News Blackout on Cuban Aid to Haiti

As I write the amount of aid and the speed in which it has been delivered to Haiti must be accredited to the Cubans while the Americans play a merciless game of delay. In the mainstream media's silence over the generous role being played by Cuba we see how the MSM remains in the stranglehold of US influence.

Cuba increases aid to Haiti

On Wednesday morning, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla received his counterpart from the Republic of Suriname, Lygia Louise Irene Kraag-Keteldijk, who is on an official visit to our country.

As part of official talks between the two ministers, Rodríguez gave a detailed explanation of the situation of Cuban cooperation workers in the sister Republic of Haiti after the terrible earthquake that occurred on Tuesday.

In that context, he clarified that there are currently "403 Cuban cooperative personnel, 334 of whom are working in the health sector as doctors and paramedics," in the devastated country. He said they had been able to confirm the status of all those working "within the city of Port-au-Prince. Only two of them received very slight injuries, and the others have confirmed that they are all right."

"We are verifying the situation and gathering complete information about cooperative workers in other parts of the country. We have been able to locate the majority of them and they are fine," he assured.

The minister added that victims have been receiving medical attention from the Cuban brigade since the earthquake struck. He noted that "they are now working in two campaign hospitals in our medical personnel’s accommodation facilities."

He said that plans are underway to more emergency aid to the sister Caribbean nation, consisting of "a quantity of medicine and health materials. An additional number of doctors are to travel there."

"Our ambassador and other compañeros working in Port-au-Prince spent the entire night and early morning touring the city to contact our compatriots there because communication lines have collapsed. Equally, "the team from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working tirelessly to coordinate the response from all of our institutions."

The Cuban foreign affairs minister reiterated Cuba’s disposition to participate in any CARICOM effort. "In this context we are in contact with the CARICOM mission and we will certainly work together there to provide assistance to the Haitian people."

Ana Ivis Galán García, Granma International

The Lesson of Haiti by Fidel Castro

Che: A Musical Tribute – Carlos Puebla, Jahmila, and Manu Chao

I meant to put out this post last Friday, October 9, the 42nd anniversary of the death of Che Guevara.

After Che’s death, Cuba’s most popular folk singer, Carlos Puebla, wrote a song, “Hasta Siempre, Comandante,” (Farewell Comandante) to honor him. It is a very beautiful and compelling song. Below are two versions: the first is sung by Carlos Puebla and includes several pictures of Che and the second is a rockin’ kickass version sung by a band called “Jahmila.”

In addition, last weekend in Havana, Manu Chao performed in tribute to Che. The third video shows the last 10 minutes of their concert.

Enjoy!

Hasta siempre, Comandante!

Honduras Oye!

Che

I make a halt in my daily struggle to bow my head in respect and gratitude to the exceptional combatant who fell on October 8th, forty years ago; for the example he passed on to us as leader of his Rebel Army Column, which crossed the swampy grounds of the former provinces of Oriente and Camagüey while being chased by enemy troops.

He was the liberator of the city of Santa Clara, and the creator of voluntary work; he accomplished honorable political missions abroad and served as a messenger of militant internationalism in eastern Congo and Bolivia; he built a new awareness in our America and the world.

I thank him for what he tried but was not able to do in his home country, because he was like a flower prematurely severed from its stem.

He left us his unmistakable style of writing — with elegance, brevity and veracity — every detail of whatever happened to cross his mind. He was a predestinate, but he didn’t know it. He still fights with us and for us.

Yesterday, we commemorated the 31st anniversary of the killing of the passengers and crew of a Cuban airliner that was blown up in mid-flight, and we are on the threshold of the tenth anniversary of the cruel and unjust imprisonment of the five Cuban anti-terrorist heroes. We likewise bow our heads to them all.

It was with great emotion that I watched and heard the commemoration ceremony on TV.

Fidel Castro Ruz

October 7, 2007

Thousands of people march to La Higuera to pay tribute

LA PAZ.— Thousands of people, most of them young people from different countries, began a 60-km march to the village of La Higuera in southeastern Bolivia to participate in a vigil in memory of the Argentine-Cuban revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara, who was murdered there 40 years ago.

The march began in the town of Vallegrande, where more than 7,000 people gathered from all over the world. Most of whom had not even been born when Guevara led the guerrilla warfare campaign in Bolivia that lasted almost nine months. The young people filled the town with their multi-colored tents.

The vigil would be the preamble to the main program planned for Monday, which was to feature the participation of President Evo Morales, according to Osvaldo Peredo, one of the organizers of the 2nd International Conference on Che Guevara, which began on Friday with cultural activities, colloquiums, exhibits and musical performances, the AP reported.

The main activity planned for today, October 8, will take place on the Vallegrande landing strip, where Che’s body was secretly buried together with those of his fellow combatants, and where they remained until 1997, when they were repatriated to Cuba.

Translated by Granma International

Protesta contra Bush en Australia
• Anuncian gran marcha de rechazo el sábado. Despliegan fuerzas especiales para vigilar la cumbre de la APEC

Tomado de Juventud Rebelde

CANBERRA, Australia, septiembre 5.— Las protestas por la presencia de George W. Bush en Australia continúan sintiéndose en Sydney, y esas acciones se irán incrementando a medida que se acerque el inicio del Foro de Cooperación Económica Asia-Pacífico (APEC) a celebrarse en esa ciudad el fin de semana próximo.

Por segundo dÍa consecutivo los australianos marcharon en Sydney contra Bush. Foto: AP

La organización ecologista Greenpeace marcó el paso en las protestas de este miércoles con la colocación de sendas estatuas de hielo de Bush y John Howard, el primer ministro australiano, con el objetivo de que se derritan como protesta por la inacción de Australia y Estados Unidos en el tema del calentamiento global, dice AFP.

Los ecologistas critican la utilización excesiva por parte de los países industrializados de energías fósiles, mientras que Sydney y Washington rehúsan ratificar el Protocolo de Kyoto sobre la reducción de gases que producen el efecto invernadero.

Otra original protesta está prevista para el viernes, cuando cerca de 2 000 personas pretenden congregarse en un parque de Sidney cerca de donde se reunirán los dirigentes de la APEC para decirle verdaderamente a Bush lo que piensan de su visita.

El punto culminante que marcará a las muestras de rechazo unánime por la presencia del jefe de la Casa Blanca en territorio australiano, será una gran marcha el sábado en la que se espera participen decenas de miles de personas.

Para contener las protestas —que en otras Cumbres han derivado en represión y hechos de violencia— las autoridades australianas cercaron con altas vallas metálicas una gran parte del centro de la ciudad, incluyendo el emblemático edificio de La Opera, cerrado al público desde el martes y hasta el próximo domingo.

La policía australiana presentó un recurso ante la justicia para prohibir la manifestación del sábado, porque —alegan— constituye una seria amenaza a la seguridad si se le permite pasar, como está previsto, por el consulado estadounidense.

Unos 3 500 policías y 1 500 soldados de fuerzas especiales y de unidades antiterroristas fueron desplegados en la ciudad para vigilar la cumbre y la estadía de los mandatarios, en lo que se considera el mayor operativo de seguridad de la historia de Australia.

Granma Internacional

En francais

Protest against Bush in Australia

Big opposition march announced for Saturday. Special forces deployed to monitor APEC Summit

CANBERRA, Australia, Sept. 5.— Protests against the presence of George W. Bush in Australia continued in Sydney and are expected to continue to grow, leading up to the start of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in that city at the end of the week.

For the second straight day, Australians marched against Bush in Sydney. Photo: AP

The environmental organization Greenpeace participated in Wednesday’s demonstrations by erecting two ice sculptures of Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard, with the idea that they will melt in protest against the lack of action to counter global warming on the part of Australia and the United States, the AFP reported.

Environmentalists are criticizing the excessive utilization of fossil fuels by the industrialized countries, while Sydney and Washington refuse to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on the reduction of greenhouse gases.

Another creative protest is expected on Friday, when some 2,000 people plan to gather in a Sydney park near where APEC leaders will meet, to send a message to Bush about what they really think about his visit.

The culmination of these demonstrations of opposition to the presence of the White House chief on Australian territory will be a big march on Saturday, in which tens of thousands of people are expected to participate.

Translated by Granma International