Ukraine 7
Joe Biden takes off his mask
Joe Biden takes off his mask
Let us always remember that, with or without masks, U.S. presidents have the endorsement of being champions of war, genocide, torture, the most criminal sanctions, being the only country in the world to use the nuclear bomb against defenseless peoples, etc., etc.
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
When the President of the United States, Joe Biden, appeared without a mask at the North American Building Trades Union Legislative Conference, and there he assured them: “if I have to go to war, I will go to war with you, I mean it”, his country had, that same Wednesday, April 6, 8214 new deaths and 446,871 infections due to COVID-19.
The United States continues to lead the world in both negative indicators, with 705,284 deaths and 43,950,779 people infected. But this silent war that kills and maims is less and less talked about every day in the mainstream media.
It turns out that since the war in Ukraine and the crusade against Russia, organized by the Biden administration, the pandemic has moved to other levels of attention and, moreover, information to the American population has plummeted.
In his speech, the President assured his audience that “the U.S. will continue to support Ukraine. The U.S. will continue to support Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, and that this fight is far from over”.
He then announced that his administration continues to “supply Ukraine with the necessary weapons and resources”, and was pleased to report that he signed “another package to send more Javelin missiles (…), to continue to get an uninterrupted supply to the Ukrainian army”.
In turn, he promised to further increase sanctions and economic isolation against Russia.
On March 24, 1999, then-President of the United States, William Clinton -also a Democrat- was unmasked when he ordered -without consulting the UN- the bombing of Yugoslavia, killing thousands of civilians, using prohibited weapons such as depleted uranium and provoking the disintegration of that country.
And what about that Friday, February 16, 2001, when another U.S. president, Republican George W. Bush, ordered the bombing and invasion of Iraq, which has cost that Arab country more than one million dead, maimed and wounded, and where Washington still maintains military bases and troops, and appropriates -through Iraqi territory- natural resources from neighboring Syria, while supporting terrorist groups that destabilize that nation.
Now, when the government of Joe Biden and others pronounced themselves at the UN for the suspension of Russia from the Human Rights Council, it would be worthwhile, at least, [to ask] some questions and [make some] reflections, so as not to lose historical memory. Since the U.S. nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, through those carried out against Yugoslavia, the invasion of Iraq, the attacks on Libya and the assassination of its President, the invasion of Panama, Grenada, Afghanistan, Yemen, and many others, has it ever been raised and achieved at the UN that U.S. governments be accused and expelled from the Human Rights Council?
So humanity, what are we talking about now when Russia is condemned for its actions in Ukraine?
Let us always remember that, with or without masks, U.S. leaders have the endorsement of being champions of war, genocide, torture, the most criminal sanctions, being the only country in the world to use nuclear bombs against defenseless peoples, etc., etc.
Final recommendation: put on your mask, President Biden, protect your people from the COVID-19 pandemic, work for peace, without war and without sanctions, and contribute – as you promised in your campaign, and have not fulfilled – to foster a friendlier and freer world.
Extortions against Russia hit Latin America
Extortions against Russia hit Latin America
By Hedelberto López Blanch
April 21, 2022
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
The war situation between Russia and Ukraine, together with the numerous extortions that the United States and its allies have imposed against Moscow, not only hit economically this nation but also Latin American countries.
One of the most affected is Ecuador because, if in 2021, 20% of the bananas it exported were destined to Russia (about 85 million boxes) now it has nowhere to place them and they will be spoiled with the consequent monetary loss.
Last year Ecuador obtained 706 million dollars for banana exports to the Eurasian giant; 142 million dollars for shrimp; 99 million dollars for flowers; 28 million dollars for fish and 17 million dollars for coffee.
Paraguay had Russia as its second buyer of beef and in 2021 it sent 79 213 tons which represented an income of 314 million dollars and now with Moscow’s disconnection from the international banking system (swift) it does not know how to collect or send the product.
Something similar is happening with Brazil. In the previous period, Brazil sold soybean to Russia for 343 million dollars; 167 million for poultry meat; 133 million for coffee and 117 million for beef.
As for Mexico, it sent cars, computers, beer, tequila and other products to that nation and bought fertilizers. If it lacks this supply, agriculture will suffer losses and food will become more expensive.
This situation will lead to a worsening of the economic crisis in those nations with the consequent wage cuts, layoffs of workers and price hikes.
The enormous pressures exerted by the United States for Latin American nations to join the Russophobia policy it has imposed on the planet by controlling the main communication media, may increase these problems.
For example, an intergovernmental cooperation agreement between Russia and Argentina for the peaceful use of nuclear energy, particularly in the areas of basic and applied research, construction and operation of nuclear power plants and reactors, would be halted.
In addition, Moscow has expressed its interest in participating in a tender for the construction of a dry storage facility for spent nuclear fuel at the Atucha II nuclear power plant in the South American nation.
Washington uses all kinds of extortion to that end: political influence, economic promises and blackmail, as was the case during the recent vote at the UN General Assembly to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. After the vote, several delegates expressed that for various reasons they had been forced to vote that way.
Due to the impact of the Western “sanctions” war, the supply of fertilizers has been affected, which poses a threat to Latin American farmers, but is advantageous for the United States, which manufactures large quantities of fertilizer. Already, U.S. producers are looking to increase exports to countries in the region.
Fertilizer prices are currently at an all-time high and in the first quarter of 2022, they rose by 30%, which exceeds those reached in 2008 during the global financial crisis.
Due to the “sanctions”, shipments from Russia have been interrupted and this country is one of the main producers and exporters globally.
Moscow is the largest exporter of nitrogen fertilizers and the second-largest exporter of potash and phosphorus fertilizers.
In 2021 the Eurasian giant shipped fertilizers worth $12.5 billion. Among its main buyers were Brazil and the European Union with 25% respectively, and the United States with 14%.
As is to be expected, if the fertilizers do not arrive, agricultural production in these countries will be greatly affected.
This complex scenario comes at a time when the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported that the food price index reached an all-time high of 159.3 points in March, while in February it had already beaten the record since the creation of the cost index in 1990.
The agency added that among the five categories that make up the index, four have never recorded such high prices: vegetable oils (248.6 points), cereals (170.1), dairy products (145.2) and meat (120.0).
Two of the categories increased their prices in February due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict: cereals by 17% and vegetable oils by 23%. These countries together export 30 % of the wheat and 20 % of the corn consumed in the world.
The present and future prospects for the Latin American economies are considered difficult because they will have to face the high costs of food products, without yet recovering from the enormous losses caused by the covid-19 pandemic.
As a corollary, it can be stated that the string of extortions imposed by the United States, not only to Russia but to more than 30 countries in the world, are leading several Latin American nations into an abyss.
Hedelberto López Blanch, Cuban journalist, writer and researcher.
Chernobyl in our memory
Chernobyl in our memory
Fidel had conceived a medical care and rehabilitation program for those victims of radiation exposure from the accident nuclear plant. Almost all of them were Ukrainians, and some Russians and Belarusians.
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Photo: Granma Archive
As a journalist, there were several occasions when I visited groups of Ukrainian children affected by the Chernobyl nuclear accident in Tarará, a beach east of Havana.
Fidel had conceived a program of medical care and rehabilitation for those victims of exposure to radiation from the accident nuclear plant. Almost all of them were Ukrainians, and some Russians and Belarusians.
I was also able to witness the admiration and gratitude to Fidel from the families of those children, whom the Commander-in-Chief visited on several occasions, after having received the first group on the steps of the plane that took them to our country. He signed his olive green cap and gave it as a gift to a Ukrainian girl, he inquired with doctors and directors about the whole program of attention to the minors, their most common pathologies and about their evolution during their stay on the island.
Thousands of Cubans were involved in the program, and more than 25,457 people, including 21,378 children, received specialized medical care.
Our country placed its health institutions at their service, and more than 300 children were treated for hematological diseases, mainly leukemia, 136 for different tumors, and 14 complex heart surgeries, two kidney transplants, six bone marrow transplants, among many other treatments, were performed.
Everything was done free of charge, as an expression of love and solidarity, attributes that contrast with those who today send thousands of tons of weapons to Ukraine, a country that has become hostage to the hegemonic policy of the u.s. and nato, to confront Russia.
On April 2, 2010, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Program for the care of children affected by radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in a ceremony in Havana, the former Ukrainian president, Leonid Kuchma, recognized Fidel as the greatest inspirer of a human work that meant the care of these Ukrainian minors.
On the occasion, Kuchma announced the awarding to Fidel of the Order of Merit of the First Degree, and to then-President Raúl Castro, the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, of the First Degree.
He awarded distinctions to doctors, diplomats and collaborators who contributed to the successful achievement of that program, all in order to save the lives of children and young people, those who will forever carry in their hearts the indelible mark of the friendship between the peoples of Ukraine and Cuba.
Today, when that country is going through difficult times in a war provoked by the United States and NATO, we remember those moments of tears and joy of children who came with their families from that distant country, to whom Cuba gave part of what it had to save their lives.
We remember those Ukrainians at moments like today, and together with them, we ask for the war to end and for that country to join the international community without warlike aspirations and with a neutral character that should not change, no matter how much the promoters of hatred and confrontation, that is, the U.S. government and nato, want to take it down the wrong path, as a hostage of their expansionist policies.
Ukraine: the war that must end
Ukraine: the war that must end
It is not a matter of mere assessments to blame the U.S. Government for what is currently happening in Ukraine, but there are statements that very lightly limit themselves to “it was Russia who attacked Ukraine”.
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Photo: Sputnik
These are not mere assessments to blame the US government for what is currently happening in Ukraine, but there are statements that very lightly limit themselves to “it was Russia who attacked Ukraine”.
It is necessary to go to safe sources, committed to peace, and go back to the history of U.S. wars, aggressions, bombings and other actions in the international arena.
Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, warned: “We must never forget who is the real threat to the world”. And he explained: “of the 248 armed conflicts that took place between 1945 and 2001 in 153 regions of the world, 201 were initiated by the US, accounting for 81% of the total”.
I don’t think anyone can be in any doubt as to who is really responsible for what is happening in Ukraine today. Washington’s destabilizing attempts to impose its hegemony are directed towards Russia.
Now, this justification –in the current case– has the ingredient that the Yankee power itself has made the European Union as an entity, as well as several of its main leaders, into spokespersons in favor of what the empire says and does.
What sense does it make for a continent -the European continent-, fiercely punished by two world wars that left millions of its children dead, wounded and mutilated, and entire cities destroyed, to ally itself again with those who were the first and only ones in the world to use the nuclear bomb, or who more recently and without consulting anyone, bombed Yugoslavia, a nation of that region?
Why not devote all the political forces in Europe to demanding withdrawal of all U.S. nuclear weapons, or the dozens of military bases installed on its territory and its hundreds of thousands of soldiers?
What other country in the world has an endorsement as questioned as that of the United States? What other power has hundreds of military bases scattered around the globe?
There was not supposed to be war in Ukraine, but unfortunately, there is. Therefore, all the strength and resources of the world should be directed to bringing the confrontation to an end as soon as possible. Let no more Ukrainians, Russians or other nationalities continue to die. Let only Russia and Ukraine seek the best way to live as neighbors: in peace and mutual respect.
A neutral Ukraine, where all its inhabitants, whether Russians or Ukrainians, live together in harmony and tranquility, united in the common desire to build an inclusive and prosperous country.
But militarizing Ukraine or encouraging it to join NATO is, above all, an historical irresponsibility with unpredictable consequences.
In this regard, the Russian Foreign Ministry has pointed out that financing Ukraine and supporting it militarily goes against the principles and agreements signed by the European Union.
It lists, among others, the fact that Kyiv ignores its obligations under the Minsk agreements, endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2202. Also the violation of human rights, with the use of weapons provided by the West for the ongoing repression in Donbas.
Russia warns about the risks of an escalation of the conflict due to the delivery of more weapons, which, in addition, threatens regional security and stability. It also points out the danger of deliveries of these war devices falling into the wrong hands, including those of terrorist organizations, given the uncontrolled distribution to the Ukrainian population.
Finally, Russia recalls that Ukraine’s economy is suffering as a result of the armed conflict.
How to Achieve Peace in Ukraine
How to achieve Peace in Ukraine
By Max Lesnik
March 01, 2022
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
We can learn from history and thus avoid repeating past mistakes by seeking to replicate the successes only.
The crisis between Russia and Ukraine that has led to an open war between these neighboring countries, with the invasion of the territory of the latter by the former, leading to a very serious situation that could lead to a disastrous nuclear catastrophe for all mankind.
How was the so-called “October Crisis”, which almost led to a nuclear holocaust between the United States and the now defunct Soviet Union, resolved in 1962?
Diplomacy and not arms resolved the dangerous conflict that almost turned the “Cold War” into a “Hot War” that would have turned the world into a planetary cemetery at that time.
Cuba, already harassed by the United States since the triumph of its Revolution, was threatened by the “Colossus of the North” with invasion of its territory in Imperial response to the courageous attitude of the small Caribbean island that dared to defend its independence and sovereignty at whatever price was necessary.
It was then that another world power, the Soviet Union, rival of the United States in the so-called “Cold War”, in an attitude of solidarity and with the acquiescence of the revolutionary government, installed rocket batteries with atomic capacity on Cuban soil in order to respond militarily to the United States, in the event of an American invasion of the rebellious Cuba.
The world was on the brink of atomic war. But dialogue and diplomacy prevailed. An exchange of messages and letters ensued between Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev  and U.S. President John F. Kennedy, a dialogue that led to an honorable agreement between the conflicting parties .
The Soviets would withdraw the rockets which, according to Kennedy, because they were only a few miles from U.S. territory, threatened the security of his country. A solid and convincing argument.
In addition, Cuba would not be part of the so-called “Warsaw Pact”, a military alliance of the communist nations of Europe, equivalent to NATO, which unites militarily the United States with the nations of Western Europe.
In reciprocity, the United States would withdraw the atomic rockets they had in Turkey, which, because of their proximity to the territory of the Soviet Union, threatened the security of that nation. A solid argument that also convinces.
And most importantly. The United States accepted the commitment not to attack Cuba militarily. No invasion.
The so-called “Kennedy-Khrushchev Pact” saved the world from a nuclear holocaust.
In the current political-military crisis between Russia and Ukraine, the parties in conflict should seek a compromise to resolve their differences diplomatically, as was done during the October Crisis of 1962.
The Russians withdraw from Ukrainian territory and undertake not to invade neighboring Ukraine in the future. For its part, Ukraine renounces to be part of NATO and commits itself that in its territory, so close to Russia, atomic weapons that threaten Russian security will never be deployed. A solid argument that convinces.
This time Putin is in the role of Kennedy and Biden in that of Nikita Khrushchev.
I believe that Putin understands and would accept this commitment to world peace.
Will President Biden understand it as President Kennedy understood it then?
To be or not to be. That is the question!
Extremely dangerous situation in Ukraine
Extremely dangerous situation in Ukraine
The territory of Ukraine is in an extremely dangerous situation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, explaining that the army acts as terrorists because they install multiple rocket launchers in Kiev and Kharkov under the advice of foreign experts.
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Russian military presence in Ukraine. Photo: AP
The territory of Ukraine is in an extremely dangerous situation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it, explaining that the military acts as terrorists because they install multiple rocket launchers in Kyiv and Kharkiv under the advice of foreign experts.
At this juncture, Vladimir Putin urged the Ukrainian military: “Do not allow neo-Nazis and ultra-nationalists to use your children, wives and old people as human shields, to take power into their hands. It seems that it will be easier to come to an agreement with you than with this gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis who lodged in Kyiv and took the entire Ukrainian people hostage,” Russia Today quoted him as saying.
The head of state noted that the main fighting of the Russian Army is conducted, “not against regular units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but against nationalist formations, which, as is known, bear direct responsibility for the genocide in Donbass and the blood of civilian citizens of the people’s republics.”
He highlighted information that neo-Nazis are deploying heavy weapons in central areas of large cities, including Kyiv and Kharkiv, to provoke return fire from the Russian military against residential neighborhoods. “They act in the same way as terrorists all over the world: they hide behind people in the hope of blaming Russia for casualties among the civilian population,” Putin said.
Pope Francis visited the Russian Embassy to the Vatican to meet with the head of the diplomatic mission, Alexander Avdeev, to discuss the situation in Ukraine. The pontiff assured them that he is closely observing the development of events in Ukraine and expressed his concern about the escalation after the start of the military operation ordered on Thursday by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Likewise, the presidents of Russia and China, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, held a telephone conversation to discuss the Ukrainian crisis in a constructive and friendly atmosphere.
Xi stressed that he respects Russia’s actions in the crisis in the neighboring country and showed the coincidence of the positions of the two countries on the main issues of the international agenda, the Kremlin says in its statements.
Sanctions against Russia
The Council of Europe suspends Russia’s membership amid its military operation in Ukraine, a measure proposed by Poland and Ukraine that won the consensus of 42 of the committee’s 47 members.
Leaders of European Union countries agreed at an emergency summit to impose new economic sanctions against Moscow following the start of the military operation launched by Russia to defend Donbas.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that this second package of sanctions by the bloc will affect 70% of the banking market and Russia’s major state-owned enterprises, including those in the defense sector.
RT also highlighted the words of UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who warned that London will continue to take action until the Russian economy is impaired and the integrity of Ukrainian territory is restored. “We will not rest until the Russian economy has been degraded and Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity have been restored,” the head of British diplomacy said.
Sputnik also noted the measures taken by Poland, which closed its airspace to Russian aircraft, while Switzerland banned financial transactions with 363 Russian individuals and four legal entities.
For his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused NATO and the European Union of supporting Kiev in recent weeks, when it decided to seize by force the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic, in order to destroy the Minsk agreements. “The West fully supports the Kyiv regime in its efforts to sabotage and in the end destroy the Minsk Agreements,” Sputnik quoted Sputnik as saying.
However, no country in the transatlantic alliance wants to get involved in a war with Russia, according to statements by French Defense Minister Florence Parly and reminded that the Eurasian nation is a nuclear power.
Ukraine and the spark of Donbass
Ukraine and the spark of Donbass
In a tweet, the member of the Political Bureau and Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, wrote: “We strongly reject the propagandistic and communicational hysteria unleashed by the U.S. government against Russia and we firmly oppose the expansion of NATO to the borders of that brother country”.
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Russia estimates that more than 40 000 refugees from Donbas are already on its territory. Photo: Sputnik
The last week – that of the Russian “invasion” of Ukraine, fabricated by Washington – ended, and with it even the Russian military maneuvers, scheduled in advance, began the timeline for the return home of those involved.
Both the President of the United States, Joe Biden, as well as the highest exponents of NATO and some European rulers or subordinates were left wanting the shots to ring out and insisted on new lies on the same subject, but now more towards the inside of Ukraine than in the foreign environment.
The Kyiv government, used as “bait” for Russia to “take the bait” of the West and provoke a war, seems to be disappointed by so many lies and manipulation of those who have promised it NATO membership and the guarantee of its security in the face of a possible reaction from Moscow.
However, with these actions, the only thing they have caused Ukraine is a substantial economic loss that already exceeds $3 billion, without counting the bills that will be passed on later for the “aid” in weapons of all kinds that they are providing it with. But where are the shots and the supposed casualties caused by the Russian invasion? Where did the tanks and artillery that Washington announced would reach Kyiv come in.
Then they remembered a key piece in this puzzle: the separatist republics of Donbass with their territories of Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR), in Ukraine, became, overnight, the spark of a new provocation against Moscow.
Kyiv, with its army, is staging a montage that cannot be sustained, but which already this weekend left some civilians dead and more than 40,000 people of Russian origin were forced to cross the border and take refuge in the Russian region of Rostov.
In view of the heated warlike mood, both Russia and Belarus, which had already ended their joint military maneuvers, have decided to prolong them. Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin described the current scenario as “a strong smell of gunpowder” in the region, with the possibility of “Europe being pushed into a war”, as several neighboring countries are accumulating more advanced weapons, according to RT.
He also reiterated that the goal of the Russian and Belarusian maneuvers remains the same: “to ensure an adequate response and de-escalation of the enemies’ military preparations.”
In the meantime, the spark in Donbas may become, with the help of the West and the mainstream press at its service, a detonator that will make what Russia and the international community want to avoid – a war – a reality.
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