Bréf Gerardo Hernández, sem situr í bandarísku fangelsi fyrir að upplýsa ..

Hernández var dæmdur í tvisvar sinnum ævilangt fangelsi í Bandaríkjunum fyrir að upplýsa áætlanir um hryðjuverká Kúbu. Fjórir aðrir sitja í bandarískum fangelsum fyrir sömu "sakir".
Bréfið er frá 12. september s.l.

Dear compañeras y compañeros:

We arrive at the 10th anniversary of the arrest of the Cuban Five at a crucial moment of our legal process. (That is what they call it, although perhaps “illegal process” would be more appropriate.) The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Atlanta, has just ended our appeal.

That is to say, if it were up to them, things would stand as is, and some day my bones would be sent to Cuba, after death frees me from two life sentences.

The court in question has given unmistakable signals of the type of “justice” that the Five can aspire to in this country. When there was a decision 3-to-0 in our favor, with 93 pages of solid arguments in which the three-judge panel characterized our trial as “The Perfect Storm,” the full panel, against all predictions, not only agreed to review the decision, but reversed it without much explanation. The “perfect storm” quickly became simply a drizzle.

Yet, this time, when the decision was 2-1 against the Five, with obvious legal errors, with a judge arguing in 16 pages that the prosecution presented absolutely no proof that sustains the charge of conspiracy to commit murder, and with a judge who—although voting against us—recognized that it is a “very close case,” and with several defense arguments that were not even seriously analyzed, the 11th Circuit categorically refused to review it.

As we say in Cuba: “Not even water is as clear.” We have said time and again that this is a political case, and those who do not see it as such, choose not to see it.

Someone recently mentioned that now the Supreme Court has the last word. I would say, the second-to-last word. The final word in the case of the Cuban Five rests with you, our sisters and brothers of Cuba, the United States and the whole world, who throughout all these years have been our principal source of encouragement. Our hopes are not placed in any court. Ten years are more than enough to have cured us of any such naïve notion.

You are our hope, who through sacrifice and swimming against the current, have succeeded in making people on all continents aware of the injustice committed against the Five. You are the ones who are not taking time out or resting in your homes but instead are honoring us with your presence in different activities, commemorating the 10th anniversary of our imprisonment. You continue struggling to unmask the double standard of a government that invades other countries to supposedly fight terrorism, at the same time that it harbors and protects infamous terrorists, and imprisons those who are trying to stop those criminal acts.

We have confidence in you to expose the hypocrisy of the corporate media and of certain international organizations, which portray mercenaries—who betray our people for a handful of dollars or a visa—as suffering political prisoners. Yet they are disgracefully silent in the case of two women who have been deprived for a decade of the basic right to visit their husbands in prison.

We know that right is on our side, but to win true justice we need a jury of millions of people throughout the world, and we need you, defenders of just causes, to make our truth known.

The injustice committed against the Five has kept us away from our homeland for ten years, but it has not kept us from accompanying our people through joyful times and also the suffering. A few days ago Hurricane Gustav caused great damage in Cuba, mainly on the Isle of Youth and in Pinar del Río, two territories from which we have received many expressions of support and love all these years.

We are certain that all the people of Pinar del Río and Isle of Youth, together with local and national leadership, with the solidarity of all dignified Cubans and many friends of the world, will become stronger in these difficult moments and—as is characteristic of revolutionaries—will convert the setbacks into victory. Although it is not possible for us to be there physically, today more than ever the Cuban Five are with you in our hearts, with our brothers and sisters in the Isle of Youth and Pinar del Río, who have done so much to support the struggle for our liberation.

Compañeras y compañeros: Ten years after that September 12, 1998, we thank you once again for walking this long and rough road together with us. We know, that to continue this march, we can keep counting on you, and you can also always count on our firm determination to resist, with our heads held high, for as long as it takes.

¡Hasta la Victoria Siempre!

Gerardo Hernández Nordelo
Federal Prison
Victorville, California
September 2008

Þess vegna vill Kúba ekki fá "rannsóknarnefndina"

Kúba afþakkar yfirferð bandarískra eftirlitamanna um flóðasvæði í landinu. Lesið hér (á ensku):

STATEMENT BY THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Yesterday, September 9, 2008, at 11:50 A.M., the Department of State conveyed to the Interests Section of Cuba in Washington Note Nº 252/18 in which, after expressing its regrets for the additional damage caused to the Cuban people by hurricane Ike, it insists in the visit to our country of a “humanitarian assessment team” to “inspect the affected areas”.

Today, September 10, at 7:20 P.M. the Interests Section of Cuba in Washington sent to the Department of State Note Nº 046/08, in which it conveys its appreciation for the expressions of regret by the Government of the United States for the damage caused in Cuba by hurricane Ike, and reiterates that Cuba does not require the assistance of a humanitarian assessment team as it has a sufficient number of trained specialists to deal with this task.

The Note emphasizes that if the Government of the United States is really willing to cooperate with the Cuban people it is requested to allow the sale to Cuba of indispensable material, such as materials for roofing, for building repairs and for the re-establishment of electric networks.

Likewise, it reiterates the request that the Government of the United States suspend the restrictions preventing U.S. companies from providing private commercial credits to Cuba for the purchase of foodstuffs in the United States.

The Note also calls the attention of the Department of State that the visit to Cuba of a humanitarian assessment team is not required to allow the sale of the aforementioned materials and to authorize private credits for the purchase of foodstuffs.

Lastly, the Note of the Interests Section of Cuba underscores to the Department of State that its Note Nº 252/18 insists in a request that the Government of Cuba had already replied to in Note Nº 1886 of September 6, 2008, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but, and it is highly significant, it does not actually respond to the two concrete requests made by the Government of Cuba to the Government of the United States in order to cope with the damage caused by hurricane Gustav, that it once again reiterates.

On the other hand, during the last few hours, spokespersons of the Government of the United States have attempted to justify the refusal by President Bush to allow the sale to Cuba of indispensable materials and to authorize private commercial credits to purchase foodstuffs in the U.S.

Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, affirmed categorically on Sunday, September 7: “I don’t think that (…) the lifting of the embargo would be wise”.

The Spokesman of the Department of State, Sean McCormack, insisted, on Monday, September 8, in a press briefing, on the alleged importance that Cuba accept an assessment team to inspect  damage “in situ”. Responding to the observation of journalists that other countries have provided assistance without demanding a previous inspection of damage in the field, McCormack responded evasively: ”See if the Cuban Government changes its mind about allowing us to help the Cuban people”.

On his part, the Cuban American Carlos Gutiérrez, U.S. Commerce Secretary and Co-Chairman of the commission in charge of implementing the Bush Plan against Cuba, expressed hypocritically yesterday: “…we reiterate our offer to allow a USAID team to travel to Cuba to assess the situation”.

This is a cynical attitude of the Government of the United States. It attempts to suggest that it is desperate to cooperate with Cuba, and that we are the ones refusing. It lies shamelessly.

Why does the Government of the United States insist in the pretext of carrying out an inspection “in situ” when the information disseminated regarding the serious effects caused by the hurricanes in Cuba is widespread and obvious?

Why does it use the precondition of sending an inspection team, something that no one else has done among the scores of countries that are already generously cooperating with Cuba?

Why does the Government of the United States refuse to allow Cuba to purchase materials for building repairs, roofing or components the re-establishment of electrical networks in the U.S.?

Why does it forbid U.S. companies and their subsidiaries in all countries, to provide Cuba with private credit for the purchase of foodstuffs, which today are essential to ensure food for the affected population and to replace reserves in the event of new hurricanes?

These are the questions that the U.S. Government must answer. These are the questions that the international community, that overwhelmingly supports Cuba in its struggle against the blockade, poses to the Government of the United States.

Cuba has not asked the Government of the United States for any gift whatsoever. Simply to be allowed to purchase.  Anything else is pure rhetoric, pretexts and justifications that no one believes. Cuba will go forward. No hurricane, blockade or aggression will be able to prevent it.

 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba
Havana, September 10, 2008

Bandaríkin og Kúba deila um aðstoð

Public Statement

Public Statement
of the Meeting of Northern European Cuba Friendship Associations,
Reykjavik, Iceland 25-26th of April 2008

Times are changing and the European Union and all European countries have all reasons to go forwards with its dialogue with Cuba, annul its Cuba sanctions and develop cooperation with this island nation that shines with its progress in so many fields. We are talking about the Cuba which the analysis of the World Wildlife Fund says is the only sustainable country in the world. We are talking about the Cuba whose infant mortality is 5.3 ‰, decidedly lower than the 6.4‰ of the rich USA, and whose parliament has 43% women members, placing it third in the world. In spite of the US blockade against Cuba, the economy of the island nation is one of the fastest growing, having accumulated a 42.5% GDP increase 2004-2007. This has made it possible to refurbish hospitals, raise wages substantially, renew public transport systems, continue decentralising university education to the municipal level and continue Cuba’s large-scale international solidarity, and much more.

Cuba has at present 36,578 doctors and other health workers giving health care amongst the poor in 73 countries. In Cuba 30,000 youth from third world countries are in training to be doctors. One hundred doctor trainees are from poor areas in the USA. The training is free of charge, the only condition being that they return to give health care to the unprivileged communities they come from. Operation Miracle has so far saved the eyesight of over one million patients with cataracts or other serious eye diseases. Cuba’s literacy programme “Yes, I can!” has taught three million to read and write. Cuba’s solidarity work and mutual cooperation reach around the world, but especially to its Latin American neighbours such as Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Dominica who cooperate in ALBA the Bolivarian Alternative.

The people of Latin America are creating new hope, welfare and a life of dignity, freeing themselves of being the backyard of the USA. However, the present US government is unwilling to revise its ambitions of enslavement and primitive exploitation of Latin America, and beefs up its military bases, instead of embracing how the poor and the indigenous peoples take control of their own lives and their countries’ resources and raise their standard of living, which in time will also give substantial new opportunities for foreign trade and exchange.

Cuba has stood up to the almost 50 year long criminal U.S. blockade, a blockade which meets increased criticism within the US Congress. However the George Bush government frenetically steps up its actions against Cuba in accordance with the Helms-Burton law and the so-called Bush Plans of 2004 and 2006. The latest step has been to triple the budget for subversive activity in Cuba to 45.7 million US dollars for 2008. To assist with this, Europeans and Latin Americans are specifically sought for. With this dirty money in his wallet the so-called “Cuba Transition Coordinator” Caleb McCarry has been on a half-secretive tour in Europe and met with anti-Cuban grouplets. He has also been received by various governments’ officials, the purpose of which is to pressure the European Union to step up sanctions against Cuba. In June the EU is expected to review its Common Position on Cuba. Before that, the 16-17th of May, the next Summit of the EU – Latin America & Caribbean (LAC) will take place in Lima, Peru.

Since the previous EU-LAC Summit in May 2006 in Vienna, cooperation projects between Latin American and Caribbean countries have multiplied. Also trade with both the EU and the USA has gone forwards. Social programmes are put in motion by the popular new governments. Cuba’s involvement and international solidarity makes a great impact especially on the health of the poorer population sectors, who earlier hardly had access to doctors. Cuba has attained increased prestige and love within Latin America and the Caribbean. This is reflected in Cuba being entrusted with a seat on the UN Council of Human Rights and also being at present elected as the General Secretary of the 118 country strong Non-Aligned Movement.

When Louis Michel, EU Commissioner of Development and Humanitarian Aid met with Cuba’s Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque in Havana the 7-9th of March, they were in agreement that dialogue and mutual respect were the way forwards to normalize relations between the EU and Cuba. The EU sanctions must be done away with. However there are governments within the EU who wish for more confrontation with Cuba, a policy that in practice gives support to the US criminal blockade against Cuba and strengthens the demonization propaganda.

It is now the time for the EU to develop the dialogue and cooperation with Cuba already started, and to:
• Abolish the 2003 sanctions, which stipulate no to top-level political contacts and cultural exchange.
• Give up the Common Position on Cuba, a result of the 1996 US Helms-Burton law’s blackmail, and intentionally break the blockade.
• Use all available channels to convince the US Government to respect the opinion of the grand majority of the UN General Assembly that the blockade politics against Cuba must cease.
• Declare that the existence of the US-torture-camp at Guantánamo base is a crime against humanity, and demand that the bay area is returned to the sovereign state of Cuba.

REYKJAVIK, the 26th of April, 2008

Cuba Association of Norway
Cuba Support Group Ireland
Danish-Cuban Association
Finnish-Cuban Friendship Association
Iceland-Cuba Friendship Association
Lithuanian-Cuban Friends Club
Swedish-Cuban Association

Fidel Castro um ræðu Obama í Miami 23. maí.

02 June 2008

The Empire's Hypocritical Politics

It would be dishonest of me to remain silent after hearing the speech Obama delivered on the afternoon of May 23 at the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF)created by Ronald Reagan. I listened to his speech, as I did McCain's and Bush's. I feel no resentment towards him, for he is not responsible for the crimes perpetrated against Cuba and humanity. Were I to defend him, I would do his adversaries an enormous favor. I have therefore no reservations about criticizing him and about expressing my points of view on his words frankly.

What were Obama's statements?

"Throughout my entire life, there has been injustice and repression in Cuba. Never, in my lifetime, have the people of Cuba known freedom. Never, in the lives of two generations of Cubans, have the people of Cuba known democracy. (...) This is the terrible and tragic status quo that we have known for half a century - of elections that are anything but free or fair (...) I won't stand for this injustice, you won't stand for this injustice, and together we will stand up for freedom in Cuba," he told annexationists, adding: "It's time to let Cuban American money make their families less dependent upon the Castro regime. (...) I will maintain the embargo."

The content of these declarations by this strong candidate to the U.S. presidency spares me the work of having to explain the reason for this reflection.

José Hernandez, one of the Cuban American National Foundation directives who Obama praises in his speech, was none other than the owner of the 50-calibre automatic rifle, equipped with telescopic and infrared sights, which was confiscated, by chance, along with other deadly weapons while being transported by sea to Venezuela, where the Foundation had planned to assassinate the writer of these lines at an international meeting held in Margarita, in the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta.

Pepe Hernández' group wanted to renegotiate a former pact with Clinton, betrayed by Mas Canosa's clan, who secured Bush's electoral victory in 2000 through fraud, because the latter had promised to assassinate Castro, something they all happily embraced. These are the kinds of political tricks inherent to the United States' decadent and contradictory system.

Presidential candidate Obama's speech may be formulated as follows: hunger for the nation, remittances as charitable hand-outs and visits to Cuba as propaganda for consumerism and the unsustainable way of life behind it.

How does he plan to address the extremely serious problem of the food crisis? The world's grains must be distributed among human beings, pets and fish, which become smaller every year and more scarce in the seas that have been over-exploited by the large trawlers which no international organization could get in the way of. Producing meat from gas and oil is no easy feat. Even Obama overestimates technology's potential in the fight against climate change, though he is more conscious of the risks and the limited margin of time than Bush. He could seek the advice of Gore, who is also a democrat and is no longer a candidate, as he is aware of the accelerated pace at which global warming is advancing. His close political rival Bill Clinton, who is not running for the presidency, an expert on extra-territorial laws like the Helms-Burton and Torricelli Acts, can advice him on an issue like the blockade, which he promised to lift and never did.

What did he say in his speech in Miami, this man who is doubtless, from the social and human points of view, the most progressive candidate to the U.S. presidency? "For two hundred years," he said, "the United States has made it clear that we won't stand for foreign intervention in our hemisphere. But every day, all across the Americas, there is a different kind of struggle --not against foreign armies, but against the deadly threat of hunger and thirst, disease and despair. That is not a future that we have to accept --not for the child in Port au Prince or the family in the highlands of Peru. We can do better. We must do better. (...) We cannot ignore suffering to our south, nor stand for the globalization of the empty stomach." A magnificent description of imperialist globalization: the globalization of empty stomachs! We ought to thank him for it. But, 200 years ago, Bolivar fought for Latin American unity and, more than 100 years ago, Martí gave his life in the struggle against the annexation of Cuba by the United States. What is the difference between what Monroe proclaimed and what Obama proclaims and resuscitates in his speech two centuries later?

"I will reinstate a Special Envoy for the Americas in my White House who will work with my full support. But we'll also expand the Foreign Service, and open more consulates in the neglected regions of the Americas. We'll expand the Peace Corps, and ask more young Americans to go abroad to deepen the trust and the ties among our people," he said near the end, adding: "Together, we can choose the future over the past." A beautiful phrase, for it attests to the idea, or at least the fear, that history makes figures what they are and not all the way around.

Today, the United States have nothing of the spirit behind the Philadelphia declaration of principles formulated by the 13 colonies that rebelled against English colonialism. Today, they are a gigantic empire undreamed of by the country's founders at the time. Nothing, however, was to change for the natives and the slaves. The former were exterminated as the nation expanded; the latter continued to be auctioned at the marketplace men, women and children for nearly a century, despite the fact that "all men are born free and equal", as the Declaration of Independence affirms. The world's objective conditions favored the development of that system.

In his speech, Obama portrays the Cuban revolution as anti-democratic and lacking in respect for freedom and human rights. It is the exact same argument which, almost without exception, U.S. administrations have used again and again to justify their crimes against our country. The blockade, in and of itself, is an act of genocide. I don't want to see U.S. children inculcated with those shameful values.

An armed revolution in our country might not have been needed without the military interventions, Platt Amendment and economic colonialism visited upon Cuba.

The revolution was the result of imperial domination. We cannot be accused of having imposed it upon the country. The true changes could have and ought to have been brought about in the United States. Its own workers, more than a century ago, voiced the demand for an eight-hour work shift, which stemmed from the development of productive forces.

The first thing the leaders of the Cuban revolution learned from Martí was to believe in and act on behalf of an organization founded for the purposes of bringing about a revolution. We were always bound by previous forms of power and, following the institutionalization of this organization, we were elected by more than 90 percent of voters, as has become customary in Cuba, a process which does not in the least resemble the ridiculous levels of electoral participation which, many a time, as in the case of the United States, stay short of 50 percent of the voters. No small and blockaded country like ours would have been able to hold its ground for so long on the basis of ambition, vanity, deceit or the abuse of power, the kind of power its neighbor has. To state otherwise is an insult to the intelligence of our heroic people.

I am not questioning Obama's great intelligence, his debate skills or his work ethic. He is a talented orator and is ahead of his rivals in the electoral race. I feel sympathy for his wife and little girls, who accompany him and give him encouragement every Tuesday. It is indeed a touching human spectacle. Nevertheless, I am obliged to raise a number of delicate questions. I do not expect answers; I wish only to raise them for the record.

Is it right for the president of the United States to order the assassination of any person in the world, whatever the pretext may be?
Is it ethical for the president of the United States to order the torture of other human beings?
Should state terrorism be used by a country as powerful as the United States as an instrument to bring about peace on the planet?
Is an Adjustment Act, applied as punishment on only one country, Cuba, in order to destabilize it, good and honorable, even when it costs innocent children and mothers their lives? If it is good, why is this right not automatically granted to Haitians, Dominicans, and other peoples of the Caribbean, and why isn't the same Act applied to Mexicans and people from Central and South America, who die like flies against the Mexican border wall or in the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific?
Can the United States do without immigrants, who grow vegetables, fruits, almonds and other delicacies for U.S. citizens? Who would sweep their streets, work as servants in their homes or do the worst and lowest-paid jobs?
Are crackdowns on undocumented residents fair, even as they affect children born in the United States?
Are the brain-drain and the continuous theft of the best scientific and intellectual minds in poor countries moral and justifiable?
You state, as I pointed out at the beginning of this reflection, that your country had long ago warned European powers that it would not tolerate any intervention in the hemisphere, reiterating that this right be respected while demanding the right to intervene anywhere in the world with the aid of hundreds of military bases and naval, aerial and spatial forces distributed across the planet. I ask: is that the way in which the United States expresses its respect for freedom, democracy and human rights?
Is it fair to stage pre-emptive attacks on sixty or more "dark corners of the world", as Bush calls them, whatever the pretext may be?

Is it honorable and sound to invest millions and millions of dollars in the military industrial complex, to produce weapons that can destroy life on earth several times over?

Before judging our country, you should know that Cuba, with its education, health, sports, culture and sciences programs, implemented not only in its own territory but also in other poor countries around the world, and the blood that has been shed in acts of solidarity towards other peoples, in spite of the economic and financial blockade and the aggression of your powerful country, is proof that much can be done with very little. Not even our closest ally, the Soviet Union, was able to achieve what we have.

The only form of cooperation the United States can offer other nations consists in the sending of military professionals to those countries. It cannot offer anything else, for it lacks a sufficient number of people willing to sacrifice themselves for others and offer substantial aid to a country in need (though Cuba has known and relied on the cooperation of excellent U.S. doctors). They are not to blame for this, for society does not inculcate such values in them on a massive scale.

We have never subordinated cooperation with other countries to ideological requirements. We offered the United States our help when hurricane Katrina lashed the city of New Orleans. Our internationalist medical brigade bears the glorious name of Henry Reeve, a young man, born in the United States, who fought and died for Cuba's sovereignty in our first war of independence.

Our revolution can mobilize tens of thousands of doctors and health technicians. It can mobilize an equally vast number of teachers and citizens, who are willing to travel to any corner of the world to fulfill any noble purpose, not to usurp people's rights or take possession of raw materials.

The good will and determination of people constitute limitless resources that cannot be kept and would not fit in a bank's vault. They cannot spring from the hypocritical politics of an empire.

Fidel Castro Ruz
May 25, 2008

"Free the five" alþjóðlegt átak

Dæmdir fyrir að sporna gegn hermdarverkum

 
Þeir Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González og René González voru handteknir 1998 og dæmdir 2001 í til allt frá áratuga fangelsisvist til tvöfaldrar lífstíðar. Þeir voru að fylgjast með kúbansk-bandarískum gagnbyltingarinnarmönnum á Flórída, sem hafa skipulagt og framkvæmt hermdarverk á Kúbu, til þess að vara við slíkum hryðjuverkum.

Mennirnir fimm voru sakfelldir í Miami fyrir ‘samsæri um njósnir’ fyrir erlent ríki. Lögmaður þeirra, Leonard Weinglass segir að þeir hafi ekki haft undir höndum eitt einasta skjal sem ekki var opinberlega aðgengilegt fyrir alla: „Ekkert af því 200.000 síðna efni sem var lagt hald á í fórum þeirra er ekki opinbert gagn.“

Lögmenn fimmmenninganna hafa síðan reynt að fá réttarhöld yfir þeim flutt frá Miami, sem er sterkasta vígi kúbanskra gagnbyltingarmanna. Í fyrstu var samþykkt að ný réttarhöld færu fram, en síðan ákvað fullskipaður dómstóll á sama stað að dómarnir skyldu gilda. Þessu ferli er ekki lokið, en mennirnir hafa nú setið inni tæpan áratug.

         Vináttufélag Íslands og Kúbu hvetur þig til þess að kynna þér málið, vekja athygli annarra á því og styðja kröfur um að Kúbumennirnir fimm verði látnir lausir. Við bendum þér á ítarlegri upplýsingar um málið er að finna með því að klikka á myndina hér til hliðar.

 

                                ----------------------------------------------------- 

 

 

Stjórn Vináttufélags Íslands og Kúbu kjörin á aðalfundi 24. apríl 2008

Formaður:  Sigurlaug Gunnlaugsdóttir (s. 551-3695/868 1182)
Netfang:  [e-mail]

Aðalmenn:
        Benedikt Haraldsson
        Hafþór Pálsson
        Halldór Gústafsson
        Jón Elíasson

Varamenn:
        Guðlaugur Leósson
        Pétur Böðvarsson

Árgjald VÍK

Þeir sem vilja  styðja VÍK með því að greiða árgjald geta greitt inn á reikning VÍK. Það er 1500 krónur og leggist inn á reikning 0526-26-460615, kt: 670880-0289. Gíróseðlar eru sendir félögum í mars á hverju ári.

VÍK, pósthólf 318, 121 Reykjavík.
Netfang:  [e-mail]
Ábyrgðarmaður: Hafþór Pálsson

Um kosningar á Kúbu

Samkvæmt Prensa Latina eru 8,4 milljónir manna 16 ára og eldri á kjörskrá á Kúbu. Í dag 20. janúar 2008 er tvöföld kosning: Það er kosnir 1200 fulltrúar á svæðisbundin þing og 614 á þjóðþingið. Á undan kosningum fer fjöldi funda þar sem atkvæði eru greidd um frambjóðendur. Kosningin er ekki gild nema fleiri en einn hafi verið í framboði. (Það gildir líka um frægan mann, hvers nafn byrjar á C.) Kosningarnar í dag loka þessu ferli fyrir næstu fimm ár.

Valkostir kjósenda eru fjórir: að mæta ekki, að mæta og skila auðu, að krossa við suma frambjóðendur og ekki aðra, að setja X í reit sem er fyrir alla á einu bretti. Í síðustu kosningum greiddu 92% fólks á kjörskrá fullgild atkvæði en 96% alls greiddu atkvæði. Samkvæmt mínum upplýsingum voru um 80% fulltrúa þjóðþingsins félagar í kommúnistaflokknum. Einhverjir trúarleiðtogar eru á þinginu. Konur voru tæp 40% –fleiri á svæðisþingunum –og töluverð endurnýjun hafði átt sér stað, meðal annars hafði aldursmeðaltal færst niður.

International Business Times segir: There is no mudslinging or million-dollar war chest. No party nominations, dirty tricks or battles for key endorsements (blaðið segir auðvitað meira en þetta og þar á meðal bull). Það eru mistök að horfa á þessar kosningar eins og horft er á „vestrænar“ kostningar. Ef marka má Ricardo Alarcon, forseta þjóðþingsins, verða kostningarnar: „a clear expression of patriotism, dignity and rejection of terrorist acts prepared by the United State to annihilate them“ (Prensa Latina).

Þjóðþingið kýs í beinni kosningu forseta þingsins, ríkisráðið, varaforseta og forseta. Af fréttum að dæma skrifaði Castro þinginu bréf í desember sem sagði efnislega að hann hyggist ekki að gegna forsetastörfum. Castro veiktist um mitt ár 2006 en náði heilsu að því marki að s.l. vor byrjuðu að birtast eftir hann greinar um ýmis mál. Því heldur hann sjálfsagt áfram hvort sem.

Kosningakerfi var komið á fót á Kúbu 1976. Þá var kosið í bæjar- og sveitarstjórnir og á svæðisbundin þing sem aftur kusu fulltrúa á þjóðþingið. Frá 1993 hafa verið almennar kosningar til þjóðþingsins.

Um Kúbu, lesið líka www.themilitant.com 

Hjá Sameinuðu þjóðunum

Í sextánda sinn voru greidd atkvæði um viðskiptabann Bandaríkjanna á Kúbu á Allsherjarþingi Sameinuðu þjóðanna 30. október s.l. Aðeins Bandaríkin, Ísrael, Marshalleyjar og Palau greiddu atkvæði gegn ályktun um að viðskiptabannið skuli afnumið, Mikrónesía sat hjá.

Þar tókust á bandaríski fulltrúinn Ronald Godard og utanríkisráðherra Kúbu Pérez Roque. Sá bandaríski hélt því fram að viðskiptabannið snerti aðeins Bandaríkin og Kúbu og ætti ekki að vera á dagskrá SÞ. Hinn síðarnefndi taldi það hafa haft bein áhrif í  að minnsta kosti 30 öðrum löndum. Nýtt er að aðgerðir bandaríska fjármálaráðuneytisins á sviði alþjóðlegra bankaviðskipta trufla greiðslur og samskipti kúbanskra fjármálastofnana við umheiminn.

Viku fyrr undirbjó George Bush málflutning fulltrúa síns með tilkynningu um ýmsar ráðstafanir. Hann vildi að ríkisstjórnir greiddu í “Frelsissjóð” sem fjármagnar andstöðuhópa á Kúbu. Auk þess boðaði hann stuðning við að tölvuvæða frjáls félagasamtök og trúarhópa, og veitingu námsstyrks til kúbanskra námsmanna. Þetta sagði Roque bráðfyndið, á Kúbu væru 600 klúbbar sem veittu ókeypis aðgang að internetinu og tvær milljónir notfærðu sér þá á hverju ári. Þar væru 65 háskólar þar sem 730.000 kúbanskir háskólanemar stunda nám auk 30.000 háskólanema frá öðrum löndum á námsstyrk.

Meðan þessu fór fram fengu nokkrir bandarískir athafnamenn fangelsisdóma fyrir að ferðast til Kúbu: Victor Vázquez fékk tveggja ára óskilorðsbundið fangelsisdóm og kona hans skilorðsbundinn fyrir samsæri um að rjúfa ferðabannið, og David Margolis tvö ár á skilorði fyrir að þykjast fara í kirkjulegum erindum til Kúbu.

Velkomin á blogsíðu VÍK

Velkomin á blogsíðu VÍK, Vináttufélags Íslands og Kúbu.

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