My rebirth from being a US Dreamer to an internationalist occurred because of the Cuban revolution, because of what Fidel and Che taught me when I was an airman “defending” the United States against all the bad guys.
The United States of America, the global policeman, is “changing its relationship with the people of Cuba”, as President Barack Obama put it. With this announcement of a resumption of diplomatic relations after John F. Kennedy severed them January 1, 1961 we need to evaluate what is behind it and what is positive and negative.
Five years after the ethnic civil war in Sri Lanka was won by the Sinhalese government, with thousands of Tamil civilians killed in the final weeks, the UN Human Rights Council authorized its High Commissioner to investigate if human rights abuse occurred. Cuba was in the minority opposing the investigation.
High Commissioner, Navi Pillay, of the Human Rights Council (HRC) will introduce a resolution at its 25th session (March 3-28) recommending that Sri Lanka promote reconciliation and accountability with the minority Tamil people. Cuba is expected to vote against the resolution.
A panel of 11 judges, experts in international law, former UN officials, and peace and human rights activists, found Sri Lanka guilty of genocide at its December 7-10, 2013 hearings in Berman, Germany. The unanimous decision was taken after hearing over 30 witnesses, including Tamil victims, and experts.
An unprecedented move by internationalists and activists for human rights and justice, one that could inspire controversy among left oriented governments and peoples’ solidarity committees, will take place next spring.
To avoid rotting away in USA’s gulag Julian Assange took the difficult decision to seek political asylum at Ecuador’s embassy in London.
“Cuban President Receives Counterpart from Sri Lanka” read the Prensa Latina headline of June 17. The agency reported that the four-day official visit by President Mahinda Rajapaksa was at the invitation of President Raul Castro.