My friend Celestino was denied a happy childhood. Born in the Cuban countryside, his father had to support the family doing the only thing he knew how: working the land. He had to work someone else’s land, because he didn’t own any – that is to say, he sold his labor to someone who needed it. But jobs in the countryside were few and far between.
To claim that Cuba is an enemy of the United States would be humorous if the statement didn’t have such tragic and shameful consequences. How could a small country, without offensive weapons of any kind represent a threat to the most powerful empire on the face of the earth today?
Though some refuse to acknowledge it, the positive results of the social transformations undertaken in Cuba following the triumph of the revolution in 1959 are plain to see and within everyone’s reach. Many aren’t aware of these changes because they take them for granted – over 70 percent of Cuba’s current population was born after the revolution and did not experience what came before.
On October 29, the resolution titled “The Need to Put an End to the Economic, Commercial and Financial Blockade Imposed on Cuba by the USA” will be subjected to a voting process at the UN General Assembly. Though Cuba has submitted this resolution on 21 previous occasions and has secured nearly unanimous support from the Assembly’s member states, the blockade remains in place and as intransigent as ever.
Before the Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Cuba has once again called on nations to work towards general and complete disarmament, including the banning of nuclear arsenals. Though we must continue to ask for this at all international forums, this goal is, in my opinion, nothing short of an unattainable dream.
I have always respected the opinion of those who honestly express their dissatisfaction or disagreement with the socialist system and who prefer capitalism, even with all its evils and inequality. Some of my friends have left Cuba for capitalist countries (in search of a dubious prosperity) and have not ceased being my friends because of this.
Detractors of the Cuban revolution love to repeat that socialism has failed, that the economy is a disaster and innumerable other lies to try and justify the frank betrayal. When East European socialism collapsed the enemies of socialism began shouting that the system was a failure from the rooftops.
The work of the late Cuban-born musician, conductor and composer Isidro Benitez is better known in South America than in Cuba, whence the artist was forced to emigrate, in 1926, owing to the widespread and deeply-rooted racism of the time. As a black man, Benitez was denied the possibility of performing in venues that should have welcomed an artist of his stature.
US President Barack Obama’s intentions of launching a “limited strike” on Syria – a measure for which he has sought authorization from Congress – have prompted innumerable negative reactions around the world and no few statements from respected civilian and military personalities who do not wish these threats to be carried out.
The only free Cuban Five member, Rene Gonzalez, called on every Cuban to wear a yellow ribbon, or to hang it up at home or in a tree, such that the country is filled with these, symbols of affection towards a loved one who is away, whom one awaits.. A month long campaign began last week demanding the release of the remaiing four Cuban Five members.