Tag Archives: Arnold August

Adán Chávez / Váyanse al Carajo, / Yanquis de Mierda!

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Sentir Bolivariano

Adán Chávez Frías

@adancoromoto

 

¡Váyanse al Carajo, Yanquis de Mierda!

I

Hacemos un alto, por ahora, en las reflexiones que hemos venido realizando en artículos anteriores acerca de nuestra primera vida junto al Comandante Chávez, dada la necesidad de referirnos a la nueva arremetida del gobierno supremacista de Donald Trump contra el Pueblo de Venezuela y sus instituciones; una acción que se inscribe en los permanentes esfuerzos que realiza el decadente imperio norteamericano por tratar de dar al traste con el proyecto de amplias transformaciones que las venezolanas y los venezolanos hemos venido desarrollando desde el año 1999, cuando el líder histórico de la Revolución Bolivariana asumió por vez primera la Presidencia de la República.

Frente a esta prolongada y brutal arremetida, antes como ahora, el Gobierno y el Pueblo Bolivariano han mantenido una firme posición de defensa de la soberanía e independencia nacional, el bien más preciado que hemos reconquistado después de 200 años, como lo expresara el Comandante Chávez en el Plan de la Patria; una posición que ha sido consecuente, además, cuando la estabilidad de otros países hermanos de Nuestra América Latinocaribeña, ha sido amenazada por quien insiste en vernos como su patio trasero.

II

Recordemos como el líder histórico de la Revolución Bolivariana anunció el 11 de septiembre del año 2008, en un acto de presentación y apoyo a las candidatas y los candidatos del Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (Psuv) a la Gobernación y Alcaldías del estado Carabobo; que el Gobierno Bolivariano otorgaba un plazo de 72 horas al entonces embajador gringo en Venezuela, Patrick Duddy, para que abandonara nuestro país; ordenando, al mismo tiempo, el regreso inmediato a la Patria del compañero Bernardo Álvarez, quien se desempeñaba como Embajador ante Washington.

El Comandante Chávez adoptaba esta medida en solidaridad con el hermano Pueblo boliviano y el compañero Presidente Evo Morales, cuyo gobierno mantenía una dura disputa diplomática con el de Estados Unidos, por su intromisión en los asuntos internos de ese país, como suele ocurrir, en apoyo a los sectores de derecha arrodillados a los designios imperiales. Tanto La Paz como Washington habían expulsado a sus respectivos representantes diplomáticos.

Así, durante la intervención a la que acabamos de hacer mención, nuestro Comandante Eterno expresó: “Váyanse al carajo yanquis de mierda, que aquí hay un Pueblo digno…aquí estamos los hijos de Bolívar, los hijos de Guaicaipuro, los hijos de Tupac Amarú, y estamos resueltos a ser libres…Si viniera algún país, si viniera alguna agresión contra Venezuela, pues no habrá petróleo para el Pueblo ni para el gobierno de los Estados Unidos, nosotros, yanquis de mierda, sépanlo, estamos resueltos a ser libres, pase lo que pase y cuéstenos lo que nos cueste…”. Sin duda, un mandato del Comandante Chávez que sigue totalmente vigente.

III

Y es que el Comandante Chávez fue un vehemente defensor de la dignidad nacional y latinocaribeña, amenazada permanentemente por el enemigo histórico de nuestros Pueblos; aún en tiempos en los que la humanidad entera libra una batalla sin precedentes en los últimos años, en los que seguimos siendo objeto de la saña yanqui, caracterizada en este momento por la profundización de la guerra económica y las amenazas de invasión militar contra el país, y por la pretensión de aplicarle la “fórmula Noriega” al Presidente Maduro y otros dirigentes de la Revolución Bolivariana.

Ahora bien, es cierto que después del golpe de Estado del año 2002, contra el Gobierno Bolivariano dirigido por el Comandante-Presidente Hugo Chávez, la inmensa mayoría de las venezolanas y los venezolanos -fundamentalmente la clase trabajadora, las campesinas y los campesinos de la Patria-, fortaleció sus convicciones revolucionarias, defendiendo frente a cada arremetida del peligroso vecino del norte, el proyecto de transformaciones profundas propuesto por el líder histórico de la Revolución Bolivariana; hoy bajo la conducción del compañero Presidente Nicolás Maduro.

Por supuesto, ello no significa que se resolvieron los problemas propios de la lucha de clases presentes en la sociedad; y que el camino de allí en adelante haya sido llano y sin tropiezos. Sabemos que no ha sido así, y que nuestro Pueblo, con un alto grado de organización y consciencia, ha venido enfrentando diversos obstáculos, entre los cuales están las situaciones generadas en el país después del resultado de las elecciones parlamentarias de diciembre de 2015.

De allí que, ante un previsible escenario de continuidad de la agresión gringa, y a pesar de lo mucho que hemos avanzado hasta ahora; necesario es seguir fortaleciendo nuestra consciencia del deber social, a objeto de que no tengan cabida alguna las deserciones, las divisiones y los antivalores con los que las fuerzas contrarevolucionarias pretenden debilitar a ese Pueblo organizado y consciente; que seamos capaces de derrotar definitivamente el egoísmo, el individualismo y el reformismo; y de blindarnos frente a la brutal campaña antibolivariana desatada por las grandes corporaciones mediáticas mundiales.

Toca, además, fortalecer el rol del Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (Psuv) y del Gran Polo Patriótico; y, de manera particular, de las y los dirigentes de la revolución, en la orientación y la formación debida del heroico y patriota Pueblo venezolano. El papel de la vanguardia revolucionaria, que orienta, dirige y aprende en la práctica conjunta; es clave.

En definitiva, resulta necesario aprovechar la coyuntura que estamos viviendo, ante la feroz arremetida del imperio, para continuar consolidando nuestro movimiento cívico-militar, cada vez más enraizado en el ideario bolivariano y chavista. Es el momento de actualizar permanentemente nuestro plan estratégico para cambiar la sociedad heredada, en lo teórico y en el programa de acción socialista; para que hierva con más fuerza la sangre rebelde en nuestras venas y consciencias. Apliquemos, con todo lo que signifique, las tres “R” al cuadrado que nos legó el Comandante Chávez; en cuya defensa de su legado siempre Venceremos.

 

Grupo Lima GATINEAU: TRUDEAU NO AL Grupo LIMA

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LLAMADO URGENTE A PROTESTAR ESTE 20 DE FEBRERO

¡EN CONTRA DEL “GRUPO DE LIMA”

El 20 de febrero, en Gatineau, Quebec, el gobierno de Trudeau será anfitrión de otra reunión del “Grupo de Lima” anti-Venezuela. 

 

Esta reunión tiene lugar justo después de la  visita a Ottawa de Juan Guaidó, el autoproclamado “presidente provisional” de Venezuela, donde fue recibido calurosamente por la Primer Ministro Justin Trudeau y el Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, François-Philippe Champagne. 

 

El “Grupo de Lima” es el grupo de Trump de Estados de derecha pro-fascistas de América Latina, incluyendo entre otros al gobierno de Bolsonaro en Brasil, a los líderes del golpe de Estado en Bolivia y a la ultra-derecha del régimen de Iván Duque en Colombia. El Grupo de Lima ha venido coordinando la estrategia de cambio de régimen contra el Gobierno debidamente elegido de Venezuela, bajo la tutela de Washington. 

 

La guerra política, económica, mediática y militar contra Venezuela y su pueblo ha incluido: (1) La imposición de sanciones punitivas −un bloqueo eficaz− contra Venezuela en un intento por paralizar la economía nacional, causando indecibles sufrimientos y muerte de la población civil; (2) La campaña para aislar a Venezuela internacionalmente, el embargo de sus activos en el exterior, de embajadas y consulados en el exterior; (3) La organización y financiación de Guaidó y de la llamada “oposición” al interior del país, incluyendo su intento (fallido) de golpe de Estado del 30 de abril de 2019; y (4) Proferir amenazas apenas veladas de  agresión militar directa contra el Estado soberano de Venezuela. Todas estas acciones constituyen una violación flagrante del derecho internacional y de las Cartas de la ONU y la OEA.

 

El activo papel intervencionista de Canadá como aliado de Estados Unidos en esta campaña criminal contra la soberanía de Venezuela es escandaloso e inaceptable. Los mismos círculos dominantes en Canadá que están llevando a cabo esta agenda imperialista son igualmente responsables de las agresiones domésticas anti-democráticas, la imposición de una opresión colonial contra las protestas de la Primera Nación Wet’suwet’en y contra los derechos de los pueblos indígenas en otros lugares de Canadá, de los ataques a los maestros en Ontario y los  derechos sindicales en general, y de continuar su ofensiva austeridad pro-corporativa contra los  programas sociales y las condiciones de vida de la población en general. Con estos antecedentes −en casa y en el extranjero− Canadá no merece el escaño en el Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU que está buscando el gobierno de Trudeau.

 

Por estas razones, instamos a todos los grupos y comités de paz y solidaridad, así como a las organizaciones democráticas y progresistas de trabajadores, a movilizarse para protestar en todo el país el 20 de febrero para condenar la cumbre del Grupo de Lima y exigir al gobierno de Canadá que retire sus sanciones unilaterales e ilegales contra Venezuela, cese su apoyo al cambio de régimen y ¡se retire YA del grupo de Lima!

 

Los grupos locales de la región de la Capital, con el apoyo de Quebec y del Sur de Ontario, se están preparando para realizar una gran protesta ese día en Gatineau. Estamos instando igualmente a grupos y particulares interesados en organizar acciones locales −incluyendo protestas y plantones en las oficinas de la circunscripción Liberal de los Miembros del Parlamento− en solidaridad con la protesta de Gatineau del 20 de febrero. Les instamos a que en los próximos días puedan ser planeadas acciones en muchos centros de todo el país para exigir:

 

¡Grupo de Lima, fuera de Canadá! ¡Canadá, Fuera del Grupo de Lima!

¡Poner fin YA a las sanciones contra Venezuela!

¡Restablecer plenas relaciones diplomáticas con Venezuela!

¡No a la complicidad de Canadá con Washington en la campaña de cambio de régimen en Venezuela!

¡NO a la intervención en Venezuela!

 

Organizaciones que apoyan este llamado: Asociación de Vancouver de amistad Cuba-Canadá (Canadian Cuban Friendship Association-Vancouver), Congreso canadiense para la paz (Canadian Peace Congress), Coalición de Hamilton para detener la guerra (Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War, HCSW), Frente de Vancouver para la Defensa de los Pueblos – Hugo Chávez y Defendamos La Paz international- Ottawa/Gatineau.

 

Trump CUBA Trudeau

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More of the Weekly “Turning of the Screws to Suffocate the Cuban Economy.”

 

That is how Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel put it last December.

 

Today, yet another. Join Yves Engler, Don Foreman and Arnold August in Ottawa on February 27. Among other points, I will call on the Trudeau government to speak out against Trump for his weekly attacks last year against Cuba, and now again in January. Join us! If a group or organization wants to cosponsor, contact Larry in Ottawa: Everyone knows him.

 

Here is the information and summary from the US Financial Post, including the exact quote from Díaz-Canel:

 

WASHINGTON/HAVANA Financial Post — The United States curbing public charter flights to Cuba in a further effort to squeeze the Cuban government’s income, the U.S. State Department said on Friday, prompting an outcry from officials in Havana.

The Trump administration, in its latest effort to roll back warmer U.S-Cuba ties established by the Obama administration, said it would only let some charters into Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport but did not say how many.

U.S. officials, in October, banned regularly scheduled flights to all Cuban cities except Havana.

 

“Today’s action will further restrict the Cuban regime’s ability to obtain revenue, which it uses to finance its ongoing repression of the Cuban people and its unconscionable support for dictator Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

 

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and other Cuban officials blasted the move, calling it a violation of human rights that would hinder family reunification.

The flight caps would punish Cubans “on both sides of the Florida Strait,” the foreign ministry’s General Director for U.S. Affairs Carlos Fernandez de Cossio tweeted.

Republican U.S. President Donald Trump has clamped down on Havana following the historic move by his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama to reopen U.S.-Cuba ties. His administration has imposed sanctions over Cuba’s support for Maduro.

 

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, in an address to parliament last month, said new U.S. sanctions were being imposed on average every week on top of the decades-old embargo and the country should expect more of the same in 2020.

 

“That is a turn of the screw every seven days to suffocate our economy,” he said.

The State Department said public charter flight operators would have 60 days to wind down their Cuba operations.

 

The U.S. Department of Transportation will set an “appropriate cap” of flights allowed to Jose Marti airport and will release more details “in the near future,” Pompeo said.

Havana’s ambassador in Washington, on Twitter, wrote that the restrictions would push more visitors to “use Cubana Airlines domestic flights or other Cuban companies for local transportation.” He also the United States was seeking to “limit the amount of people that see CUBA reality by themselves.”

 

Nearly 624,000 Cubans living abroad visited their homeland in 2019, of which a record 552,800 were from the United States, Cuba has said.

 

(Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington and Marc Frank in Havana Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Tom Brown)

 

Source:

https://business.financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/u-s-seeks-to-squeeze-cuba-by-further-curbing-flights-to-island

Maduro Personalidad Internacional 2019

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Me uno a Al Mayadeen de Líbano, Iroel Sánchez de Cuba, y a todos las repercusiones muy positivas en el mundo, a su elección del presidente Nicolás Maduro como personalidad internacional del año.


En 2019, tanto en el oeste capitalista, como en Canadá, como en América Latina / Caribe, la presión para abstenerse de criticar a Israel por temor a ser etiquetado como “antisemita” ha sido más viscosa que nunca.  Sin embargo, resistiendo todas las presiones oportunistas para abandonar Palestina, Maduro y la Revolución Bolivariana se mantuvieron firmes en apoyo de Palestina y contra el régimen asesino del apartheid israelí.

A lo largo de 2019, el presidente Maduro ha liderado con éxito la resistencia histórica del heroico pueblo bolivariano contra una de las guerras personales / políticas / económicas / paramilitares / mediáticas más viscosas de la historia reciente, dirigida por las fuerzas combinadas de los EE. UU., El Cartel de Lima  y gran parte de Europa.


No solo esto, sino que en el transcurso de esta resistencia, Venezuela ha logrado muchos objetivos sociales, como el 26 de diciembre cuando el milagro de entregar al pueblo vivienda número 3 millones, uno de los objetivos de Hugo Chávez.

Esta lucha épica también es conocida y admirada en el Medio Oriente, una de las razones para la decisión de Al Mayadeen.

Sentir Bolivariano Adan Sánchez Frías

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Sentir Bolivariano

Adán Chávez Frías

Fotos INTERNET Y Alberto Roque AFP/ Getty

HAVANA, CUBA: Cuban President Fidel Castro (front) participates beside Venezuelan Ambassador to Havana Adan Chavez -brother of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez- in a political meeting commemorating the second anniversary of Chavez’s return to power after a failed coup, 13 April, 2004 in Havana. AFP PHOTO/Adalberto ROQUE (Photo credit should read ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images)

 

@Adan_Coromoto

Resistir y Vencer

En contra del pueblo venezolano, al igual que ocurre con Cuba y Nicaragua, el imperionorteamericano y sus aliados arrecian sus ataques. Debemos estar muy alertas y preparados para seguir resistiendo y venciendo. La clave, como hasta ahora, está en la unidad de las fuerzas de la Patria,que con firmeza y optimismo, conscientes del rolhistórico que nos ha correspondido desempeñar, seguiremos en la lucha diaria, acumulando victoriasen la batalla permanente por nuestra construcción socialista.

El imperio no cesa en sus pretensiones de dominarnos, como lo demuestra la historia reciente de nuestro continente. Tratando de evitar el avance de los procesos progresistas y democráticos en la región ha implementado golpes de estado de todo tipo, desde los más “tradicionales” como en el caso de Venezuela contra el Comandante Chávez en 2002 y el Presidente Nicolás Maduro el pasado 30 de abril, hasta los llamados golpes parlamentarios y la judicialización de la política. Los juiciosamañados contras líderes y lideresas progresistas de Nuestra América forman parte de ese guión; tal es el caso del proceso donde se condenó injustamente al ex Presidente Lula en Brasil, evitando que fuese candidato a la Presidencia de la República y, seguramente, electo nuevamente como primer mandatario de ese país. Es lo que pretenden hacer también con Cristina Fernández en Argentina y Rafael Correa en Ecuador.

En Venezuela, solo en la última década, el imperio norteamericano en complicidad con sus aliados internos y externos nos ha sometido a un criminal golpe de estado continuado, conformado, según el prestigioso intelectual Ignacio Ramonet, por cuatroguerras: la insurreccional, la mediática, la diplomática y la económica; a las que yo agregaría una quinta: la “institucional”. Su plan es provocar un estallido social y quebrar nuestra unión cívico militar, legado del Comandante Eterno.

Ante esto, trabajar por la unidad en la diversidad sigue siendo el gran reto histórico que tenemos por delante, para retomar la senda libertaria que demandan los pueblos de la Patria Grande que cambió para siempre, en un mundo cada vez másmulticéntrico y pluripolar, como tan acertadamente lo vislumbrara el Comandante Chávez. Es nuestro deber, como patriotas, seguir arando ese camino hasta la concreción definitiva de nuestra independencia.

Nosotros, las y los revolucionarios, queremos transitar ese camino en paz. En por ello, que enarbolamos la proclama aprobada durante la II Cumbre de la Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños (CELAC), celebrada en enero de 2014 en La Habana, que define a la América Latina y el Caribe como zona de paz; loque supone “…el estricto cumplimiento de la obligación de no intervenir, directa o indirectamente, con los asuntos internos de cualquier otro Estado…”, resolver las diferencias que pudieran existir de forma pacífica; y “…respetar plenamente el derecho inalienable de todo Estado a elegir su sistema político, económico, social y cultural”.

Nuestro pueblo ha elegido mayoritariamente el camino de la Independencia, de la Soberanía, de la Justicia Social y de la Paz, y hemos demostrado que si se puede, que siempre se podrá resistir para vencer, porque como sentenciara José Félix Ribas “no podemos optar entre vencer o morir, necesario es vencer”. Es lo que hemos hecho y seguiremos haciendo.

¡Con Bolívar y Chávez, Venceremos!

La Habana, 14 de julio de 2019.

Artículo en Firmas Selectas Prensa Latina VENEZUELA FORO CARACAS

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Siguiendo la solicitud de la redactora de Firmas Selectas – Prensa Latina, Anubis Galardy, reanudé la escritura de mi columna para esa agencia cubana de prensa (ver el artículo a continuación). La ausencia de mi columna no fue voluntaria, sino como resultado de una sobrecarga de trabajo y exigencias. Sin embargo, recuerdo cuando empecé a escribir para Firmas Selectas en enero de 2017. Comenzamos con una explosión, una serie de artículos polémicos como ¿El final de la ideología en Cuba? Es un gran honor volver a agregar mi firma a las de colegas tan notables como Frei Bretto, Nils Castro, Juan José Paz y Miño Cepeda, entre otros.
Este nuevo texto que acaba de publicarse en Firmas tuvo amplia repercusión en las redes sociales en Cuba y en otros lugares. Además, también se reprodujo en al menos 12 sitios web en América Latina, Canadá-EE. UU., Europa y Medio Oriente y, por tanto, en sus redes respectivas. Además, la versión en inglés, muy ligeramente adaptada para un público norteamericano, se publicó por primera vez en la importante revista de izquierda norteamericana CounterPunch, y ahora está apareciando también en varias otras en EEUU, Canada, América Latina y Europa.

• Del chavismo al epicentro de la izquierda antiimperialista.
Por Arnold August
¿Quién habría pensado, durante el intento de golpe de estado del 23 de enero último en Venezuela, y sus consecuencias inmediatas, que solo cinco meses después Caracas se convertiría en el epicentro de la izquierda latinoamericana? El XXV Encuentro del Foro de Sao Paulo está previsto del 25 al 28 de julio en la mismísima Caracas que algunos suponían en manos de los Estados Unidos y sus aliados. Aquel día la reacción de la derecha hemisférica internacional, desde el norte en Ottawa -pasando por Washington D.C. a Bogotá, a Lima en dirección al sur, a Santiago de Chile-, tenía las botellas de champán listas para descorcharlas.

Si bien la apropiación del petróleo fue y es obviamente el objetivo, la destrucción del chavismo -como un modo de extirpar un ejemplo e inspiración- fue y es una consideración clave. Pesaba mucho en la balanza cuando Estados Unidos y sus aliados lanzaron su atrevido plan de golpe de estado el 23 de enero. No consistió en la primera intervención directa de los Estados Unidos contra Venezuela, después de la emergencia de Chávez al poder; la anterior fue contra Chávez, con él en vida.

Sin embargo, se esperaba que esta última versión fuera un triunfo seguro para el imperialismo estadounidense. Todo estaba en su lugar, como catapultar a un nuevo líder “popular” de las “bases”, ¡y que resultara un diputado electo! Tal golpe de genio aparentemente estaba destinado a reemplazar a los abiertamente capitalistas Fedecámaras de 2002, que se parecían más a un rostro civil de la policía de Pinochet cuando se presentaron para la oportunidad fotográfica, en ese momento.

No, esta sería una nueva versión de un golpe de estado. Esta nueva cara del imperialismo tenía a su disposición una coalición de apoyo a su equipo de ensueño, formada por el Cartel de Lima. Su principal característica original era que no incluía al Trump universalmente detestado, reemplazado por su imagen política antitética de Canadá, Justin Trudeau, diseñado para brindar credibilidad a la Administración Trump.

El uso masivo de medios corporativos internacionales en una campaña de demonización sin precedentes contra un líder, en este caso Maduro, fue apoyado “en el terreno” por los soldados estadounidenses de las redes sociales distribuidas por todo el planeta. Frente a la resistencia bolivariana dejemos en claro los nervios de acero y la visión que exhibió Maduro durante las mordeduras del 23 de enero por parte de EE. UU.

Sus aliados en el hemisferio, y más allá de la vieja Europa, organizaron dos intentos de golpe más, y tres fallas en la red eléctrica en marzo; sucesivas sanciones económicas y diplomáticas, causa de 40 mil muertes en el período anterior al 23 de enero. Pese a las dificultades y la tensa situación, las propuestas abiertas a desertar, dirigidas a las fuerzas armadas cayeron en oídos sordos.

Por el contrario, la alianza cívico-militar no solo mantuvo su fuerza, sino que también desarrolló su conciencia político-ideológica y patriótica, y caló aún más en la población. Desde el 23 de enero hasta el presente, millones de chavistas muestran regularmente el apoyo a SU revolución, expresándose de una manera, aún más convincente que en las urnas electorales, que Maduro es el presidente legítimo.

En el curso de esta resistencia, la Revolución Bolivariana desarrolla aún más su política de combinar la lucha revolucionaria (no confiando en el imperialismo ni un tantito, ¡nada!, como indicó el Che), basada en sus principios, con la búsqueda simultánea en curso de una solución negociada, pacífica y política con la oposición. ¡Brillante ejemplo de diplomacia revolucionaria!

En este contexto y con Sao Paulo en mente, uno debe apreciar el trabajo de la Revolución Bolivariana, Maduro y su liderazgo completo (por ejemplo, Jorge Arreaza, bilingüe, como el ministro del Poder Popular para Relaciones Exteriores) están desarrollando activamente sus vínculos con las fuerzas antiimperialistas de izquierda, en el corazón del imperio. Por ejemplo, Maduro ha extendido personal y explícitamente su mano -en nombre de la Revolución Bolivariana- a las fuerzas de izquierda en Washington DC, que habían ocupado valientemente la embajada de Venezuela para protegerla contra las fuerzas pro-estadounidenses.

Para citar solo uno de los muchos ejemplos, las misiones diplomáticas venezolanas en Canadá no dudaron ni un momento en reconocer las declaraciones de enero-febrero de los sindicatos canadienses, en nombre de sus cinco millones de miembros, en apoyo al derecho de Venezuela a la autodeterminación, contra la política del gobierno canadiense de interferencia pro-Trump.

Este alcance es recíproco porque la izquierda en los países capitalistas como los EE. UU., Canadá y el Reino Unido están acudiendo, desde enero, cada vez más a Caracas para testimoniar por sí mismos y responder contra la campaña de desinformación masiva lanzada contra Venezuela. Esta tendencia se ha convertido, por así decirlo, en la versión digital 2019 de lo que fueron las brigadas internacionales en apoyo a la República en la Guerra Civil española.

Cuando tuve oportunidad de escuchar a Maduro en una pequeña reunión con una delegación extranjera, el 4 de febrero de 2019, uno de los varios aspectos significativos que aprendimos fue el siguiente punto de vista: Venezuela se ve forzada a ingresar al escenario internacional como el epicentro del antimperialismo. Es decir, Venezuela no buscaba esta posición, pero la historia se la está imponiendo. Y, por supuesto, la Revolución Bolivariana está a la altura del desafío.

Me gustaría agregar que, como resultado de la situación internacional y la Revolución Bolivariana, la izquierda se ha movido más hacia la izquierda. La postura de principios de Venezuela ha obligado a los falsos amigos de la Revolución Bolivariana a abandonar la pose. En cualquier caso, esa tendencia fue un peso muerto en el proceso bolivariano, creando dudas desde una distancia segura.

Sin embargo, desde el 23 de enero han caído abiertamente en la narrativa estadounidense de elecciones de mayo de 2018 como “deficientes”, obstaculizadas por “irregularidades electorales” y “manipulaciones” y, por supuesto, Maduro como “autoritario.” El Norte presenta esos criterios como la voz “razonable” de la campaña contra Venezuela, en busca de la credibilidad que tanto necesitan en sus maniobras.

A cambio, mantienen sus privilegios académicos y el acceso a la corriente principal al pronunciar las palabras clave (“fraudulentas”, “autoritarismo.”) El “apoyo crítico” latente que se manifestó antes del 23 de enero se ha transformado de lleno en la narrativa de los Estados Unidos con algo de retórica de izquierda para tratar desesperadamente de conservar cierta credibilidad.

Sobre la afirmación de que, como resultado de la Revolución Bolivariana, la izquierda se ha movido más hacia la izquierda, a veces es útil investigar cómo los enemigos ven el movimiento. Después de todo, el imperio es muy sensible al fortalecimiento del chavismo como un efecto bumerán no deseado de su interferencia en Venezuela. Aparentemente, su peor pesadilla se está volviendo realidad si uno debe juzgar por este artículo típico en World Politics Review que encabezó:

“La crisis de Venezuela está trazando nuevas líneas ideológicas en América Latina, y sigue: Ya no es posible que los líderes latinoamericanos emitan declaraciones confusas ahora que la oposición venezolana ha declarado a Maduro como un presidente ilegítimo. Cuando Juan Guaidó, el jefe de la Asamblea Nacional de Venezuela, se declaró a sí mismo presidente interino el mes pasado, obligó a todos los líderes de la región a dejar clara su posición con respecto al gobierno.”

Por otro lado, el movimiento hacia la izquierda también se refleja en el hecho de que las fuerzas de los valientes izquierdistas de principios se han extendido en los Estados Unidos y Canadá, y expandido a nuevas áreas. Además, y esto es muy importante, la descarada campaña mediática contra Venezuela ha fortalecido enormemente la conciencia política bolivariana.

Asimismo, ha originado una serie de nuevas redes sociales, así como el aumento múltiple en el uso de las ya existentes y sitios web alternativos dedicados, entre otras causas, a la Revolución Bolivariana.

Para aquellos de nosotros que seguimos los medios de comunicación alternativos -y de los venezolanos-, las mentiras descaradas son tan frustrantes que dan pie a una resolución aún mayor, y por tanto una posición más de izquierda sobre importantes asuntos internacionales y la situación interna en los países imperialistas.

En consecuencia, la elección de Caracas para el próximo Foro de Sao Paulo no es una decisión arbitraria. Es una elección natural y necesaria, muy bien merecida por Maduro y millones de chavistas, que darán la bienvenida a las fuerzas progresistas en la misma ciudad que, se suponía, los Estados Unidos y sus aliados ocuparían.

Cuando uno está en el lado correcto de la historia, esto es lo que sucede. Es importante reflexionar sobre la importancia histórica de los cinco meses transcurridos, desde el 23 de enero hasta el mes de julio, no sólo para América Latina sino también para todo el hemisferio,y, ¿por qué no?, para todo el mundo. El impacto del resultado en América Latina afecta a la humanidad.
Fuente:
https://firmas.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?opcion=ver-article&cat=A&articleID=2706&SEO=august-arnold-del-chavismo-al-epicentro-de-la-izquierda-antiimperialista
Reproducido entre otros en:
PSUV, Venezuela
http://www.psuv.org.ve/temas/noticias/chavismo-al-epicentro-izquierda-antiimperialista/#.XRuSQehKiUk
Periódico 26 Las Tunas, CUBA
http://www.periodico26.cu/index.php/es/opinion-es/item/16776-del-chavismo-al-epicentro-de-la-izquierda-antimperialista
Al Mayadeed, Libano
http://espanol.almayadeen.net/articles/main/288380/del-chavismo-al-epicentro-de-la-izquierda-antiimperialista

TeleSur, Venezuela
https://www.telesurtv.net/bloggers/Del-chavismo-al-epicentro-de-la-izquierda-antiimperialista-20190627-0003.html

ALAINET, Ecuador
https://www.alainet.org/es/articulo/200696

Globalizacion, Canadá, EE.UU

Del chavismo al epicentro de la izquierda antiimperialista


Portal Alba, Venezuela
http://www.portalalba.org/index.php/articulos/politica-democracia/fuerzas-populares/21236-del-chavismo-al-epicentro-de-la-izquierda-antiimperialista
Investigaction, Bélgica

Del chavismo al epicentro de la izquierda antiimperialista


Tercera Información, Estado de España
https://www.tercerainformacion.es/opinion/opinion/2019/06/28/del-chavismo-al-epicentro-de-la-izquierda-antiimperialista
Resumen, Argentina

Venezuela. Del chavismo al epicentro de la izquierda antiimperialista


Frente Anti imperialista, España

Del chavismo al epicentro de la izquierda antiimperialista


Aporrea, Venezuela
https://www.aporrea.org/actualidad/a279996.html

The Powerful American Anti-Blockade Forces: What Will Trump Do?

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By Arnold August, June 27, 2018.

 

This was one of the many themes that resulted in interest, discussion and debate during the 13-city book tour of England, Scotland and Wales from May 28 to June 13:

THE POWERFUL ANTI-BLOCKADE FORCES: WHAT WILL TRUMP DO?

Powerful bipartisan forces among politicians and business people at the national, state and municipal levels had their own movement developing on the Cuba issue long before Trump’s win. Not only do they favour Obama’s change in tactics, they also demand to go further by extending the legal possibilities for trade and travel through legislation and executive orders. Moreover, many of these individuals and associations champion the full lifting of the blockade by congress.

The above is an extract from Page 211 of the book Cuba-U.S. Relations: Obama and Beyond, by Arnold August.

 

The information and analysis from this subtitle of Chapter 5, entitled THE BLOCKADE: FROM OBAMA TO TRUMP, is proving to be correct and confirmed by events. Thus, this theme was expanded upon and updated as the talks progressed from one city to the other. It was of interest as a further stimulus to all those who are committed to fight for an end to the blockade. Positive news on the “American anti-blockade” theme of Cuba–U.S. events came to the surface so often during this short period while I was in the UK, that updates to my talk had to be regularly inserted.

 

The following is a recapitulation of all the news. While not all of it derives directly from anti-blockade forces such as described in the publication (politicians and business people), in these cases it seems that U.S. government officials feel the political and economic pressure.

 

 

June 1, three days after the May 28 London inaugural of the two-and-half week tour.

You’ve got mail: Cuba, U.S. make permanent restored postal services

 

HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba and the United States are making the re-establishment of postal services permanent after a trial run, the state-run Cuban News Agency reported on Friday, as cooperation in some areas inches forward despite a chill in relations under the Trump administration.

 

The former Cold War foes first restored direct mail service as a pilot program in December 2015 as part of the policy of detente pursued by former U.S. President Barack Obama with then Cuban President Raul Castro.

 

Since taking office in January last year, President Donald Trump has struck a more hostile tone towards the Communist-run island and has rolled back parts of the normalization of relations, making trade and travel more difficult once more.

 

But Trump has left in place key Obama-era changes such as restored diplomatic relations, regular flights from the United States and cruise ship visits. Bilateral talks continue on cooperation in areas of mutual interest such as security.

 

“The re-establishment of this service allows to send post in direct flights between Cuba and the United States,” the Cuban Post Office said in a statement.

 

Direct mail service between the United States and Cuba was suspended since 1963. Despite the ban, letters and other mail still flowed between the United States and the island nation 90 miles (145 km) away through other countries such as Canada, Mexico and Panama.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-usa/

 

June 4

This short 2 minutes, 30 second YouTube was shown in some meetings where the technology permitted. Keep in mind that it is a report from Cuba and that Republican Jeff Flake is an important personality in US politics and an opponent of Trump, while Google first reached agreements with Cuba during the Obama administration.

Ready for some encouraging surprises? A must-view!

https://www.youtube.com/

 

 

June 7

Southwest, United, JetBlue Expanding Flights to Cuba

By Matt Kendall

 

Three major US air carriers, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, and United airlines, are expanding their flights to Cuba, following a decision by the US Department of Transportation to allow the expansions.

 

Southwest is launching a third daily nonstop flight between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International and Havana, effective August 8, 2018, the carrier announced in a release.

 

JetBlue is increasing its FTL-Havana flights up to three a week. The carrier will also be launching the first-ever nonstop flights between Boston and Havana in November.

 

United has already begun offering daily nonstop flights between Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport, expanding on what had been Saturday-only service.

http://www.nearshoreamericas.com

June 8

Republican group works to open $2 Billion Trade Opportunity in Cuba

 

WASHINGTON D.C.- Members of Congress joined the Cuban Ambassador to the U.S., José Ramón Cabañas Rodríguez, to discuss the benefits of fostering bilateral agricultural and economic ties between Cuba and the United States.

 

U.S. Sen. John Boozman (AR), Rep. Rick Crawford (AR-1), Rep. Roger Marshall (KS-1), and Rep. Tom Emmer (MN-6) participated in the Congressional roundtable moderated by Engage Cuba on Thursday.

 

Members and the Ambassador focused on reciprocal trade between Cuba and the U.S. Cuba imports 80 percent of its food, creating an opportunity for American producers to take advantage of the country’s more than $2 billion market.

 

“With an open market to Cuba, Kansas could top $55 million in additional sales. While we are renegotiating our trade deals, we have a $2 billion market untouched right under our nose. It is time to throw support behind this mutually beneficial economic opportunity. It is through leadership in Congress, and discussions like this roundtable that we will begin to make these lasting changes,” Rep. Marshall (KS-1) said.

 

“American agricultural producers face significant commercial barriers to trade with Cuba. Lifting the ban on private banks and companies from offering credit for agricultural exports to Cuba will help level the playing field for our famers while exposing Cubans to American values and ideals,” Sen. Boozman (AR) said.

 

“For years the United States has had an estranged relationship with Cuba and for years we’ve seen no reversal in the tactics used by Cuba’s oppressive government. Trade with Cuba is a vessel that will create change in Cuba and bring economic opportunity to American farmers. Most Americans agree that it’s time to lift the embargo on Cuba and Congress needs to meet that desire by working to pass my bill, H.R. 525 and others like it,” Rep. Crawford (AR-1) said.

 

“I’m grateful to have participated in this important discussion. The time to begin renewing our relationship with our neighbors just 90 miles of the Florida coast is now. With American farmers suffering some of the lowest commodity prices we have ever seen, Congress has an opportunity to take action and make real change. The Cuba Agricultural Exports Act, sponsored by Rep. Crawford, would lift financing restrictions imposed by the embargo on agriculture exports. The result would be relief for our farmers and a first step toward redefining the American-Cuban relationship. While my bill, the Cuba Trade Act, accomplishes the ultimate goal or lifting the embargo completely, passing Rep. Crawford’s bill can, and should, happen immediately,” Rep. Emmer (MN-6) said.

http://www.wamegotimes.com

Arnold August

June 9

Cruise ship tourism on the rise

(Please note that not all the passengers are from the U.S. However, cruise ships are not banned by Trump, and there are loop-holes for American tourists to visit and spend in Cuba)

 

Cruise ship tourism is on the rise in Cuba. Last year the port of Havana received some 328,000 passengers, with 500,000 expected this 2018

Author: Julio Martínez Molina

Cruise ship tourism is on the rise in Cuba. Last year the port of Havana received some 328,000 passengers, with 500,000 expected this 2018.

 

Such figures reaffirm travelers’ confidence in Cuba as a safe and attractive tourist destination which – as of May 18, and despite the impact of Hurricane Irma, the tightening of the economic blockade imposed by the United States, and media campaigns aimed at deterring U.S. citizens from traveling to the island – had received two million international visitors.

 

The potential to develop cruise ship tourism also exists across other ports, such as Cienfuegos, a UNESCO World Heritage site, which attracts thousands of visitors every year who come to enjoy El Nicho waterfalls, the botanical gardens, or hiking excursions through the area’s breathtaking landscape.

 

Cruise ship tourism in Cienfuegos has gradually been developing over the last 20 years, with the Olympia Medina Terminal No.1, accustomed to receiving large-scale ships carrying some 1,300 passengers every week.

 

This modality not only benefits the province’s port facilities but also Cienfuegos’ historic center. For example, last year, a record 180 ships docked at the port, carrying a total 30,809 visitors. Meanwhile as of May 2018, the port had received 70 cruise ships.

 

As part of the development of this modality in Cuba, the port of Havana is scheduled to be expanded, with the creation on four new terminals by 2024.

 

A contract has been awarded to a Cuban-Turkish joint venture, responsible for administering and marketing the island’s most important port facility for a period of 15 years.

http://en.granma.cu/tourism/2018-06-12/

June 12, the second to last day of UK Tour.

Pennsylvania Leaders Launch Engage Cuba State Council

 

HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA – Today (June 12) in Harrisburg, prominent leaders from across the Commonwealth launched the bipartisan Engage Cuba Pennsylvania State Council. The council will build statewide support for pro-engagement policies and urge Congress to lift trade and travel restrictions on Cuba that disadvantage Pennsylvanians and Cubans alike. Removing sanctions on Cuba could both expand opportunities for Pennsylvania businesses and empower the Cuban people. Pennsylvania is the 18th state to join Engage Cuba, a D.C.-based advocacy organization dedicated to advancing federal legislation to lift the embargo on Cuba.

 

“Removing trade restrictions on Cuba could bring new opportunities to Pennsylvania’s agriculture, manufacturing, and other top export industries while creating jobs across the Commonwealth. At a time when certain industries have become collateral damage in trade disputes, opening up additional markets is the key to strengthening Pennsylvania’s economy,” said James Williams, President of Engage Cuba. “But in order to create that boost for Pennsylvania farmers and improve the lives of the Cuban people, Congress must lift arbitrary trade and travel restrictions that prevent U.S. competition in Cuban markets. We applaud Sen. Bob Casey and Reps. Glenn Thompson (R-PA-05) and Mike Doyle (D-PA-14) for their support in advancing legislation that would begin to dismantle 56 years of failed policy.”

 

Pennsylvania has long been a pioneer of U.S.-Cuba trade and cultural exchange. In 2015, a Western Pennsylvania trade delegation, organized by the Pittsburgh-Matanzas Sister Cities Partnership and led by Congressman Mike Doyle and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, explored opportunities for business collaboration in Cuba. The trip followed an earlier visit by Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and former PA Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff, a founding member of the Engage Cuba State Council.

 

Pennsylvania began signing agricultural contracts with Cuba as early as 2004, but their shared history dates back even further. A 1916 settlement dubbed “Hershey, Cuba” helped Milton Hershey’s chocolate business boom. This year, Pennsylvania’s Hershey Museum debuted an exhibit featuring its Cuban counterpart. Cuba and Pennsylvania are also partners in academia and research through several of Pennsylvania’s universities, including the University of Pennsylvania and Penn State.

 

“Pennsylvania and Cuba have a rich history, and our Commonwealth has been at the forefront of building a strong U.S.-Cuba relationship. Economic and cultural exchange has been integral for both Pennsylvania and Cuba, and I am hopeful that the Engage Cuba PA State Council can serve as a catalyst for strengthening that relationship,” said Jim Cawley, former Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania. “For sectors as diverse as agriculture to industrial manufacturing, there is a wide open market in Cuba that can bolster our economy and deliver Pennsylvania products to some of the people who need them most.”

 

As a port state, Pennsylvania has a unique opportunity to export goods and services from a wide variety of industries to Cuba and expand its commercial shipping capacity out of the Port of Philadelphia. Not only would increasing exports to Cuba help Pennsylvania’s shipping industry, but also Pennsylvania’s top export industries, agriculture and industrial machinery. Cuba imports $1.8 billion in agricultural products annually and has requested $6.5 billion in FDI for industrial machinery.

 

“We are proud of the work and relationships we’ve developed with Havana over the years, but our work is far from finished,” said Dennis Wolff, former Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture. “I am honored to serve on the Engage Cuba Pennsylvania State Council to help break down barriers and finally normalize trade between the U.S. and Cuba. During my time in Cuba, I saw firsthand the demand and enthusiasm for U.S. agricultural products. Pennsylvania has a real opportunity to give a boost to our world-class dairy industry, as Cuba imports $188 million in dairy products from around the world. I hope Congress recognizes the importance of allowing our farmers to compete in Cuba and works to remove financing restrictions on U.S. commodity exports.”

 

Besides dairy, Pennsylvania is a top producer of poultry, corn, and soybeans, which are top commodity imports for Cuba. Cuba has seen a steady decline–exacerbated by last year’s hurricane–in domestic production capacity, and imports roughly 80 percent of its food.

 

“Pennsylvania commodities are of higher quality and are more affordable than much of the food that Cuba is importing from the rest of the world,” remarked Joe Scarnati, President Pro Tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate. “It is clear that Cuba and Pennsylvania should be natural trading partners, and thanks to the efforts of a long line of Pennsylvania officials, the foundation for that relationship is already in place. I am optimistic that the formation of the Engage Cuba State Council is a step in the right direction toward a positive trading relationship for both of our countries.”

 

In addition to Pennsylvania, Engage Cuba has launched state councils in 17 states, including Arkansas, Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

 

While Engage Cuba will continue to add members, the founding members of the Engage Cuba Pennsylvania State Council are listed below:

 

David Argall, Policy Committee Chair, Pennsylvania Senate
Jim Cawley, Former Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania
Deno DeCiantis, Former Director, The Pennsylvania State University Center Pittsburgh
Pam DeLissio, Pennsylvania House of Representatives
James Diamond, Former Dean, Delaware Valley University
Mike Diven, Former Representative, Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Jennifer Eckinger, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Winery Association
Jim Ferlo, Former State Senator; President, Pittsburgh-Cuba Partnership
Rich Fitzgerald, County Executive, Allegheny County
Kurt Fuchs, Government Affairs Officer, MidAtlantic Farm Credit
Vince Gasteb, VP of Government Affairs, Allegheny County Airport Authority
Jack Gombach, Manager of Public Policy Outreach, Pennsylvania Association of Realtors
Chris Heck, President, Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce
Jay Howes, Former Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture, Pennsylvania Association of Dairy Cooperatives
Robert Hurley, Director, Allegheny County Department of Economic Development
Dave McElhaney, Board Member, National Institute for Animal Agriculture
Mathew Meals, AgChoice Farm Credit
Tom Mehaffie, Pennsylvania House of Representatives
John Nichols, Professor Emeritus of International Affairs, The Pennsylvania State University
Donna Oberlander, GOP Caucus Secretary, Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau
Guy Reschenthaler, Pennsylvania Senate
Mike Pries, County Commissioner, Dauphin County
Greg Rothman, Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Joe Scarnati, President Pro Tempore, Pennsylvania Senate
Lisa Valenti, Pittsburgh-Cuba Partnership
Elder Vogel, Pennsylvania Senate
Judy Wojanis, Former CEO, Wojanis Hydraulics
Dennis Wolff, Former Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture

https://www.engagecuba.org/press-releases/2018/

 

June 9, 2018

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews

(During the course of some of UK meetings, there was discussion on the role of Google in Cuba. The following recent article confirms my view presented in response to questions):

 

Never before has the U.S. government allowed Internet access to Cuba, nor the use of under-sea cables that pass near its coasts or other facilities. Many Internet sites are banned from the island because of the 59-year economic war. However, Barack Obama approved a license for Google to enter Cuba. What were the reasons for that decision?

To help Cubans access more scientific, technical and other information to improve the Cuban economy?

Definitely not. Definitely not. Access restrictions still remain in many of these areas, the real objective was to reach Cuban youth with their distorted information, symbols, and values, as Obama himself stated:

“…we can do more to support the Cuban people and promote our values through commitment. “The changes introduced in our new policy will further enhance our goal of empowering the Cuban people. […] and provide them with new sources of information…”

Of course, Cuba must take advantage of this opening, however small it may be. [We want] to go out into the world and make our truth known, to defeat the media campaigns that overflow the network of networks with lies, such as false claims of violations of the rights of Cubans, to share Cuba’s achievements, achieved with effort and sacrifice, despite the damage caused by the criminal policies of the United States.

It is the opportunity to tell the world about the terrorist acts carried out by the U.S. government, the biological warfare which affected the people and the persecution of all the foreign banks and companies that try to establish business with Cuba.

In order not to be naïve, Cubans must be aware of what lies behind Obama’s [granting of the] license and why Donald Trump maintains it, despite having taken steps to dismantle many aspects of his predecessor’s policy, including the Presidential Directive, which sought to kill the people with honey, rather than with whips.

During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump took on the reactionary and ultraconservative language embodied in the Republican Party Platform, which sets out, among other things, the following points:

“The opening of the current Obama administration to Cuba was a shameful accommodation to the demands of the tyrants. They will only strengthen that military dictatorship. […] We demand an aerial platform for Radio and TV Martí broadcasts, and the promotion of Internet access as a technological tool to strengthen the pro-democracy movement in Cuba.”

Since his arrival in the White House, Trump has delivered on his campaign for the presidency, but he has not changed the license granted to Google for Cuba. In recent days he allowed Google’s executive president, Eric Emerson Schmidt, to travel to Havana in the company of Republican Senator Jeff Flake. Their background speaks for itself.

In 1996, the RAND Corporation of the United States National Defense Research Institute conducted a study for the Defense Department entitled “Cuban Communications, Computer Networks and their Implications for U.S. Policy.

That work puts forth the need to help open up Cuba and to force the emergence of an independent civil society, for which it states:

“It is necessary to encourage Cuba’s link to the Internet, to use it to transmit balanced news and analysis, to promote its use by Cuban NGOs, universities and other audiences.

Insisting on that, in March 2005, ultra-conservative Roger Noriega, Under Secretary of State for Western Hemispheric Affairs, testified at a congressional hearing:

“The United States has relaxed licensing requirements so that, for the first time, high-speed personal computers can be delivered to civil society groups.

During an event held in 2012 at the Heritage Foundation, in conjunction with Google Ideas, a report was prepared recommending that the U.S. government create a remote WIFI network to enable Cubans to access the Internet.

In that gathering Republican Senator Marco Rubio was present. He said:

“The Cuban totalitarian system could collapse if all Cubans had free access to the Internet, because Cuba would follow the same fate as those countries that spent the Arab Spring.

The State Department announced on June 13, 2013,  proposed projects to promote democracy and human rights in Cuba, including the use of digital tools to be used, selectively and safely, by the civilian population, along with other programs to promote equality and defend the social networks of black Cubans.

Programs created for subversion in Cuba such as Zunzuneo and Conmotion, the latter designed by the Open Technology Institute at The New America Foundation, were promptly denounced.

We welcome full access to the Internet, because Cubans are sufficiently prepared to know how to differentiate between the useful and the subversive, but in the face of an enemy that has not stopped attacking for more than half a century, we must always be alert and, as José Martí said:

“Do at every moment what is necessary at every moment”

 

By Arthur González

https://walterlippmann.com/cuba-why-did-google-get-a-license-to-enter-cuba/

 

Original Source:

Cuba: ¿Por qué Google obtuvo licencia para entrar en Cuba?

 

 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATIO AND TO PROCURE THE BOOK

 

www.cubausrelations.com

 

 

 

 

March 15: Discussion and talk by Arnold August, author of Cuba-U.S. Relations.

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Panel members include:

Don Foreman, Executive Member of Canadian Network on Cuba and 35-year activist with CUPW (Canadian Union of Postal Workers), and Errol Sharpe, Publisher, Fernwood Publishing (Halifax)

“Arnold August is one of the foremost experts on Cuba and the 1959 Revolution, which continues to shake the world. In this new book, August puts forth a valuable, detailed account of U.S.–Cuba relations dating back to 1783 and continuing to the present time. August shows that this relationship has centred on the U.S.’s attempts, sometimes successfully, to dominate Cuba and exploit it as its own playground and, in the case of Guantánamo, as a maximum-security prison. As he shows, the 1959 Revolution broke the U.S. hold over Cuba, and the U.S. has tried desperately, and many times violently, to regain its control over the island. Obama opened diplomatic ties with Cuba for the first time in 50 years. August explains what this opening means for both countries, and where he sees U.S.–Cuba relations heading after the death of Fidel Castro at age 90 and the rise of U.S. President Donald Trump. For those who want a fresh and reasoned perspective on Cuba and U.S. relations — and with it a perspective very different from that which we get from the mainstream Western media — this book is a must-read.”

— Daniel Kovalik, teacher of international human rights, University of Pittsburgh, School of Law. He is Senior Associate General Counsel of the United Steelworkers, AFL-CIO (USW). He has worked for the USW since graduating from Columbia Law School in 1993. While with the USW, he has served as lead counsel on cutting-edge labor law litigation, including the landmark NLRB cases of Lamons Gasket and Specialty Health Care. He has also worked on Alien Tort Claims Act cases against The Coca-Cola Company, Drummond and Occidental Petroleum – cases arising out of egregious human rights abuses in Colombia. The Christian Science Monitor, referring to his work defending Colombian unionists under threat of assassination, recently described Mr. Kovalik as “one of the most prominent defenders of Colombian workers in the United States.” Mr. Kovalik received the David W. Mills Mentoring Fellowship from Stanford University School of Law and was the recipient of the Project Censored Award for his article exposing the unprecedented killing of trade unionists in Colombia. He has written extensively on the issue of international human rights and U.S. foreign policy for the Huffington Post and Counterpunch and has lectured throughout the world on these subjects.

Discussion will be followed by a book-signing. All the author’s royalties from sales at the event will be donated to the Canadian Network on Cuba Hurricane Irma Recovery Fund.

Endorsed by:
Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC) and the Nova Scotia Cuba Association

Thursday, March 15
7:00 pm
Halifax North Memorial Library
2295 Gottingen St., Halifax NS

CUBA-U.S. RELATIONS: WHAT ABOUT IDEAS?

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There is a lot written about Cuba–U.S. Relations. However, the cultural war (including arts/design, ideology and politics) led by the U.S. against Cuban socialist culture usually flies under the radar. Nevertheless, one will notice another important dimension by reading a recent January 5th article in the Miami Herald. It very favourably reports on an upscale (and relatively wealthy) T-shirt design private business in Havana called CLANDESTINA. It even manages to export to the U.S. Here are some excerpts from the Miami Herald piece:

“Clandestina’s T-shirt designs are fun, a bit tongue-in-cheek with a touch of political or revolutionary edginess — or maybe not — depending on how you take it. Even the name Clandestina (underground, clandestine) is slightly subversive.”

“To ‘make ethical fashion, that sometimes is a way to resist, to overcome, to reuse and to understand that there is a good side to everything,’ is the way del Río explained the Clandestina philosophy in a blog post.”

“A few of the politically ambiguous T-shirt designs offered online by Clandestina: The one in the foreground says” “‘Resist and Overcome.’”

I ASK: “RESIST AND OVERCOME” WHAT? AND WHAT IS THE IDEA?

WHAT IDEA DOES THE TERM “SUBVERSIVE” CONVEY IN CUBA”?

WHICH IDEAS DO THE WORD “CLANDESTINE” INTRODUCE INTO CUBA?

QUESTION: HOW FAR-REACHING (EVEN EXPORTING INTO THE U.S.) AND RELATIVELY WEALTHY IS THIS BUSINESS COMPARED TO ORDINARY MORE PATRIOTIC SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS. HOW DO THE LATTERS’ IDEAS AND VALUES CONTRAST WITH THOSE OF CLANDESTINA?

This example, among many others, confirms the well-documented thesis regarding the war on ideas (or cultural war) in my book CUBA–U.S. RELATIONS. This T-shirt business and its owner were explicitly promoted by Obama during his March 2016 visit to Havana. The owners graduated from the Columbia Business School’s Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Latin America Program.

Since the Obama pitch, and even since the Trump electoral victory, in addition to the Miami Herald this “small private business” has been promoted by:

Vogue

The New York Times

Reuters

The Guardian

WWD

Racked

The CLANDESTINA business model has thus been handed over to the Trump administration on a golden platter. Therefore, it is also an example how the basic U.S. policy of trying to subvert the Cuban Revolution under both Obama and Trump have certain features in common. Am I (and prestigious Cuban writers cited in my book such as Luis Toledo Sande, Elier Ramírez, Iroel Sánchez & others) wrong when we contend that there is indeed a cultural war in progress?

It is not a question of T-shirts, but the message.

Whether you agree or not, everyone is welcome to attend and debate.

January 23 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Busboys & Poets – 14th & V

2021 14th Street NW
Washington, DC

Further information:

The Institute for Policy Studies

http://www.ips-dc.org/events/cuba-policy-obama-trump-differences-distinctions/

Here is the full Miami Herald article:

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article193068834.html

TeleSur/Arnold August. 1 Year Later, Fidel’s Thinking on Cuba-U.S. Relations Still Principal Guide

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1 Year Later, Fidel’s Thinking on Cuba-U.S. Relations Still Principal Guide

By Arnold August, November 25, 2017

On Dec. 17, 2014, the world witnessed the simultaneous surprise announcements by presidents Raul Castro and Barack Obama to re-establish diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States after more than five decades. However, the fallacy was floated that this decision represented a step toward “normalization.” On that day, Obama claimed that the move was intended to “begin to normalize relations between our two countries.” Nevertheless, as historic as this decision was regarding the reopening of the respective embassies, it did not at all mean that the path was in fact toward normalization. It was nothing of the sort.

In fact, “normalization” contradicts the very logic behind the announcement (referred to as 17D by the Cubans). Obama indicated that the United States considered its Cuba policy a failure because it did not achieve U.S. goals, among others, of bringing “democracy” to Cuba or of nudging Cuba toward an “open economy” (market economy or capitalism). Nor did the policy succeed – indeed, it backfired – in its objective of isolating Cuba from the rest of Latin America. Consequently, the United States was forced to change its tactics to achieve the same historic goal of bringing the changes to Cuba and increasing its dwindling influence in what it considers to be “its backyard.”

Thus, despite Obama’s assertion, there was no basis at all for believing that a process of normalization was being undertaken. Furthermore, one can refer to a few examples that puncture holes in the star-spangled bubble. First is the ongoing U.S. blockade, which Obama only slightly amended (despite his wide-ranging executive powers, which would have availed him to do far more) while voluntarily imposing a record number of fines on international organizations, financial and otherwise, for trading with Cuba. This, of course, tightened the effect of the blockade.

Second, despite his executive powers to do so (and the Democratic Congressional majority in his first term), he did not close the prison in Guantanamo or return the territory to Cuba. Third, his administration practically outdid all his predecessors in the allotment of funds for CIA-backed subversive “democracy promotion” programs in Cuba. On this point, recently released documents indicate that a massive amount of U.S. CIA-backed funding took place in the years 2014–2016. This, it must be recalled, took place while the Obama administration was negotiating diplomatic ties with Cuba and even after the publicly announced new Cuba policy. Thus, many Cuban authorities and commentators were asking what kind of normalization this was.

Yet, flying in the face of reality, the illusion of “normalization” persisted. Moreover, in early 2016, as Obama was planning his trip to Cuba for March to crown his signature foreign policy legacy, this daydream was enhanced from staid black-and-white to color.

Moreover, during Obama’s actual visit to Havana, the Cuba-U.S. policy fostering the figment of the imagination of “normalization” went even further, turning itself into a high-definition Hollywood blockbuster. Hitting a fever pitch, it was stage-managed to the hilt through the Hollywood-type projection of U.S. imperialism’s new image in the form of Obama and his entourage. During those three days in March, nothing looked more “normal” in the international arena than Cuba-U.S. relations! For some, it consisted of a barely veiled euphoria.

Thus, “normalization” became even further entrenched by some as a fait accompli. By design, seduction replaced open aggression to achieve the five-decade-long elusive goal of breaking down Cuba’s will to bring the archipelago into the realm of U.S. interests. “Aggression” and “seduction” are closely related not only literally but also politically, as they are two sides of the same coin.

Nevertheless, given the high level of political consciousness among the vast majority of Cubans, they were not mesmerized by a pied piper in the form of Obama. Not everyone fell for this. Steeped in Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s ideas, Cuban revolutionaries in the government and the press immediately took up the sword in the form of the pen and the spoken word to deconstruct the Obama narrative. Cuba was abuzz. Nevertheless, it was Fidel himself who dealt a devastating blow to the U.S. daydream of seduction as the new tactic to replace open aggression.

Who can forget the Comandante’s now legendary ironic reflection titled, “Brother Obama,” wherein he ripped apart the Obama narrative? In essence, Obama wanted to win over Cubans (for the first time from the advantageous position of the U.S. operating from within Cuba) to the idea that their future is tied to U.S. benevolence. As Obama said on 17D, “Some of you have looked to us as a source of hope, and we will continue to shine a light of freedom.” This misconception of potential “common values” and interests facilitates the false notion that diplomatic relations combined with a few cosmetic measures lead to “normalization.”

Obama’s evangelical overture to Cubans encompassed the appeal to “leave the past behind. It is time for us to look forward to the future together” -,” as he said in Havana in March 2016, to build the myth of easy compatibility between the two systems. A slide toward mutual conformity could only mean that Cuba would give up its principles. Would the U.S. give up its political and economic system to identify with Cuba and thus facilitate “normalization?”

Fidel’s “Brother Obama” is but one example of many warnings of the U.S. goal to subvert the revolution by changing tactics. This Fidelista idea has been repeated in many forms since 1959. For example, several decades ago, he said, “Even if one day the relations between socialist Cuba and the empire would improve, that empire would not cease to crush the Cuban Revolution.”

To take just one more example, only a month after 17D, Fidel wrote a missive to university students: “I do not trust the policy of the United States, nor have I exchanged one word with them, though this does not in any way signify a rejection of a peaceful solution to conflicts or threats of war.”

Fidel’s thinking can be encapsulated into: yes to the diplomatic relations that Fidel pursued since 1959; but no to trusting the U.S. long-term goal hidden by the normalization mirage ad infinitum.

Fidel passed away a year ago on Nov. 25, 2016, only a few weeks after Trump’s unexpected victory in U.S. elections. The new U.S. administration ushered in a change from Obama’s seductive policy toward a hostile, aggressive narrative coupled with corresponding measures to tighten the blockade while maintaining diplomatic relations as the main feature of the Obama opening.

In the context of the Trump Cuba policy, the tenets of the “normalization” myth – emboldened by the virtual across-the-board majority opposition in the United States and abroad to the Trump Cuba policy – have doubled-down in promoting the myth of “normalization” under Obama. Taking advantage of the fact that Obama looks so immaculate compared with Trump on Cuba, who would dare to argue that Obama did not desire the “normalization” for which he took the first step? Who can shut their eyes to the Obama policy being short-circuited by Trump? Equating Obama with “normalization” is so “politically correct” in some academic circles to the extent that any dissenting commentator is supposed to be intimidated by this hoped-for hegemonic opinion on Cuba-U.S. relations.

Is Fidel’s resistance to the “normalization” narrative as a non-existent silver lining of the cloud no longer valid? Are his crystal-clear ideas on the empire’s opportunistic use of tactical changes to reach the same elusive goals of domination no longer applicable?

Cuba-U.S. relations will never be the same as they were before 17D irrespective of who occupies the White House. U.S. ideological and political incursions into Cuba’s socialist culture, while still relatively marginal, take on new dimensions with fresh devotees. For example, serious observers cannot help but notice among some youth and some self-employed private sector workers the existence of preconceived positive views about U.S. society, culture and even its political system. Consider this as a litmus as to the view that U.S. cultural inroads transcend presidential mandates: Has the proliferation in Havana streets of U.S. flags worn as clothing diminished since the election of Trump and his aggressive rhetoric? No. In fact, this trend’s steady increase shows no sign of let up even though Trump is head of the empire and its visible face along with the flag. The new president is riding on the coattails of the Obama legacy consisting of irruption into Cuban socialist culture.

As a final thought on these days as we acknowledge the validity of Fidel’s thinking: What will happen if the Democrats win back presidential power in 2020? If this trend that currently creates illusions about “normalization” (and its corollary of a political and economic system for Cuba that bears more of a stark resemblance to the U.S. than the Cuban Revolution) continues, what will happen in November 2020? Cuba’s socialist and political system will be the target of an unprecedented and coordinated ideological and political offensive based on the daydream-come-true of “normalization.”

Fidel’s thinking on Cuba-U.S. relations is not only valid today but represents a life-and-death struggle to conserve and expand the Cuban Revolution. Fidel’s ideas constitute the most important point of reference today – and tomorrow – on Cuba-U.S. relations for all of us who are committed to defending the Cuban Revolution.

Not only do his ideas frame the content as the solid and irreplaceable guide, but just as important is the form with which Fidel delivered his thoughts. He courageously stated and wrote what he thought – with precision timing in his delivery – to defend the Cuban Revolution. This was his only criterion.

Fidel’s ideas and his heroic attitude in declaring them are, one year after his passing, more valid than ever. His example stands out not only for Cubans but for revolutionaries around the globe.

SOURCE TELESUR:

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/1-Year-Later-Fidels-Thinking-on-Cuba-US-Relations-Still-Principal-Guide-20171122-0015.html