As well as participating in a range of educational congresses, Frei Betto has been active in the fight against the economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba, in the campaign for the return of Elián González and for the freedom of the Five anti-terrorists.

This Monday, in the Aula Magna of the University of Havana, he was awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa in Philosophy, during a ceremony presided over by Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, member of the Party Political Bureau and first vice president of the Councils of State and Ministers.

Winner of the National Social Sciences Award, Dr Fernando Martínez Heredia, emphasized Betto’s commitment to the people of Brazil, noting that “The poorest and the workers of Brazil proclaimed him their doctor years ago, because he put his intellect and his actions at the service of those struggling against prolonged dictatorship and until now he has defended the rights of the Brazilian people.”

On accepting the honorary title, Betto noted that “The most outstanding Cubans were students at this university, from Félix Varela to Fidel Castro. Another name worth mentioning is the student president of the struggle against Batista, José Antonio Echeverría, who was president of the FEU, founded the Revolutionary Directorate, and on the day of the assault on the Presidential Palace, March 13, 1957, died fighting against the wall of this university.”

He expressed thanks to the university and to Cuba “for giving Latin America and the world men and women who embody the deepest human values.”

Also attending the ceremony were Dr. Rodolfo Alarcón Ortiz, minister of Higher Education; the advisers to the President of the Councils of State and Ministers, Abel Prieto and José Ramón Fernández; Dr Gustavo Cobreiro Suárez, rector of the university; Armando Hart Dávalos, director of the Martí Program Office and president of the José Martí Cultural Society, and His Excellency Cesario Melantonio, ambassador of the Federative Republic of Brazil.

(Granma)

A sample about the frustration of these media are holders of the Spanish newspaper “El Pais”, which instead of reflect what happened in Cuba, it highlighted what did not happen: “The Pope is not making any critical message to the Castro´s” (4) “The pope avoided any reference to the dissidents in his first act in Cuba” (5), “Silencing of Francisco” (6) or “Pope admits that he never thought meeting with Cuban dissidents” (7).

But the media didn´t conform to convert non- news in news. In addition, shamelessly manipulated the statements of the protagonists.

“El País” adulterated the message of a well-known supporter of the Cuban Revolution: the Brazilian Dominican friar Frei Betto (8). “In Cuba there may be a ‘shock ‘ between austerity and consumerism ” was the headline, focusing all the news in a brief reflection of Betto about the dangers of mass tourism from US on the island, which just took a few minutes to a long wheel press. For knowing all that “El Pais” condemned to their readers we must turn to the Cuban press, which reported about the reflection of the theologian (9), but also reflected other more central statements: for example, that the Cuban people “have pride to defend their revolution”, “whose values are similar to the “gospel values” of “solidarity (and) sharing of possessions”; or the recognition about the failure of the blockade by the United States as similar to “US defeat in Vietnam” (10).

The Spanish newspaper “El Mundo” did the same with the words of the Cuban singer Silvio Rodriguez. “Silvio Rodriguez: we had to approach before to the United States” (11) was the headline of an interview, aimed Cuba as guilty of political “alienation” to US in recent years. But if we read the interview -realized in a written way as is the usual manner of the singer to avoid manipulations- we discover that what Silvio said was another thing: “the rapprochement between Cuba and the United States” (…) “had to happen before”. He didn´t mark out guilty explicitly. In any case, the position of this troubadour is well known. A few days ago, in his blog “Second Date”, he reminded the Cuban literacy killed by gangs paid by the CIA and how he “had to learn how to handle weapons” to defend “from their political and military” (referring to US) (12).

Other media even twisted the words of the Pope. In the Argentine newspaper “Clarin” we read that “in his first Mass in Cuba, the Pope criticized ideologies” (13). But though he did not speak about what ideologies, there was “Clarin” to clarify the situation: “the definition of the Pope -we read- sounded powerful for being said in a country like Cuba, with a regime that gives to the Marxist ideology –which “consecrate“ the State- a great importance”.

Days later, Pope Francisco was traveling to US. Do you think that any of these media had titled in a condemnatory way that “Pope hadn´t made any critical message to the US government” -for police repression, causing two deaths every day in that country (14), by participation of its army in armed conflicts in 74 countries (15), or by the tens of thousands of people who die each year due to lack of public services and universal health (16)? Do you think they talked about the “silence of Francisco” because “he avoided any reference to dissidents” imprisoned in the US, as Oscar López Rivera, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Leonard Peltier (17) or Bradley Manning (18)? What you believe?

(Por José Manzaneda, Cubainformacion´s coordinator)

(1) http://www.tvn-2.com/el-papa-en-cuba/notas/periodistas-acreditados-cubrir-Papa-Cuba_0_4303069737.html

(2) http://www.cubainformacion.tv/index.php/lecciones-de-manipulacion/42539-cuba-300-medios-y-una-sola-maquina-de-inventar-palabras-que-el-papa-no-dijo-parte-1

(3) http://www.cubainformacion.tv/index.php/la-columna/210-edmundo-garcia/64717-la-visita-del-papa-celebracion-en-cuba-y-resignacion-en-los-medios-de-miami

(4) http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2015/09/21/actualidad/1442861529_290577.html

(5) http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2015/09/20/actualidad/1442757405_412384.html

(6) http://elpais.com/elpais/2015/09/22/opinion/1442942930_625577.html

(7) http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2015/09/22/actualidad/1442952751_428486.html

(8) http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2015/09/19/actualidad/1442676129_126540.html

(9) http://www.cubadebate.cu/opinion/2015/09/22/el-papa-en-cuba/#.VgJac31RLIU

(10) http://www.juventudrebelde.cu/cuba/2015-09-19/frei-betto-el-pueblo-cubano-heroicamente-ha-resistido-el-bloqueo/

(11) http://www.elmundo.es/cultura/2015/09/21/55fc5338268e3e51548b45bc.html

(12) http://segundacita.blogspot.com.es/2015/08/deseo-una-quebrada.html

(13) http://www.clarin.com/mundo/Papa-gira-Cuba-misa-ideologias_0_1434456981.html

(14) http://www.cubainformacion.tv/index.php/doble-rasero/63827-ise-imaginan-que-un-solo-preso-llevara-en-cuba-43-anos-en-aislamiento-como-en-eeuu

(15) http://actualidad.rt.com/actualidad/view/94390-eeuu-guerras-conflictos-mundo

(16) http://www.librered.net/?p=19015

(17) http://www.cubainformacion.tv/index.php/solidaridad-con-cuba/64605-comienza-jornada-en-washington-contra-el-bloqueo-con-un-llamado-a-que-eeuu-imite-a-cuba-en-la-liberacion-de-presos

(18) http://www.cubainformacion.tv/index.php/objetivo-falsimedia/50553-Bradley-Manning-la-traicion-de-revelar-asesinatos-torturas-e-invasiones

The renowned Brazilian intellectual and theologist talked to participants in the 3rd International Conference for World Balance, to approach the necessity to articulate an ethics permitting to overcome the inequalities and conflicts of the planet.

Betto alerted on the existence of threats that attempt against the profit of a balanced world, such as the massive destruction weapons, the superiority of the interest for the capital at international level and the existence of mass media that do not try to make informed citizens, but to generate consumers.

Opposed to this, at the present moment there are conjunctures, like the existence in Latin America of governments coming from their towns, said Betto, a winner of the UNESCO International Jose Martí Award that was delivered to him Monday, during the inauguration of the Conference.

“The peoples of our continent, which suffered during the military dictatorships in the last decades of the last century, and disappointed by the neoliberal governments, now choose leaders who govern in favor of majorities, defend the sovereignty and deny foreign powers the right to dictate rules in the region,” he said.

In this convergency of promissory and ominous aspects, the theologian called

to get conscious that the capitalist world has become impossible, so it is necessary to look for other possible worlds, in which the nuclear arsenals are eradicated and the human species is preserved.

He also exhorted to learn from the original peoples in aspects such as their relation with nature and its communitarian sense to distribute goods and wealth.

He emphasized the example of the Cuban Revolution, guided by the thought of Jose Martí, which he considered, Marti knew how to preserve his originality without invassion of concepts that had ominous consequences in other places of the world.

The Cuban Revolution, he said, “this is enough” to the expansion of imperialism, woke up the critical conscience of our peoples, fomented liberation movements and gave the evidence that the utopia can become a reality and that the hope is never in vain.

In addition, Betto talked about the tradition of independence in the continent, in which men, women and also the indigenous groups have participated, as another one of the positive elements on which the balance of the world should be settled.

My wish is for a Happy New Year where, God willing, all children will feel awash in Mozart, Pixinguinha Noel Rosa when they turn on the TV; will learn the difference between impressionists and expressionists; see shows re-enacting the Balaiada, the Confederation of the Equator and the War of the Emboabas and go to sleep after saying their prayers.

I want a New Year where, in the rural areas, everybody will have a piece of land full of oranges and lettuces and where the wings of humming birds flutter amongst the dairy cows. In the city, a roof under which there will be a kitchen stove with saucepans brimming over, a parlour carpeted with colourful remnants and a photo of the couple in an oval frame above the sofa.

I hope for a New Year where churches will open their doors to the silence of the heart, the organ will murmur songs of the angels and the Bible is shared like bread. May faith and justice hold hands and join together to help those who are unhappy to stop looking heavenwards to ease their unhappiness.

A Happy New Year to couples who feel free in the art of loving, their home smelling sweetly of perfume, their children contemplating their parents’ passionate looks and the family so entertained with dialogue that they don’t notice the television which is a mute and blind machine in a corner of the parlour.

I wish for a New Year where libertarian dreams are so strong that young people with hearts beating with ideals will not resort to the chemicals of drugs nor fear the future nor express themselves in unintelligible dialects. May they all be addicted to utopia.

I hope for a New Year where we will all avoid pinning resentment into the folds of our hearts, wash all wrath and injury from our memory walls and not bet on racing with time nor counting life’s speed by heart beats.

A New Year for enjoying the brevity of existence as if it were forever in the company of the goldsmiths of delights whose able fingers incrust tender and eternal jewels into every-day routine.

A New Year where all are assured the right to work, the respectability of a dignified salary, conditions for a human life, the potential of their profession and the joy of a vocation. A new year capable of satiating our hunger for bread and beauty.

I pray for a New Year where the police will be known for the lives they protect and not for the murders they commit; where prisoners will be re-educated towards social living and the poor will replace the blindfold on the eyes of Justice so that she will be impartial.

A New Year without untruthful politicians, arrogant authorities, corrupt employees and flatterers of every sort. May politics be the multiplication of the loaves without miracles, the duty of some and the right of all, free of immature enthusiasm.

I hope for a New Year where cities once again will have parks with trees; where public squares will have welcoming benches for citizens given to the healthy leisure of contemplating nature by listening in silence to the voice of God and celebrating with friends the simple things of life – a wide range of memories, a game of cards, the laughter of one who stands out as the best joke teller.

I wish for a New Year in which the human rights leader won’t humiliate his wife at home, the teacher of citizenship won’t throw paper on the ground, children will give their seats to the elderly and the distance between what is public and private will be shortened by the bridge of consistency.

I want a New Year with books enjoyed like popcorn, a body carrying less fat, a mind free of stress, the spirit enrolled in a dance troupe to the sound of the deepest mysteries.

I desire a New Year where the government will avoid our people from being affected by the crisis in capitalism, will free the population from the heavy tax of social degradation and gather in its lap the millions of children who are prematurely condemned to work with no fantasies other than the fear of death.

I hope for a New Year where the principal event is the inauguration of the Showroom of Human Dignity, where alternatives are presented so that never again will human beings feel threatened by poverty or prevented from having bread, peace and pleasure.

A New Year where competition gives way to solidarity, accumulation to sharing, ambition to meditation, aggression to respect and the love of money to the spirit of the Beatitudes.

I aspire to a New Year with a bird orchestra singing at dawn, rivers denuded by the transparency of their waters, lungs exulting with fresh air and tables filled with unpolluted food.

I pray for a New Year which will never grow old, just as the oak tree which gives us shade, the philosophy of the Greeks, the light of the Sun, the wisdom of Job, the splendour of the mountains in Minas Gerais and Gregorian music.

A year so new it carries the imprint of everything that is reborn: the day, the exuberance of the sea, hope and our capacity to love and excludes all that in the past made us less beautiful and good.