Fidel blasts Obama

Cuban
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Fidel
blasts
Obama

A
service
by the Radio Progreso Alternativa Havana Bureau

Under
the title, “The Empire’s Cynical Policy” Cuba’s former
president on Monday, May 28, published a new “Reflection” in the
official daily Granma.
Fidel
wrote a strong critique of U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama on
account of a speech he gave at a luncheon sponsored by the Cuban
American National Foundation (CANF) in Miami. Although Castro made
clear that he harbors “no grudge against him (Obama), because he is
not responsible for the crimes against Cuba and against humanity,”
he reproached the candidate his statement that as president he would
keep in place the blockade the U.S. has imposed over Cuba.

Although
Obama said in his speech that he would lift the ban on family trips
to Cuba and the limit on remittances, in a move to win the favor of
his audience, he said that “never in my lifetime the (Cuban) people
have known true freedom: never in the lifetime of two generations
have the people of Cuba known a democracy (…) I’ll keep the
embargo.”

The
former Cuban president,
still considered spiritual leader of the revolution, wrote in his
article that “Candidate Obama’s speech can be translated into a
formula of hunger for the nation, the remittances as charity and
visits to Cuba as propaganda for consumerism and the unsustainable
way of life that supports it.”

Cuba’s
authority
and prestige keep growing

In
a special intervention at the second working session of the
Provisional Commission on International Relations of the Cuban
parliament, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque said
that the prestige and authority of the Cuban revolution and the
support to the people’s struggle against the blockade and
imperialist aggressions are increasing.

Pérez
Roque explained to the members of parliament that during these years
the country has defeated what has been the basis of U.S. imperialist
policy to isolate the revolution. At present Cuba “has diplomatic
relations with 186 states and heads the Non Aligned Countries
Movement,” he said.

He
also stressed that the country has reinserted itself in Latin America
and the Caribbean. “There was a moment 40 years ago when only
Mexico had relations with Cuba. Today, of the 32 Latin American
countries, we have full relations with 30 of them.” Likewise,
Minister Pérez Roque expressed that the rejection of the
blockade has been “virtually universal,” and reminded everyone
present that in 2007, at the UN, 184 countries voted against the
White House’s genocidal measure that has lasted almost five
decades.

Pérez
Roque said that Cuba’s cooperation with other countries has
increased in spite of economic difficulties and “generated more
solidarity and a greater commitment with Cuba.”
At present there are more than 30,000 full scholarship students from
120 countries in Cuban schools — 23,000 are studying medicine. Cuba
also has 30,000 collaborators in the field of health care in more
than 70 countries.

The
Foreign Minister also mentioned Cuba’s active role in the United
Nations and other international organisms, and how it was able to
defeat U.S.
maneuvers to single out our country on the issue of human rights,
“the old and politicized Human Rights Commission.” He concluded
by informing Members of parliament about the present state of
relations with the European Union. According to the Minister, the
development of the dialogue will be possible on the basis of mutual
respect, non intervention in internal affairs, and respect for Cuba’s
self-determination and sovereignty, as well as the lifting of
sanctions imposed by the EU on the island in 2003.

Dredging
the
Bay of Santiago

With
the objective of increasing operational capacity for
the Port of Santiago de Cuba and allow entrance to larger ships,
dredging of the bay will begin in the next few days.

The
process will last until October and will mean the extraction of more
than 2.6 million cubic meters of sediments in order to increase depth
to 11 meters.

According
to Cuban news media, this will enlarge ship flow to bulk and
multipurpose load terminals and a greater use of the ships’ loading
capacity.

For
the dredging,
Dutch built suction equipment will be used that stirs and removes
sediment and subsequently transports it to a dump two miles out.

Environmental
experts warned that during this period fishing, bathing and sports
and recreational activities will be limited in the bay, in order to
avoid risks due to the dredging.

There
will be monitoring and a constant vigilance of the ecosystem, besides
informing the neighboring communities.

The
Santiago Bay has historical, cultural and environmental values and
due
to its geographic position, it is recognized as a window to the
Caribbean.

Cuba-Canada
musical
exchange

The
Holy Trinity Academy Band, from the Canadian city of Okotoks,
Alberta, and the Cuban group Diákara, two different but
complementary jazz visions, culminated the latter’s week long visit
of familiarization with Cuba’s art education system in Havana.

For
the Canadian youngsters,
led by Martin Kennedy, exponents of a classic swing line and
jazz-rock fusion, it was wonderful to share the stage at the Jazz
Café with a Cuban group that displays all its rhythmic power
through the virtuoso performance of its percussionists, led by Oscar
Valdés, one of the founders of the legendary Irakere band.

The
Canadian delegation visited the Alejandro García Caturla
Conservatory. They were visiting under the sponsorship of the Canada
Cuba Sports & Culture Festivals and the Cuban Ministry of
Culture’s National Center of Art Schools.

“When
I return home I’ll speak to my colleagues about the excellence of
Cuban art education,”
said Kennedy, commenting about his experience on the island.