commander, what little shame has that sr.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 22:45/ REPLY.
Agustin said:
To die of laughter. It is true that this gentleman of the “bridges” has them saying nonsense to the four winds. None of them has ever been in danger. Except in Faluja Iraq where he went to commit genocide as part of the yankee army and from which he was decorated. It is a pity that so many people follow the saint of bridges without doing a minimum exercise to verify all the sources. It is their right and they are respected, respect then the right to our heresy.

26 APRIL 2022 AT 9:38/ REPLY
Carmen Martinez said:
Edmundo has lost his way and is trying to do harm. He uses the same methods of Otaola giving directions and sending mobs to attack whoever contradicts him. I believe that you are the ones who live manipulated by this gentleman. Just last night he published a photo of Carlos Lazo’s house. In these turbulent times where hatred is imposed to encourage attacks against a person is an act the least undignified.

26 APRIL 2022 AT 13:36
Otto Anibal said:
You are in all of them, I imagine already where you are coming from. Haber follower of edmundo garcia (all lower case letters intended) when was your leader in danger ?, how many attacks did he escape from ?, how many scars does his body exhibit (surgery for appendicitis doesn’t count) after so many years in “danger” ??. I will only repeat one thing said by him, he was a good friend of Más Canosa, he is currently a good friend of María Elvira and that friendship is already long, with only these two and there are many more, do you think that Edmundo has ever been in danger in Miami, as you say, don’t make me laugh.

26 APRIL 2022 AT 14:55
Otto Anibal said:
To be more exact I would say that NEW maneuvers are being prepared against the caravans and the Bridges of Love project because for quite some time now, all kinds of actions are being generated to totally destroy such initiatives created by emigrants who love their Homeland. Edmundo Garcia’s Youtube program is very similar in image to Radio and TV Marti, these two monsters use the figure of the Apostle, this other one the Commander in Chief, with an unparalleled and incredible sound they attack the Cuban people and its Revolution. The height of brazenness is that this filthy character, lacking all morals, shame, modesty, dignity, honesty, principles and other attributes present in a normal citizen, takes as a reference precisely that quality of the dignity of the human being to name his already defeated caravan. Just as we did not accept the “aid” that came from the open right wing in Miami, we will not support this “caravan” that comes from the hidden right wing. VIVAN puentes de Amor, Somos de Patria o Muerte.

25 APRIL 2022 AT 22:48/ REPLY
Agustin said:
Otto the ones I have seen in very good vibes with the unpresentable Eric Concepcion have been you and the cortege of the saint of bridges. In the public eye are the videos where he sang patria y vida in Panama minutes before sharing the stage with the bona fide. I don’t know what you mean when you say that you are from “Patria o Muerte” and you have such a close friendship with that individual. If that is the case now, I will only tell you that in my case I am guided by the imprint of FIDEL and CHE: Not even a little bit like that to the worms.

APRIL 26, 2022 AT 9:29/ REPLY
Oscar said:
Agustin, that same discourse you use is that of the dissidence that wants to divide our process. Do not use the name of our undefeated comandante to legitimize your words. You are doing the same thing that Edmundo Garcia does, putting Fidel in the background to confuse. Fidel wanted unity among all good patriots and he must be turning over in his grave knowing that people like Edmundo and you are using him to sow a sisaña among the ranks of the revolution. That is the plan of the Miamense right but here we are no fools. Viva Cuba! Fatherland or death!

26 APRIL 2022 AT 10:40

 

Millions moved to destabilize Cuba

1 year ago Granma, Translations,


This is how millions are moved to destabilize Cuba

We reproduce the long list that the NED published on February 23, 2021, on its website, detailing the NGOs and foundations that received money to intervene in Cuba during 2020

Author: Granma | internet@granma.cu
January 16, 2022 20:01:36

Translated by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

Graphic: Lacoste

In 1983, Republican President Ronald Reagan created the National Endowment for Democracy, known by its acronym in English as NED (National Endowment for Democracy). Since its inception, this organization, together with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has functioned as one of the economic arms of the interventionist policy of the United States Government, financing non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and foundations, that are disguised with names of very laudable values ​​such as democracy or freedom, but that seek the change of governments that do not subordinate themselves to Washington’s policies.

These interventionist policies have been developed in many countries of the world, especially in those that are located in what the United States considers its backyard: Latin America and the Caribbean.

As detailed on the NED’s own website, in 2020, the National Endowment for Democracy’s LAC program provided critical support to supposedly promote democracy in countries under what they consider to be the most authoritarian regimes: Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.  In his opinion, two countries in transition, Ecuador and Bolivia, offered important opportunities to reverse previous “authoritarian” legislation on freedom of expression and judicial independence and to encourage citizen participation in electoral processes.

They report expanding what they see as anti-corruption, digital media, and human rights programs, just as the NED reaffirmed commitments to the largest countries in the region: Brazil and Mexico, which for them currently face threats from right-wing populist governments. and left, respectively.

As can be seen, the organization calls Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela “more authoritarian regimes”, countries that were openly attacked through the network of foundations and NGOs that this entity has, and defamed by the media. of communication that are also financed through these organizations or other similar ones.

The NED website also reports that, on November 30, 2018, a meeting was held in which the Democratic senator, Robert “Bob” Menéndez, and the Republican member of the House of Representatives, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, participated. , two well-known activists against popular processes in the region and with links to the most reactionary sectors of Cuban emigration based in Miami.

Along with them, the president of the NED, Carl Gershman, and the administrator of the USAID, Amb. Mark Green, with the aim of promoting alleged leaders in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Gershman took the opportunity to thank Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen for her unwavering support for the work of “democratic” activists around the world, presenting her with a framed print of the Goddess of Democracy, built in China’s Tiananmen Square, nearly 30 years ago.

Later, NED Senior Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Miriam Kornblith, participated in a panel with activists from Venezuela and Cuba. Then it is added that “this event brought together US development agencies and legislators with “democratic leaders” from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.”

LOOK AT CUBA

Since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the United States has sought by all means to force a change of government on the Island. The criminal economic, commercial and financial blockade that Washington illegally and unilaterally maintains against Cuba, and that has been rejected by the vast majority of the international community in 29 votes in the United Nations Organization (UN) is, without a doubt, the most concrete example of this systematic aggression that the US Government maintains against our people.

The promoters of the blockade have confessed on more than one occasion that this series of measures is intended to suffocate the Cuban people, cause chaos and thus generate a change of government and political system.

During the years of the pandemic, 2020 and 2021, the US administration (first under the leadership of Donald Trump and now under Joe Biden) deepened the blockade with new measures. The entry of medicines, respirators, fuel and economic resources to face the crisis caused by covid-19 was prevented. In this framework, protests were fomented to destabilize the Government and thus try to give the Island the final blow (a new failed attempt that generated discomfort and suffering in the Cuban people, but that did not succeed in breaking it).

In the chapter dedicated to Cuba on the NED’s own website, the list of resources that, during the year 2020, that organization has allocated to promote destabilization is shown.

According to data released by the NED, during that year more than five million dollars (5,077,788) were invested for this purpose, to which must be added the resources provided to NGOs and foundations that do not appear in the Cuba chapter. , but that act against the Island and, also, add the funds channeled through USAID and other similar organizations.

We reproduce the long list that the NED published on February 23, 2021, on its website, detailing the NGOs and foundations that received money to intervene in Cuba during 2020 (with figures ranging from 20,000 to 650,000). Dollars).

  • International Platform for Human Rights in Cuba (for EU-Cuba relations): $87,253
  • Cubalex (for complaints of human rights violations): $150,000
  • Fundación Cartel Urbano (to turn hip hop artists into leaders): $110,000
  • Democratic National Institute for International Affairs (to reduce gender-based violence): $500,000
  • Freedom of information (for new ways of reporting): $80,000
  • Publisher Hypermedia Inc.: $93,941
  • Latin American Center for Nonviolence: $48,597
  • Institute of Communication and Development: $79,300
  • Electoral Transparency: $74,945
  • Research and Innovation Factual ac (for regional media networks): $74,000
  • Cuban Human Rights Observatory: $150,000
  • Freedom of Information (for sports coverage): $50,000
  • Agora Cuba Inc. (for information): $75,860
  • Cuban Daily Association: $215,000
  • Freedom of information: $72,000
  • Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, Inc.: $126,000
  • Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press: $146,360
  • Freedom of information (news media): $56,500
  • Democratic Culture (for the arts): $49,106
  • Freedom of information (attention to journalists and bloggers): $33,180
  • Cuban Democratic Directorate (civil society): $650,000
  • Democratic ideas and values ​​(for marginal populations): $23,500
  • Freedom of information (for independent media): $75,000
  • Accountability and Governance: $120,267
  • Promotion of the use of data in journalism in Cuba: $91,319
  • Government and Political Analysis ac: $115,000
  • Asociación Civil Cronos (for innovation in journalism): $80,000
  • Freedom of information (social media work): $50,000
  • Inter-American Institute of Human Rights: $95,000
  • Freedom of Information (Critical Thinking): $99,980
  • Center for International Private Enterprise: $309,766
  • Press and Society Institute: $70,523
  • Public Space Foundation (independent media): $108,000
  • People in Need Slovakia (for civil society): $60,000
  • Clovek v. tisni, ops (for news outlets): $150,882
  • Political Institute for Liberty: $85,000
  • Arlenica, Art, Language and Research for Social Change, a Supplement: $11,940
  • Center for a Free Cuba (for human rights): $80,000
  • Institute for War and Peace Reporting (iwpr): $145,230
  • International Group for Corporate Social Responsibility in Cuba (support for independent unions, freelancers, and labor rights): $230,000
  • Vista Larga Foundation Corp (for writers and artists): $83,000
  • Democratic ideas and values ​​(for intervention in various sectors): $71,339

 

Source: Diariocontexto.com.ar

The three battles of 2021

1 year ago CubaDebate, Translations, , , ,

cuba-debate

The three battles of 2021

By Agustín Lage Dávila
December 28, 2021

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

Photo: AP

This (No. 25) is the last note of 2021 and it is unavoidable to use it to summarize the message of what we appreciate has been essential in this difficult but also glorious year.

Cubans, each one from his or her position, with his or her ideas and values, but essentially all of us, have been involved in three great battles that will decide our future:

The control of the COVID epidemic.
The confrontation of the media and cultural aggression against our project of society.
Economic development, even in the context of the blockade.

These posed enormous threats to us: the first one threatened our health, the second one, our thinking, the third one, our material sustenance. The three together threatened our Nation.

In the first two we won, unquestionably. We must consolidate them and project them into the future, because they can continue, but they are essentially victories. In the third one, we managed to resist, which is no small thing, and it is the indispensable step to win, but the great victory still requires a lot of effort and intelligence.

The control of the epidemic of COVID-19 was achieved this year with biotechnology, science, the strength, and the experience and universality of our health system, and the educated participation of the people and their institutions. It validated the fertility of the scientific development strategy implemented by the Revolution for decades, and the importance of the connections between science and production that were built since the founding moments of the Scientific Pole, under Fidel’s leadership.

It validated the concept that health cannot be merchandise, and that the budgeted or entrepreneurial institutions on which health services depend have to be the socialist property of all the people. This is not only for moral reasons (which is the main thing) but also for reasons of efficiency. This battle will leave experiences for the improvement and development of both actors, industry and the health system, which we must apply immediately because the global pandemic context will continue in 2022.

The media and cultural aggression, with which, especially this year, an attempt was made to divide the people and erode their collective capacity to respond to the challenges of the moment, was defeated. Its implementation and financing (we know well by whom), in combination with the reinforcement of the blockade, precisely at a time when we were facing a dangerous epidemic, will go down in history as one of the greatest political immoralities of this century. It will be remembered in the gallery of shame, together with the Weyler reconcentration, the Nazi holocaust, the nuclear bombing, the Vietnam war, the support to the dictatorships of the South American cone, the South African apartheid and the murders of teachers by counterrevolutionary gangs in Cuba. History will not absolve its articulators.

The media and cultural aggression against Cuba is a war of thought. We defeated it, as Martí wanted “with thought”. The encouragement of violence, the promotion of selfish appetites, the distrust in the future of the country, and the dissemination of intellectual superficialities, crashed against the wall of Cuban culture, now solidified by six decades of massive and free access to education. They gambled on finding many influential fools in Cuba, and it turned out that there were very few.

This battle also leaves us experiences for the improvement and development of political and cultural work, which must be well analyzed because this episode of 2021 is part of an historical dispute of more than two centuries.

The third battle, that of economic development, has not yet been won. And it would be superficial to attempt a simplifying analysis in the space of 4 pages of a blog. But there are some things to say:

The first is that we have resisted the longest economic onslaught in world history (60 years), articulated by the largest economic and military power in world history; and we continue to resist 30 years after the collapse of the allies we had in Eastern Europe. And here we are, our people without hunger, without mafias, without housing evictions, with all their children in school, with our people’s government functioning under the socialist Constitution that we made and approved ourselves. This capacity dor resistance makes us proud, not only because of the resistance itself, but also because it indicates our capacity for development. Without sovereignty and national unity, no economic strategy, no matter how “technically brilliant” it might be, could work.

The second is that we are not frozen in old economic strategies, which worked at the time but have already fulfilled their historical role and exhausted their capacity to adapt to the changes in the world economy. We are in a moment of legislative and organizational creativity to adapt our development model to the new realities, without ceasing to be sovereign, equitable, educated and socialist.

The third is that the road to economic and social development must be traveled in a world context that is not the one that existed in the 1960s, when the Revolution made its first plans for economic take-off. We must now work in a globalized economy, which depends much more on the external economic balance, and on the capacity for international insertion, especially for small countries. It is also in an economy of rapidly changing technologies, which demands a higher dynamic of creation of diverse enterprises and connections between enterprises and scientific and educational institutions, as well as a higher dynamic of diversification of products and services of high added value.

All this requires managerial as well as technological creativity, and it is necessary to create the regulatory context that allows and stimulates it; and to train the young cadres who will play a leading role in it.

The fourth is that, with few natural resources and scarce domestic demand, and with a blockade that will continue (because our historical adversaries do not know how, nor can they do otherwise), our audacity to build material prosperity based on social justice and access to knowledge is essentially a cultural challenge. It will be culture, ethical, legal, scientific and technical, that determines our capacity to decouple economic growth from the expansion of inequalities, that expands the space of the possible, and establishes the speed of our progress.

The battles of this year 2021 prepare us to continue building the possible country that we Cubans want. Not the one that others want to impose on us, but the one we Cubans want.

Agustín Lage Dávila is a prominent Cuban scientist. He was the Director of the Center of Molecular Immunology in Havana for 25 years. Advisor to the President of BioCubaFarma. He has received numerous national and international distinctions. He was Deputy to the National Assembly for several legislatures.

Freedom, Inc.

1 year ago Granma, Translations,

DOBLE FILO

Freedom, Inc.

They have commodified the symbol of freedom so much that they don’t even know what it means anymore. But the worst thing is not that. The worst thing is that, consciously or unconsciously, this commodified counterrevolution has become one more “pillar” of socialism in Cuba. Because if the Revolution falls… what the hell are they going to live on?

Author: Michel E. Torres Corona | internet@granma.cu
December 24, 2021 19:12:51 PM

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

Image: Granma

A good capitalist finds everything a profitable business. It is the maxim of the successful bourgeois: make profit. With this liberal logic, let us not doubt it, human civilization has advanced considerably, although this advance has not been homogeneous. It cannot be questioned that leaving behind slavery or vassalage were substantial improvements for humanity as a whole, although there continued to exist (logically) oppressed and oppressors, people who had too little and people who had too much. And people who, even though they had too much, wanted even more.

The champions of capitalism have never ceased in their eagerness to accumulate property and wealth, wrapped in an ideological plot in which they feel themselves owners of land, resources, real estate, other people’s work… But finding as a limit not only the development of the productive forces themselves, but also nature and the real world itself, they sought to make money from symbols. Profiting from imaginaries was the new horizon of mercantile liberalism.

Today, when people in many countries celebrate Christmas, we cannot overlook the fact that December 25 is alleged to be the date of the birth of Jesus, a man who died crucified for advocating a different ideal for humanity and society, based on values such as mercy, austerity and love. However, the date has become an occasion to buy gifts, spend money on frivolities and reward consumerism. The symbolic-religious has become symbolic-mercantile.

It is not surprising then that the staunchest detractors of socialism practice the same, while promoting the capitalist system as the highest stage of social development. And finding that there is a solvent demand to finance their anti-communist crusade, they turned into profit what once, perhaps, was an honest, though misguided, commitment. It is hard to be honest when you pay obeisance to Don Money.

Battling for federal funds or for sums that are “laundered” through third parties, which may be foundations or other organizations, the champions of capitalist restoration in Cuba spare no effort to show themselves as “the best bet”. They have made the symbol of freedom their most profitable business.

According to the current, they mutate their discourse, to show themselves to be tougher or more peaceful. He who pays, rules: they only offer a service. With YouTube channels, where they talk about freedom, justice and the American way, while they sell you the best hamburger in Miami or the best beauty salon in Florida. Then there are sites that talk about national emancipation and transparency while they receive money from abroad through PayPal, with no declared patron. Then we have the counterrevolution has made preaching against the Cuban government a very attractive option from a financial point of view.

The same people who criticize so much the inequalities that we have not eradicated in our country, or who live by publishing any excess or luxury that a relative of a Cuban leader has, make thousands and even millions of dollars, with which they buy apartments, houses, travel around the world, are published in the most famous sites and media, receive prizes and gifts for the fact of continuing to breathe (before, during or after suffering the terrible Castro-communist dictatorship)…. Everything is possible if you belong to that financial and media corporation that has found an inexhaustible vein of gold in opposing the Revolution.

Meanwhile, there are useful fools who, poisoned by their hate speech, who continue contributing money, time and effort to a sterile cause. They are those who were deceived by a character who said he was going to come to Cuba from Spain, to free us from the “tyranny” of Diaz-Canel, with the infallible strategy of freezing the funds of the “dictatorship” abroad. Or those who believed that a certain playwright would fight to the last consequences because he believed in what he preached, and that he was not just another one of those who seek to facilitate a visa and a comfortable stay in Europe or the U.S. They are those who applaud, forgetful, any initiative, however puerile and inconsequential it may be.

The gesture is more important than anything else. That is why we are not alarmed when we read about the proposal to create a “Free Republic of Cuba”, nothing more and nothing less than at the naval base in Guantanamo, a territory illegally occupied by a foreign power. They have so commodified the symbol of freedom that they no longer even know what it means. But the worst thing is not that. The worst thing is that, consciously or unconsciously, this commodified counterrevolution has become one more “pillar” of socialism in Cuba. Because if the Revolution falls… what the hell are they going to live on?

Caravanistas visit Denunciation Memorial

1 year ago Juventud Rebelde, Translations,

JuvReb

Members of Pastors for Peace caravan visit memorial in Cuba

The visitors learned historical facts about Washington’s aggressiveness against the Caribbean nation, and rejected that power’s interference in the island’s internal affairs.

Author:

Juventud Rebelde | digital@juventudrebelde.cu
Posted: Tuesday 16 November 2021 | 03:35:42 pm.

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

Members of Pastors for Peace caravan visit memorial. Autor: PL Publicado: 16/11/2021 | 03:34 pm

Members of the U.S. interfaith organization Pastors for Peace arrived today at the Denunciation Memorial , in this capital, as part of its program of activities in solidarity with Cuba.

The visitors learned historical facts about Washington’s aggressiveness against the Caribbean nation, and rejected the interference of that power in the internal affairs of the largest Antillean island. In declarations to local television, the caravanistas recognized Cuba as an example and ratified their support to the socialist project.

The day before, the activists arrived at the capital’s José Martí International Airport. Upon their arrival, the director of that group, Gail Walker, stated that the 75 visitors from 20 U.S. states joined the 31st edition of these initiatives to show the majority feeling of the U.S. people with respect to Cuba.

She pointed out that her companions are especially interested in learning about the achievements of this Antillean nation in confronting the COVID-19 pandemic, in the midst of the tightening of the economic, commercial and financial blockade and other aggressions by the U.S. government.

During their stay until November 26, the members of Pastors for Peace will carry out an intense agenda in the provinces of Havana and Matanzas (western Cuba), which includes meetings with women’s and workers’ organizations, and tours of educational institutions of historical and social interest, according to PL.

US maintains remittance restrictions

1 year ago CubaDebate, Granma, Translations, ,

cuba-debate

White House decides to maintain restrictions on remittances to Cuba

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

People wait to be served at a Western Union office on its last day of operations in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Nov. 23, 2020. Photo Credit: AP.

The U.S. government said Friday that the ban on sending remittances to Cuba will remain even longer, with which the White House hinders the right of families to help their loved ones living in the Caribbean nation.

A White House official told the media on Tuesday that the administration of President Joe Biden continues to study how to ensure that the money sent to the island does not favor the government of the largest of the Antilles, according to Reuters.

According to the source, the objective is to ensure that the benefits reach the Cuban people directly, although he did not mention how the U.S. economic blockade has been suffocating the inhabitants of the Caribbean country for six decades, even in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In July, Biden asked the Treasury and State Departments to suggest options for remittances to reach the beneficiaries, under the argument that the Caribbean nation’s executive appropriates between 20 and 40 percent of the remittances.

Last August, the manager of the Cuban commercial company Fincimex, Yamil Hernández, denied that the government of Havana or the armed forces obtained part of the amount sent from U.S. territory.

That theory repeated by politicians of the North American nation put an end to the relations of the Western Union company with the Cuban financial institutions in charge of processing remittances, specifically Fincimex, in October 2020.

The measure – imposed by former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) and maintained by the current administration – unilaterally ended the flow through regular and institutional channels, on the basis of totally unfounded pretexts, Hernandez asserted at the time.

The current U.S. president promised during his election campaign to change the hostile policy of his predecessor against Cuba, however, so far the 243 coercive measures imposed by Trump to reinforce the blockade remain unchanged.

(With information from PL)

US Govt November provocation

1 year ago CubaDebate, Translations, , ,

cuba-debate

The United States government is the true organizer and promoter of the provocation mounted for November (+ Video)

 | 24 | 
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

The Round Table transmitted a special presentation by compañero Rogelio Polanco Fuentes, a member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, as part of the public complaint made by the First Secretary of the Party at the closing of the Second Plenary Session of the Central Committee on the plans of the US government and its political operators in Cuba to try to overthrow the Revolution.

At the beginning of his statement, he recalled the words of the First Secretary of the Party in the conclusions of the II Plenary of the PCC:

“Now they appear with a supposed peaceful march. It is nothing more than an escalation in the way of acting against the Revolution and a challenge to the authorities and to the socialist rule of law endorsed in our Constitution; (…) It is a provocation as part of a “soft blow” strategy. Its purposes coincide with the main lines of attack, slander, lies and threats used by those financed by the United States Government who oppose the Cuban political system and try to destabilize it and restore capitalism.

“We are not going to legitimize the imperialist actions in internal politics or give way to the desire for neocolonial restoration that some have accumulated and that are reinforced in crisis situations. It is not an act of civility, it is an act of subordination to the Yankee hegemony ”.

Special remarks by Rogelio Polanco Fuentes, Member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Party. Photo: Abel Padrón Padilla / Cubadebate.

The Head of the Ideological Department of the Central Committee recalled that between September 20 and 27, a small group of citizens delivered similar texts to the headquarters of the municipal or provincial governments of eight provinces of the country announcing the decision to hold a supposedly peaceful march. .

“He underlined ‘the decision to hold a march’ because it was not a request: the holding of this march was being taken for granted. The action was conceived with a national scope in evident coordination by its promoters ”, he emphasized.

Later it was referred to as on October 12, the authorities of the municipalities where the aforementioned documents were delivered , gave a personal response to the senders. “On that occasion, the precise arguments were offered on the illegal nature of the march according to articles 56, 45 and 4 of the Constitution.”

“Among the reasons expressed, it was clearly established that the public projections of the promoters and their links with subversive organizations or agencies financed by the United States government have the manifest intention of promoting a change in the political system in Cuba, so that the the announced march constitutes a provocation as part of the regime change strategy tested by the United States in other countries,” he said.

Polanco Fuentes drew attention to how as soon as the march was announced, it received public support from US legislators, political operators and the media that encourage actions against the Cuban people, try to destabilize the country and urge military intervention. “It is something recurrent and permanent as these media and political operators from the United States urge military intervention in our country,” he said.

The Member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba said that from the beginning it was evident that it was a destabilizing plan orchestrated from abroad through internal political operators with violent intentions.

“Faced with the challenge of the promoters of the provocation in their attempt to ignore the refusal of the authorities, on October 21 the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic at its headquarters in several provinces began a process of warning these citizens; stating that if they did not comply with the authorities’ decision, they would incur the crimes of disobedience, illegal demonstrations, instigation to commit a crime, and others provided for and sanctioned in current criminal legislation ”.

In this sense, he explained that the action of the Prosecutor’s Office was based on article 156 of the Magna Carta, which establishes that “it is the State organ whose fundamental mission is to exercise control of the criminal investigation and the exercise of criminal action. on behalf of the State, as well as ensuring strict compliance with the Constitution, laws and other legal provisions by State bodies, entities and citizens ”; as well as Law 83 of 1997 “Law of the Attorney General of the Republic” in its article 7.

A new chapter in the Unconventional War against Cuba

It is evident that we are facing a new chapter of the unconventional war, the soft coup or the manual of non-violent struggle that the United States has carried out during contemporary times in several countries, Polanco Fuentes pointed out.

“Yugoslavia, Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Nicaragua, Venezuela are some of the examples where these unconventional war actions have been carried out. There is sufficient doctrinal information on how the United States has carried out these actions “

As explained, circular TC-1801, one of the main documents of the United States Special Forces, urges taking advantage of the possible vulnerability of the government to overthrow, distance itself from the population, displace the portion of the citizenry that acts in a neutral manner to positions against them, to exploit these elements through subversion and when this does not lead to the desired strategic results, resort to armed conflict, through the promotion of the insurgency.

“For that they use all the elements of the model, the economic and psychological point of view, actions of subversion, as well as the massive use of information and communication technologies with the aim of overthrowing those governments with a lower economic cost, political and military ”.

In his speech he referred to his personal experience in Venezuela, a country where he served as a diplomatic official. In this sense, he recalled that in 2013, 2014 and 2017 the so-called guarimbas were developed. These were violent actions by representatives of opposition sectors in Venezuela to overthrow the Bolivarian government that caused innumerable economic and human damage to society.

“There is a report from the Venezuelan state ‘The truth of Venezuela against infamy: data and testimonies of a country under siege’ published in September 2020 that has elements that are related to the actions that are intended to be carried out in our country. This report states that the total number of deaths during the violent protests in February 2014 was 43 people, while in the protests from April to July 20174 the Public Ministry registered 121 deaths and 1958 injured, however, in relation to the protests of 2014 the then secretary of states of the United States John Kerry issued a statement in which he affirmed that “the demonstrations were peaceful and accused the Venezuelan government of confronting peaceful protesters by force,” he said.

“A detailed examination, says the report, of the events that occurred reveals that most of the demonstrations provoked and promoted by opposition leaders between April and July 2017 were carried out in violation of current national and international legislation. These demonstrations led to actions of extreme violence characterized by the use of firearms, Molotov cocktails, mortars and homemade weapons, the placement of barricades, death traps on public roads, damage to institutions, schools, health centers, and siege against military and police facilities. There were three unprecedented practices in the recent history of the country: setting fire to people designated as supporters of the government, using children and adolescents to prepare firebombs,guarding barricades and attacking the security forces, as well as the combination of high levels of violence with religious and patriotic symbols ”.

The official also highlighted how the report itself acknowledged with concern the fact that the media intended to present these events as peaceful demonstrations. “Some here are beginning to look for so-called non-violent methods of struggle to obtain advice and carry out some of these actions in Cuba.”

Special remarks by Rogelio Polanco Fuentes, Member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Party. Photo: Abel Padrón Padilla / Cubadebate.

Abundant funding for subversion

Regarding financing for subversive actions in other countries, he warned that it has been a systematic practice of the governments of the United States, which is why a network of institutions with multimillion-dollar funds has been created.

He emphasized that among the emblematic institutions are the NED and USAID. Polanco recalled that the first was born in 1983 within the so-called Democracy Project to openly do what the CIA had been developing for decades in a covert manner. “The objectives of the NED have always been political subversion and the so-called regime change from a network of organizations that promote courses, events, awards, scholarships, the foundation of NGOs, think tanks, foundations and university centers.”

In his presentation, he explained that among those organizations born in Latin America is CADAL (Center for Democratic Aperture in Latin America) , which is part of a wide network of non-governmental organizations that the United States uses to finance and channel financing. for its political operators through the NED and USAID.

“There are many public references to the financing of the NED to CADAL as part of the tentacles for the framework against progressive processes in Latin America and other parts of the world. The NED awarded CADAL $ 107,000 in 2017 and $ 100,000 in 2021 for the project called “A regional approach to promote democratic values ​​in Cuba.”

The links between the United States and its political operators in Cuba

He revealed that two Cuban citizens are part of the generous beneficiaries of the funds of these US organizations: Manuel Cuesta Morúa and Yunior García Aguilera, signatories of the documents delivered to the Cuban authorities regarding the intention to carry out marches in various cities of the country.

Both, he explained, traveled to Argentina in 2018 to participate in an event of this CADAL organization coordinated by the project “Times of change and the new role of the Armed Forces in Cuba.”

Among the objectives of this course, Polanco pointed out, were to give continuity to the FAR stadium to transmit possible scenarios and supposed future allies to activists, cooperate with Cuban actors in order to link with members and former members of the FAR open to change processes. “The subversive, conspiratorial and coup intentions of these projects are clear. You have to be delusional to make a dent in the dignity of our undefeated Revolutionary Armed Forces ”, he prevailed.

The Cuban politician denounced that both CADAL and its director Gabriel Salvia have been very active in supporting the provocations for next month in Cuba.

“In 2019 Cuesta Morúa and García Aguilera continued their preparation in a workshop sponsored by the Universidad San Luis Campus Madrid. There they received lessons from Richard Youngs, an expert on public protests as a method of political change ”.

As Richard Youngs points out, riots are increasingly a major route through which ordinary people seek to achieve social, political and economic transformation. “Protesters must make tough decisions, do they just disengage from politics or build new kinds of civic campaigns? Do they join existing political parties or do they move away from mainstream politics altogether?

The Member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba listed that among the new types of civic campaign are the so-called political prisoners, violence, the formation of organizations, as well as the creation of conditions to carry out new demonstrations and the proclamation of new dates for these mobilizations. Actions are also promoted to evade police control and prevent police forces from preserving peace in the country.

He added that the Cuba Money Project website revealed that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded at the end of September about $6,669,000 dollars for subversive projects in Cuba, out of a total of $18,000,000 that it can allocate until 2023. for these purposes.

“Among the main beneficiaries are the Cuban Democratic Directorate, led by Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat, which has received $617,500, as well as the media created for the media campaign against Cuba, including ADN Digital with $2,031,260 and Cubanet $783,000. There are more than 70 million dollars that were dedicated during the Trump administration for subversion, to which should be added the more than 100 million the broadcasting office for Cuba of the misnamed Radio and Television Marti ”.

These organizations, he said, have served as financing for politicians and mercenaries living under the generous spill in Washington. He also recalled that these organizations continue to receive support and funding from the United States authorities, the State Department, the National Security Council and the Embassy in Havana, as denounced by the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. of Cuba in the recent plenary session of the party organization.

The United States is the organizer of the provocation

“The United States government is the true organizer and promoter of the provocation mounted for November, the facts and statements prove it. They have not taken care to hide it. Senior government officials participate directly in its conduct ”, he stated.

Special remarks by Rogelio Polanco Fuentes, Member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Party. Photo: Abel Padrón Padilla / Cubadebate.

Similarly, he added that recently the US government threatened new measures against Cuba, if the local operators of its anti-Cuban strategy are not allowed to act with impunity in the country, as stated in an interview by Juan González, director for Western Hemisphere affairs of the National Security Council. He pointed out that his administration will act if Cuba processes the organizers of the march “Cuba does not accept threats, nor is it intimidated. Our history of resistance and dignity confirm this ”.

“Save your threats as our people say. Nor are we surprised by the support for this alleged march by violent organizations and notorious terrorists of the anti-Cuban mafia and the hate-generating media center in Miami. We have all witnessed that since it was announced by its organizers, the march received the public and notorious support of US legislators, political operators and the media that encourage actions against the Revolution, ”he highlighted.

The enthusiastic support of Miami’s anti-Cuban mafia

Polanco stated that tweets, statements, resistance assemblies and other frenzied actions that have occurred these days in Miami, as if the actions were to take place in that city. “Regime change, government overthrow and military intervention” are once again the prevailing narrative in South Florida. Among the most fervent have been some of the congressmen, already known, as active promoters of the blockade and its subversion against Cuba and defenders of the violent riots of July 11.

Among the first to speak is the reconverted terrorist Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat, who has declared that this action will serve to overthrow the regime. This is the head of the so-called Cuban Democratic Directorate, leader of the self-styled Assembly of the Resistance. On December 4, 2020, after the events of November 27, he advocated an armed intervention in Cuba to overthrow the government. After July 11, he has repeatedly called for military intervention in the country.

The USAID and the State Department have awarded the organization at least $6,970,979 from 2006 to 2019, public records show. This character coincides in some platforms for the capitalist restoration in Cuba that have a certain academic profile with one of the promoters of the supposedly peaceful march

Another of the march’s enthusiasts is the Cuban-American National Foundation, the spearhead of anti-Cuban policies since the 1980s. Besides being the organizer of numerous terrorist acts against Cuba and several attempted attacks against Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz. In 2019, this foundation received $1,385,637 dollars of US taxpayer money to “empower Cuban civil society to build a lasting democracy in Cuba that is free from human rights violations, by improving awareness, the effectiveness of civil society on the island, in non-violent activism and facilitating training materials, communication equipment and technical knowledge ”. These days on its Facebook page, the foundation is giving guidance – he pointed out – on how to go and what to do in the supposedly peaceful and independent march.

One of the promoters of the violent provocation, Polanco indicated, is the Cuban citizen Saily González Velázquez who recently recognized the support of the Cuban-American National Foundation through its human rights director, Omar López Montenegro.

The alleged marchers also have the encouragement of the mercenary network of Brigade 2506, whose president on duty declared in Miami that “with these steps, an explosion will be promoted within Cuba, so that new us brothers take to the streets and this lead us to the collapse of the regime ”. These are the external political operators who call for overthrowing the Revolution, violence and chaos.

Special remarks by Rogelio Polanco Fuentes, Member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Party. Photo: Abel Padrón Padilla / Cubadebate.

The head of the Ideological department in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba warned that another of those who is applied among the promoters of the provocation is the terrorist Ramón Saúl Sánchez, whose violent record is such that he has not even been able to receive official asylum in the States United, although he has never stopped having the protection of its authorities.

“He has been linked to a dozen terrorist organizations since he was 16 years old, including the Organization for the Liberation of Cuba, Omega 7, Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations (CORU), Alpha 66, National Front for the Liberation of Cuba, Youth of the Star and the Democracy Movement. With Alpha 66 he participated in more than 20 terrorist acts, mainly against ships and diplomatic missions ”, denounced Polanco Fuentes.

It also indicated that Ramón Saúl Sánchez was the second head of CORU, an organization that carried out more than 90 terrorist attacks against Cuban facilities in various countries, including within the United States. The most notorious was the bombing of the Cubana de Aviación plane over Barbados, where 73 people died.

Documents dated between 1979 -1982 link this terrorist to the attack on the Cuban Interests Section in Washington and the repeated assassination attempts on the then Cuban ambassador. “The so-called Democracy Movement has been a promoter of flotillas that have violated Cuban territorial waters on several occasions,” Rogelio Polanco revealed.

Provocation is doomed to fail

“The provocation of November 15 is doomed to failure, it was never authentic. Its attempt to cover itself with some legality is a perverse manipulation. The Constitution of the Republic is a genuine creation of the people, there is no plot that it can hide. The promoters of the alleged march follow the Yankee script, carry out their orders, surround themselves with violent men and terrorists and dream of carrying out their destabilizing actions with impunity,” he said.

With our first party secretary and president of the Republic of Cuba we proclaim that “there are enough revolutionaries here to confront with intelligence, with respect and in defense of our constitution; but also with energy and courage any manifestation that tries to destroy the Revolution ”.

On November 15, he said, Cuba will open its doors to the world and will also open schools to children, that explosion of joy, happiness and hugs so far contained by the hard months of the pandemic. That is the joy that the promoters of hatred intend to frustrate, “but they will not be able to prevent Cuban mothers from enjoying that sublime moment of accompanying their children to the classrooms, nor the tender smiles of the teachers with the return of their longed-for students. They will not be able to prevent Cuba’s triumph in the face of the pandemic thanks to their own vaccines created with the ingenuity of scientists trained in Revolution. Vaccines made possible by the visionary thought and action of Fidel, founder of a genuinely Cuban biopharmaceutical industry ”.

“They will not be able to prevent the transition towards a new normality, a responsible normality that will allow us to gradually open up our economic and social life in the coming weeks. They will not be able to prevent the feat of Cuba, of its health professionals, of its workers, of its youth, of an entire people that in creative resistance advances optimistically over colossal adversities. They will not be able to prevent Cuba’s victory in the face of subversion and the criminal blockade of the United States, intensified in the midst of the pandemic, which magnifies our glorious epic ”, he pointed out.

Like our National Hero José Martí, whom some seek to outrage with their neo-annexationist pretensions, we proclaim “… What should true lovers of the country do…? We are here to prevent the enemy from cornering the standard-bearer, or the flag falling into the wrong hands:… Here we are vigilance and love, cordiality and sentinel, passion, reasoned by judgment, of everything that bears the name of decorum. Cuban”.

These are our reasons, the reasons of Cuba!

[No English subtitles in this 45 minute video.]

Reason is our shield

1 year ago Granma, Translations, , ,

EDITORIAL

Reason is our shield (+ Video)

Dignity, resistance and unity are our most powerful forces in the face of the dishonorable and dishonorable annexationist action that serves the historical enemy of the Cuban nation in its plan to fracture and divide us in order to defeat us.

Author: Granma | internet@granma.cu
October 13, 2021 00:10:13 AM

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.


Photo: Yaimí Ravelo
After hard months of the pandemic, of shocking world economic crisis, of intensified and sustained blockade -which have harshly hit our people-, Cuba is beginning to revive its social life, public spaces and services, schools, tourism and other sectors of the economy.

We are already the country in the Americas with the highest percentage of the population with at least one administered dose of the vaccines against COVID-19, the one with the highest daily vaccination rate in the world and the only one that has been able to develop a massive campaign in children from two years of age. All this has been possible due to the country’s capacity to produce its own vaccines, as a result of the scientific policy outlined and promoted by Fidel and the talent of men and women forged by the Revolution.

We are rising up with our own strength, with the unbending spirit, the dignity and the capacity of resistance of our people, with the serene and firm leadership of the country, with the spirit of victory and the creativity that has been cultivated in the midst of so many years of hard battles.

Those who have bet on the failure of Socialism in Cuba and saw July 11[,2021] as the definitive blow to the Revolution, are frustrated and in a hurry in their plans. They intend to prevent any possibility of well-being, individual and collective development, citizen tranquility and peace in our Homeland.

That is why they are promoting various destabilizing actions in the country, to provoke an incident that will lead to a social outbreak that will bring about the longed-for military intervention, which they are vociferously calling for in Miami and even in front of the White House itself.

Neither 62 years of blockade nor its 243 additional measures have been able nor will they be able to bring us down, hence the repeated attempt at a “soft coup”. It is part of the unconventional warfare that they apply to us with intensity. Strike on top of the blow.

In the Central Report to the 8th Party Congress, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz warned:

“The program of subversion and ideological and cultural influence has been redoubled, aimed at discrediting the socialist model of development and presenting us with capitalist restoration as the only alternative.

“The subversive component of U.S. policy toward Cuba is focused on the breakdown of national unity. In that sense, priority is given to actions aimed at young people, women and academics, the artistic and intellectual sector, journalists, athletes, people of sexual diversity and religions. Matters of interest to specific groups linked to animal protection, the environment, or artistic and cultural manifestations are manipulated, all aimed at disregarding existing institutions.

“Act of aggression have not ceased to be financed with the use of radio and television stations based in the United States, while the monetary support for the development of platforms for the generation of ideological contents that openly call to defeat the Revolution. They launch calls for demonstrations in public spaces, incite the execution of sabotage and terrorist acts, including the assassination of agents of public order and representatives of the revolutionary power. Without the slightest modesty, they declare the fees paid from the United States to the executors of these criminal actions.

“Let us not forget that the U.S. government created the “Internet Working Group for Cuba” which aspires to turn social networks into channels of subversion, creation of wireless networks outside state control and the carrying out of cyber attacks on critical infrastructure.

[…]

“Lies, manipulation and the propagation of fake news no longer know any limits. Through them, a virtual image of Cuba as a dying society with no future, on the verge of collapsing and giving way to the longed-for social explosion, is shaped and spread to the four winds.”

Sectors of the traditional counterrevolution and new characters, educated in leadership courses financed by US foundations or the US federal budget, have joined forces to try to fulfill such purposes. They lack a social base in the country, but they are duly instructed, financed and supported from abroad.

The empire puts money and expectations on the annexationists trained by them, who, under the false banner of pacifism, seek to provoke new disturbances, generate chaos and induce the destabilization of the country.

In the last few weeks, they made public their intentions to hold a march in November, supposedly peaceful, designed to take place simultaneously in several cities of the country. Their declared purposes and their organizational scheme reveal a provocation articulated as part of the strategy of “regime change” for Cuba, previously tested in other countries.

They choose dates with a certain symbolism? But this time it seems that they also wanted to show off their annexationist stature. Did they want to celebrate President Biden’s birthday with an attack on the Revolution that has so annoyed imperial administrations for 62 years? They were left wanting.

One of its promoters has been trained in courses sponsored by the right-wing Argentine foundation CADAL, U.S. universities and think tanks such as the Carnegie Fund for International Peace (directed until recently by the current CIA director, William J. Burns). Among the topics of their indoctrination have been the formation of leaders, confrontation against government structures, the dynamics of mobilization, and the role of the Armed Forces in the “democratic transition”.

Last July 11 he was the organizer of an attempted takeover of the ICRT, complying with instruction 167 of the Nonviolent Action Workshop which states: Nonviolent “Attacks”: invasions: starting with a march and taking peaceful possession of a place or property.

More recently he has joined a subversive project in academic garb, in which he shares a seat on its Deliberative Council with the terrorist Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat.

He is accompanied among the organizers of the November demonstration by counterrevolutionary leaders of the so-called Council for the Democratic Transition of Cuba, a platform that is articulated according to the anti-constitutional coup in the country, and who have openly acknowledged receiving funding from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a front for the U.S. government.

As soon as it was announced by its organizers, the march received public and notorious support from U.S. legislators, political operators of the anti-Cuban mafia and media that encourage actions against the Revolution.

Tweets, declarations, Resistance Assemblies and other frenetic actions fill Miami these days, as if the demonstration were to take place in that city. Regime change, the overthrow of the government and military intervention is once again the prevailing narrative in South Florida.

Among the most fervent supporters of the provocation are Congressmen Marco Rubio, Mario Diaz-Balart and Maria Elvira Salazar; the reconverted terrorist Gutierrez Boronat (who has declared his support for this action “to overthrow the regime”), the Cuban American National Foundation and the mercenary retinue of Brigade 2506, whose president on duty declared in Miami that “With these steps, an explosion will be fomented inside Cuba so that once again our brothers take to the streets and this will lead us to the overthrow of a regime…”

As denounced by the U.S. media outlet MintPressNews, many of the operators of the digital social network campaign in support of the demonstration are residents of Florida and other U.S. states. “The participation of foreign citizens in Cuba’s internal affairs is at a level that is hardly conceivable in the United States,” the publication says.

The direct involvement of the U.S. government in the counterrevolutionary farce is also explicit and provocative. No care has been taken to conceal it and no one can do so honestly. High government officials are directly involved in its promotion and, with the support of the special services, in its organization. An important instrument, though not the only one, is the U.S. embassy in Cuba, whose public statements often include blatant meddling in the nation’s internal affairs.

That office, fruit of the bilateral agreements signed in 2015 to formalize diplomatic relations between the two countries, has not fulfilled any diplomatic office for years. It does not even serve for the provision of immigration and consular services that citizens of both countries demand and depend on.

Its officials, including the Chargé d’Affaires, are forced to play the unworthy role of babysitters of the counterrevolutionary exponents and provocateurs in our country. They have the thankless task of falling in behind them, providing them with logistical and material support, as well as advice and guidance. Everything is known and documented. The embassy’s own activity in the digital networks provides evidence of what is happening and what the counterrevolution is doing.

Such behavior is in total contravention of International Law and in particular of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

With such sponsors and declared purposes, it is very difficult to presume civility and pacifism in the action called for November. Much less any legitimate and sovereign intentions.

What is at stake here, and there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind, is Cuba’s right to defend itself against foreign aggression, regardless of the disguise it takes.

The organizers try to cloak themselves in the Constitution to legitimize the provocation. They use constitutional precepts to defend anti-constitutional strategies. They adduce the right to demonstrate expressed in the Magna Carta, but they forget that this same Constitution, in its Article 45, indicates that the rights of the people are limited, among others, by the respect to this supreme norm: “The exercise of the rights of the people is only limited by the rights of others, the collective security, the general welfare, the respect to the public order, the Constitution and the laws”.

This Magna Carta, approved in a referendum just three years ago by 86.85 % of the voters, clearly defines in its Article 4 that: “The socialist system endorsed by this Constitution is irrevocable”. And in Article 229 it also establishes that “In no case shall the pronouncements on the irrevocability of the socialist system established in Article 4, and the prohibition to negotiate under the circumstances foreseen in paragraph a) of Article 16, be reformable”.

It is clear that neither now nor in the future can the right to demonstrate be used to subvert the political system, to overthrow the Cuban socialist project, or to establish alliances with groups and organizations that receive foreign financing with the objective of promoting the interests of the government of the United States and other foreign powers.

There does not exist in our country the right to act in favor of the interests of a foreign power and to put the stability of our citizens at risk. It is unconstitutional, illegitimate, immoral, to adhere to an annexationist project. Our laws say so and our history says so.

This is what our National Hero José Martí warned: “On our land, there is another plan more sinister than what we know until now, and it is the iniquitous one of forcing the Island, of precipitating it to war to have a pretext to intervene in it, and with the credit of mediator and guarantor, to keep it. (…) To die, in order to give a basis on which to rise to these people who push us to death for their benefit? Our lives are worth more, and it is necessary that the Island knows this in time. And there are Cubans, Cubans, who serve, with disguised boasts of patriotism, these interests”.

Enough of lies and gross manipulation of the facts. Nobody is going to be crushed by tanks in the streets as the spokesmen of the next provocation have spread. The Moncada exercise [November 20, National Defense Day] is part of the training we constantly do in preparation for defense. In the face of provocations such as this one, we are assisted by the most legitimate act in defense of the people and their conquests.

Dignity, resistance and unity are our most powerful forces in the face of the dishonorable and dishonorable annexationist action that serves the historical enemy of the Cuban nation in its plan to fracture and divide us in order to defeat us.

They have not been able to and will not be able to. Reason is our shield.

(No English subtitles on the video.)

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