Monday, December 16, 2019



A call for March 13-15, 2020:

Sanctions Kill! Sanctions are War! End Sanctions Now!

Endorse this call for international action at: 
https://sanctionskill.org/
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Crimes against Humanity:
US Sanctions Harm One Third of World’s People

By Sara Flounders
Global Research, December 05, 2019
Workers World 3 December 2019

The most insidious and pervasive form of modern warfare by Wall Street and the Pentagon, acting in coordination, is passing largely unnoticed and unchallenged. This calculated attack is rolling back decades of progress in health care, sanitation, housing, essential infrastructure and industrial development all around the world.

Almost every developing country attempting any level of social programs for its population is being targeted.

U.S. imperialism and its junior partners have refined economic strangulation into a devastating weapon. Sanctions in the hands of the dominant military and economic powers now cause more deaths than bombs or guns. This weapon is stunting the growth of millions of youth and driving desperate migrations, dislocating tens of millions.

A crime against humanity’
Sanctions and economic blockades against Venezuela, Cuba and Iran are well known. But the devastating impacts of U.S. sanctions on occupied Palestine — or on already impoverished countries such as Mali, Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Kyrgyzstan, Fiji, Nicaragua and Laos — are not even on the radar screen of human rights groups.

Most sanctions are intentionally hidden; they don’t generate even a line of news. Some sanctions are quickly passed after a sudden news article about an alleged atrocity. The civilians who will suffer have nothing to do with whatever crime the corporate media use as an excuse. What are never mentioned are the economic or political concessions the U.S. government or corporations are seeking.

Sanctions cannot be posed as an alternative to war. They are in fact the most brutal form of warfare, deliberately targeting the most defenseless civilians — youth, the elderly, sick and disabled people. In a period of human history when hunger and disease are scientifically solvable, depriving hundreds of millions from getting basic necessities is a crime against humanity.
International law and conventions, including the Geneva and Nuremberg Conventions, United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, explicitly prohibit the targeting of defenseless civilians, especially in times of war.

Sanctions draw condemnation
Modern industrial society is built on a fragile web of essential technology. If pumps and sewage lines, elevators and generators can’t function due to lack of simple spare parts, entire cities can be overwhelmed by swamps. If farmers are denied seed, fertilizer, field equipment and storage facilities, and if food, medicine and essential equipment are deliberately denied, an entire country is at risk.
The Venezuelan ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, spoke to the XVIII Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 26. Addressing the 120 countries represented, he denounced the imposition of arbitrary measures, called “sanctions” by the U.S., as “economic terrorism which affects a third of humanity with more than 8,000 measures in 39 countries.”

This terrorism, he said, constitutes a “threat to the entire system of international relations and is the greatest violation of human rights in the world.” (tinyurl.com/uwlm99r)
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The Group of 77 and China, an international body based at the U.N. and representing 134 developing countries, called upon “the international community to condemn and reject the imposition of the use of such measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries.”

The Group explained:
The criminal, anti-human policy of targeting defenseless populations, which is in clear violation of United Nations Charter and international law, has now become the new weapon of choice for these powerful states since they are faced with strong opposition from the majority of their own population to the endless wars of occupation that they are already involved in.”

The power of banks
The mechanism and the ability of one country or one vote to destroy a country on the other side of the world are not well understood.

International capital uses the dollar system. All international transactions go through U.S. banks. These banks are in a position to block money transfers for the smallest transaction and to confiscate billions of dollars held by targeted governments and individuals. They are also in a position to demand that every other bank accept sudden restrictions imposed from Washington or face sanctions themselves.

This is similar to how the U.S. Navy can claim the authority to intercept ships and interrupt trade anywhere, or the U.S. Army can target people with drones and invade countries without even asking for a declaration of war.

Sometimes a corporate media outlet, a U.S.-funded “human rights” group or a financial institution issues charges, often unsubstantiated, of human rights violations, or political repression, drug trafficking, terrorist funding, money laundering, cyber-security infractions, corruption or non-compliance with an international financial institution. These charges become the opening wedge for a demand for sanctions as punishment.

U.S. Sanctions: Economic Sabotage that Is Deadly, Illegal and Ineffective
Sanctions can be imposed through a U.S. Congressional resolution or Presidential declaration or be authorized by a U.S. government agency, such as the departments of the Treasury, Commerce, State or Defense. The U.S. might apply pressure to get support from the European Union, the U.N. Security Council or one of countless U.S.-established regional security organizations, such as the Organization of American States.

A U.S. corporate body that wants a more favorable trade deal is able to influence numerous agencies or politicians to act on its behalf. Deep-state secret agencies, military contractors, nongovernmental organizations funded by the National Endowment for Democracy, and numerous corporate-funded foundations maneuver to create economic dislocation and pressure resource-rich countries.
Even sanctions that appear mild and limited can have a devastating impact. U.S. officials will claim that some sanctions are only military sanctions, needed to block weapons sales. But under the category of possible “dual use,” the bans include chlorine needed to purify water, pesticides, fertilizers, medical equipment, simple batteries and spare parts of any kind.

Another subterfuge is sanctions that supposedly apply only to government officials or specific agencies. But in fact any and every transaction they carry out can be blocked while endless inquiries are held. Anonymous bank officials can freeze all transactions in progress and scrutinize all accounts a country holds. Any form of sanctions, even against individuals, raises the cost and risk level for credit and loans.

There are more than 6,300 names on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List of individuals sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control at the U.S. Treasury Department.

The OFAC describes its role this way:
OFAC administers a number of different sanctions programs. The sanctions can be either comprehensive or selective, using the blocking of assets and trade restrictions to accomplish foreign policy and national security goals.”

There is also a Financial Action Task Force list and an International Traffic in Arms Regulations list.
The sanctions weapon has become so extensive that there is now a whole body of law to guide U.S. corporations and banks in navigating sales, credit and loans. It is intended to be opaque, murky and open to interpretation, payoffs and subterfuge. There seems to be no single online site that lists all the different countries and individuals under U.S. sanctions.

Once a country is sanctioned, it must then “negotiate” with various U.S. agencies that demand austerity measures, elections that meet Western approval, cuts in social programs, and other political and economic concessions to get sanctions lifted.

Sanctions are an essential part of U.S. regime change operations, designed in the most cynical way to exact maximum human cost. Sudden hyperinflation, economic disruption and unexpected shortages are then hypocritically blamed on the government in office in the sanctioned country. Officials are labeled inept or corrupt.

Agencies carefully monitor the internal crisis they are creating to determine the optimum time to impose regime change or manufacture a color revolution. The State Department and U.S. covert agencies fund numerous NGOs and social organizations that instigate dissent. These tactics have been used in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Iran, Syria, Libya, Zimbabwe, Sudan and many other countries.

A weapon of imperialism in decline
Gone are the days of Marshall Plan-type promises of rebuilding, trade, loans and infrastructure development. They are not even offered in this period of capitalist decay. The sanctions weapon is now such a pervasive instrument that hardly a week goes by without new sanctions, even on past allies.

In October the U.S. threatened harsh sanctions on Turkey, a 70-year member of the U.S.-commanded NATO military alliance.

On Nov. 27, Trump suddenly announced, by presidential decree, harsher sanctions on Nicaragua, calling it a “National Security Threat.” He also declared Mexico a “terrorist” threat and refused to rule out military intervention. Both countries have democratically elected governments.
Other sanctions sail through the U.S. Congress without a roll call vote — just a cheer and a unanimous voice vote, such as the sanctions on Hong Kong in support of U.S.-funded protests.

Why Wall Street can’t be sanctioned
Is there any possibility that the U.S. could be sanctioned for its endless wars under the same provisions by which it has asserted the right to wreak havoc on other countries?
The Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, in November 2017 asked the Hague-based ICC to open formal investigations of war crimes committed by the Taliban, the Haqqani network, Afghan forces, and the U.S. military and the CIA.

The very idea of the U.S. being charged with war crimes led then White House National Security Advisor John Bolton to threaten judges and other ICC officials with arrest and sanction if they even considered any charge against U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

“If the court comes after us, Israel or other U.S. allies, we will not sit quietly,” Bolton said. He noted that the U.S. “is prepared to slap financial sanctions and criminal charges on officials of the court if they proceed against any U.S. personnel. … We will ban its judges and prosecutors from entering the United States. We will sanction their funds in the U.S. financial system, and we will prosecute them in the U.S. criminal system. … We will do the same for any company or state that assists an ICC investigation of Americans.” (The Guardian, Sept. 10, 2018)

Bolton also cited a recent move by Palestinian leaders to have Israeli officials prosecuted at the ICC for human rights violations. The ICC judges got the message. They ruled that despite “a reasonable basis” to consider war crimes committed in Afghanistan, there was little chance of a successful prosecution. An investigation “would not serve the interests of justice.”
Chief Prosecutor Bensouda, for proposing an even-handed inquiry, had her U.S. visa revoked by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Sanctions are a weapon in the capitalist world order used by the most powerful countries against those that are weaker and developing. One hundred years ago, in 1919, President Woodrow Wilson advocated sanctions as a quiet but lethal weapon that exerts pressure no nation in the modern world can withstand.

Sanctions demonstrate how capitalist laws protect the right of eight multibillionaires to own more than the population of half the world.

U.N. sanctions demanded by Washington
The U.S., with the largest nuclear arsenal on the planet and 800 military bases, claims — while engaged in wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Libya — that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Islamic Republic of Iran are the greatest threats to world peace.
In the U.N. Security Council, the U.S. succeeded in winning harsh new sanctions against Iran and the DPRK by threatening, on the eve of “war games,” that the U.S. would escalate hostilities to an open military attack.

This threat proved sufficient to get other Security Council members to fall in line and either vote for sanctions or abstain.

These strong-arm tactics have succeeded again and again. During the Korean War, when the U.S. military was saturation-bombing Korea, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Warren Austin held up a submachine gun in the Security Council to demand expanded authority in the war from that body.
Throughout the 1990s the U.S. government used sanctions on Iraq as a horrendous social experiment to calculate how to drastically lower caloric intake, destroy crop output and ruin water purification. The impact of these sanctions were widely publicized — as a threat to other countries.
Bill Clinton’s Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, when asked about the half a million children who died as a result of U.S. sanctions on Iraq, replied, “We think the price is worth it.”
The sanctions imposed by the U.S. against Iran are book-length, spanning 40 years since the Iranian Revolution. The blockade and sanctions on Cuba have continued for 60 years.

Sanctions Kill campaign
It is an enormous political challenge to break the media silence and expose this crime. We need to put a human face on the suffering.

Targeted countries cannot be left to struggle by themselves in isolation — there must be full solidarity with their efforts. The sheer number of countries being starved into compliance via U.S.-imposed sanctions must be dragged into the light of day. And one step in challenging the injustice of capitalist property relations is to attack the criminal role of the banks.

The effort to rally world opinion against sanctions as a war crime is beginning with a call for International Days of Action Against Sanctions & Economic War on March 13-15, 2020. Its slogans are “Sanctions Kill! Sanctions Are War! End Sanctions Now!”

These coordinated international demonstrations are a crucial first step. Research and testimony; resolutions by unions, student groups, cultural workers and community organizations; social media campaigns; and bringing medical supplies and international relief to sanctioned countries can all play a role. Every kind of political campaign to expose the international crime of sanctions is a crucial contribution.
The original source of this article is Workers World

Copyright © Sara Flounders, Workers World, 2019

CUBA RESISTS! 
CELEBRATE 5 YEARS 
SINCE THE
RELEASE 

OF THE Cuban 5!

7pm, Tuesday, December 17
Room 1011, Mona Campbell Building
Dalhousie University
1459 LeMarchant Street, Halifax


On December 17, 2014 Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, and Gerardo Hernández joined Fernando González and René González and were finally reunited with their families and the people of Cuba, after spending over 16 years held unjustly in U.S. prisons for defending Cuba against U.S.-backed terrorism. This victory of Cuba was- and is - a historic victory for human rights and for people around the world who united to organize and win their freedom! 

Sunday, October 13, 2019



Havana 500 years

Sabanas Blancas -- Omara Portuondo
Havana 500 years



Havana celebrates 500 years
Cuba’s capital will be celebrating its 500th anniversary this November with festivities to honour this historic half-century milestone.  Havana, founded on November 16, 1519, was originally called San Cristobal de La Habana.  The city's historic centre was named UNESCO World Heritage site in 1982 and the surrounding city declared one of seven global "New 7 Wonders Cities in 2015. 

As part of the anniversary celebrations music will take over public spaces. The Cuban Institute of Music has lined up a series of concerts with the country’s best musicians, taking place every second, third and fourth Saturday each month until the big birthday bash in November. From festivals and cultural shows to theatre productions and art exhibitions — to culminate in November with an exhibition of ‘Footprints on the City’ by 50 Cuban painters, the premiere of  ‘Cecilia Valdés’ and the Alabanza international dance event. On the eve of the anniversary we will have "Habanera Night" -with music, poetry, theatre and food throughout the city, along with fireworks at midnight. Havana is reopening facilities that have sat empty for several years, including the Cuatro Caminos market, currently a shopping centre.

"Everywhere you go in Havana, you will experience the feeling of music in the air. Cuba, especially Havana is one of the main centres of Latin American music and dance," says Eloy Govea, the Cuba Tourist Board’s director for Canada.We encourage people to go outside the resorts, to mingle with locals and visit cities such as Havana. Cuban people are so open, so talkative, so easygoing, so cheerful and willing to share. This year is a perfect opportunity for Canadians to visit and celebrate Havana's 500th anniversary."



Postcards from Cuba: Havana celebrates 500 years
https://www.euronews.com/2019/06/28/cuba-celebrates-500-years-of-history-through-its-arts#targetText=last%20updated%3A%2028%2F06%2F2019&targetText=Havana%2C%

Saturday, October 12, 2019


Climate Change and Cuba Highlights Conference Panel -

The Cuban Revolution@60 International Conference

https://www.cubabusinessreport.com/climate-change-and-cuba-highlights-conference-panels/

Square Canada doesn't have a tech issue: it's a Cuban coffee issue    Toronto coffee stand's collection problem stems from U.S. bank's Cuba embargo fears

MONICA MUSTELIER OWNS TORONTO'S LITTLE HAVANA MOBILE COFFEE SHOP. SHE SAYS PAYMENTS
MADE THROUGH SQUARE WERE NOT REACHING HER BANK ACCOUNT (ANDY HINCENBERGS, CBC)

THE OWNERS OF A TORONTO COFFEE STAND SAY SQUARE CANADA HAS TOLD THEM THEY CAN NO LONBER USE THE POPULAR PAYMENT TECHNOLOGY BECAUSE OF CONCERNS THE COFFEE STAND IS SELLING BEVERAGES MADE FROM CUBAN COFFEE BEANS. SQUARE CANADA ALLOWS CUSTOMERS TO TAP OR SWIPE THEIR FINANCIAL CARDS TO PAY FOR THINGS -IN THIS CASE COFFEE FROM TORONTO'S LITTLE HAVANA COFFEE STAND.
LITTLE HAVANA'S CO OWNER, MONICA MUSTELIER, SAID SHE'D BEEN IN CONTACT WITH THE TECHNOLOGY COMPANY REGULARLY SINCE LATE AUGUST, AFTER $14,000 IN CUSTOMER PAYMENTS COLLECTED USING SQUARE NEVER MADE IT INTO HER TD CANADA TRUST BANK ACCOUNT.
IN AN EARLIER CBC NEWS REPORT, SHE SAID THE COMPANY LED HER TO BELIEVE THE MISSING MONEY WAS BEING HELD DUE TO PROBLEMS WITH AN "ACQUIRING PROCESSOR." A SQUARE CANADA SPOKESPERSON HAD TOLD CBC NEWS, THE SITUATION WASN'T "ONE-OFF" — BUT WASN'T WIDESPREAD, EITHER.  IT TURNS OUT, THAT'S NOT THE CASE, MUSTELIER SAYS.
ACCORDING TO MUSTELIER, SQUARE CANADA TOLD HER THE TECH COMPANY USES THE U.S. BANK JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. TO PROCESS PAYMENTS, AND THE BANK CANNOT OR WILL NOT RELEASE THE FUNDS DUE TO POTENTIAL CONCERNS OVER LITTLE HAVANA'S CUBAN COFFEE BEANS. "I WAS KIND OF SHOCKED AND MAD, BECAUSE WE'RE A CANADIAN COMPANY USING CUBAN GOODS BOUGHT AND SOLD IN CANADA," MUSTELIER TOLD CBC NEWS MONDAY.
MUSTELIER LEGALLY IMPORTS THE COFFEE BEANS THROUGH A MONTREAL DISTRIBUTOR.




IT'S CURRENTLY 'CASH ONLY' AT THE LITTLE HAVANA MOBILE COFFEE STAND. (ANDY HINCENBERGS/CBC)
MONEY MISSING SINCE AUGUST

TODAY, VALERIE JACKSON, SQUARE CANADA'S COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER, CONFIRMED TO CBC NEWS THE ISSUE ISN'T A TECH PROBLEM AFTER ALL.  "I WANT TO CLARIFY THAT SQUARE IS NOT EXPERIENCING A TECHNICAL GLITCH. WHILE I CANNOT SPEAK WITH YOU ABOUT MONICA'S INDIVIDUAL CASE, I CAN TELL YOU THAT SQUARE'S CUSTOMER SUCCESS TEAM SPOKE WITH MONICA YESTERDAY, AND SHE NOW KNOWS THE REASON," SHE WROTE IN AN EMAIL TO CBC NEWS. THE U.S. HAS A FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL EMBARGO AGAINST CUBA, SEVERELY LIMITING DEALINGS WITH CUBAN INTERESTS. MUSTELIER IS CANADIAN AND SAYS SHE HAS NO IDEA WHY A U.S. EMBARGO IS AFFECTING HER CANADIAN BUSINESS. "FOR THE U.S. SANCTIONS AGAINST CUBA TO AFFECT US SO DIRECTLY IS A SHOCK, BECAUSE I KNOW CANADA AND CUBA HAVE GOOD RELATIONS," SHE SAYS.

MUSTELIER HAD BEEN USING SQUARE TECHNOLOGY FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS WITHOUT INCIDENT. THEN, IN LATE AUGUST, THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS SQUARE CANADA WAS SUPPOSED TO TRANSFER INTO HER BANK ACCOUNT NEVER MADE IT.  EVER SINCE, SQUARE CANADA HAD BEEN WORKING WITH MUSTELIER TO FIND OUT WHAT WENT WRONG. "I DON'T KNOW WHY THEY WOULD BE USING A THIRD PARTY IN THE STATES TO PROCESS CANADIAN FUNDS," MUSTELIER SAYS ABOUT SQUARE CANADA'S USE OF THE U.S. BANK. "IF I KNEW SQUARE'S POLICY, I PROBABLY WOULDN'T HAVE USED THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE," SHE ADDS.    SHE SAYS SQUARE CANADA HAS TOLD HER, THE COMPANY IS STILL WORKING ON REFUNDING HER THE $14,000. IN THE MEANTIME, MUSTELIER IS NOW LOOKING FOR A PAYMENT SYSTEM THAT USES CANADIAN BANKS ONLY, TO PROCESS TRANSACTIONS.
CBC NEWS HAS CONTACTED SQUARE CANADA FOR FURTHER COMMENT ON ITS PLANS.

A LETTER TO THE EDITOR:  THE LONG ARM OF US POLICY

Tuesday, October 1, 2019


Economic aggression, threats and blackmail will not take away a single concession.

Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla on September 29, 2019,
Complete Transcript of Speech by Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, at the 74th General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly, New York, 28 September 2019, “Year 61 of the Revolution”.
I denounce before the General Assembly of the United Nations that in recent months the Government of the United States has initiated the application of criminal, non-conventional measures to prevent the supply of fuel to our country from various markets, by threatening and persecuting the companies that transport it, the governments of registry and flag, shipping companies and insurance companies.
As a result, we have faced severe difficulties in guaranteeing the supply of fuel required for the daily activity of the country, which has forced us to adopt temporary emergency measures, which would only be possible in an organized country, with a united and supportive people, ready to defend themselves against foreign aggression and to preserve the social justice achieved.
In the past year, the United States Government has qualitatively increased its measures of hostility and blockade against Cuba. It has imposed additional obstacles to foreign trade and increased the persecution of our banking-financial relations with the rest of the world. It has extremely limited travel and any interaction between the two peoples. It hinders the links and contacts of Cubans living in the United States with their homeland.
To this day, the strategy of imperialism against Cuba is guided by the infamous memorandum signed in 1960 by Undersecretary of State Lester Mallory, which I quote:
“There is no effective political opposition (…) The only possible way to make it lose internal support [for the government] is to provoke disillusionment and discouragement through economic dissatisfaction and hardship (…) It is necessary to put into practice quickly all possible means to weaken economic life (…) denying Cuba money and supplies in order to reduce nominal and real wages, with the objective of provoking hunger, desperation and the overthrow of the government.”
The illegal Helms-Burton Act of 1996 guides the aggressive behavior of the United States against Cuba. Its essence is the blatant attempt to question the right to self-determination and independence of the Cuban nation.
It also conceives the imposition of U.S. legal authority and the jurisdiction of its courts over the commercial and financial relations of any country with Cuba in order to violate international law, national jurisdiction and the jurisdiction of third states, and to establish the supposed primacy of the law and the political will of the United States over them.
The economic, commercial and financial blockade continues to be the main obstacle for the development of our country and for the advancement of the process of updating the Socialist Model of Economic and Social Development that our country has drawn up. The new measures particularly affect the non-state sector of our economy.
Every year, the United States allocates tens of millions of dollars from the federal budget to political subversion, with the intention of confusing and weakening the unity of our people, which is articulated with a concerted propaganda campaign aimed at discrediting the Revolution, its leaders, its glorious historical legacy, denigrating economic and social policies in favor of development and justice, and destroying the ideas of socialism.
Last Thursday, on the basis of gross slander, the State Department announced that the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, will not be able to receive an entry visa to this country. It is an action, without practical effect, aimed at outraging the dignity of Cuba and the feelings of our people. It is an electoral crumb that is thrown at the Cuban-American extreme right. However, the open and offensive falsehoods that are used to justify it, and which I reject in the strongest terms, reflect the baseness and rottenness to which this U.S. Government has to resort, drowned in corruption, lies and immorality.
They are all actions that violate international law and the Charter of the United Nations.
The most recent pretext, reiterated here last Tuesday by President Donald Trump, is to blame Cuba for the failure of the plan to forcibly overthrow the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. To hide the Venezuelan people’s prowess, Yankee spokesmen repeatedly use the vulgar slander that our country has “between 20,000 and 25,000 military personnel in Venezuela,” and that “Cuban imperialism exercises dominion” over that country.
A few minutes earlier, that Tuesday, the President of Brazil had used on this podium the booklet of falsehoods written in Washington, augmented by the shameless figure of “some 60,000 Cuban military personnel” in Venezuela.
As part of its anti-Cuban obsession, the current Government of the United States, that Brazil echoes, attacks on the international medical cooperation programs that Cuba shares with dozens of developing countries, aimed at the most needy communities, based on a sense of solidarity and the freely voluntary disposition of hundreds of thousands of Cuban professionals, which are implemented on the basis of cooperation agreements signed with the Governments of those countries, programs that have enjoyed for many years the recognition of the international community, of this very Organization and of the World Health Organization as an exemplary example of South-South cooperation.
As a result of Bolsonaro, many Brazilian communities were deprived of the free, quality health service provided by thousands of Cuban professionals under the “More Doctors” program.
During this period, there has been no lack of threats or the most outraged blackmails, or immoral invitations for our country to betray its principles and its international commitments in exchange for oil under preferential conditions and dubious friendships.
In commemorating the 60th anniversary of the revolutionary triumph with which we Cubans achieved true and definitive independence, First Secretary Raúl Castro said: “… we Cubans are prepared to resist a scenario of confrontation, which we do not want, and we hope that the most balanced minds in the U.S. government can avoid it.”
We have reiterated that, even in the present circumstances, we do not relinquish the will to develop a civilized relationship with the United States, based on mutual respect and recognition of our deep differences.
We know that this is the desire of our people and the sentiment shared by the majority of the people of the United States and the Cubans who live in this country.
I confirm in the same way that economic aggression, however hard as it may be, threats and blackmail will not remove a single concession from us. Whoever knows the history of Cuba in the long struggle for emancipation and in the firm defense of the freedom and justice won, will understand without equivocation the weight, sincerity and authority of these convictions and proposals of our people.
The bilateral relationship between Cuba and Venezuela is based on mutual respect and true solidarity. We unhesitatingly support the legitimate government presided over by comrade Nicolás Maduro Moros and the civil-military union of the Bolivarian and Chavista people.
We condemn the conduct of the United States Government against Venezuela centered on the promotion of coups d’état, assassinations, economic warfare and sabotage of the electricity supply. We reject the application of severe unilateral coercive measures and the dispossession of its assets, companies and export revenues. These actions constitute a serious threat to regional peace and security, and a direct aggression against the Venezuelan population, which is attempting to be defeated by the cruelest means.
We call on everyone to become aware of these facts, to demand the cessation of unilateral coercive measures, to reject the use of force and to encourage respectful dialogue on the basis of the principles of international law and the constitutional order of that country.
A few days ago, the United States and a handful of other countries decided to activate the obsolete Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance that contemplates the use of military force. It is an absurd decision that represents a historical setback and a danger to regional peace and security that seeks to justify, through a legal artifact, intervention in the internal affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
It is also a gross violation of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, which it’s Heads of State and Government signed in Havana in January 2014. The United States decision to resurrect the disastrous Monroe Doctrine, the instrument of imperialist domination under which military interventions and invasions, coups d’état, military dictatorships and the most horrendous crimes took place in Our America, has a similar meaning.
As we saw a few days ago in this Assembly, the President of the United States often attacks socialism in repeated public pronouncements, for clearly electoral purposes, while promoting a McCarthy intolerance against those who believe in the possibility of a better world and a hope to live in peace, in sustainable harmony with nature and in solidarity with others.
President Trump ignores or tries to hide the fact that neoliberal capitalism is responsible for the growing economic and social inequality that even the most developed societies suffer today and that, by its nature, it encourages corruption, social marginalization, the growth of crime, racial intolerance and xenophobia; and he forgets or ignores the fact that fascism, apartheid and imperialism arose from capitalism.
The Government of the United States leads a gross persecution against political leaders and popular and social movements, through slander campaigns and scandalously manipulated and politically motivated judicial processes, to reverse the policies that, through sovereign control over natural resources and the gradual elimination of social differences, built more just and supportive societies, which represented a way out of the economic and social crisis, and a hope for the peoples of America.
So as they did with the former president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, for whom we demand freedom.
We reject the attempts directed from Washington to destabilize the Nicaraguan government, and we ratify the invariable solidarity with President Daniel Ortega.
We stand in solidarity with the nations of the Caribbean who are calling for legitimate reparation for the horrific aftermath of slavery, as well as the fair, special and differential treatment they deserve.
We reaffirm our historic commitment to the self-determination and independence of the brotherly people of Puerto Rico.
We support Argentina’s legitimate claim to sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands, the South Sandwich Islands and South Georgia.
The conduct of the current United States Government and its strategy of military and nuclear domination constitute a threat to international peace and security. It maintains nearly 800 military bases worldwide. It advances projects for the militarization of outer space and cyberspace, as well as the covert and illegal use of information and communication technologies to attack other States. It withdrew the United States from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and their immediate start of medium-range missile tests are intended to open a new arms race.
The President of the Councils of State and Ministers, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, stated last year before this Assembly: “… The exercise of multilateralism and full respect for the principles and norms of International Law in order to move towards a multipolar, democratic and equitable world are requirements to guarantee peaceful coexistence, preserve international peace and security and find lasting solutions to systemic problems”.
We reiterate our unrestricted support for a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, based on the establishment of two States, which would enable the Palestinian people to exercise the right to self-determination and to have an independent and sovereign State on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. We reject the unilateral action of the United States to establish its diplomatic representation in the city of Jerusalem. We condemn the violence of Israeli forces against the civilian population in Palestine and the threats of annexation of territories in the occupied West Bank.
We reaffirm our unwavering solidarity with the Saharawi people and support for the search for an answer to the question of Western Sahara that will allow them to exercise their right to self-determination and to live in peace in their territory.
We support the search for a peaceful and negotiated solution to the situation imposed on Syria, without external interference and with full respect for its sovereignty and territorial integrity. We reject any direct or indirect intervention without the agreement of the legitimate authorities of that country.
We express our solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Iran in the face of the aggressive escalation by the United States. We reject the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the Nuclear Agreement with Iran. We call for dialogue and cooperation, based on the principles of international law.
We welcome the inter-Korean dialogue process. Only through negotiations can a lasting political solution be achieved on the Korean peninsula. We strongly condemn the imposition of unilateral and unjust sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
NATO’s continued expansion towards the borders with Russia causes serious dangers, aggravated by the imposition of arbitrary sanctions, which we reject.
We support, with admiration, the call of the recent marches of students and young people. Climate change, some of whose effects are now irreversible, threatens the survival of all, in particular of the Small Island Developing States.
Capitalism is unsustainable. Its irrational and unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and the growing and unjust concentration of wealth are the main threat to the ecological balance of the planet. There will be no sustainable development without social justice.
The special and differential treatment of countries of the South in international economic relations cannot continue to be overlooked.
The emergency in the Amazon impels us to search for solutions through the cooperation of all, without exclusions or politicization, with full respect for the sovereignty of States.
The corruption of political systems and electoral models and their growing distance from the will of the people are proliferating. Powerful and exclusive minorities, particularly corporate groups, decide the nature and composition of governments, parliaments, and justice and law enforcement institutions.
Following the failure of its intention to submit the Human Rights Council, the US Government opted to abandon it in order to further hamper dialogue and international cooperation on the matter.
It’s not news that should surprise us. The United States is a country where human rights are systematically and often deliberately and flagrantly violated. Thirty-six thousand, 383 people – one hundred a day – died in this country in 2018 from firearms, while the Government protects producers and traders of them at the expense of the safety of citizens. Ninety-one thousand 757 Americans die each year from heart disease, for lack of adequate treatment. Infant and maternal mortality among African Americans is twice that of the white population. Twenty-eight million U.S. citizens have no health insurance or real access to health services; 32 million cannot read or write functionally; 2.2 million U.S. citizens are incarcerated; 4.7 million are on probation and 10 million are arrested each year. It is then understandable why the President is engaged in attacking socialism.
We reject politicization, selectivity, punitive approaches and double standards in addressing the issue of human rights. Cuba will remain committed to the exercise by all individuals and all peoples of all human rights, in particular, to peace, life, development and self-determination.
We must prevent the imposition of a single, totalitarian and overwhelming cultural model that destroys national cultures, identities, history, memory, symbols and individuality, and that silences the structural problems of capitalism, which causes a lacerating inequality that is constantly increasing.
The so-called “cognitive” capitalism offers the same thing. Digital capital crowns global value chains, concentrates ownership of digital data, exploits identity, information and knowledge, and threatens already analogically diminished freedom and democracy. We need other forms of our own, humanist and counter-hegemonic thinking and decisive political action to articulate popular mobilization in the networks, in the streets and at the polls.
Independent states need to exercise sovereignty over cyberspace, abandon the mirage of so-called “networked society” or the “age of access” and instead democratize Internet governance.
The powerful and universal thought of the Apostle of Independence José Martí continues to inspire and encourage the Cubans of the new generations. His words written a few hours before facing death in combat have particular relevance today and I quote: “Every day now I am in danger of giving my life for my country and it is my duty –since I understand it and have the spirit to carry it out—in order to prevent the United States from extending its hold across the Antilles and … All I have done up to now and I will do is for that.”
Similar strength is found in the words of Antonio Maceo, who in 1888 wrote: “Whoever tries to seize Cuba will only collect the dust from its blood-soaked soil, if he does not perish in the struggle.”
This is the same and only Cuban Revolution commanded by Fidel Castro Ruz and now headed by First Secretary Raul Castro and President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
And if, at this point, someone still intends to make the Cuban Revolution surrender, or expects the new generations of Cubans to betray their past and renounce their future, we will repeat with Fidel’s impetus:
Homeland or Death!

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

The Cuban Revolution at 60 -Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2019

In 2019, the Cuban revolution celebrates its 60th anniversary. It is also a time of historic transformation on the island – leadership change, constitutional reform, and a complex process of economic developments under way. We believe this is a good opportunity to discuss the progress Cuba has made over the past 60 years and perhaps more importantly, to analyze current developments. In addition, given the difficulties faced by Cuban academics and researchers to meet their American colleagues due to visa restrictions imposed by the US government, and significantly increased bilateral tension, it is important to maintain channels of dialogue open.
Here in Halifax, Nova Scotia, we believe that there is an appropriate place for this exchange to take place. We have a tradition of working with Cuba. Over twenty years ago Dalhousie University established an exchange programme with FLACSO-Cuba, and over 700 of our students have participated in programmes in Cuba. Faculty in Law, Coastal Zone Resources, Management, and International Development Studies
In 1989—to provide an assessment of 30 years of the Cuban revolutionary process—we organized an international conference attended by 450 Cuba specialists, and four books (compilations of the best presentations) were published.
The Cuban Revolution at 60 international conference will discuss the significance of 60 years of the Cuban revolutionary process, and examine the potential and challenges facing Cuba: the progress Cuba has made over the past six decades and the evolution currently underway. A series of panels will assess the successes and challenges of the Cuban economy, Cuba-US relations, and Cuba's international relations. Other panels revolve around climate change and ecological challenges facing the island, and social change (analyzing questions of race, gender (in)equity, health, and LGBTQ rights). Some forty of the leading Cuba specialists from Cuba, the UK, Latin America, Europe, the United States and Canada will gather to discuss these subjects. 

The Cuban Revolution at 60 International Conference, 

Halifax, Canada 31 Oct-02 Nov, 2019

Program





III Call Anti-imperialist Meeting of Solidarity, for Democracy
and against Neoliberalism
PrintE-mail
Havana, November 1-3, 2019
The Anti-imperialist Meeting of Solidarity, for Democracy and
against Neoliberalism will take place in Havana from
November 1 to 3 of this year, organized by the Cuban Institute
of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), Central Organization of
Cuban Trade Unions (CTC), along with the Cuban Chapter of
Social Movements and the Continental Conference for
Democracy and against Neoliberalism.
The meeting in Havana expresses the Cuban Revolution´s
decision to respond to the demand of the political, social
left-wing and the Solidarity Movement with Cuba that our
country continues to be a meeting point of the peoples
struggles in our continent.
We have proposed the event to be a real contribution to
confronting the current counterrevolutionary offensive of US
imperialism, to the search for the widest possible unity of the
leftist forces in the region and to strengthening militant solidarity
with the just causes defended by the peoples. In the current
political situation, marked by the aggressiveness of the
Trump administration, new ways will be sought to reinforce
solidarity with these causes in the world, mainly in our region.
In November, a heterogeneous representation of the
United States and Canada will also be present in Havana,
friends who have always been on the side of justice and who
since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution have been in solidarity
with us. We will also have important intellectuals, committed
to the liberating struggles of the peoples.
The growing hostility against Cuba and other countries in the
region, the judicial persecution of progressive leaders, the
imposition of recycled neoliberalism, are distinctive features of
the current North American policy towards Latin America and
the Caribbean that awaken the fighting capacity of
Latin American and Caribbean peoples.
In the same way, the mobilization for the occasion of hundreds
of social fighters, political leaders, intellectuals, peasants, women,
indigenous people, solidarity activists, among others; will
constitute a formidable encouragement to the heroic resistance
of the Cuban people, determined to defeat the Helms Burton Act,
the blockade and to carry forward the updating of its economic
and social development model.
Faced with pessimism and the claudication of some, the
participants in the anti-imperialist solidarity meeting will respond
with the strengthening of the struggle moral and the deep
conviction that the Latin America and the Caribbean peoples
will continue marching towards their second
and definitive independence.
The Organizing Committee of the Anti-imperialist Meeting of
Solidarity, for Democracy and against Neoliberalism, calls for
an event that highlights the Cubans´ best traditions of hospitality
and their commitment to independence, justice, peace and
fraternity among the peoples.
Those interested should send their attendance confirmation
to the email address enc.jornada2019@gmail.com with a
copy to AMISTUR emailsdireccion@amistur.cu and
comercial@amistur.cu
Conference Program
Havana, Cuba, November 1-3, 2019.
1st day: November 1st
9.00-09: 30: Opening of the event. Tribute to Fidel.
09.30-09: 45: Words from comrade Fernando González LLort,
ICAP President and the Coordinating Committee of the event.
09.45-10: 15: Audiovisual projection about Cuba,
its foreign policy and solidarity.
10: 15-12: 45: MINREX speech: Cuba’s foreign policy
in the regional context. Fight against the blockade.
12: 45-14: 45: Lunch
15: 00- 17:00: Panel: Challenges of the left in the current
regional scenario before the imperialist offensive.
17: 15-19.15: Anti-imperialist tribune in support of just causes.
– Closing of the tribune with Cuban troubadours and foreigners
participating in the event.
2nd day: November 2
09.00- 09.15: Audiovisual material presentation
09: 15- 10:45: Panel: Challenges for a solidarity
articulation of our struggles.
10: 45- 11:00: Break
11: 00- 13: 15: Working in Thematic Commissions.
– Solidarity with Cuba and other just causes.
– Peoples before free trade and transnationals.
– Decolonization and cultural war.
– Youth: strategies and continuity in struggles.
– Democracy, sovereignty and anti-imperialism.
– Strategic communication and social struggle.
– Integration, identities and common struggles.
1:30 – 3:00: Lunch
14:00 – 15:00 Anti-imperialist Twitterstorm
15: 00 – 16:30 Working in Thematic Commissions
16.30 – 18.00 Coordination Meetings
3rd day: November 3
09: 00- 12:00: Process of articulation in Plenary.
– Presentation of working Commissions.
12: 00- 13:45: Lunch
14:00 -16: 00: Closing Plenary.
– Presentation and approval of the Action Plan Project.
– Closing speech.
16:00 – 18:00: Cultural Gala.

Wednesday, August 7, 2019


Paul Lynch 1952-2019

 On behalf of the Canadian Network on Cuba we are deeply saddened to announce the passing of a dear friend and solidarity activist, Paul Lynch on August 5th in Toronto after a short illness.

Paul was an easy-going, generous, warm person, who worked tirelessly in solidarity with Cuba and for peace and social justice.  In Cuba, his vibrant presence at the brigades over the years livened up the spirits of everyone around him. His deep commitment and love for Cuba was reflected in his constant return and solidarity with the Cuban Revolution.  He found hope, solace and renewed energy from the Cuban people and their innumerable accomplishments; and in turn brought that optimism back to Canada and shared it with all those he encountered.

Back in Toronto, Paul was an executive member of the Canadian-Cuban Friendship Association and attended the 9th Biennial Convention in June 2019 as a delegate.  He was always keen to welcome our Cuban visitors.  Most recently, during the convention held in Toronto, he had the opportunity to drive ICAP representatives Sandra Yisel Ramírez and Yamil Edwardo Martínez Marrero around the city; and around Ontario during their post-convention tour.

Paul’s presence was omnipresent with CCFA.  He helped organize the Bravo Film Festival in 2018. With a keen proofreaders’ eye, Paul helped put out the CCFA Toronto newsletter Amistad.  He delivered cots for the large Pastors for Peace caravan on its stopover in Toronto last fall.  Paul always had his cell phone camera ready to take photos, documenting demonstrations, events, travel and friends everywhere.

We express our heartfelt condolences to Paul’s family and friends.

Our dear, wonderful Paul will be greatly missed by his numerous friends in Canada and Cuba and around the world.

Elizabeth Hill and Isaac Saney, Co-chairs Canadian Network on Cuba