Sunday 21 March 2010

Juventud Rebelde Celebrates 45th Anniversary



Juventud Rebelde (rebelious youth)newspaper began celebrations Thursday for the 45th anniversary of its founding.

The newspaper was founded in 1965 as a space for young people but aimed at all age groups of readers. It is run by the Communist Youth League of Cuba (UJC).

This year’s anniversary is also dedicated to the recently held Cuban Journalist Day and to the 80th birthday of sports columnist Elio Menéndez

Attending the opening celebrations were Argentine journalist and President of the Latin American Federation of Journalists (FELAP) Juan Carlos Camaño, Cuban Union of Journalists (UPEC) President Tubal Páez and UJC member Osnay Miguel Colina.


http://www.juventudrebelde.co.cu/

Sunday 14 March 2010

Statement from the National Assembly of People’s Power


IN the wake of a media campaign mounted by powerful corporations, fundamentally in Europe, which have ferociously attacked Cuba, and after a dirty debate, the European Parliament has just passed a resolution of condemnation against our country that manipulates sentiments, brandishes lies and conceals realities.

The pretext utilized was the death of a prisoner, initially sentenced for a common crime and subsequently manipulated by U.S. interests and mercenaries at its service, who, of his own free will, refused to eat, despite warnings from and intervention by Cuban medical specialists.

This lamentable event cannot be utilized to condemn Cuba by adducing that a death could have been avoided. If there is one field in which our country does not have to defend itself in words, given that the reality is irrefutable, it is in that of the fight for the lives of human beings, whether born in Cuba or in other countries. Just one example is the presence of Cuban doctors in Haiti for more than 11 years prior to the earthquake in January of this year, a fact silenced by the hegemonic press.

Behind that condemnation lies profound cynicism. How many children’s lives have been lost in poor nations because of the decision by rich countries represented in the European Parliament not to meet their commitments to development aid? All of them knew it was a mass death sentence, but they opted to preserve the levels of waste and the continuation of consumerism to suicide in the long term.

We Cubans are also offended by that attempt to teach us a lesson at a time when immigrants and the unemployed are being repressed in Europe, but while here, in neighborhood meetings, people are proposing their candidates for municipal elections, freely and without intermediaries.

Those countries which participated in or allowed the clandestine air transport of detainees, the establishment of illegal prisons, and the practice of torture, lack the ethical authority to pass moral judgments on a people under attack and brutally blockaded.

Such a discriminatory and selective condemnation can only be explained by the failure of a policy incapable of bringing a heroic people to their knees. Neither the Helms Burton Act, nor the European common position, which emerged in the same year in the same circumstances and with the same purpose, both of them damaging to our national sovereignty and dignity, have the most minimal future, because we Cubans reject imposition, intolerance and pressure as a norm within international relations.

National Assembly of People’s Power of the Republic of Cuba

March 11, 2010

Translated by Granma International



http://www.granma.cu/

background to the case from non-cuban media here:

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

MINUSTAH Praises Work of Cuban Doctors in Haiti


Head of the United Nations Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH) Edmond Mulet said that the work Cuban doctors are carrying out in Haiti is extraordinary.

“Cuban doctors are working on every corner of Haiti devotedly, despite the hard situation the country faces, a horrible situation indeed," told the official to the Prensa Latina news agency.

“They are here despite the hardships. They are committed professionals making a remarkable effort to help the people of Haiti,” he said, adding that he is an admirer of the work these men and women have been doing here, not only after the January 12 earthquake, but long before.

He also made reference to Cuban medical missions in other Latin American countries.

The Henry Reeve Brigade in Haiti is made up by professional from 22 Latin American and Caribbean countries, including 7 American graduates from Cuba’s Latin American Medical School.

The first team of Cuban doctors arrived in Haiti in 1998 with the objective of helping the people recover from the devastating effects of Hurricane Georges, which hit the country on September of the same year

http://www.juventudrebelde.co.cu/

Mockingbird Can Sing Cuba’s National Anthem


LAS TUNAS.— Ana Cruz, a teacher with more than 30 years of experience, taught a mockingbird Cuba’s National Anthem.

Cruz has only had the bird for a year ―from the day her grandson rescued it from dying at the hands of some naughty kids― but in such a short time she has managed to teach it several tunes.

The repertoire includes the first stanza of Cuba’s National Anthem, the February 24 Anthem ―which is its favourite, according to Cruz― and popular Cuban songs such as El golpe de bibijagua and El Manisero. At the moment, it’s learning to sing a Happy Birthday song.

“It was me who taught him to sing,” says Cruz proudly, “My method is very simple. I just stand in front of its cage and whistle the tune a thousand times. You have to be very patient; it may take weeks.”



http://www.juventudrebelde.co.cu/

The Patagonia Greets the Turquino


Santiago Vega and Alcides Bonavitta, two Argentinians climbed the Aconcagua in January to demand from its top the immediate release of the Cuban Five sent special greetings and a hug to Cuban youths who did the same at Turquino Peak, in Cuba’s Sierra Maestra mountains.

From Neuquén, in the Argentinian Patagonia, Santiago and Alcides expressed their excitement and pride for having inspired the Cubans’ project, comprising young journalists, students from the Higher Institute of International Relations and relatives of the Cuban Five.

We send you a hug from here, from Paul, the radio comrade who has helped spread the news, from Alcides, Aldo and I, said Santiago in his message, recorded and sent to Havana via e-mail.
“We did that with our hearts,” he said, noting that for them personally and for the cause of the Five it was of great value to see that continuity was being given to their act of conquering the top of the Americas’ tallest mountain.

In his message, Alcides urged young Cubans to leave the route marked well for an upcoming try by the Argentinians on the highest point of the Cuban geography. He also stressed the importance of spreading the demand for freedom for the Cuban Five throughout the continent so people learn about the injustice surrounding the case of Gerardo Hernandez, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez and Ramon Labañino.

“From the South: strength and courage, and when your body can no more, draw strength from your beliefs, as we did in the Aconcagua,” he advised.

The some 40 members of the Cuban project named “From the Aconcagua to the Turquino” started the climb of the island’s tallest mountain after spending the previous day touring the area of military operations of Commander Ernesto Che Guevara in the Sierra Maestra.

At the top of the Turquino Peak, next to the bust of Cuban National Hero José Martí standing there, there will be a flag waving in demand for justice, freedom and the immediate return of Five to their country and their people

http://www.juventudrebelde.co.cu/

Sunday 7 March 2010

12th International Meeting of Economists on Globalization Concludes in Havana


The 12th International Meeting of Economists to discuss Globalization wrapped up on Friday in Havana after a week of intense debate focused on Latin American and Caribbean integration.

President of the Cuban Association of Economists and Accountants Roberto Verrier spoke at the closing ceremony about the urgency of regional unity in both politics and economics.

MERCOSUR representative Hugo Varsky informed participants that a Consultative Support Council is in the works to aid the process of Latin American and Caribbean integration.

The Latin American and Caribbean Association of Economists presented a statement supporting the decision to create a Latin American and Caribbean Community of States. The document also expressed solidarity with the Haitian people and consolation for the recent disaster in Chile.

Participating at the closing ceremony were Cuban Minister of the Economy and Planning Marino Murillo and the Cuban Finance Minister Lina Pedraza.


http://www.juventudrebelde.co.cu/

Friday 5 March 2010

BBC interviews Ricardo Alarcon


a bit of a break-through with the bbc interviewing a prominent Cuban!!!


see video below:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/world_news_america/8540218.stm

Tuesday 2 March 2010

Experts Advocate to Replace World Capitalism


Havana, Mar 2 (Prensa Latina) Several expert economists coincided in the need to replace the capitalist system in the world, because they recognized it is the real responsible for the global crisis and the climatic changes.

In an international meeting, Argentinean professor Eduardo Hernandez advocated for the installation of socialism, stating that it would the salvation for mankind.

Hernandez exposed his conference called "The Crisis of Civilization: Essence and Future", and said that one of the main causes is the energy appetite of the US and other economic powers.

"That is why the US headed the wars against Afghanistan and Iraq, not only to get riches from other nations but also to exert a bigger domination on the oil of the Middle East," he stated.

Cuban Ernesto Molina, from the Higher Institute of International relations (ISRI) assured that the US economy based on a consuming model, will not leave its bases.

He said that the created interests are too much big, recognized the responsibility of the energetic and financial factors in the global crisis, but added that technology is not neutral.

"It is clear that the US military industrial complex depends on energy too much, and would not allow a change of the current energetic matrix to benefit the workers," he stated.

Professor Claudio Sicilotti (Italy) talked about the need for new financial control systems, and code for behaviour to avoid new crises.

Several experts alerted on the many US military bases in the world, among them the seven recent bases installed in Colombia.

More than 1,000 economists and other professionals from 40 nations are taking part in the meeting.

http://www.prensa-latina.cu/