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October 2007 Reflections |
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Bush, Mambí? Viva Cuba libre! (Long live free Cuba!). That was the war cry throughout the plains and the mountains, forests and sugarcane fields, identifying those who began Cuba’s first war of independence on October 10, 1868. I never imagined that I would hear those words coming from the mouth of a president of the United States 139 years later. It is as if a king of that time, or his regent, were proclaiming: Viva Cuba Libre! On the contrary, a Spanish warship drew near the coast and with its guns destroyed the small sugar mill, just a few kilometers from the sea, where Carlos Manuel de Céspedes declared the independence of Cuba and freed the slaves that he had inherited. Lincoln, the son of a poor woodcutter, fought all his life against slavery, which was still legal in his country almost a hundred years after its Declaration of Independence. Adhering to the just idea that all citizens are born free and equal, making use of his legal and constitutional powers, he declared the abolition of slavery. Countless combatants gave their lives to defend this idea against the rebel slave states in the country’s south. Lincoln is said to have stated: “You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all of the time.” He died by an assassin’s bullet while, invincible at the polls, he was running for a second presidential mandate. I am not forgetting that tomorrow, Sunday, marks 48 years since Camilo Cienfuegos' disappearance at sea on October 28, 1959, as he was returning to Havana in a light aircraft from Camagüey province, where days earlier his sole presence disarmed a garrison of simple Rebel Army soldiers whose superiors, of a bourgeois ideology, were attempting to do what Bush is now demanding almost half a century later: rise up in arms against the Revolution. Che, in a wonderful introduction to his book Guerrilla Warfare, states: “Camilo was the comrade of 100 battles…the selfless combatant who always made sacrifice an instrument for tempering his character and forging that of the troops... he gave the written framework presented here the essential vitality of his personality, his intelligence and his audacity, which are achieved in such exact proportions in just a few figures in history.” “Who killed him? “We might better wonder: who eliminated his physical being? Because men like him live on in the people...The enemy killed him; they killed him because they wanted him dead; they killed him because there are no safe planes, because pilots cannot have all the experience they need, because, overburdened with work, he wanted to reach Havana in a few short hours…in his mentality as a guerrilla fighter, not one cloud could hold back or distort a line which had been charted…Camilo and the other Camilos (those who didn’t make it and those yet to come) are the indicators of the people’s strength; they are the highest expression of what a nation may give when on a war footing to defend its purest ideals and with its faith set on securing its noblest goals.” Because of what their names symbolize, we reply to the false Mambí: Long live Lincoln! Long live Che! Long live Camilo! Fidel Castro Ruz Bush, Hunger and Death For the first time, just before the UN discusses Cuba’s proposed resolution condemning the blockade, as it does every year, the president of the United States has announced that he is to adopt new measures to accelerate the “transition period” in our country, equivalent to a new conquest of Cuba by force. On the other hand, the danger of a massive world famine is being aggravated by Mr. Bush’s recent initiative to transform foods into fuel, while at the same time, citing strategic security principles, he is threatening humanity with World War III, this time using atomic weapons. These crucially important issues are the ones that interest the representatives of the countries that will be meeting on Tuesday, October 30, to discuss the Cuban resolution condemning the blockade. In elections where voting is not mandatory, our people have just delivered their verdict, with more than 95 percent of the electorate casting their vote at 37,749 voting stations, in ballot boxes guarded by schoolchildren. That is the example provided by Cuba. Fidel Castro Ruz The Elections Our elections are the antithesis of those held in the United States, not on Sundays but on the first Tuesday of November. Being very rich or having the support of lot of money is what matters the most there. Huge amounts are later on invested in publicity, specialized in brain washing and the creation of conditioned reflexes. With honorable exceptions, no one can hope to be appointed to an important post without being backed by millions of dollars. Being elected President in the US requires hundreds of millions, which come from the coffers of big monopolies. Elections can be won by a candidate earning a minority of votes. Less and less citizens are going to the ballots; there are many who would rather go to work or spend their time doing anything else. There is fraud, tricks, discrimination against ethnic minorities and even violence. Having more than 90 per cent of all citizens voting in the elections and school children guarding the ballots is an unheard of experience; it's hard to believe that this occurs in one of the “dark corners of this world”, a harassed and blockaded country named Cuba. That is how we exercise the vigorous muscles of our political awareness. Fidel Castro Ruz A Silent Complicity The world cannot afford to let the tragedy of NATO’s war against Yugoslavia be forgotten due to the silence of those who were actors and accomplices of that brutal genocide. President Clinton, National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and other close collaborators of the President, including the person who was ordered by Berger not to take notes when Cuba was discussed, were at the meeting Clinton held with Aznar in the White House on April 13, 1999, where the decision to intensify the bombings was made, and Aznar suggested that Serbian television, radio and other facilities be bombed, in actions that would take the lives of innumerable defenseless civilians. Some of them, through press statements or in a book or memoir, may have individually written about the adventure, but none focused on the real danger and suicidal wars that the United States is leading the world to. The publication of the existing secret documents could be the legacy of a President in 200 years from now, when, judging by the pace we’re going at, there will no longer be any publicity or readers. Less than ten years have since gone by. In Europe and elsewhere they have many accomplices keeping silence. After my third message was sent to Milosevic, Italy’s Minister of Transportation visited Cuba. I met with him on March 30, 1999 and directly discussed the issue of the war against Yugoslavia. What follows is a summary of what I said to him, according to the notes taken during our conversation, in the presence of my Office staff and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "I began by asking why they had invaded Serbia and how they were going to reach a settlement. I told him that, in my opinion, it had been a great mistake and that, were the Serbs to offer resistance, they would run into a cul-de-sac. Why did Europe need to dismantle Yugoslavia, which had implemented many reforms and which, strictly speaking –the Cold War having ended– could not be labeled a communist state and, much less, an enemy of Europe? I explained that, in order to satisfy the German government’s demand, Europe had encouraged and supported the separation of Croatia, where, during World War II, Nazi Germany organized the fearful chetniks, groups which perpetrated countless crimes and massacres against the Serbs and the liberation movement headed by Tito. "Due to this complacency and lack of political foresight, in the prevailing euphoria of the days when the socialist block and the Soviet Union were in a crisis, Europe dismantled Yugoslavia. This resulted in bloody episodes and, specially, in the long and violent war in Bosnia and, ultimately, in NATO’s current war against Serbia. By then, Macedonia’s separation had also taken place, which meant the mutilation of the greater part of the Yugoslav Federation. Only Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo remained. "As everyone knows, for decades Kosovo’s population of Albanian descent grew uninterruptedly until it became the broad majority. In Tito’s lifetime, long before his death, many Serbian families left Kosovo seeking safety faced with the numerous acts of violence that extremist groups from Kosovo committed against them. At that time, in Kosovo, the Serbs were subjected to what today is called ethnic cleansing. "Yugoslavia’s unnecessary and bloody disintegration encouraged and unleashed the underlying conflicts between the majority, of Albanian descent, and Kosovo’s Serbian minority, conflicts which are at the root of the current problem. "The Serbian people are the essential core of what remains of the former Yugoslavia. They are a combative and courageous people who have been profoundly humiliated. I was convinced that, offered ample autonomy, Serbia would have accepted an honorable and peaceful settlement of the conflicts in Kosovo. "Kosovo’s moderate groups, acting in an intelligent and constructive fashion, supported this settlement, as the presence of a broad majority of Albanian descent would, sooner or later, make the peaceful emergence of an independent state possible. Europe knows perfectly well that Kosovo’s extremist groups did not want this settlement; they demanded immediate independence and, because of this, wanted the intervention of NATO forces. "It is unfair to lay all of the responsibility on Serbia. Serbia has not invaded any sovereign country. What it has done, in essence, is oppose the military presence of foreign troops in its territory. For months, in recent weeks particularly, it has known nothing but constant threats. Its unconditional surrender was urged. No country can be treated like that, let alone the people who, in the days of Europe’s occupation, fought most heroically against the Nazis and have ample experience in irregular warfare. "If the Serbs resist –and I am convinced that they will resist– NATO will have no other option but to commit genocide, but such an action would fail, for two reasons: "Firstly: they would be unable to defeat the Serbian people if the latter applied all of its experience and irregular warfare doctrine. "Secondly: Public opinion in NATO member countries themselves would not allow such an action. "Armored divisions, stealth bombers, tomahawk, cruise missiles or any other so-called intelligent weapon would not suffice. A missile or bomb would have to be launched for every person capable of carrying a rifle, a bazooka or a portable anti-aircraft weapon. All of NATO’s power would, in this case, be useless. There are star wars and there are ground wars. All high-tech equipment notwithstanding, individual combatants would be the most important element in this type of war. "Beyond Kosovo, a much more serious problem is emerging, to the detriment of Europe’s and the world’s interests. Russia has been humiliated terribly. NATO has already advanced to the borders of what was once the Soviet Union and it is promising to include other states of the former socialist block, and even Baltic countries that were part of the Soviet Union. Russians have every reason to think they will not stop until they reach the walls of the Kremlin. "Like the Serbs, the Russians are a Slavic people and this sense of identity is very strong among these peoples. The attacks on Serbia are profoundly humiliating for them and, more than any other action, they have produced deep and justified feelings of insecurity, not only among the Russians but in India and China as well, and these countries will undoubtedly attempt to ally themselves to Russia to guarantee their security. I doubt the Russians would cease to do whatever is necessary to retain a response capability which would be their sole guarantee in this situation. "Neither Europe nor the world, with their current and overwhelming economic problems, would gain anything through such a course of action. "A few days ago, in the early morning of March 26, while returning from Colombia to Russia before schedule, the President of the Russian Federation’s State DUMA, Guennadi Selezniov, made a stopover at Havana’s airport. I took up these issues with him of my own initiative. I told him no military solution was possible, that, without a doubt, any effort to offer Serbia military aid would inevitably lead to a general war, as the only means available to wage such a war today are not conventional. I said also that the battle was of a political, not military, nature. "Selezniov publicly expressed this point of view I shared with him. "Both, Europe and the world are duty-bound to find such a settlement, which, though difficult and complex, is perfectly possible. If, rather than devote all their efforts to threatening Serbia with terrible bombings, they had brought pressures to bear on extremists in Kosovo, such a settlement could have been reached. Only NATO can contain extremists in Kosovo through frank and uncompromising efforts. It is not a question of using weapons to achieve this, but, rather, of warning the extremists in such a way that they will be certain, beyond all doubt, that they do not have NATO’s support. There is no question that the bombs that have been dropped on Serbia for a week now will never contribute to these dissuasive efforts. "In addition to this, I believe it is a serious political mistake that the United States and Europe should try to keep Russia on the edge of the precipice in economic terms by imposing it the International Monetary Fund’s unviable formulas. "The West makes no mention of the 300 billion dollars that have been stolen from Russia and relocated to Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Austria and other countries. This is fifteen times the miserable 20-billion-dollar loan that the International Monetary Fund has been discussing for months now. The West, which recommended or imposed these models and policies on Russia, shares in the responsibility for this ruthless plundering of Russia’s wealth. "An internal explosion in Russia would be catastrophic. This is coupled with NATO’s encroachment, which I’ve already mentioned, the proposal to cancel the Strategic Anti-Missile Defense Agreement and, now, the incredible humiliation surrounding the attack launched by NATO’s powerful forces against a small country like Serbia. "I told him I was against all kinds of genocide or slaughters, regardless of the perpetrator, and that all ethnic groups and religions, without exception, are deserving of the right to life, culture and peace. "If I have taken the liberty of explaining this, it is because I feel it is my duty to warn you of these dangers and of the need to solve them. To lay these issues on the table does no harm to anyone and can, on the contrary, benefit everyone. I again expressed my conviction that the Serbs would resist, and that a peaceful settlement was, in my opinion, feasible, even though negotiating with a country on which thousands of bombs had been dropped and whose honor, dignity and economy had been dealt a harsh blow was by no means easy. "NATO has practically no more military targets to strike, perhaps only concentrated or moving troops remain, and the easiest thing for these troops would be to split up to wage another type of war in which they cannot be destroyed by air strikes. "Europe knows that ground combat would be very costly in terms of human lives and, what’s more, futile. I added that, were the Serbs to deploy the strategy we would use in our country in the event of an invasion by the United States, an area in which they have already shown extraordinary experience, NATO’s war would be futile and repulsive, an act of genocide in the heart of Europe destined to be condemned everywhere". oday is a glorious day for our country, the day on which Carlos Manuel de Céspedes began Cuba’s war of independence against the Spanish metropolis. He was a source of inspiration for the generations of Cubans who came after him. What he taught us was the duty to reflect on and confront the dangers that menace the human species today. Fidel Castro Ruz 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 Second and Third Messages to Milosevic and his Response On April 2, 1999, I sent Milosevic my second message through our UN mission: “It would be advisable not to indict the three US prisoners. International public opinion is now especially susceptible and a strong anti-Serb movement might result.” On April 5, 1999, I sent him a third message through our mission in the UN and Yugoslavia: “We congratulate you on the decision with regards to the three prisoners as reported by press agencies. Your promise to treat them well and to release them when the bombings cease is very intelligent and apt. It has foiled the United States' maneuver to turn its domestic public opinion against Serbia; a public opinion which is deeply divided on the issue of the aggression. The ruthless bombing of civilian targets and the Serbian people's heroic resistance are having an impact within and outside of Europe and within NATO itself.” That same day, on the 5th, we received Milosevic's official reply through his Ambassador to the UN: “I want to express my appreciation to the President and people of the Republic of Cuba for their sympathy and solidarity with our people and country, victims of a US – NATO aggression. Fidel Castro Ruz Milosevic's Response In my reflections of Monday, October 1, I referred to the message I had sent to Milosevic on March 25, 1999. On March 30, I received from Milosevic the following note: “H.E. Mr. President: There were in fact two wars -one of which is not over yet-, and two fatidic encounters with Aznar –one of them between him and Clinton and the other one between him and Bush. There were two identical tours made by Aznar –one via Mexico City to Washington and the other via Mexico City to Texas- both in the pursuit of the same goal and equally void of ethical principles-, in which he was self-proclaimed war coordinator for the changeable US presidents. Fidel Castro Ruz The Empire’s Illegal Wars When the United States and its NATO allies started the war on Kosovo, Cuba immediately defined her position on the front page of the newspaper Granma, on March 26, 1999. This was done in a Declaration of her Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the title of “Cuba's appeal to end NATO’s unjustified aggression against Yugoslavia.” I take essential paragraphs from that Declaration: “After a number of painful and highly manipulated political occurrences, extended armed confrontations and complex, hardly transparent negotiations around the issue of Kosovo, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization finally launched its announced and brutal air attack against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, whose peoples fought most heroically in Europe against the Nazi hordes during World War II. “This action, conceived of as a 'punishment of the Yugoslavian government’, is conducted on the margin of the UN Security Council. Because of these occurrences, I had sent a message to President Milosevic the day before, through the Yugoslavian ambassador in Havana and our ambassador in Belgrade. “I beg you to communicate the following to President Milosevic: Fidel Castro Ruz |
Fidel Castro Ruz is the President of Cuba. |
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