Articles of Fidel Castro Ruz

Yesterday we referred to the financial Ike that is driving the empire mad. It can’t find a way of reconciling consumerism with unjust wars, military spending and the massive investments in the industry of weapons, which kill peoples, rather than feed them or otherwise satisfy their most basic needs.

“Bush cancelled all his activities. He intended to travel to Alabama and Florida to participate in electoral fundraisers.”

In the reflection I wrote the day before yesterday I expressed that Cuba would not accept any donation from the government that imposes a blockade against it, and that in the Note Verbale sent to the Interest Section of the United States we had requested authorization so that the US companies could sell to us construction material. Said Note did not make any reference whatsoever to foodstuffs. There was an additional request for the trade in those materials to take place under normal conditions, with credits included, something that is only logical considering that for eight years our country has been paying in cash for the few commodities that the US companies are authorized to export to Cuba.

When the US administration hypocritically offered $100,000 in aid to cope with the catastrophe caused by hurricane Gustav –after an in situ inspection to assess the damages– the response was that Cuba could not accept any donation from the country blockading it. Also, that the damages had already been assessed and that we only asked for the ban to be lifted on the export of indispensable material and credits associated with commercial transactions.

We had hardly recovered from the emotional impact and material damages caused by the unexpectedly strong winds of hurricane Gustav on the Isla de la Juventud and Pinar del Rio, when news were received of sea floods caused by Hanna. Then, the worst news of all: that the very intense hurricane Ike, turning southwest under pressure from a strong anti-hurricane system located north of its course, would strike heavily over 625 miles throughout the national territory.

It is not an overstatement. This is the general expression of many compatriots. It is the impression of the Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General of the Alvaro Lopez Miera, an experienced career soldier, when he saw in the Isla de la Juventud the twisted steel towers, the shattered houses and the devastation everywhere.

In my last reflection of Tuesday afternoon, August 29, when hurricane Gustav unexpectedly formed and started to threaten our country on the same day when our Olympic delegation returned, I wrote: “We are lucky to have a Revolution! It is a fact that nobody will be neglected…Our strong, forceful and farsighted Civil Defense protects our people…The growing frequency and intensity of these natural phenomena show that the climate is changing due to the action of man. The current times demand ever increasing dedication, steadiness and conscience. We don’t mind if the opportunists and traitors also benefit even if they do not make any contribution to the safety and wellbeing of our people.”

I have carefully followed the Western media reaction to my Sunday reflections on the Olympic Games in China. Actually, rather sensitive events were overlooked while others were highlighted ad libitum by the advocates of world plundering and exploitation.

Si se hace una estadística sobre el número de instalaciones, campos deportivos y equipamientos sofisticados por millón de habitantes que acabamos de ver en los últimos Juegos Olímpicos: piscinas de natación, de clavados y de polo acuático; suelos artificiales para competencias de campo y pista, hockey sobre césped; instalaciones para básquet, para voleibol; de aguas rápidas para kayak; velódromos para bicicletas de velocidad, polígonos de tiro, etcétera, etcétera, podría afirmarse que no están al alcance del 80 por ciento de los países representados en Beijing, equivalente a miles de millones de personas que habitan el planeta. China, inmenso y milenario país de más de 1,200 millones de habitantes, invirtió 40 mil millones de dólares en las instalaciones olímpicas y aún requerirá tiempo para satisfacer las necesidades deportivas de una sociedad en pleno desarrollo.

Perhaps some governments are unaware of the concrete facts, and so for that reason Raúl’s message setting Cuba’s position seemed to us to be very timely. I shall be generous in the aspects that cannot be dealt with in a brief and precise official statement.