Articles of Reflections by Fidel

The graphic reporting by journalist Gladys Rubio on the cholera epidemic in Haiti that was published on yesterday’s Round Table TV programme was so impressive that I decided to postpone the Reflection I announced on Monday until today, Wednesday. The aim of the report was to analyze, from a different angle, the dramatic impact on the Haitian people of the January 12th earthquake this year, followed in less than 10 months by the generalized cholera epidemic and a hurricane.

to two subjects of which our people must be made aware. The UN, at the instigation of the US, creator of poverty and chaos in the Republic of Haiti, had decided to send its occupation troops into Haitian territory, the MINUSTAH (UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti), which in passing introduced the cholera epidemic into that brother country.

I am really sorry I have to disprove him. Today, he is nothing but a good-natured looking man, fully devoted to a historical legacy, as if the history of the empire—and what is even much more important, the fate of humankind—were something guaranteed beyond several decades into the future, and as if a nuclear war could not break out in Korea, Iran or any other place in turmoil.

Julian Assange, a man who was known by very few people in the world a few months ago, is showing that the most powerful empire that ever existed in history can be challenged.

Haiti, in the midst of the destruction by the earthquake, the epidemic and poverty, cannot now dispense with an international force cooperating with a nation ruined by foreign interventions and the exploitation of the transnationals. The UN not only must fulfill the elementary duty of fighting for reconstruction and development in Haiti, but also of mobilizing the necessary resources to eradicate an epidemic which threatens to spread to the neighbouring Dominican Republic, the Caribbean, Latin America and other similar countries in Asia and Africa.

At the present, Haiti’s situation is very serious, and the emergency aid required is far too little. Our hectic world invests one million 500 thousand million dollars every year on weapons and wars; Haiti, a country that less than a year ago suffered a brutal earthquake that caused 250,000 dead, 300,000 injured and enormous destruction, needs an ever growing amount for its reconstruction and development; according to experts’ calculations the figure totals around 20 billion, just 1.3% of what is being spent in one year for such purposes.

There is a lot to talk about when the United States is embroiled in a colossal scandal as the result of the documents published by Wikileaks; nobody doubts their authenticity -notwithstanding any other motivation of that website.

The Cuban Medical Mission is looking after 37 centres dealing with the epidemic where, until today, they have cared for 26,040 persons affected with cholera; to these they will immediately add, along with the Henry Reeve Brigade, 12 more medical centres (for a total of 49) with 1,100 new beds, in tents that were designed and made for those purposes in Norway and other countries, already purchased with earthquake funds, delivered to Cuba by Venezuela for the reconstruction of the Haitian health system.

Different UN officials were lamenting the fact in the last few days that the response from the international community to the call for aid made to confront the situation was not even reaching 10% of the 164 million dollars urgently being requested.

An unusual meeting took place at the United States Capital Building between a group of US legislators from the fascist right and Latin American leaders from the rightwing oligarchy and coup promoters to discus the overthrow of the governments of Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua.