Manneken Pis: The CELAC-EU Summit
Editor’s Note: As this paper was ready for publication, word came that EU and CELAC leaders found a draft that was signed by everyone except the Nicaraguan government. The approved paragraph begins like this: “We express our deep concern about the ongoing war against Ukraine, which continues to cause immense suffering”, etc, etc. The diplomatic niceties, while avoiding mentioning Russia directly, make it clear that Russia is the one leading the war against Ukraine.
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What I have seen appearing on TV the most is the Summit. I don’t know, it seems that we are destined for mountaineering, summits and more summits. Now it is the EU-CELAC Summit, eight years after the previous one, which was the Second. That seems fine to me. But as I write this note, we find ourselves stuck in Third, a position that in baseball terms indicates that we haven’t scored a run yet.
What’s happening?
The final statement deals with how to designate the conflict in Eastern Europe: Special Military Operation, Invasion of a foreign country, conflict in Eastern Europe. I could add others, but that’s where the noises go.
The war conflict is very serious and serious. The Ukrainians put their lives, NATO, the EU and the US provide the weapons, they don’t put their skins. Thats the reality
How to reconcile opinions in the Final Declaration so that everyone signs it?
The media and international information note the declaratory blockade to the position of three countries: Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela, opposed to classifying the Russian decision to invade Ukraine as an aggression, on which and at the time, 141 of the 193 member countries of the UN, condemned said action as an invasion of a sovereign state. Of course, the decisions are not binding, we Cubans have already known for years about the non-binding regarding the Blockade.
The fact is that the war does not allow us to reach Home and score runs… I clarify: I don’t know what it would mean for us to score runs when the ones we need as a priority, with old urgency, are in our legs and our national stadium. Belgium is far away.
I know that country thanks to Hercule Poirot, a shrewd private investigator, a character in novels and films, capable of solving enigmas, except who stole the original Manneken Pis at the end of the 14th century, that small statuette that urinates with ease just one strong pee from the Grande Place in Brussels.
Oh, how interesting it would be if Poirot, generous moustache, egg-shaped head, clarified a bit about this impasse in the Final Declaration of the Summit and provided a solution. I would ask his opinion on how it is possible to defend national sovereignties and at the same time justify the violation of others. Does it all depend on who is at the Top of the royal Summits? To what extent have the sovereigns of the world economy “carried away”, stolen, national sovereignties? Will we be at the mercy of two or three global mafias?
The fact is that looking at the Manneken Pis, several ideas occurred to me. If you were in some places of our Cuban homeland and you pissed water, at this time when thousands of Havanans do not have water through the pipes, the queue with buckets…
What if I peed beer? The reader can imagine the number of Kurds and non-Kurds drinking at the foot of the fountain. They would name him National Patron.
Nothing, friends, there can be summits, agreements, disagreements, moorings under rope or on ropes, but that child has pissed for centuries on everything that has happened and happens.
