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

Fidel, in battle as always
By Deisy Francis Mexidor

Granma International

THE presence of Cuban President Fidel Castro on Cuban Television on Tuesday, June 5, filled the inhabitants of this archipelago with satisfaction and joy.

Visibly better and in a very good mood, we saw him once again in battle, as always, as he dialogued with “Mesa Redonda” (Roundtable) host Randy Alonso.

Their conversation on the program was a little over 50 minutes long, during which the president focused on the recent visit by Nong Duc Manh, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, which he described as “excellent,” along with the almost three-hour long conversation between the two leaders, and progress achieved in that sister Asian nation as it heals the wounds of war and destruction. It is a country with an “ancient culture,” he noted.

Fidel warmly recalled his past visits to Vietnam, highlighting the essence of a heroic people that has known how to rise up. In his comments, he specified that “what they are doing in education is wonderful.”

Further on, he noted that during this stage of Vietnamese recuperation, one of the things they have learned is to consume a better balance of foods.

And at one point, he said that for now, he was not thinking about breaking the record of a Japanese man, who at the age of 71 years, two months and two days, climbed Mt. Everest. “One would have to ask him what his life was like and how he ate,” he added.

For that reason, he emphasized, to the extent that people realize the value of food, “they will acquire more consciousness for resisting global tyranny,” and reiterated that “this most recent invention for using food as raw materials [for producing biofuels] is truly horrible.”

Likewise, he mentioned the G-8 Summit that was taking place in Germany. He said that the reaction had been incredible, the demonstrations provoked by that meeting and the presence at it of U.S. President George W. Bush. “Look at the reception they’ve been given,” he commented, adding that global awareness has grown about the dangers of climate change.

In the coming days, “I have quite a few issues to address,” he said, adding that with respect to his health, “I am doing what I should be doing now; there is nothing [else], there is no secret. It couldn’t be put any clearer.”

Almost at the end of their chat, the president said that it was the “first Roundtable program; let’s see how things go.” And he added, smiling, “there is sufficient material” for other spaces, joking that he was dressed “more or less like a soccer player.”

The special “Roundtable” broadcast also featured the documentary De Hanoi a Hiroshima (From Hanoi to Hiroshima), by Roberto Chile, from the Council of State’s Publications Office, about Fidel’s last visit to our sister nation of Vietnam in 2003, part of a tour that also included Malaysia, China and Japan.

Before the program was over, international news agencies began covering it. CNN En Español broadcast excerpts of the interview, and EFE published an article saying that Fidel had spoken animatedly, while Spanish-language TV stations in Miami interrupted their regular programming to report on the event.

For their part, the Venezolana de Televisión and Telesur networks linked up with the “Roundtable” program, broadcasting the interview in its entirety. And one of the major Internet search engines, Google, was already featuring 746 articles on the event at the close of this edition (1:00 a.m.) Meantime, the AFP summed up in one of its headlines: “Fidel is going to be around for a while, his followers say after TV interview.”

Translated by Granma International

Fidel en la batalla de siempre
Deisy Francis Mexidor

Granma Internacional

LA presencia del presidente Fidel Castro este martes en la pantalla de la Televisión Cubana, llenó de satisfacción y alegría a los habitantes de este archipiélago.

Visiblemente recuperado y con muy buen estado de ánimo se vio de nuevo en la batalla de siempre, mientras dialogaba con el conductor de la Mesa Redonda, Randy Alonso.

Fueron algo más de 50 minutos de intercambio, durante los cuales el Jefe de la Revolución centró sus palabras en la reciente visita del secretario general del Partido Comunista de Viet nam, Nong Duc Manh, la cual calificó de "excelente"; la conversación de casi tres horas entre ambos, así como los avances de la hermana nación asiática, tras restañar las heridas de la guerra y la destrucción. Un país de "cultura milenaria", dijo.

Fidel recordó con emoción sus visitas a Viet nam y resaltó la esencia de un pueblo heroico que ha sabido crecerse. En sus comentarios precisó que en "educación es maravilloso lo que están haciendo".

Refirió más adelante que en esta etapa de su recuperación una de las cosas que ha aprendido es a ingerir alimentos mejor balanceados.

Y en un momento acotó que por ahora no pensaba romper el récord del japonés, que a los 71 años de edad dos meses y dos días subió el Everest. "Habría que preguntarle cómo fue su vida y de qué se alimentó", añadió.

Por eso, subrayó que en la medida en que la gente conozca el valor de los alimentos, "más conciencia tomará para resistir la tiranía mundial", lo que dio pie para que reiterara que "el último invento este de utilizar los alimentos como materia prima (para producir agrocombustibles), es verdaderamente horrible".

Igualmente, mencionó la Cumbre del G-8 que se desarrolla en Alemania.

Expresó que ha sido increíble la reacción, las manifestaciones que ha generado la reunión y la presencia del presidente de Estados Unidos, George W. Bush. "Mira qué recepción les han dado" y señaló que ha crecido la conciencia mundial sobre los peligros del cambio climático.

Para los próximos días "tengo unos cuantos temas que abordar", acotó y ratificó que en cuanto a su salud "estoy haciendo lo que ahora debo hacer, no hay nada, no hay ningún secreto, más claro no se puede hablar".

Casi al final del diálogo, el presidente Fidel Castro dijo "esta es la primera ‘Mesita’ Redonda, vamos a ver cómo salen las cosas", comentó sonriente, "hay suficiente material" para otros espacios, y bromeó que estaba vestido "más o menos como futbolista".

Como parte de la transmisión especial, se ofreció el documental De Hanoi a Hiroshima, de Roberto Chile, de la Oficina de Publicaciones del Consejo de Estado, sobre la última visita que el Comandante en Jefe hiciera al entrañable y hermano Viet nam en el 2003, ocasión en la que también hizo una gira por Malasia, China y Japón.

Sin concluir aún el programa, las agencias internacionales de noticias comenzaron a transmitir. La televisora en español CNN brindó varios fragmentos de la entrevista. La española EFE emitió un despacho en el que comentó que Fidel habló de forma animada, en tanto las televisoras hispanas de Miami paralizaron su programación regular para ofrecer detalles del hecho noticioso.

Por su parte, Venezolana de Televisión y Telesur se encadenaron con la Mesa Redonda y brindaron de forma íntegra el diálogo de Fidel. Al tiempo que uno de los principales buscadores de Internet, Google, tenía hospedados al cierre de esta información más de 746 artículos relacionados. Mientras, la AFP resumía en un titular: Hay Comandante para rato, dicen seguidores de Fidel tras entrevista en TV.

Granma Internacional

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Fidel Castro, Undefeated

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Una recopilación de imagenes de EL COMANDANTE EN JEFE. (fondo musical, Silvio Rodriguez- Playa Giron) Revolucionario y luchador. Ha hecho de Cuba el único pais de las Americas que no se acuesta ante el imperio.

Fidel Castro. El mas grande. Un ejemplo de vida. Impresindible.

A compilation of images (music, Silvio Rodriguez, Playa Giron) of THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, revolutionary and fighter. He made Cuba into the only country that would not bow down before Empire.

Fidel Castro. The grandest. An exemplar of life. Impressive.

Vivo en un país libre
cual solamente puede ser libre
en esta tierra, en este instante
y soy feliz porque soy gigante.

I live in a free country
Which may only be free on this Earth,
In this moment,
And I am happy because I'm a giant.

War and the Police State: Complicity of the American People

Donna J. Thorne likes Patrick Henry too.

She quotes:"We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth…. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those, who having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not..? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it might cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know.. it — now." Patrick Henry, 1775. cont

I'll give you another quote, Donna J. Thorne. "They that would give up essential liberty for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin.

And a third quote from the immortal Che Lynch Guevara:

"If we, in a small point of the world map, are able to fulfill our duty and place at the disposal of this struggle whatever little of ourselves we are permitted to give: our lives, our sacrifice, and if some day we have to breathe our last breath on any land, already ours, sprinkled with our blood let it be known that we have measured the scope of our actions and that we only consider ourselves elements in the great army of the proletariat but that we are proud of having learned from the Cuban Revolution, and from its maximum leader, the great lesson emanating from his attitude in this part of the world: "What do the dangers or the sacrifices of a man or of a nation matter, when the destiny of humanity is at stake."

"Our every action is a battle cry against imperialism, and a battle hymn for the people's unity against the great enemy of mankind: the United States of America. Wherever death may surprise us, let it be welcome, provided that this, our battle cry, may have reached some receptive ear and another hand may be extended to wield our weapons and other men be ready to intone the funeral dirge with the staccato singing of the machine-guns and new battle cries of war and victory."

With Thanks to Maitreya & Nemesis News