Desde su cuenta oficial en Twitter, el movimiento Foro de los Pueblos informó sobre el comunicado urgente en la edición de este domingo del diario The New York Times para el cese de las medidas coercitivas de Washington y posibilitar la compra de suministros necesarios para la reconstrucción del país.

“La administración Biden necesita actuar ahora mismo para ayudar al pueblo caribeño”, destaca el mensaje titulado Let Cuba rebuild (Deja que Cuba se reconstruya).

El texto subraya que el bloqueo económico, comercial y financiero impide a La Habana la obtención de recursos necesarios, por lo cual insta a la Casa Blanca a permitir, aunque sea por los próximos seis meses, comprar materiales de la construcción.

Recuerda que el pueblo de la isla enfrenta un gran revés debido a Ian, que golpeó al territorio el pasado martes y dejó la red eléctrica dañada, viviendas destruidas, afectaciones a los cultivos y renglones económicos importantes como el tabaco, además de problemas en las telecomunicaciones y el abasto de agua.

“Si bien la ley autoriza a entidades y organizaciones norteamericanas a brindar ayuda y respuesta en casos de desastre, está comprobado que no es tan fácil, pues existen procesos largos y complejos para recibir licencias que a menudo requieren abogados costosos”, refiere el documento.

De igual forma, señala cómo la inclusión de Cuba en la supuesta Lista de Estados Patrocinadores del Terrorismo significa que los bancos tanto en territorio estadounidense como en el extranjero son reacios a procesar cualquier transacción, incluidas las donaciones humanitarias.

“Es inconcebible en esta hora crítica mantener el bloqueo y castigar colectivamente a todo un pueblo”, remarca el mensaje, al tiempo que insta al presidente Biden a dejar de lado la política de la Guerra Fría, “¡aunque sea por seis meses!”.

“El pueblo cubano es parte de nuestra familia, la familia humana”, agrega, e insiste en que “¡El momento de actuar es ahora!”.

Tras el paso de Ian, el Foro de los Pueblos compartió el link a un sitio para recibir donaciones y contribuir en los esfuerzos de socorro a Cuba, así como el proyecto solidario Puentes de Amor, centrado en la compra de alimentos, fármacos y equipos médicos.

A principios de septiembre pasado Biden firmó la extensión de la llamada “Ley de comercio con el enemigo”, que prorroga hasta el 14 de septiembre de 2023 el bloqueo y autoriza al mandatario a imponer restricciones económicas.

Según la cancillería de La Habana, la medida desconoce el rechazo de la comunidad mundial a esa política vigente por más de seis décadas, “recrudecida de manera oportunista en el contexto de la pandemia de Covid-19 para rendir por hambre, enfermedad y miseria al pueblo cubano”, aseveró.

There were no miracles and yet it seemed so: Cuba resisted and showed the world its humanism. “We are the country that has insisted on resisting and overcoming the most cruel and perverse sieges and attacks. And here we are: living, resisting, creating and winning,” Díaz-Canel stated in December of 2020.

The most recent actions of the counterrevolution were meant to capitalize on the economic effects of the blockade and the pandemic, and create obstacles to any move by the new U.S. administration to change policy, resuming a path of dialogue with the Cuban government. Such a pretense reveals the wretched character of its promoters. Enough has already been said about the San Isidro farce: “Mercenary attitudes regarding fake hunger strikes by alleged artists seeking to attract public opinion and the intelligentsia, to impose a dialogue camouflaged with the sector’s genuine concerns,” our President explained in a few words. Their actions are not directed against a specific institution; their demands are not cultural or professional, but rather political; the target is not the Ministry of Culture or any other institution, it is the Revolution.

They cynically manipulate the word dialogue on spurious bases. The demands are abstract and, in practice, dismiss the existence of a socialist state of law, overwhelmingly supported by the people; the attitude is provocative and aspires more to media exposure than to recognition of those with whom they pretend to dialogue; they are tied to text book instructions and decisions by “experts” on soft and hard coups, and the demand, the real one, is the abandonment of the Revolution. Thus there are no grounds for dialogue and there will be no dialogue. We do not understand each other. The Revolution does not negotiate its existence. They know this very well and the maneuver is cynical: Dialogue devoid of any content, to blame us for its non-existence. Thisis why when, in spite of everything, the Revolution patiently invites them to talk, they are disconcerted, and resort to a media performance, to institutional harassment.

The Revolution works hard to personalize those who demand attention from its institutions. It knows that the contamination of objectives, language and people is notorious, promoted for years on media platforms seeking restoration of the neocolonial republic, via scholarships, generous remuneration, and in the fake glitter of metropolitan notoriety. The Revolution knows that there are small-minded leaders well paid by imperialism – be they artists or not: no profession values mercenaries – and that, perhaps, some of those involved have honest intentions. But naivety and ignorance have their limits: would honest men and women accept being represented by paid provocateurs who shout before the camera that they are being threatened, when they know this is a lie? The counterrevolution is not interested in the truth; it only aspires to taking power. The script of the so-called “soft coup” is neither peaceful or soft. Would you agree to be represented by “deserters who request a rifle in North American armies,” as José Martí would say? It is to be expected that the people’s response would not be soft.

The Revolution is dialogue. First it made sure everyone was literate, and opened the doors of knowledge to the majority, regardless of origin, place of residence or skin color. Dialogue exists in plazas, in schools, in workers’ assemblies, in congresses, in debates on the Policy Guidelines and the Constitution. New forms of debate, of citizen participation, emerge on social networks. A government that readjusts its own decisions and laws, if they are found to be inappropriate or unjust, one that meets with scientists and intellectuals to think and find solutions together, is a government that dialogues, that listens. Revolutionaries are interested in the truth, we need it, because it is the only path to justice. The war they wage against us is not a war of thought. They mutilate thinking, trivialize it, fear it, but we need the truth to win.

If anyone believes that when the historic generation steps aside in April, during the 8th Party Congress, the unity of Cuban revolutionaries will be broken, they have no confidence in the people. Because we have Martí and Fidel as references, and their people – especially youth – who have assumed this legacy saying: “I am Fidel,” we can reach the highest summits, make possible what seems impossible. The old pines will always accompany us. “Those who have no confidence in their land are stillborn men,” wrote José Martí, “because they lack courage, they deny it to others. Their feeble arms cannot reach the difficult tree, arms with painted nails and bracelets, the arms of Madrid or Paris, and they say the tree cannot be reached.”

Twenty young Cubans symbolically held the torch on January 27, as they walked the streets that separate the university’s stairway from the Fragua Martiana. The tribute could not be massive this year. The representatives of the Centennial generation were waiting for them: Raul, Ramiro, Machado Ventura, Balaguer. With them, President Miguel Diaz-Canel. Raul then stated, “The pandemic will be overcome, as will the difficulties we face. This is the history of Cuba. This is the history of patriots like Martí, this is the history of our revolutionary students.” New provocations will fail.

(Taken from Granma)

El dilema social asks itself , on Netflix and in The Cuban Package

A documentary that Netflix premiered last week can now be found on ElPackage , the off-line download service that operates informally in Cuba. The other side of the United States blockade of the island is the circulation, without customs or copyright payments, of all kinds of series, movies, video games and computer programs that are produced within 90 miles of our territory.

There is no exchange of goods between the two countries, but neither is it possible to control the underground and totally deregulated market for “cultural products” that are packaged on external hard drives and flash drives, or that come directly to us via the Internet. Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. When talking about the US blockade, it is rarely repaired in its looser side: what lets you take almost everything that comes through digital tracks, thanks to what the French philosopher Eric Sadin has called “the silicolonization of the world.” .

Even for Cuba, under siege for too long, wars are not what they used to be. We are facing adversaries who have no territory, no borders, no diplomats, no seat on the Security Council, and no interest to negotiate. Social media multiplies by zero the laws of sovereign states that it suffocates without suffering repercussions. Like an impenetrable layer of latex, that empire mediates between us and is responsible for the polarization, extremism and many other dysfunctions that contemporary society experiences.

This is the subject of the documentary The Social Dilemma , by American director Jeff Orlowski, which is already circulating on the island’s digital mezzanines. Narrated by top developers from Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Pinterest, and other platforms, who defected from those companies for ethical reasons, it’s the most lucid, succinct, and deeply terrifying analysis of the impact of so-called social media that I’ve ever seen.

It is surprising, because it is the brains of these platforms that speak up to their elbows of the destructive capacity of these companies, but not because we were no longer aware of it. We Cubans are experiencing it firsthand in two ways: the polarization and derision that permeates social networks, permeable to Trumpian measles from coordinated groups of Cubans living in Miami, and the conspiracy theories that flood Latino communities in Florida. Both Democrats and Republicans compete there for the medal for the most anti-communist party and for denigrating the symbols of the Cuban Revolution, on the eve of an election in which lies have reached a savage dimension, according to the digital newspaper Politico .

Disinformation, Politico adds , reaches “a saturation level that threatens to shape the outcome in the most disputed state in the country” in the current electoral contest. “I’ve never seen this level of misinformation, conspiracy theories and lies,” says Evelyn Pérez-Verdia, a Democratic digital strategist, who has studied WhatsApp groups.

The misinformation that is shared in chats and on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook goes beyond hyperbolic rhetoric. Conspiracy theories, especially around QAnon, who posits that Trump is fighting a global power of satanic pedophiles, jump from the networks to the posters and t-shirts of Trump supporters that every week mobilize in Florida.

Last Friday, the main Spanish-language newspaper in that state, El Nuevo Herald , was forced to withdraw its supplement “Libre”, which attacked the Black Lives Matter movement with racist and anti-Semitic opinions. A poisonous youtuber, self-proclaimed leader of the People’s Party in Miami and Trump’s main spokesman in the Cuban-American community, has announced, among other succulent lies, that a wave of immigration from the island will ensue before November 3. Their live broadcasts usually have thousands of enthusiastic viewers daily.

In an article in which it warns that the Trump 2020 campaign is preparing to invest a billion dollars for Internet advertisements, The Atlantic magazine acknowledges that a vast coalition of partisan media, external political groups, has been mobilized in these elections and private companies, ready to “undertake what could be the most extensive disinformation campaign in history. Whether or not he succeeds in the reelection of the President, the destruction he will leave behind will be irreparable, and not just for the United States. ”

How did we get here? When and who unleashed the demons that are now on the loose? What are we going to do? Those are the main questions that El dilema social asks itself , on Netflix and in The Cuban Package . It remains to be seen whether the dust that the documentary has raised will help de-silicolonization. Hopefully.

(By Rosa Miriam Elizalde/Taken from La Jornada)

Foreign Ministers of the Group of 77 plus China in their periodic Ministerial Declaration once again denounced the U.S. blockade of Cuba.

• October 15, 2018

Sandinista deputies in the National Assembly and the Central American Parliament issued a statement condemning the blockade.

• November 1, 2018

The United Nations General Assembly, for the 27th time, approved the resolution entitled “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba,” with 189 member states in favor.

• November 8, 2018

The National Parliament of South Africa, led by its president Baleka Mbete, passed a motion condemning the blockade of Cuba.

• February 11, 2019

Within the framework of the 32nd Session of the African Union Assembly, a resolution was approved calling for an end to the inhuman policy.

• March 29, 2019

At the VIII Summit of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), held in Nicaragua, the Declaration of Managua was approved, in which the region’s opposition to unilateral coercive measures was reiterated.

(Granma)

OVERVIEW

- Losses April 2018-March 2019: 4,343,600,000 dollars

- Damages accumulated over six decades of this policy, at current prices:

138,843,400, 000 dollars

- Total quantifiable harm caused by the blockade has reached more than:

922,630,000,000 dollars (depreciated as compared to the price of gold)

- Damages caused by exclusion from to U.S. market: 163,108 659

- Damages caused by use of intermediaries in purchases and higher prices in distant markets: 173,210,916

Damages due to increased costs for shipping & insurance: 72,160,602

Potential export income lost: 2,343,135,842

Higher financing costs due to national risk rating: 47,290,204

Prohibitions on use of the U.S. dollar: 85,139,436

Other: 12,535,892

Total: 2,896,581,555

HEALTHThe damage caused by sanctions on Cuba in the field of health is unquestionable. This hostile policy obstructs the acquisition of technology, raw materials, reagents, diagnostic tools, equipment and spare parts, as well as medicines for the treatment of serious diseases like cancer- Between April 2018 and March 2019, damages in this sector amounted to $104,148,178, a figure that far exceeds last year’s estimate of $6,123,498.- Relatives of patient JCHC, with medical history number 68100309926 at the Hermanos Ameijeiras Clinical-Surgical Hospital, who died on June 15, 2018 due to spongiform cardiomyopathy with terminal heart failure, can never forget that if circulatory support had been available from an Impella device, produced by the U.S. company Abiomed, the life of JCHC could have been saved.- The import-export company Medicuba S.A. made requests to 57 U.S. providers to acquire supplies necessary for health. To date, 50 of these have not responded.- Several U.S. companies were contacted for the purchase of novel cancer drugs. Thus far none has responded.- The U.S. corporation Bruker was unsuccessfully contacted for the purchase of spectrophotometers, devices used in laboratories for the analysis of substances and microorganisms.

BIOPHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY-

The Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) reports revenues not received from potential exports to the U.S. of Heberprot-p, the only medication of its kind for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers. Projecting that if only 5% of U.S. patients with this condition used Heberprot-p annually, income from its export would have reached a value of $103 million in 2018.- The Import-Export Company Farmacuba experienced difficulties in acquiring raw materials for the production of medicines.- The Oriente Pharmaceutical Laboratory Company, affiliated with BioCubaFarma, reported shortages of Vitamin A for its Nutriforte multivitamin, as a result of the blockade, thus limiting production by 78,694,200 tablets.- The delivery of printed aluminum foil for Nicotinamide in the month of March 2019 was affected, and it is possible that production of Dipirona and Alprazolam will be limited in September and October for this reason.

TRANSPORTATION-

Total damages in this arena during the analyzed period exceeded 170 million dollars, an increase of more than 69 million with respect to the previous report.- The Caterpillar supplier in the Netherlands prohibited the Dutch company Damen – main supplier of Caterpillar and Cummings spare parts for the Damex shipyards in Santiago de Cuba – from selling its products to Cuba, necessary for the repair and maintenance of pilot boats and tugs.- Cubana de Aviación is unable to use the services of the company ATCO, which is responsible for publishing the air fares of more than 500 airlines.- The Spanish airline Air Europa (UX) refrained from specifying the “Shared Code Agreement” and fulfilling its commitment to Cubana Airlines.

INDUSTRY

- The blockade’s impact on Cuban industry caused losses of 49 million dollars, which could have been used to acquire necessary raw materials.- The construction sector continues to face serious difficulties in acquiring more efficient, lightweight technologies that require less energy and materials.- The chemical industry state enterprise group, GEIQ, was unable to acquire spare parts or replace machinery.Communications, Information Technology & Telecommunications- The economic damages caused to the communications system are estimated at more than 55 million dollars. Cuba’s telecommunications company Etecsa continues to feel the greatest impact.- The blockade policy limits the Cuban people’s access to content available on the Internet.- Cuba is denied access to official information from top-of-the-line technology sites, making professional development and distance training difficult.- The blockade obstructs access to high-performance brands and equipment from leaders in the telecommunications industry.

ENERGY AND MINES-

Damages in this area amount to 78,336,424 dollars, an increase of more than 18 million over the last period analyzed.- Cuba’s national electrical company continues to face very limited access to spare parts for Bazan engines, manufactured by the Spanish company Navantia.- The British Compair Consortium, upon becoming part of a U.S. group, cut all relations with projects using its technology in Cuba for the centralized management of compressed air.- In September and November of 2018, two contracts were signed with General Electric International for the additional supplies of turbines at the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant and for modernization of the Pico Santa Martha Power Plant. However, on February 5, 2019, a notification was received from the U.S. Centennial Bank, stating that, given the activation of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, financing for these two contracts would not be granted.

FOREIGN TRADE-

Total damages caused by the U.S. blockade in the area of foreign trade were valued at 2,896,581,555 dollars, given an increase in incidents that hinder the conducting of international commercial activity.- The greatest effect was evident in lost income from exports of goods and services, reaching 2,343,135,842 dollars. The decreased number of U.S. travelers visiting the island during this period had a significant impact.- Damages caused by the geographical relocation of commerce are estimated at over 1.020 billion dollars, which represents a growth of 18% with respect to the previous period.- The effects of Cuba’s inability to access the U.S. market were valued at 163,108,659 dollars.- The negative impact of being obliged to use commercial intermediaries and the consequent increase in prices was estimated at 173,210,916 dollars, reflecting an increase of 189% as compared to the last period analyzed.

(Granma)

Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, member of the Communist Party of Cuba Political Bureau and secretary general of the Federation of Cuban workers, described the event as a broad, massive mobilization of the regional and world left to support our Revolution.

“Cuba is again a meeting place for those who defend peace, solidarity among peoples, justice, and democracy based on the true power of the progressive masses,” the Cuban leader stated, emphasizing that the event will propitiate debate and interaction around a program of concrete action to condemn the brutal economic, commercial, financial blockade imposed unilaterally by the U.S. government.

He said it will be an opportunity to build and reinforce unity among these forces, to continue the struggle for systematic change in the face of a capitalist offensive to impose neocolonialism, racism, and other forms of discrimination.

To be considered is the media war launched by imperialism, along with our own creative communicational strategies to provide accurate information.

Five work groups will meet during the event to gather opinions and initiatives to oppose belligerent U.S. foreign policies, that has led to armed conflicts is all parts of the planet. An open tribunal will be held in a Havana neighborhood, and one group will meet at the Latin American School of Medicine to learn about Cuba’s solidarity in the academic training of youth from around the world.

Some 1,000 delegates are expected, from all continents, along with representatives from the Cuban Social Movement Coalition, which includes the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, the Federation of Cuban Workers, the National Association of Small Farmers, the Federation of Cuban Women, the Cuban Peace Movement, and the Martin Luther King Center, among others.

(Granma)

Since April of last year, through March 2019, this hostile U.S. policy has caused Cuba losses of 4,343,600,000 dollars, he added.

Throughout its history, the blockade has served to harm Cuban families, depriving them of the most elementary resources, disrupting their health, well-being, and peace, in a desperate attempt to provoke “disappointment and discouragement through economic dissatisfaction and hardship … with the objective of causing hunger, despair, and overthrow of the government,” as a 1960 memorandum from U.S. diplomat Lester Mallory reads.It is also the most unjust, severe, and prolonged unilateral system of sanctions that has been ever been levied on any country, to which we can add, the most failed.

During a press conference, the Cuban Foreign Minister denounced actions taken in recent weeks by the Trump administration, to deny Cuba access to fuel.

“The government of the United States is taking specific, unconventional measures that imply a qualitative change, with greater aggressiveness and even greater extraterritoriality, to prevent the arrival of fuel to our country,” said Bruno Rodríguez.

These measures include direct threats, persecution of fuel transportation companies, and pressure on governments of countries where ships are registered, as well as sanctions on shipping and insurance companies.Rodríguez Parrilla said that these moves constitute an escalation of hostility seeking to dissuade and intimidate the country’s international associates, creating additional difficulties for the Cuban population.

The U.S. coercive measures seek the “economic strangulation of our people,” he said.The Minister denounced the expulsion from the United States of two Cuban diplomats working at United Nations headquarters in New York, just as the 74th General Assembly is beginning, describing the move as unjustified and illegitimate, based on slander.He added that these measures “aim to provoke a diplomatic escalation that will lead to the closure of both countries’ embassies, further tightening of the blockade, and greater tension between the two countries.”He called on the international community, diplomatic missions of other nations in the United States, and the people of that country to repudiate those decisions.

(Granma)