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May 25, 2022 – The Biden Administration’s recent decision to return U.S. troops to Somalia represents another effort on the part of the U.S. to deny agency and independence to African people. On the 59th commemoration of African Liberation Day, the Black Alliance for Peace expresses its unequivocal opposition to this redeployment. The 500 U.S. troops sent to Somalia are the latest to violate that nation’s sovereignty. As is the case with all U.S. interventions, the underlying reasons are not only depraved but also indifferent to the constant suffering of African people caused by western-induced militarism and war.

The reintroduction of the U.S. military (AFRICOM) on the ground is related to a dispute between Somalia and the U.S. oil company, Coastline Exploration Ltd, over the validity of an oil exploration agreement. It is also a signal that the U.S. wants to both reassert its presence in the oil-rich and strategic region, and to directly target its long-time foe, Eritrea.

Netfa Freeman, BAP’s African Team Co-Coordinator states that this decision is “emblematic of the U.S. insistence on keeping Africa in perpetual turmoil and has nothing to do with enabling a more effective fight against al-Shabaab.” Biden’s advisors are certainly aware of various reports exposing that the billions Washington spends on counterterrorism programs, from Somalia to Nigeria, ostensibly to enhance security in Africa, is having the opposite effect.

While the U.S. continues its 30-year long series of interventions against Somalia, H.R. 7311 the “Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act” passed with the unanimous approval of every Democrat in Congress.

H.R. 7311 was introduced by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman and Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) member Gregory Meeks and passed in the House on April 28, 2022. The bill calls for assessments of Russia’s influence on the African continent and states that the U.S. will “hold accountable” Russia and African governments who are “complicit in aiding such malign influence.” This is reminiscent of the era of the George W Bush administration that declared that any country not with the U.S. is against the U.S.

Margaret Kimberley, BAP Africa Team Co-Coordinator said, “This bill is a racist affront to the right to self-determination of African people.”

H.R. 7311 is a reaction to African nations that refrained from condemning Russia’s military operation in Ukraine; and as a deterrent against African nations acting as Mali has done, by ending the French military presence and turning toward Russian private military company Wagner for assistance. On May 16th the Mali government announced that Wagner played a role in thwarting a failed coup attempt allegedly carried out by a group of local soldiers, foreign mercenaries, and units from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries.

Rep. Meeks and the rest of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) – the “Black misleadership class” –  are fully aligned with the Biden administration and Democratic Party leadership, defending every imperialist effort to exercise U.S. dominance in Africa. The U.S. bombed Somalia on February 22, two days before the Russian Federation began its military operations in Ukraine. Yet Somalia has not become a focus of concern of Meeks and the rest of the Black misleaders, despite years of constant drone bombings by the U.S. having caused an estimated 250,000 deaths and the displacement of 3 million people. Meanwhile, these same CBC members won’t address domestic problems, but will lob billions to wage a proxy war against Russia and to support Nazi groups in Ukraine. The U.S. Black misleadership class demonstrates over and over that they do not care about African people – neither on the continent nor at home.

BAP is firm in its anti-imperialist stance and again says, “U.S. Out of Africa!” “Shut Down AFRICOM!”

No Compromise! No Retreat!

Black Alliance for Peace

From Buffalo, New York, to Uvalde, Texas, it all comes from the top.

It comes from the top and trickles down to us in bullets and death. That’s the reality in a capitalist country that glorifies murder by drone of people we’ve never heard of, diminishing life into a decision of U.S. corporate interests. 

War is a game that all of the Democrats and Republicans are playing – all who voted for more high-tech weapons of death sent to Ukraine, where many will land in the hands of those whose ideology promotes killing in the name of white supremacy.

And the games continue in Somalia, where more African lives will be sacrificed to the weapons carried by U.S. troops being sent there now – more racism at work and, as U.N. research shows, more extremists created, a byproduct of Pentagon terrorism.

The almost $100 billion sent to Ukraine since 2004, first for regime change, now for war with Russia, has made it a manufacturing plant for Nazi propaganda by the likes of the Azov Regiment and Right Sector. 

According to an in-depth article by Die Zeit in Germany, neo-Nazi and white supremacist international networks are growing and becoming more dangerous, and Ukraine has become their center. Their Black Sun symbol was not only on the white supremacist shooter in Buffalo, but can be seen tattooed on cops here as well. 

2021 was a record year for deadly police shootings since the Washington Post started keeping track in 2015. The disproportionate number of Black and Brown victims tells another story of white supremacy spread through state bodies of repression. 

Those who fall victim at an impressionable age to an ideology that makes them feel powerful and provides an outlet to blame others for the problems of capitalist alienation and economic despair are watching and listening. And some will act.

As tragic as those actions are, the racist institutions of the capitalist state will use them to continue their proliferation of violence and white supremacy.

Why are there no common-sense safety mechanisms in place that would make it harder to acquire assault weapons without some type of background check, evaluation, etc.? Because it gets in the way of profits and support from certain right-wing and racist forces. And it’s the ruling class that supplies the racist police forces nationally with the most dangerous assault weapons. Police and military weapons often find their way into the hands of white supremacists.

The indoctrination of youth into hate, violence and white supremacy is not an accident. It is a consequence of putting profits over society’s responsibility to protect our youth from fascist propaganda that should not be allowed to build and recruit amongst those whom society has failed. There needs to be a financial and structural commitment to fighting racism, white supremacy and the glorification of state-sponsored violence, including the numerous recruiting ads by the military. A federal requirement to teach history that includes the contributions of African and other non-European peoples is also a necessary step. 

The resources and funding now going to imperialist war should instead be used for teachers, social workers and healthcare providers to be unencumbered in their most vital work — protecting our youth from those who would destroy their lives and end their potential to become loving, productive human beings. 

What is needed is an end to the culture of militarism, war and violence, and the acceptance and encouragement of state-sanctioned killings of Black and Brown peoples by the Border Patrol and police. What is needed now is for working people to decide what type of procedures are necessary to keep their children safe, not only from mass shooting incidents but from law enforcement as well. This needs to be done while we build a movement to get at the root cause of this violence. 

It’s curious that mass shooters like Dylan Roof in Charleston, South Carolina, and Payton Gendron in Buffalo — both white — were taken into custody alive, but not Salvador Ramos in Uvalde. Whatever the reason, that resonates with history.

It’s also curious that the fascist Alex Jones is allowed to continue to spread racism and anti-trans lies – this time falsely blaming a transgender woman for the shooting in Texas. Jones’ right to “free speech” is vigorously enforced, just as the Azov Regiment’s is on Facebook, while anti-fascist voices are silenced.

But it all comes from and is encouraged from … the top. And it will only stop when capitalism, the generator of white supremacy and violence, is toppled.

John Parker is the Socialist Unity Party candidate for U.S. Senate in California on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket.

On May 12, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Poor People’s Campaign officially began with a Mother’s Day march led by Coretta Scott King and welfare mothers.

I was barely 18 years old. Pregnant with my son and filled with the kind of hope that only the young possess — who know little of the hardships ahead — I participated in the Poor People’s Campaign.  

My neighbors were from Appalachia; my mother from the coal mining area of eastern Pennsylvania. As much as I was motivated by empathy for the people I loved who were my family and neighbors, it was the civil rights movement that lit a fire inside of me.  

So when I saw a flier posted by a group of Vista workers soliciting people to go with them to the D.C. Poor People’s Campaign, I called immediately.

I lied to my parents and pretended to stay with a friend, then left for Washington with a small group of older, certainly more sophisticated, participants. Most of them were graduates from the University of Delaware. 

I was the youngest, the only woman at the time. I was awkward; I couldn’t accompany them to bars because of my age, had no money and had never eaten in a restaurant. 

It wasn’t surprising that my new companions found me a burden and deserted me once we arrived in Washington. I never saw them again until we made the trip back to Wilmington, Delaware.

Instead, it was older Black participants, mostly from the South, who took me under their wing. I was taught how to piece together boards, hammer nails and build Resurrection City.  

Much of the mud, rain and even the speeches remain a blur. The only thing that stood out was the kindness and care of those Black residents of Resurrection City who took a rather young white kid under their guidance and shelter.

The aims of the Poor People’s Campaign were never realized. But that is another story.

U.S. poverty today

The United States has the largest economy in the world, yet it is slipping in every indice of quality of life. At last count, 37.2 million people were living in poverty, an increase of 3.3 million from 2020. 

Life span in the U.S. has declined for the first time by over two years. The U.S. has slipped from the 43rd place in the world to 64th in life expectancy.  

Class divisions and racism have widened. In essence, “The rich have gotten richer and the poor poorer.”

Aid to Dependent Children, founded in 1935 through the Social Security Act, which later became Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the country’s main welfare program, was ended in 1997 by the Bill Clinton administration. Notwithstanding the program’s history of racism, this was a terrible blow.

It’s important to recount this history because mothers, particularly Black mothers from the Welfare Rights Organization, played a leading role in the Poor People’s Campaign and in fighting for poor people’s rights.

In January 2001, George W. Bush created the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives through a series of executive orders. These orders shifted federal funds to religious organizations to deliver formerly government-mandated social services.

This move also had a secondary impact of taking the teeth out of church- and religious-led protests, since religious institutions were now competing for government funds.

What was taking place, going back to the Reagan administration, was a trend popularly referred to as “neoliberalism.” It included gutting government spending on social programs, eliminating price controls, deregulating and privatizing services in favor of “free market” capitalism.  

The nonprofit sector has grown ever larger, but it has served more to enrich its executive directors and top leaders than to serve the poor. It has attracted young workers who are looking for what they consider “meaningful work,” only to encounter poor compensation, resistance to union drives and high burnout rates. 

This trend toward private charities and nonprofits was meant to replace the government’s responsibility to serve people. The vast amount of wealth produced in this country continued to shift to the war machine, the forces of repression and to fill the pockets of bankers and billionaires.

All of this contrasts with the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government, which made eradicating poverty one of its major goals.  

China’s anti-poverty program

In 1949, the newly-formed People’s Republic of China was faced with momentous tasks. The majority of the population were desperately poor peasants plagued with famine and death.  There was almost no industrialization or education.

Edgar Snow documents many of the incredible obstacles that faced the CPC in his book, “Red Star Over China.” He gives a firsthand account, and puts human faces to the staggering statistics and suffering of both the peasants and the Red Army.

The commitment to wiping out poverty has its roots in the early period of the People’s Republic of China and remains important.

Decades later, in 2012, China’s President Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, vowed to eradicate the vestiges of extreme poverty by 2020.

Despite the incredible challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese government proudly proclaimed the achievement of this herculean effort on November 23, 2020.

The World Bank stated that China has lifted over 850 million people out of poverty. “With this, China has contributed close to three-quarters of the global reduction in the number of people living in extreme poverty.”  

When humanity looks back, this will be one of the biggest stories of this century.  

How did China do it?

It would take a much longer article to explain in full. Of course, one factor is China’s economic growth. But that’s just a part of the equation. Without a conscious effort by the Chinese government, economic growth in of itself would not have solved the problem.

This government effort was remarkably systematic from top to bottom, from the central government to rural villages to individual families. Every poor family is tracked and assessed individually. Villagers voted to determine who among them should be declared in poverty and when poverty was alleviated.

There were five components: industry, relocation, ecological compensation, education and social security. Social security includes both pensions and Dibao, China’s minimum living standard guarantee. 

Massive apartment buildings were constructed to relocate people in villages where soil erosion or other conditions made it impossible to sustain a higher standard of life. Contrast this with the continual destruction of public housing and Section 8 programs in the U.S. In addition to deep housing subsidies, China’s poor families are guaranteed furniture and televisions. 

Emphasis is put on providing stipends and funds for education.

Young urban students and workers, many of them professionals, moved from their relatively comfortable lives to rural villages to participate in this campaign. It reminded me of Cuba’s literacy campaign that uplifted young women teachers and tasked them with going into the countryside and the mountains to teach peasants to read and write, making Cuba one of the first Caribbean nations to eradicate illiteracy.

Going in opposite directions

The capitalist West, particularly the U.S., remains cynical and dismisses all that China has accomplished. The media distorts and quibbles about statistics. But this is only possible if you have never experienced how poverty crushes human potential.

What cannot be argued is that socialist China is going in the opposite direction of the capitalist West. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the government is taking on the responsibility of uplifting the population.   

In contrast, the U.S. government has shed itself of responsibility for the welfare of the people.  Instead, its only duty is to the imperialist banks and billionaires and increasing the repressive apparatus from police to prisons to Pentagon. 

Our challenge is to learn from what China has done. 

The U.S. government and all the corporations that profit from fossil fuels are cherry picking the actions that they are taking in response to the global climate emergency. Everything that they are pursuing is potentially profitable, and they are paying less attention to reforestation, wind power, solar power or other alternative energy sources. 

As they have done and are continuing to do during the COVID pandemic, they treat the climate crisis as if the United States is the only country enduring the consequences. 

The whole scenario raises the question of how, in spite of divergent interests among the rich and powerful, they could have reached this consensus of inaction and callous disregard. The world is on fire and they aren’t even looking for a fire extinguisher. 

The poorest populations are suffering the worst disasters when extreme weather created by CO2, methane and other pollutants hit their homes.

In 1984, Congress demanded the presence of top tobacco executives to answer for the lies they had been telling for decades about the harm of tobacco use. The hearings were a big deal, covered by the national media before and after, and tobacco CEOs’ lies to Congress made headlines and were talked about for years. 

Not that it did that much good, but contrast that to what was supposed to be a similar hearing – this time with top energy company executives, to answer for misinformation about climate change that they’ve been funding through phony think tanks. 

The October 2021 hearing was held electronically because of the pandemic. The CEOs didn’t even bother to join it. They had lower-level flunkies answer questions, and the news media barely covered the events. 

The way that they brushed off Congress with barely a second thought was a clear demonstration of the hierarchy. Capitalist government works for corporations – not the other way around. Any events that hint at another relationship in which giant corporations have to answer to the government are theater.

Oil companies expanding

A May 11, 2022, article in the Guardian revealed something that even further elucidates their power. It turns out that despite claims by the major oil companies that they are going green, they are in fact expanding as never before. The article revealed:

• “The fossil fuel industry’s short-term expansion plans involve the start of oil and gas projects that will produce greenhouse gasses equivalent to a decade of CO2 emissions from China…
    
• “These plans include 195 carbon bombs, gigantic oil and gas projects that would each result in at least a billion tons of CO2 emissions over their lifetimes, in total equivalent to about 18 years of current global CO2 emissions. About 60% of these have already started pumping. 
• “The dozen biggest oil companies are on track to spend $103m a day for the rest of the decade exploiting new fields of oil and gas that cannot be burned if global heating is to be limited to well under 2 degrees Celsius.”

Here are some of the events happening now that are caused by energy corporation criminals:

The Colorado River is in an unprecedented crisis. Warming and drying weather for decades has led to a drought that has broken records that go back 1,200 years. Water levels at Lake Mead, Lake Oroville, Lake Powell and dozens of other lakes are all at the lowest point ever recorded. 

The river and its tributaries supply water to more than 40 million people and 3 million acres of crops. Hundreds of hydroelectric power generators electrify most of the southwest and are closer to their breaking point than ever before.

In northwestern India and in Pakistan a heatwave hit in the latter part of April and beginning of May, and is projected to return at the end of May. The heat was so bad that schools closed, crops were damaged, and there were power outages. A deadly cholera outbreak has infected thousands and killed people because of lack of access to clean drinking water. 

On May 15, the temperature in the city of Jacobabad in Pakistan’s Sindh province was 124 degrees Fahrenheit. India’s capital city of Delhi hit 120 degrees Fahrenheit on the same day.

A study by the British national meteorological service concluded that without the impact of climate change, a heatwave such as this might occur once every 312 years. But the frequency is now likely to be every 3.1 years – roughly 100 times more frequent. By the end of the century their frequency will be about once per year. 

This is similar to what has been forecast recently for Baghdad, Iraq. Many experts question whether such heat is fit for human survival.

KwaZulu-Natal slammed again

After torrential rains destroyed hundreds of homes and killed 435 people in the impoverished KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa last month, flooding is happening again. Hundreds had to flee their dwellings in late May. 

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala told Al Jazeera reporters, “Some areas are inaccessible and have become islands at this stage.”

In Bangladesh and parts of northeastern India, flooding in hundreds of villages has stranded 2 million people, including many children. The region is impoverished and because of lack of mobility, starvation is actually a concern.

The biggest obstacle to curtailing rising atmospheric temperatures is capitalism. But it isn’t just the rise of industrial capitalism that Biden & Co. can blame on the system’s earlier phases. The hyper-militarism of the U.S. imperialist era has exacerbated the global crisis. 

That isn’t only because of the emissions spewed during the manufacture of the machinery of war – although the Pentagon itself emits more than the economies of 46 entire countries. But the plunder of the global south made possible by murderous warfare has left much of the world more vulnerable to extreme weather. 

No one is safe from hurricanes, floods, rising sea levels or extreme heat. But when poverty is added to the equation, climate change is much more deadly for the world’s poorest populations.

Congressional hearings are nothing more than an attempt to rescue the reputation of the Biden administration that has come nowhere near being the champion of saving the planet that it promised during the 2020 election campaign and the early months of the administration. 

The transition to a non-fossil-fuel world has to be run by the people. The oil barons that are knowingly destroying our planet belong in jail for the rest of their lives.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation responds to the Greek Communist Party’s criticisms of its positions on Ukraine/Donbass.

May 16, 2022

Comments on the Article of the International Department of the CC KKE “On the Imperialist War in Ukraine and the Stance of the CPRF”

On April 23, 2022 the newspaper Rizospastis, the organ of the Communist Party of Greece, carried an article by the International Department of the CC KKE “On the Imperialist War in Ukraine and the Stance of the CPRF.”

The article assesses the actions of the CPRF in connection with the special operation Russia is conducting in Ukraine openly accusing the party of having a pro-government, i.e. pro-imperialist position.  We categorically disagree with this utilitarian assessment.

The gist of the article is that in the opinion of the Greek comrades, what is taking place in Ukraine is an imperialist war in the interests of the Russian bourgeoisie, and therefore, by supporting the special operation the CPRF is advocating a policy that is “in line with the ruling United Russia party and President V.Putin.”

In insisting on the “imperialist” character of this war, the Greek comrades proceed from Lenin’s well-known thesis that “A struggle for markets and for freedom to loot foreign countries, a striving to suppress the revolutionary movement of the proletariat and democracy in the individual countries, a desire to deceive, disunite, and slaughter the proletarians of all countries by setting the wage slaves of one nation against those of another so as to benefit the bourgeoisie; these are the only real content and significance of the war.” However, the comrades did not mention that this statement is contained in Lenin’s work War.1914-1918. It specifically refers to the First World War, which was indeed a purely imperialistic war of conquest. However, leaving dogma aside, we have to admit that any war has its own specific characteristics.

The Marxist’s task in determining one’s position with regard to the war is to determine its character. For in addition to imperialist wars, there are national liberation and anti-Fascist wars which have become widespread in the mid-20^th century when Fascism and Nazism emerged as political phenomena and national liberation struggles intensified under the impact of the October Revolution.

What guided the CPRF in determining its stand.

In working out its political position on the issue of the conduct of the special operation the party analyzed the concrete historical conditions which objectively led to the crisis in Ukraine.

Before the October Revolution in Russia Ukraine, which was part of the Russian Empire, was a typical agrarian country. To strengthen its industry, six industrial areas of the RSFSR in the east and south, which had never been parts of Ukraine, were included in Ukraine. Among them were the Donetsk and Lugansk oblasts. In 1939 Galicia (Western Ukraine), previously part of Poland, was added to Ukraine. Thus, the present territory of Ukraine is the result of it becoming part of the USSR.  It has been “sewn together” from disparate patches from Galicia (Lvov), which were under heavy influence of Poland, Austria and Hungary, to East Ukraine, which  gravitated toward Russia.

Socialist Ukraine’s industry burgeoned. Added to the production of metal and coal were aviation and rocketry, petro-chemistry and power generation (4 nuclear power plants), and defense sectors. It was as part of the USSR that Ukraine obtained not only the bulk of its present territory, but also its economic potential to become one of the top ten European economies.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991simultaneously destroyed the centuries-old economic integration of Ukraine and Russia, severing all economic, political and cultural ties.

Today it is one of the poorest countries in Europe. Its manufacturing industry, with the exception of metallurgy, has been practically destroyed. Ukraine’s economy stays afloat due to Western loans and remittances from people who have left for Europe and Russia in search of some kind of a job. Living standards plummeted and emigration rocketed. About 10 million people (out of 45 million) have left, the most highly qualified specialists.

Ukraine has some of the highest levels of corruption and social differentiation. The country is on the brink of a national catastrophe.

 The government coup in Kiev as the basis of fomenting conflict

In February 2014, with direct assistance of the USA and other NATO countries, a government coup took place in Ukraine. The legitimate government was overthrown. Neo-Nazis came to power. Subsequently, the USA admitted publicly that it had invested about 5 billion dollars in preparing the change of regime in the country and in “the development of democracy.” Needless to say, no one would spend such a gigantic sum just like that.

As a result of the government coup power was seized by people from Western Ukraine, from Galicia where extreme nationalist, anti-Semitic, anti-Polish, Russophobic and anti-communist sentiments have traditionally been strong.

Forcible assimilation of the Russian-speaking population began. A ban on the Russian language and the decision to switch school education from Russian to Ukrainian met with powerful resistance in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. People rose up in arms.

In the May 11, 2014 national referendum 87% of the citizens voted for independence. Thus, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics were formed on the initiative of the popular mases, and not on directions from the Kremlin.

After several unsuccessful attempts to seize DPR/LPR the Kiev Nazis resorted to terror. During eight years of continuing bombardment by heavy artillery almost 14,000 civilians were killed and tens of thousands were maimed. The infrastructure was severely damaged.

Throughout the long eight years the European countries and the USA looked on the genocide of the Russian people in Donbass with extreme equanimity, thus effectively justifying the actions of the Kiev regime.

Today, the EU and the USA are displaying unheard-of hypocrisy describing people’s suffering in the course of battles, but ignoring the fact that the use of civilians as human shields has become the standard practice of those whom they call “freedom fighters.”

Development of Neo-Nazism in Ukraine

Our comrades, in considering the situation in Ukraine, only reluctantly mention the danger of its Fascization. And yet one of the main goals of Russia’s military operation in that country is its de-Nazification. Even American congress people and special services admit that Ukraine has become the center of international Neo-Nazism.

Here are just some facts. After Hitler’s invasion of the USSR, as we have noted above, extreme nationalistic, anti-Semitic, Russophobic and anti-communist sentiments in Western Ukraine were running high. SS divisions that were formed there fought the Red Army. Local  nationalists, led by Semyon Bandera, an ardent Hitler fan, set about exterminating Jews. In Ukraine Banderaites slaughtered about 1.5 million Jews, one fourth of all the Holocaust victims. During the 1944 “Volyn massacre” in Western Ukraine about 100,000 Poles were slaughtered. Banderaites killed partisans and burned alive civilians in hundreds of Byelorussian villages.

After the war, anti-communist and anti-Soviet rebels in Western Ukraine, backed by the USA and Great Britain, launched terror against civilians in the period between 1945 and 1953.  During those years Banderaites killed about 50,000 citizens. The descendants and successors of these thugs came to power after the 2014 coup. The tradition of anti-Polish, anti-Semitic and anti-Russian terror is very strong among the Neo-Nazis who practically run Ukraine today.

Nazi ideology is being inculcated in Ukraine. Ukrainian Fascists who organized and committed atrocities during the Second World War have been officially proclaimed national heroes. Their symbols have been adopted by the state. Marches in honor of Fascist criminals are held every year. Streets and squares are being named after them. The Communist Party of Ukraine has been driven underground. Intimidation and assassinations of politicians and journalists have become the order of the day. Monuments to Lenin and everything reminiscent of life in the USSR are being destroyed.

Today Banderaites, like the SD storm troops in Germany, are the shock brigade of Big Business. They control every move of the government constantly blackmailing it with the threat of a government coup.

The nature of the present-day Ukrainian state is the alliance of big capital and the government bureaucracy backed by Fascist elements under total political and financial control of the USA.

The causes and character of the special military operation

In terms of the Marxist theory the military conflict in Ukraine cannot be described as an imperialist war, as our comrades would argue. It is essentially a national liberation war of the people of Donbass. From Russia’s point of view it is a struggle against an external threat to national security and against Fascism.

It is no secret that the Donbass militia was unable to resist the many-thousand-strong foreign-armed Ukrainian armed forces. A defeat of the militias would have led to the annihilation of the Russian-speaking population, a large proportion of which are citizens of Russia. Under the Constitution of the RF, Russia took legitimate action to protect its citizens and ensure its national security because it could not have been done by other means.

With US and EU support Kiev deliberately sabotages the negotiating process in the framework of the Minsk Agreements.

By that point in time Ukraine had concentrated 150,000 servicemen and Nazi battalions in Donbass. Kiev, with US support, was getting set to regain control over Donbass by military means.

With the blessing of its American principals Ukraine was preparing to launch a military operation to seize Donbass and then Crimea in early March of this year. There is a solid body of evidence to confirm the existence of these plans.

The Banderaite regime has been preparing for this war for eight years. Servicemen were subjected to relentless ideological brainwashing in the spirit of rank Russophobia. Powerful strongholds were being created and the army was provided with the latest weaponry.

In line with its imperialist geopolitical goals the US was gradually drawing Ukraine into the sphere of its military interests turning the country into a NATO spearhead determined to fight Russia “up to the last Ukrainian soldier.”

As early as December 2021 Russia made a proposal to the US to hold talks on non-enlargement of NATO to the east. The Americans evaded giving a direct answer. So in January 2022 Russia warned that in this situation it would have to take additional measures to protect its national security.

Simultaneously, there was talk about deploying US tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Ukraine, which has four nuclear power plants and a considerable scientific-technical potential, started preparations for creating its own nuclear weapon.

Under the Pentagon’s patronage Ukraine set up more than 30 laboratories to develop bacteriological weapons. There are documents to prove that these laboratories were working with particularly dangerous bacteria of deadly diseases and were investigating methods of spreading them to target people of different races.

All this poses a threat not only to Russia, but to the whole humankind.

It is claimed that this is all about inter-imperialist contradictions or the struggle over markets and subsoil resources. Inability to see the national component of class issues and the class component in national issues leads into the territory of dogmatism.

Interest of the Russian oligarchy in Ukraine or lack of the same?

Seeking to prove that the war is being waged in the interests of the Russian bourgeoisie, in order to seize Ukraine’s natural resources and industrial potential, our comrades pluck Lenin’s words about the nature of wars out of their historical context.

However, the claim that the Russian leadership was preparing to seize Ukraine in advance contradicts facts.

From the outset, the Russian leadership did not support the idea of a referendum on the formation of Donbass people’s republics.

Following the Minsk-2 agreements, Russia a priori assumed that Donbass would remain part of Ukraine, albeit with a measure of autonomy.

Until the beginning of the military operation the Russian leadership insisted on compliance with Minsk-2, which would leave Donbass as part of Ukraine.

So where is preparation for imperialist seizure?

Since 1991 Ukraine, its industry and resources were objects of super-exploitation by US and EU monopolies. The Russian oligarchy did not take part in“dividing the pie” which was in the sphere of Western interests.

Moreover, the Russian oligarchy was against the military operation in Ukraine. It was striving to become integrated in the world oligarchy and was already under massive pressure from the West which urged it to exert pressure on the government to induce it to preserve Russia’s pro-Western orientation.

Besides, the Russian oligarchs suffered considerably from the Russian military operation in Ukraine. They were put under sanctions, and are seeing their palaces and yachts taken away form them and their bank accounts frozen.

We do not have the slightest sympathy for those who have been plundering Russia for three decades and are now being deprived of their loot. We merely want to stress that the Russian oligarchy was not only not interested in the military operation, but has suffered from it. By refusing to back this operation, big business has lost not only its property and money, but its influence within the Russian ruling elite.

Note which class forces were the fiercest opponents of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. These were above all big monopoly capital, its political representatives in the liberal milieu and their “creative” lackeys among the so-called intelligentsia.

Of course we recognize the existence of inter-imperialist contradictions. The desire of imperialist predators to seize the natural and energy resources of other countries. Russia is a victim of the West’s plans to turn our country into a source of cheap raw materials. We have been opposing these plans for decades. But we do not believe that Russia, for all the flaws of its current political system, based on the power of big capital, has overnight turned into such a predator. The struggle in Ukraine has a fundamentally different character which defies dogmas.

The position of the CPRF

The CPRF was the first to define the nature of the regime which seized power in Ukraine during the Maidan protests in 2014. Thenceforth, all the party’s activities have been based on the class essence of the ongoing political processes.

We have always been critical of the Russian leadership’s external policy, which effectively ignored the interests of the peoples which until recently were part of the single Soviet state.

Those who attentively follow our actions (and we assumed that the Greek comrades are thoroughly conversant with our documents) will know that it was the CPRF that has since 2014 consistently called for the recognition of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics. No other political party in Russia has done as much to support the population of Donbass. From the start, we supported the return of Donbass to Russia.  It is not the CPRF that follows “the line of the ruling United Russia party and President Putin” but they, under the pressure of historical imperatives, have to follow the route which the CPRF has advocated for three decades.

In this situation, is it fair to say that we almost blindly support Putin’s policy in Ukraine?

The Russian communists take the most active part in protecting the LPR/DPR. Hundreds of communist party members are fighting the Nazis as members of the armed forces of these republics.  Dozens of communists have died in this struggle. The CPRF has, during the past eight years, sent to these republics 93 convoys carrying 13,000 tons of humanitarian aid and hosted thousands of children who came to Russia for rest and medical treatment.

All these past years the CPRF has been urging the Russian leadership to recognize the independence of Donbass.

Frankly, we are not pleased to hear our Greek comrades speak with a touch of disdain about ”so-called people’s republics” of Donbass because these are precisely people’s republics which came into being as a result of expressed will of the people.

The citizens of LPR/DPR have defended them at the cost of thousands of civilian and military lives over the eight grim years of resistance to the creeping aggression of Banderaite Nazis.

It is a matter of signal importance that fighting the Banderaites are not only the Russian army, but also the militia units of Donbass itself among whom communists and mining workers form a large stratum.

Where do you see “protection of the interests of the oligarchy?” Are our comrades who daily expose their lives to mortal danger also defending the interests of the Russian oligarchs? Or do they defend the interests of common people who have become victims of the Neo-Nazis who have seized power in Ukraine?

One has to be very reluctant to see the real state of affairs to claim that the CPRF is acting in line with the ruling group.

The pitch of class political struggle in Russia is as high as ever. Persecution of communists and party supporters, even after the start of the military operation in Ukraine, shows that there is no class harmony between the CPRF and the present ruling elite. One can cite many examples of our comrades being subjected to repressions. Our response to the persecution of our comrades is robust.

By the same token, we are vehement critics of the government’s socio-economic policy. No other party in Russia can claim that it has been a more active critic of the authorities.

Over the thirty-odd years since the anti-communist coup of 1991 we have provided ample proof of our resolute struggle against the ruling elite. That is why our party enjoys such broad support of the masses.

In the September 2021 elections for the State Duma the CPRF won almost 19% of the votes. And this in spite of the well-oiled and long-established machine of vote-rigging. We are confident that the actual level of popular support is substantially higher. This is because, in the spirit of Marxism-Leninism, we seek to study the interests and mood of the people. Incidentally, by supporting the Russian special operation in Ukraine, the CPRF has expressed the will of the overwhelming majority of Russian citizens.

As for claims about “courting| nationalist approaches and nationalist forces,” we are proud to declare that the CPRF is the leading patriotic left force in Russia.

We deem it to be our internationalist duty to protect the interests of the Russian people and the other peoples who have lived for centuries together with the Russians, above all the Ukrainians and the Byelorussians. Denying the historical significance of “the Russian world” or the Russian civilization is, in our view, as absurd as denying the great significance of the ancient Greek civilization. When Manolis Glezos tore down the Nazi flag atop the Acropolis he was not guided only by class interests, but also by the national pride of the Greeks who had launched a resolute struggle against the German occupation.

Attitude of the world community to events in Ukraine

While the Western politicians and the media, who arrogantly claim to represent “the world community,” openly take the side of the Neo-Nazis, major countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America which have first-hand experience of European and American neo-colonialism, quite rightly see the events in Ukraine as Russia’s struggle against the US-led unipolar world.

The countries that are home to 60% of the planet’s population either support the Russian operation or take a neutral stance.

Only those who in 1941 brought war to our country as members of the Hitler coalition take an aggressive stand. These are the countries of Europe, as well as the USA and Great Britain which have contributed a great deal to the revival of the Nazi military machine after its defeat in the First World War. Today Russia is again fighting Fascism and those who support it in Europe and the USA.

*****

Remembering the heroic deeds of the Communist Party of Greece in the struggle against Nazism and against the military dictatorship, we categorically brush aside the idea that our comrades could have consciously joined the camp of those who today try to crush Russia with Ukraine’s hands. We reiterate our profound respect for the KKE as a party which has made an immense contribution to the revival of the international communist and workers’ movement after the collapse of the USSR in 1991. However, the words of our comrades sometimes sound like the statement of the ultimate truth. We are for a comradely dialog which has always helped communists all over the world to understand the essence of events and work out their correct, genuinely Marxist approach to their assessment.

International Department of the CC CPRF

Remarks by Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee and President of the Republic, at the closing of the Fifth Extraordinary Session of the National Assembly of People’s Power’s Ninth Legislature, at the Convention Center, May 16, 2022, Year 64 of the Revolution

(Transcript: Presidency of the Republic/Translation: GI)

Dear Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution;
Dear Assemblywomen and men:

The current times are intense and complex; we revolutionaries call them challenging, to scare away the impossible. But this does not relieve us of our sense of reality, a reality marked by inequalities and imbalances that were developed over centuries and dramatically accentuated under the reign of neoliberalism, in the so-called post-truth era.

Luck would have it that our longing for justice, natural in human beings, survives. As Martí said: “When there are many men without decorum, there are always others who bear the decorum of many men.”

If we needed one more test to determine the great values of our people, the deep mark that the heroes and heroines of our country’s history have left in their natural nobility, the response to the Saratoga Hotel tragedy will do: The scenes of everyday people who, risking their own lives, rushed to help the victims of the explosion in the first minutes.

These anonymous heroes have something inside of the barefoot Mambises, who made the most powerful army of their time tremble, machete in hand and shouting: Long live free Cuba!

The acts of solidarity and altruism of these people, of the hundreds of compatriots who donated blood, of our always heroic firefighters, our courageous rescuers, the agile drivers of ambulances and other vehicles who happened to pass by and transported the injured, of the consecrated hospital workers, the essential specialists in medicine and nursing, the honest and untiring reporters who reached the site, intent upon not missing a single detail, all those who brought water, coffee and food from their private businesses to the tired search and rescue brigades; of every citizen who wanted to do and did something, even if it was only tpost a message of condolence on the net. In all these attitudes – along with those of Party, government and People’s Power cadres and leaders, who have the social responsibility to resolve problems and work to move the country forward – the best of being a Cuban citizen, a natural Cuban, is evidenced, (values) we have also defended in the cultural laws that we have approved here today.

All that I have described contrasts sharply with the cruelty of the haters who, in these days of uncertainty and pain, have contaminated the networks with messages of contempt for authorities, but also citizens, apparently because they are capable of doing extraordinary things without waiting for something in return. A mercenary will never understand a patriot. Those who put a price on their ideas are unable to understand those who have the courage to protect and defend theirs.

Cuba mourned without fanfare; before the Decree with which we made our response official, and did not stopped mourning during the days that followed. As for those who hoped to profit from the pain, I can only say that we are not going to waste any more words or time on people who continue to bury their credibility in the dirt of lies. In the Cuba that saves lives and pays respectful tribute to its dead, those who hate do not count!
For the lives that were lost under the rubble of the Saratoga and for those who continue to fight for theirs in hospitals and at home, we are committed to redressing the hard blows of this unexpected incident, prioritizing the recovery of the injured, care for affected families and the rehabilitation of homes and other properties which were totally or partially destroyed.

Once again, heartfelt condolences to those who suffered the loss of loved ones and support to the families and friends of the victims.

I take this opportunity to reiterate our deep gratitude to political leaders and individuals who from various parts of the world have expressed to us their condolences, support and empathy in these hard times for Cuba. In the midst of pain, solidarity consoles!

Assemblywomen and men:

The U.S. embassy in Havana and other toxic platforms, devoted to attacks on Cuba, are attempting to revive the events of July 11, last year, and outrageous versions have been constructed of the trials in which perpetuators of the acts of violence were prosecuted. Displaying paramount cynicism, the country holding world records for incarceration and prison mistreatment of girls and boys, accuses us of having prosecuted and sentenced children under 16 years of age.

The Cubainformacion website has published brief data on prisons and children in the United States, indicating that 2,000 children are arrested every day and 44,000 are in prison. We only cite this data to demonstrate, once again, the hypocrisy and double standards of those who presume to judge what happens around the world.

Yes, we are interested in stating, before our people and the world, that in Cuba no one under 16 years of age is imprisoned! That those prosecuted for their acts during the events of July 11 and 12 enjoyed procedural guarantees established by Cuban law. Respecting these laws and our Constitution, those who attempt to undermine our sovereignty, independence and internal order must know that the law exists to be enforced. We are a socialist state of law that has the right to exist. Precisely what our adversaries refuse to accept.

Now, blind with frustration, the empire and its paid employees resort to the old practices of attack with modern techniques of Unconventional Warfare. They label us and return to the infamous path of hatred, with constant calls for acts of vandalism, and encourage terrorism.

In an effort to create a climate of public insecurity, as a prelude to a social explosion, they no longer even try to mask their calls, which they amplify using vulgar talking heads on a variety of Internet platforms. Since they can’t kill us, they scream during the attempt, to earn their check.

In an effort to demobilize our people, they tried everything this last May Day. Blind drunk with their own lies, they thought very few would respond to the call to celebrate International Workers’ Day made by the Federation of Cuban Workers and its unions.

They have yet to recover from the astonishment and are demanding data from their lackeys, in an effort to understand the tremendous, massive response of our people.

The rumor is that their media platforms, that lost all credibility after covering the events of July 11 with fake news and doctored photos, were ordered to downplay images of the massive crowds and joy.

Our people who criticize what we do wrong or what we don’t do, on a daily basis, who are outraged by shoddy work, insensitivity, indolence and bureaucracy, this same people marched, paraded in congas and raised banners in support of the Revolution and, once at home, exposed the lies by posting the truth in their publications on the net.

The people took it upon themselves to paint a landscape portrait of our creative resistance. Beautiful visual testimony of Cuba celebrating the triumph of talent, effort and solidarity in confronting the most colossal challenge we have faced: Two years of pandemic with a brutally tightened blockade.

We said it here, at the foot of the José Martí Memorial and in all the country’s plazas. With Raúl and the heroic Centennial Generation, we reiterated this May Day that it has been possible; it is possible and will always be possible! (Applause)

Of course this is not about repeating a slogan. A conviction is being expressed that must always be accompanied by a principle: everything by the people, with the people and for the people. (Applause)

Assemblywomen and men:

Since the second half of last year, we have been warning that the United States government is promoting a dangerous international schism, attempting to selectively divide the world between those who are willing to submit to the servitude imposed by Washington, on the one hand, and those who are convinced of their sovereign right to self-determination and determined to defend it, on the other.

The expressions of this senseless ambition were not long in coming and the consequences are taking their toll, especially in Europe. They are costing lives and suffering, and causing global economic damage, the outcome of which is difficult to predict. They are turning the European stage into the principal destination of their weapons of all kinds, with no real control or awareness of their subsequent use.

It should not be forgotten that existing nuclear weapons, concentrated today in the hands of a few countries, have the capacity to destroy the planet several times over and the possibility of a miscalculation cannot be underestimated.

The global scenario of the 1990s, when the United States enjoyed singular hegemonic supremacy after the collapse of the socialist camp in Europe, is not today’s, and it would be a dangerous mistake to attempt to impose it by force.

Conscious of these realities, we are developing international relations based on principles and in full adherence to international law, committed to peace, justice and the right to full independence, development and security of all countries, especially those of the Third World, which are the most threatened.

This is how we defend our positions in international organizations, with full independence, coherence and responsibility.

Cuban foreign policy will continue to have as a priority the incessant battle against the economic blockade of the United States, its condemnation at all times and in all corners of the planet.

The aggressive, criminal and genocidal nature of this policy, and its overwhelming impact on all of society and the life of the country, forces us to concentrate and redouble our efforts to combat it tirelessly.

In our region, the compass that guides us continues to be the development of amicable, cooperative relations with all Latin American and Caribbean countries, supporting regional integration, based on the precept of unity within diversity, observance of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, and the solidary commitment to social justice for all the peoples of Our America.

During the month of April we received official visits from the Prime Ministers of Dominica and Belize, Roosevelt Skerrit and John Briceño, respectively, with whom we made progress in bilateral relations, as befits the traditional ties of brotherhood shared by our nations.

More than 1,000 delegates from 60 countries and 219 organizations accompanied the Cuban people at the International Solidarity with Cuba Conference (May 1-2), which confirmed the support of millions of people around the world for the cause of the Cuban Revolution.

Just a few days ago, we had the special honor of welcoming the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and a delegation that accompanied him to Havana. It was an official visit, important in the mutual effort to strengthen and deepen bilateral ties, and to contribute to the progress in the region, its independence and integration. The visit coincided with the 120th anniversary of the establishment of relations between our two countries, a date of great significance for Cuba, which has always found in the land of Juárez the brotherhood and support that Martí and Fidel found in their Mexican contemporaries. In those hours we came to understand much better the depth of the ties that unite us, but also the political caliber, the deep sensitivity and the endearing commitment of López Obrador in his relationship with all peoples of Our America.

Esteemed Assemblywomen and men:

The old neo-colonial ambitions of the United States remain in place, directed toward fragmenting and weakening this part of the world, as a way to preserve the hegemonic power of imperialism or restore ithis hegemony where it has been lost.

Washington has called a meeting next month, which they are curiously calling the “Summit of the Americas,” even though several countries have been excluded.

They concealed until the last moment the selective and discriminatory nature of the announcement, with the clear purpose of avoiding as much as possible the natural discomfort of the region’s governments, which have long rejected capricious exclusions.

The extensive, desperate efforts which the United States has been obliged to make are well known, even deploying high-level special envoys, to avoid demands that the event be an inclusive one, a truly representative gathering of countries in the hemisphere.

Whoever makes a commitment to host a hemispheric meeting must have the ability and courage to listen to everyone, from the Arctic to Patagonia, to listen to differing opinions, willing to deliberate with solid arguments, not with impositions and evasions; facing the truth, no matter how harsh and unpleasant it may be.

A country incapable of accommodating everyone is disqualified from serving as host.

Beneath all this, of course, is an ideological factor. The Monroe Doctrine that, recognized or not, continues to be the guide and political focus of the United States for the region that José Martí called Our America.

It is well known that nothing about economic and social inequality will be discussed or approved at this meeting; nothing concerning growing marginalization in the region, including the United States itself. We know that the growing problem of using the courts as political tools to sabotage the popular will – and undermine governments elected with the support of the most humble sectors – will not be addressed, nor will corporate efforts by large transnationals to corrupt governments of the region.

The role of the Organization of American States (OAS) in orchestrating a coup in Bolivia will not be discussed, nor will any decision be adopted that truly promotes the aspirations for democracy, inclusion and respect that the peoples of the region deserve.

The reasons why both the United States and Latin America are among the regions most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic will not be analyzed.

None of the documents proposed by the State Department are intended to advance practical action in the struggle against racism, to promote women’s rights, or address the precarious situation of immigrants.

There will be no discussion of manipulation by the U.S. government of the migratory issue, which is used to promote destabilization in Cuba, while an illegal policy is implemented based on unilateral, coercive measures meant to cause economic collapse, and encourage irregular, disorderly and insecure emigration, while the commitments and agreements in force in this arena are deliberately broken.

No discussion is projected of the disastrous impact on societies of organized crime or trafficking in weapons, produced mainly in the United States, or the cancer of drug running, fueled by the high level of consumption in U.S. society.

Terrorism, including state terrorism, and manipulation of the issue for political ends are not on the agenda. It is unlikely that the special, differential treatment which small Caribbean countries deserve will be recognized or that Argentina’s right to the Malvinas Islands will be confirmed.

There will be no statement condemning unilateral coercive economic measures and their use against countries of the region as a ruthless weapon of aggression.

Puerto Rico’s right to independence will not be recognized.

The President of the United States will enjoy a photograph and use the Summit in his internal political campaigns, especially in Florida, but hours later, few will remember what happened or the meaning of documents using U.S. language, based on U.S. conceptions, which they intend to have adopted.

The so-called Summit of the Americas seems to be identified with the OAS. It will bear the same discredit and moral disqualification which characterize this Pan-American institution. The organization has been condemned for a long time and it is time to finally recognize it for what it is, with total transparency. Its performance in recent years has only accelerated its moribund condition.

Compañeras and compañeros:

These sessions of the National Assembly confirm progress the country is making in a process to which we grant the highest priority: the deepening of socialist democracy and the promotion, protection and effectiveness of rights enshrined in the Constitution, in international treaties to which the Republic of Cuba id party and in laws under development.

We are conscious that the socialist state of law and social justice will become more democratic as as it maintains and deepens our protection of human dignity, as the supreme value that supports the recognition and exercise of rights and the fulfillment of duties in society.

The protection against violation or transgression of constitutional rights can now be demanded and redressed, through various channels and mechanisms, thus affording our political system solid legitimacy.

In this Legislature, several complementary laws have been approved to comply with Constitutional mandates. Public policies are promoted intended to provide comprehensive protection of children, adolescents, the elderly, persons with disabilities, and women. Programs have been developed to ensure equality and non-discrimination for reasons of any individual condition or circumstance that implies a distinction that undermines human dignity.

The judicial function is strengthened so that the popular court system can serve as a guarantor of Constitutional rights.

Eight important laws have been approved for our country: Food Sovereignty & Food and Nutritional Security; one protecting Personal Data; the new Penal Code; the Criminal Procedures Law; the Protection of Constitutional Rights; one establishing a Natural Resources and Environment system; one to protect the rights of authors and performing artists, as well as a Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage law.

Each of these laws, as was reported in their presentations, is the result of a broad consultation process with the participation of specialists, experts, university professors and the population.

Their contents have been discussed and explained, in particular everything related to the new Penal Code, with which regulations on this matter have ben updated and the country’s legal-criminal system is unified in a single text, taking into account the treaties on this matter to which Cuba is a party. It also complements laws that have been approved by this Assembly in the criminal procedure system, and introduces important modifications in the field of crime prevention and law enforcement. Now it is time to disseminate its content, to encourage our citizens to respect socialist legality.

Those responsible for its implementation are called upon to act with the expected fairness. This is a tool that must be used with the appropriate rationality. It is an instrument to protect society, persons and the political, economic and social order established in the Constitution of the Republic.

As you recall, among the most innovative elements introduced by the current Constitution of the Republic is the wide range of rights recognized. Protecting them against any violation by state bodies, their directors, officials and employees, or citizens, is the objective of the Protection of Constitutional Rights Process Law, which we approved yesterday. It is a law that strengthens the country’s institutionality and concretizes the definition of Cuba as a socialist state of law and social justice.

Another of the approved laws, which represents a step forward, is the law on the Natural Resources and the Environment System. The text reinforces the ability to exercise of the right of people to enjoy a healthy, balanced environment, establishing the responsibility of all for the conservation, protection and rational use of resources, in order to make human life more rational and ensure the survival, well-being and security of our citizens.
For its part, the Copyright and Performing Artist Law aligns the legal framework with changes experienced in the processes of creation and dissemination in the literary, artistic, journalistic, scientific and educational spheres; reinforcing the state’s educational, scientific and cultural policy by conciliating the interests of society with the recognition of creators for their work.

The Law for the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage approved by this Assembly also generated great interest among specialists and those knowledgeable of this topic. It concretizes the state’s obligation to protect the natural, historical and cultural heritage of the nation, and the duty to protect them. National and local identity, cultural sovereignty and the legitimate right of the people to the creation, enjoyment and protection of culture are strengthened.

Assemblymen and women:

The comprehensive protection of human rights is essential to socialism, since human beings and their dignity are the epicenter of society. The capitalist discourse and narrative regarding human rights promote forms of domination, sometimes hidden, sometimes open, which take refuge in apparent legitimacy.

Not submitting to the hegemony of imperialism, swimming against the current, has consequences. The blockade and its brutal tightening are among them. This cruel and inhumane system seeks to eliminate socialism as an alternative, seeking the restoration of capitalism, attempting to limit state action, hinder and undermine its policies, plans and programs to promote, protect and guarantee rights; exacerbating contradictions and internal errors in an effort to impose a colonializing vision of rights.

Despite this, we reaffirm the conviction that, even under difficult economic conditions, the Cuban state will maintain its essential objective of guaranteeing effective equality in the enjoyment and exercise of rights and the fulfillment of duties enshrined in the Constitution and by law; promote sustainable development that ensures individual and collective prosperity and seek increasingly higher levels of equity and social justice; preserve and multiply the achievements of the Revolution and guarantee the full dignity of persons and their comprehensive development.

Although they constitute important advances, the laws that we approved in these sessions are not enough. It is necessary to raise the levels of civic education, of legal culture, adopt all the necessary measures, in different orders and at levels that allow for the effective enjoyment of rights and ensure the circumstances to inhibit violatory behaviors. Recognize, promote, prevent, protect, guarantee are verbs that denote state action and for which joint work with different social actors, with popular participation, with People’s Power bodies, is essential.

If we examine the international context, there are few countries which, within such a short period of time, have submitted draft legal provisions to two mechanisms of democratic, popular participation: the popular consultation and the constitutional referendum in 2019 and, coming soon, the legislative referendum on the proposed Families Code. Why don’t those who insist on asserting that there is no democracy in Cuba talk about how deliberation is fostered in popular consultations and the binding decision-making process of our referendums in the process of creating legislation? Why don’t they refer to popular involvement in these participatory processes, the search for legitimacy and consensus?

Before moving on to another topic, I would like to return to a very important law that we approved: the Food Sovereignty and Nutritional Security Law.

We cannot separate the significance of this regulation from one of the greatest uncertainties plaguing the entire world today. The FAO (UN Food and Agriculture Organization) recently stated that it fears serious food insecurity across the planet: “Over seven years, the FAO has noted a deterioration in the ability of countries to feed their populations. We are now in what we call a perfect storm. We were already in bad shape and the pandemic was a true atomic bomb in terms of hunger. With this new crisis between Russia and Ukraine, frankly, what we are talking about now is a global, generalized crisis… a situation of serious food insecurity throughout the planet.” These are the words of the representative of the United Nations organization in Mexico.

“In Latin America, the number of people living with hunger increased by 13.8 million during the first year of the pandemic and reached a total of 59.7 million… food insecurity… impacts 41% of the population, either severely or moderately.”

This dramatic reality is one of the most serious consequences of the economic and social imbalances generated by neoliberalism and about which Fidel warned so many times in his historic Reflections.

This is not, therefore, something that surprises us. There is awareness of the problem and projections made to confront it. And it is very important to strengthen our Plan for Food Sovereignty and Nutritional Education (SAN), which involves practically all organizations and our entire society.

We are called upon to train and mobilize government structures, at the municipal level, to ensure that they are in a position to lead the production process with popular participation on the local level and also promote an intense effort to reach all local producers – state, cooperative and private, from the state enterprise to the last farm, from the agro-industrial pole to every local development project, favoring agroecology as a necessary alternative for agricultural production in the current circumstances.

Compatriots:

It is very gratifying and satisfying for me to confirm, before this Assembly, that the pandemic continues to be successfully controlled in our country.

As I have publicly acknowledged, more than once, healthcare and scientific workers saved the country. May absolutely everyone feel this recognition: from the most renowned doctor or researcher to the most modest operator. From the consecrated cadres who direct prestigious scientific and hospital institutions to the tireless leaders of the political and union organizations in the two sectors.

The alliances forged in the midst of the worst circumstances, enormous effort and limitless dedication have allowed us to return to a new normality and gradually revive economic activity and social life.

We are not done. Cuba’s Finlay Vaccine Institute, creators of the Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus anti-COVID-19 vaccines, is today conducting two studies with the objective of protecting infants from SARS-CoV-2. According to the experts, after having vaccinated the country’s entire pediatric population above two years of age, with Soberana 02, moving to immunization of this (younger) age group involves very low risk, in terms of safety.
In another area of ideas, let’s talk about the economy, the world economy. After a period of gradual recovery in 2021, with growth of 5.9%, 2022 began in conditions of great uncertainty, with projections of around 3.6% growth.

Disruptions in supply chains plus higher food and energy prices have led to increased inflation, in addition to COVID-19 infections and, more recently, the European conflict.

Alongside this trend, the post-pandemic stage is projected globally as a period of weak, uneven recovery, marked by a slow recovery of international trade.

These pressures on prices are reflected in projected average inflation, in 2022, of 5.7% for advanced economies and 8.7% in emerging and developing economies.

For Cuba, subjected to a brutally tightened, criminal blockade, the scenario is additionally impacted by the increase in prices for imports, especially fuel and food.

This complex context, which we must confront decidedly with audacious, innovative measures, aligned with our social development model and commitment to the greatest degree of equity possible, implies great challenges for management of the economy.

Toward this end, we have updated the Economic-Social Strategy, information on which deputies have received and which constitutes the roadmap for implementation of the principal measures needed to ensure that the objectives and goals of the National Economic Plan are met.

The extensive, well documented information that compañero Alejandro Gil presented here frees me from addressing more details that would unnecessarily lengthen my remarks. I will only comment briefly on what is at the center of everyone’s concerns right now: measures to contain inflation.

The Council of Ministers is working intensely with very clear objectives and tasks outlined to begin a secondary exchange scheme to later advance in the recovery of the exchange market, including, to the extent possible, the purchase and sale of foreign currency to the population.

We have not lost sight of the need to increase supply and steps are being taken in this direction, stimulating, above all, the contribution of national productions, but also through different channels of foreign trade.
Limits will be imposed on excessive income in state institutions and enterprises not working on increasing production and efficiency, and there will be a re-sizing of the state apparatus to reduce expenses and direct funds toward support for those in situations of vulnerability.

Also as part of the strategy, the process of expansion and diversification of economic actors will continue and development must be accelerated of proposals for new transformations in socialist state enterprises, the principal economic subject in our model, mainly in relation to autonomy, access to resources, the mission and role of government administrative councils and central state management (OSDE), the operations of micro, small and medium-sized state enterprises and affiliated companies, among other issues.

Another complex aspect is the level of macroeconomic imbalance, which is expressed in greater inflationary pressures and depreciation of the informal exchange rate. The different exchange environments in which state and non-state sectors operate creates obstacles to the expansion of productive chains between the two sectors.

Despite the positive aspects that have been seen thus far in the gradual recovery of the country’s economic and social activity, more rapid progress is needed in establishing macroeconomic stability, and in increasing national production and exports, as well as direct foreign investment, the substitution of imports with domestic products and efficiency in the investment process.

In the midst of the complex situation we are facing, the following have been reiterated as priorities: the gradual recovery of the Cuban peso as the center of the financial system; confronting inflation; ensuring the stability of the national electricity system; priority attention to persons, households and communities in situations of vulnerability; decentralization of authority based on greater autonomy in municipalities and the transformations of the state enterprise system.

As we work on urgent issues, we are not renouncing development. The country’s strategic planning continues to be perfected through macro-programs, programs, projects and a work system which has allowed progress to be made in the implementation of guidelines approved at the Eighth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba for the period 2021-2026.

Compatriots:

The shock and loss of the last few days, once again, presented us with a seemingly insurmountable challenge. Unity, solidarity and work have again proved to us that, together, all challenges can be overcome.

Not even the most recalcitrant adversaries of the Cuban Revolution, attacking it on all fronts, continuously for 63 years, have been able to bring Fidel’s invincible people to their knees. And for the record, they have not given up trying to erase “this bad example” of creative resistance from the map of America. This is why they haven’t invited us to the table they are obliged to set. We are an insubordinate voice. And not the only one! (Applause)

I was recently asked why we were returned, for example, to the list of countries that promote terrorism. There is no reason. There is no reason for punishment, for sanctions, for hatred of a noble, loving, gentle and happy people like the Cuban people. There are only unfounded arguments, perversity, a lack of ethics and great frustration, because they continue failing, from defeat to defeat for 63 years. (Applause)

We have defeated them in all arenas, not because there are more of us, because that is not the case. Not because we have more weapons, because we don’t have many. Not by grace or divine intervention, because we do not consider ourselves a chosen people. We have defeated them because we are sustained by just ideas, because we love love and hate hate.

Our strength lies in the human values inspired by Martí and Fidel; in the power of truth and in the transforming capacity of education and culture. These assets are not listed on the stock exchange; they do not depend on fluctuations in the market. They are sown with the learning of history and strengthened in the practice of solidarity.

Conquering all justice is our maxim and our horizon! Unity affirmed within diversity is the road forward. On it, we advance!

The times continue to be complex and challenging, but we are well trained!

With determination and conviction:

Onward always to victory!
(Ovation)

Granma

Discurso pronunciado por Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, Primer Secretario del Comité Central del Partido Comunista de Cuba y Presidente de la República, en la clausura de la Quinta Sesión Extraordinaria de la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular en su IX Legislatura, en el Palacio de Convenciones, el 16 de mayo de 2022, “Año 64 de la Revolución”

(Versiones Taquigráficas – Presidencia de la República)

Querido General de Ejército Raúl Castro Ruz, líder de la Revolución Cubana;

Queridas diputadas y queridos diputados:

Los tiempos que corren son intensos y complejos; desafiantes, les llamamos los revolucionarios, para espantar el imposible. Pero eso no nos quita sentido de la realidad, una realidad marcada por desigualdades y desequilibrios que vienen de siglos y se acentúan dramáticamente bajo el reino del neoliberalismo, en la llamada era de la posverdad.

La suerte es que todavía sobrevive el afán de justicia, consustancial al ser humano. Como dijo Martí: “Cuando hay muchos hombres sin decoro, hay siempre otros que tienen en sí el decoro de muchos hombres”.

Si faltaba una prueba para medir los grandes valores de nuestro pueblo, las profundas huellas que en su natural nobleza han dejado los héroes y las heroínas de la historia patria, ahí está la respuesta a la tragedia del hotel Saratoga: las escenas de transeúntes que, a riesgo de sus propias vidas, corrieron a auxiliar a las víctimas de la explosión en los primeros minutos.

Esos héroes anónimos tienen algo de aquellos mambises desnudos, quienes hicieron temblar al ejército más poderoso de su época machete en mano y al grito de ¡Viva Cuba Libre!

El acto solidario y altruista de esas personas, de los cientos de compatriotas que acudieron a donar sangre, de los siempre heroicos bomberos, de los valerosos rescatistas, de los ágiles choferes de ambulancias y otros carros que pasaban casualmente y trasladaron heridos, de los consagrados trabajadores de los hospitales, de los imprescindibles especialistas de la medicina y la enfermería, de la prensa honesta e infatigable que se mudó al lugar para no perder detalle, de todos los que acercaron agua, café y alimentos de sus negocios particulares a la gente fatigada por la búsqueda; de cada ciudadano que quiso hacer e hizo algo, aunque solo fuera poner un mensaje de condolencia en las redes; en todas esas actitudes, unidas a las de los cuadros y dirigentes del Partido, el Gobierno y el Poder Popular, quienes tenemos la responsabilidad social de resolver los problemas y trabajamos por sacar al país adelante, se resume lo mejor del ser nacional, del cubano natural, al que hemos defendido también en estas leyes de la cultura que hemos aprobado hoy.

Todo eso que he descrito contrasta enormemente con la sevicia de los odiadores que en estos días de incertidumbre y dolor han contaminado las redes con mensajes de profundo desprecio hacia las autoridades, pero también hacia los ciudadanos, solo porque son capaces de hacer cosas extraordinarias sin esperar algo a cambio. Jamás un mercenario entenderá a un patriota. Quien pone precio a sus ideas está incapacitado para entender a quienes tienen el valor de sostener y defender las suyas.

Cuba ha vivido su duelo sin estridencias; lo hizo desde antes del Decreto con el que lo oficializamos, y no ha dejado de sentirlo en los días posteriores. En cuanto a los que han querido lucrar con ese dolor, solo digo que no vamos a gastar más palabras ni tiempo en personas que entierran cada vez más su credibilidad en el lodo de la mentira. En la Cuba que salva vidas y rinde tributo de respeto a sus muertos ¡los que odian no cuentan!

Por las vidas que se perdieron bajo los escombros del Saratoga y por aquellos que aún batallan por las suyas en los hospitales o en sus hogares, nos hemos comprometido a restañar los duros golpes de este inesperado siniestro, poniendo en primer lugar la recuperación de los lesionados, la atención a las familias afectadas y la rehabilitación de las viviendas y otros inmuebles total o parcialmente destruidos.

Una vez más, sentidas condolencias a quienes sufrieron la pérdida de seres queridos y el apoyo a las familias y allegados de las víctimas.

Aprovecho para reiterar nuestro profundo agradecimiento a líderes políticos y personas quienes desde diversos lugares del mundo nos han enviado sus condolencias, apoyo y acompañamiento en estos momentos duros para Cuba. ¡En medio del dolor la solidaridad alivia!

Queridas diputadas y diputados:

Desde la embajada estadounidense en La Habana y otras plataformas tóxicas, orientadas contra Cuba, se trata de reavivar lo ocurrido el 11 de julio del pasado año y se construyen versiones infames de los juicios a los comisores de los actos de violencia. En el colmo del cinismo, desde el país que posee récords mundiales de encarcelamiento y maltrato carcelario a niñas y niños, se nos acusa de haber juzgado y condenado a menores de 16 años.

El sitio Cubainformación ha publicado breves datos sobre cárceles y población infantil en Estados Unidos, según los cuales cada día se producen 2 000 arrestos de niñas y niños y hay 44 000 en prisión.  Solo citamos estos datos para mostrar una vez más la hipocresía y el doble rasero de quienes pretenden ser jueces de lo que ocurre en el mundo.

¡Sí nos interesa afirmar ante nuestro pueblo y el mundo que en Cuba no se encarcela a menores de 16 años! Que los juzgados por los hechos del 11 y 12 de julio contaron con las garantías procesales que establecen las leyes cubanas. Por respeto a estas leyes y a nuestra Constitución quienes intenten dañar la soberanía, la independencia y el orden interior deben saber que la legalidad existe para ser cumplida. Somos un Estado socialista de derecho que tiene derecho a existir. Exactamente lo que nuestros adversarios se niegan a aceptar.

Ahora ciegos de frustración el imperio y sus asalariados acuden a viejas prácticas de ataque con modernas técnicas de Guerra No Convencional.  Nos ponen etiquetas y retoman los infames caminos del odio, con constantes llamamientos a acciones vandálicas, de aliento al terrorismo.

En el afán de crear un clima de inseguridad ciudadana, como antesala para el estallido social, ya ni se esconden para sus convocatorias, las que amplifican mediante vulgares voceros en distintas plataformas de Internet. Como no alcanzan a matarnos, gritan en el ensayo para recibir el cheque.

En el empeño de desmovilizar al pueblo lo intentaron todo el pasado Primero de Mayo. Ebrios de sus propias mentiras, creyeron que muy pocos responderían a la convocatoria de la Central de Trabajadores de Cuba y sus sindicatos para celebrar el Día Internacional de los Trabajadores.

Todavía no salen de su asombro y andan exigiendo datos a sus lacayos para entender esa aplastante y masiva respuesta de nuestro pueblo.

Dicen que hubo orden de dar bajo perfil a las imágenes de masividad y alegría en los mismos medios de comunicación que ya habían dañado su credibilidad al cubrir los sucesos del 11 de julio a golpe de falsas noticias y montajes.

El mismo pueblo que diariamente critica lo que hacemos mal o no hacemos, que se indigna con las chapucerías, la insensibilidad, la desidia y el burocratismo; ese mismo pueblo desfiló, arrolló en conga y levantó carteles de apoyo a la Revolución y, de regreso a casa, derrotó a la mentira al mostrar la verdad con sus publicaciones en redes.

El pueblo se encargó de pintar el paisaje de nuestra resistencia creativa. Por ahí están los hermosos testimonios visuales de Cuba celebrando el triunfo del talento, el esfuerzo y la solidaridad en el enfrentamiento al más colosal de los desafíos que hayamos tenido: dos años de pandemia con bloqueo recrudecido.

Lo dijimos aquí, al pie del Memorial a José Martí y en todas las plazas del país. Junto a Raúl y a la heroica Generación del Centenario ratificamos ese Primero de Mayo que ¡Se pudo, se puede y siempre se podrá! (Aplausos.)

Por supuesto que no se trata de decir una consigna. Se expresa una convicción que siempre deberá estar acompañada de un principio: todo desde el pueblo, con el pueblo y para el pueblo (Aplausos).

Diputadas, diputados:

Desde el segundo semestre del año pasado veníamos alertando que el Gobierno de los Estados Unidos impulsa un peligroso cisma internacional, pretendiendo dividir al mundo selectivamente entre quienes están dispuestos a someterse a la tutela impuesta desde Washington, por un lado, y los que están convencidos de su derecho soberano a la autodeterminación y decididos a defenderlo, por el otro.

Las manifestaciones de esa ambición insensata no se han hecho esperar y las consecuencias ya se están pagando, especialmente, en Europa.  Están costando vidas y sufrimiento, y provocando un daño económico global cuyo desenlace es difícil de predecir. Están convirtiendo al escenario europeo en un destino prominente de armamentos de toda clase, sin control real o perspectivas sobre su uso futuro.

No debe olvidarse que el volumen de armas nucleares que hoy concentran unos pocos países tiene la capacidad de destruir al planeta varias veces y las posibilidades de errores de cálculo no se pueden despreciar.

El escenario global de la década de 1990, cuando los Estados Unidos disfrutaban de una supremacía hegemónica singular tras el colapso del campo socialista en Europa, no es el de hoy y sería una equivocación peligrosa pretender imponerlo por la fuerza.

Conscientes de estas realidades, desarrollamos las relaciones internacionales sobre la base de principios y con pleno apego al Derecho Internacional, comprometidos con la paz, con la justicia y con el derecho a la plena independencia, el desarrollo y la seguridad de todos los países, en especial los del Tercer Mundo que son los más amenazados.

Así defendemos nuestras posiciones en los organismos internacionales, con plena independencia, coherencia y responsabilidad.

La política exterior cubana continuará teniendo como prioridad la batalla incesante contra el bloqueo económico de los Estados Unidos, su denuncia en todos los instantes y en todos los rincones del planeta.

El carácter agresivo, criminal y genocida de esa política, y su impacto abrumador sobre toda la sociedad y la vida del país, nos obliga a concentrar y redoblar el esfuerzo por combatirlo sin cansancio.

En nuestra región la brújula que nos guía sigue siendo el desarrollo de relaciones de amistad y cooperación con todos los países latinoamericanos y caribeños, el respaldo a la integración regional, sobre la base del precepto de la unidad en la diversidad, la observancia de la Proclama de América Latina y el Caribe como Zona de Paz, y el compromiso solidario con la justicia social para todos los pueblos de Nuestra América.

En el mes de abril recibimos las visitas oficiales de los primeros ministros de Dominica y Belice, Roosevelt Skerrit y John Briceño, respectivamente, con quienes avanzamos en las relaciones bilaterales en correspondencia con los tradicionales vínculos de hermandad entre nuestras naciones.

Más de 1 000 delegados provenientes de 60 países y 219 organizaciones acompañaron al pueblo cubano en el Encuentro Internacional de Solidaridad con Cuba, que confirmó el apoyo de millones de personas en el mundo a la causa de la Revolución Cubana.

Hace pocos días, tuvimos el especial honor de acoger en La Habana al presidente de México, Andrés Manuel López Obrador y a la delegación que lo acompañó. Fue una visita oficial, importante en el empeño mutuo de fortalecer y profundizar los vínculos bilaterales, y de contribuir al avance de la región, su independencia y su integración. Coincidió con el aniversario 120 del establecimiento de relaciones entre nuestros dos países, una fecha de mucho significado para Cuba, que siempre ha encontrado en la tierra de Juárez la hermandad y el apoyo que encontraron Martí y Fidel en sus contemporáneos mexicanos. En esas horas entendimos mucho mejor la profundidad de los vínculos que nos hermanan, pero también el calibre político, la profunda sensibilidad y el entrañable compromiso de López Obrador en su relación con todos los pueblos de Nuestra América.

Estimadas diputadas y diputados:

Continúa vigente la vieja ambición neocolonial de los Estados Unidos, dirigida a fragmentar y debilitar a esta parte del mundo, como vía para preservar el poder hegemónico del imperialismo o restaurarlo donde lo ha perdido.

Desde Washington han convocado para el próximo mes a una reunión que curiosamente están llamando “Cumbre de las Américas”, a pesar de que excluye a algunos países.

Ocultaron hasta último momento la naturaleza selectiva y discriminatoria de la convocatoria con el claro propósito de evadir en todo lo posible la natural incomodidad de los gobiernos de la región, que desde hace mucho rechazan las exclusiones caprichosas.

Se conocen las gestiones ingentes y desesperadas que los Estados Unidos han debido desplegar, incluso con enviados especiales de alto nivel, para evitar el reclamo de que fuera un evento inclusivo, una reunión verdaderamente representativa del hemisferio.

Quien asume el compromiso de acoger una reunión hemisférica debe tener la capacidad y la valentía de escuchar a todos, desde el Ártico hasta la Patagonia, de oír criterios discrepantes, de disponerse a deliberar con argumentos sólidos, no con imposiciones y evasiones; encarar la verdad, por dura y desagradable que le parezca. Se descalifica para servir de anfitrión el país incapaz de dar cabida a todos.

En el fondo hay, por supuesto, un factor doctrinario. Es la Doctrina Monroe que, conocida o no, sigue siendo guía y enfoque político de los Estados Unidos para esta región que José Martí llamó Nuestra América.

Ya se sabe que en ese encuentro no se va a discutir o aprobar nada sobre desigualdad económica y social; sobre la creciente marginalización en la región, incluyendo a los propios Estados Unidos. Se conoce que no se tratará el creciente problema de la judicialización de la política para sabotear la voluntad popular y a gobiernos electos con el respaldo de los sectores más humildes ni se tratará el esfuerzo corporativo de las grandes trasnacionales para corromper a los gobiernos de la región.

No se hablará sobre el papel de la OEA en orquestar un golpe de Estado en Bolivia ni se adoptará decisión alguna que verdaderamente impulse las aspiraciones de democracia, inclusión y respeto que merecen los pueblos de la región.

No se profundizará en las razones por las cuales tanto los Estados Unidos como América Latina están entre las regiones más perjudicadas por la pandemia de COVID-19.

Ninguno de los documentos propuestos por el Departamento de Estado se propone avanzar con acciones prácticas en la lucha contra el racismo, a favor de los derechos de la mujer y para paliar la situación incierta de los inmigrantes.

No se debatirá sobre la manipulación ejercida por el Gobierno estadounidense en relación con el tema migratorio, que es utilizado con fines desestabilizadores contra Cuba, al tiempo que se realiza una política ilegal basada en medidas coercitivas unilaterales que persiguen el colapso económico, incentivan la emigración irregular, desordenada e insegura, a la vez que se incumplen deliberadamente los compromisos y los acuerdos vigentes en esta materia.

No se prevé discusión sobre el nefasto impacto en las sociedades del crimen organizado, el comercio de armas, producidas fundamentalmente en los Estados Unidos, ni el cáncer del narcotráfico alimentado también por el nivel de consumo en la sociedad estadounidense.

El terrorismo, incluyendo el terrorismo de Estado, y la manipulación del tema con fines políticos no son asuntos de la agenda.  Es poco probable que se reconozca el trato especial y diferenciado que merecen los países pequeños del Caribe y que se confirme el derecho argentino a las islas Malvinas.

No habrá pronunciamiento alguno contra las medidas económicas coercitivas unilaterales y su uso contra los países de la región como arma despiadada de agresión.

No se va a reconocer el derecho de Puerto Rico a la independencia.

El Presidente de los Estados Unidos disfrutará de una fotografía y usará la Cumbre en sus campañas de política interna, especialmente en la Florida, pero pocos recordarán horas después lo que allí sucedió o el sentido de los documentos que con lenguaje y conceptos estadounidenses se pretenden adoptar.

La llamada Cumbre de las Américas parece identificarse con la OEA. Cargará así con el mismo desprestigio y descalificación moral que acompaña a esa institución panamericana. Esa organización está condenada desde hace mucho y es hora de que acabe de reconocerse con total transparencia; la gestión de los últimos años no ha hecho más que acelerar su estado moribundo.

Compañeras y compañeros:

Estas sesiones de la Asamblea Nacional confirman el avance del país en un proceso al que concedemos la mayor prioridad: la profundización de la democracia socialista y de la promoción, protección y efectividad de los derechos consagrados en la Constitución, en los tratados internacionales en vigor para la República de Cuba y en las leyes de desarrollo.

Somos conscientes de que el Estado socialista de derecho y justicia social será más democrático en tanto mantenga y profundice en la salvaguarda de la dignidad humana como valor supremo que sustenta el reconocimiento y ejercicio de los derechos y el cumplimiento de los deberes en la sociedad.

Los derechos constitucionales posibilitan exigir o reclamar, a través de diversas vías y mecanismos, su protección ante la vulneración o transgresión, le otorgan legitimidad permanente al sistema político.

En esta Legislatura se han aprobado diversas leyes complementarias que encauzan los mandatos constitucionales. Se promueven políticas públicas encaminadas a la protección integral de la infancia, de la adolescencia, de los adultos mayores, de las personas en situación de discapacidad, de las mujeres.  Se desarrollan programas para la igualdad y la no discriminación por razones de cualquier condición o circunstancia personal que implique distinción lesiva a la dignidad humana. Se fortalece la función judicial para que el sistema de tribunales populares sea garante de los derechos constitucionales.

Se han aprobado ocho leyes importantes para nuestro país: la de Soberanía Alimentaria y Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional; la de Datos Personales; el nuevo Código Penal; la Ley de Ejecución Penal; la de Amparo a los Derechos Constitucionales; la del Sistema de Recursos Naturales y del Medio Ambiente; la del Derecho de Autor y el Artista Intérprete y la de Protección al Patrimonio Cultural y al Patrimonio Natural.

Cada una de estas leyes, como bien se expresó en sus presentaciones, son el fruto de un amplio proceso de consulta con especialistas, expertos, profesores universitarios y con la población.

Se ha debatido y explicado acerca de sus contenidos, en particular todo lo referido al nuevo Código Penal, con el que se atemperan las regulaciones en esta materia y se unifica en un solo texto el ordenamiento jurídico-penal del país, teniendo en cuenta los tratados internacionales en esta materia vigentes para Cuba. También viene a complementar las leyes que en el ordenamiento procesal penal se han aprobado por esta Asamblea, e introduce modificaciones importantes en el ámbito de la prevención y el enfrentamiento al delito.  Corresponde ahora divulgarlo a fin de fomentar en nuestra ciudadanía el respeto a la legalidad socialista.

A los responsables de su aplicación les atañe actuar con la debida justeza. Esta es una herramienta que ha de emplearse con la racionalidad debida. Es un instrumento para proteger a la sociedad, a las personas y al orden político, económico y social consagrado en la Constitución de la República.

Como recordarán, entre las cuestiones más novedosas que introdujo la actual Constitución de la República está la amplia gama de derechos que reconoce. Protegerlos ante cualquier vulneración por parte de los órganos del Estado, sus directivos, funcionarios o empleados y los ciudadanos constituye el objetivo de la Ley del Proceso de Amparo de los Derechos Constitucionales que aprobamos en el día de ayer.  Es una ley que fortalece la institucionalidad del país y se materializa la definición de que Cuba es un Estado socialista de derecho y justicia social.

Otra de las leyes aprobadas, que representa un paso de avance, es la Ley del Sistema de Recursos Naturales y del Medio Ambiente. Su texto refuerza el ejercicio pleno del derecho de las personas a disfrutar de un medio ambiente sano y equilibrado, enaltece la responsabilidad de todos con la conservación, protección y uso racional de los recursos, a fin de hacer más racional la vida humana y asegurar la supervivencia, el bienestar y la seguridad de nuestros ciudadanos.

Por su parte, la Ley del Derecho de Autor y el Artista Intérprete atempera esta materia a los cambios experimentados en los procesos de creación y difusión en el ámbito literario, artístico, periodístico, científico y educacional; refuerza la política educativa, científica y cultural del Estado al conjugar los intereses de la sociedad y el reconocimiento a los creadores por su obra.

También generó un gran interés por especialistas y conocedores de este tema, la Ley de Protección al Patrimonio Cultural y al Patrimonio Natural aprobada por esta Asamblea.  En ella se materializa la obligación del Estado con la protección del patrimonio natural, histórico y cultural de la nación, y el deber de protegerlos.  Se consolida la identidad nacional y local, la soberanía cultural y el derecho legítimo del pueblo a la creación, disfrute y protección de la cultura.

Diputadas y diputados:

En el socialismo la protección integral de los derechos humanos constituye esencia, pues el ser humano y su dignidad son epicentro de la sociedad. El discurso y la narrativa capitalista en materia de derechos humanos desarrollan formas de dominación, en ocasiones ocultas, en otras abiertas, que se amparan en una legitimidad aparente.

No someterse a la hegemonía del imperialismo, nadar contracorriente tiene consecuencias: el bloqueo y su recrudecimiento es una de ellas. Este sistema cruel e inhumano pretende eliminar al socialismo como alternativa, procura la regresión al capitalismo, intenta limitar la acción del Estado, entorpecer y obstaculizar sus políticas, planes y programas para promover, proteger y garantizar los derechos; alimenta contradicciones y errores internos y trata de imponer una visión colonizadora de los derechos.

A pesar de ello, reafirmamos la convicción de que incluso en difíciles condiciones económicas el Estado cubano mantendrá como fines esenciales garantizar la igualdad efectiva en el disfrute y ejercicio de los derechos y en el cumplimiento de los deberes consagrados en la Constitución y en las leyes;  promover un desarrollo sostenible que asegure la prosperidad individual y colectiva y obtener mayores niveles de equidad y justicia social; preservar y multiplicar los logros de la Revolución y garantizar la dignidad plena de las personas y su desarrollo integral.

Aunque constituyen avances importantes, no son suficientes las leyes que en estas sesiones aprobamos. Se requiere elevar los niveles de educación cívica, de cultura jurídica, adoptar todas las medidas que sean necesarias, en diferentes órdenes y niveles, que permitan el goce efectivo de los derechos y asegurar las circunstancias que inhiban las conductas vulneradoras de estos. Reconocer, promover, prevenir, proteger, garantizar son verbos que denotan la acción estatal y para lo cual es imprescindible el trabajo mancomunado con los diferentes actores sociales, con la participación popular, con el poder popular.

Si examinamos el contexto internacional no son muchos los países que en tan corto tiempo someten proyectos de disposiciones jurídicas a dos mecanismos de participación popular y democráticos: la consulta popular y el referendo constitucional en 2019 y, próximamente, el referendo legislativo para el proyecto de Código de las Familias. ¿Por qué aquellos que se empeñan en decir que en Cuba no existe democracia no hablan de cómo se propicia la deliberación en consulta popular y la decisión con efectos vinculantes para el caso del referendo en el proceso de creación normativa? ¿Por qué no hacen referencia al involucramiento popular en estos procesos participativos, de búsqueda de legitimidad y de consenso?

Antes de pasar a otro tema, quisiera volver sobre una Ley muy importante que aprobamos: la de Soberanía y Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional.

No podemos separar la trascendencia de esa normativa de una de las mayores incertidumbres que azota al mundo entero hoy.  Hace poco la FAO dijo que teme por la grave inseguridad alimentaria en todo el planeta: “Desde hace siete años la FAO notó un deterioro en la capacidad de los países para alimentar a su población. ‘Estamos ahora en lo que llamamos una tormenta perfecta. Ya veníamos mal y la pandemia fue una verdadera bomba atómica en materia de hambre. Con esta nueva crisis entre Rusia y Ucrania, francamente, de lo que hablamos ahora es de una crisis global y generalizada (…) una situación de grave inseguridad alimentaria en todo el planeta’.” Estas son declaraciones de la representante del órgano de Naciones Unidas en México.

“En América Latina el número de personas que viven con hambre aumentó en 13,8 millones durante el primer año de la pandemia y alcanzó un total de 59,7 millones (…) la inseguridad alimentaria (…) alcanza al 41 % de la población ya sea en forma severa o moderada”.

Esta dramática realidad es una de las más graves consecuencias de los desequilibrios económicos y sociales generados por el neoliberalismo y sobre los que tantas veces alertó Fidel en sus históricas Reflexiones.

No es, por tanto, algo que nos sorprenda. Hay conciencia del problema y proyecciones para enfrentarlo. Y es muy importante potenciar nuestro Plan de Soberanía Alimentaria y Educación Nutricional (SAN), que involucra prácticamente a todos los organismos y a toda la sociedad.

Estamos convocados a capacitar y movilizar a las estructuras gubernamentales desde el nivel de municipio para que estén en condiciones de liderar este proceso productivo con participación popular en los escenarios locales y además propiciar un intenso proceso que llegue a todos los productores locales, tanto estatales como cooperativos y privados, a la empresa estatal y hasta la última finca, al polo productivo agroindustrial, a cada proyecto de desarrollo local, favoreciendo la agroecología como una alternativa necesaria para la producción agropecuaria en las actuales circunstancias.

Compatriotas:

Es muy gratificante y satisfactorio para mí confirmar, ante esta Asamblea, que la pandemia continúa bajo control de manera exitosa en nuestro país.

Como he reconocido públicamente, más de una vez, los trabajadores de la Salud y los de la Ciencia salvaron al país. Sientan ese reconocimiento absolutamente todos: desde el más notable médico o investigador hasta el más sencillo operario. Desde los consagrados cuadros que dirigen las prestigiosas instituciones científicas y hospitalarias hasta los incansables dirigentes de las organizaciones políticas y sindicales de ambos sectores.

Las alianzas forjadas en medio de las peores circunstancias, el esfuerzo descomunal y la consagración sin límites nos han permitido regresar a una nueva normalidad y reanimar poco a poco la actividad económica y la vida social.

No nos detenemos. El Instituto Finlay de Vacunas de Cuba, autor de los inmunizantes Soberana 02 y Soberana Plus contra la COVID-19, impulsa hoy dos estudios con el objetivo de proteger a los lactantes contra el SARS-CoV-2.  Según los expertos, después de haber vacunado a toda la población pediátrica del país con Soberana 02 a partir de los dos años, mover la inmunización a este grupo etario tiene muy bajo riesgo en términos de seguridad.

En otro orden de ideas hablaremos de la economía, la economía mundial, tras un periodo de gradual recuperación en el año 2021, con un crecimiento de 5,9 %, inició el año 2022 en condiciones de gran incertidumbre, con proyecciones en el entorno del 3,6% de crecimiento.

Las interrupciones en las cadenas de suministros y mayores precios de los alimentos y la energía han empujado al aumento de la inflación, a lo que se añade los contagios de la COVID-19 y, más recientemente, el conflicto europeo.

A la sombra de esa tendencia, la etapa pospandemia, se proyecta mundialmente como un período de recuperación frágil y desigual, marcado por una lenta reanimación del comercio internacional.

Las presiones de precios se han traducido en una inflación promedio proyectada para 2022 de 5,7 % en las economías avanzadas y de 8,7 % en las economías emergentes y en desarrollo.

Para Cuba, sometida a un bloqueo recrudecido y criminal, el escenario está marcado adicionalmente por el encarecimiento de las importaciones, especialmente, combustibles y alimentos.

Este complejo contexto, al que tenemos que imponernos con medidas audaces e innovadoras, ajustadas a nuestro modelo de desarrollo social y con la mayor equidad posible, implica grandes desafíos para la gestión de la economía.

Con ese propósito actualizamos la Estrategia Económico-Social, sobre la que se ha brindado información a los diputados y que constituye la hoja de ruta de las principales medidas para garantizar el cumplimiento de los objetivos y metas del Plan de la Economía Nacional.

La amplia y documentada información que dio aquí el compañero Alejandro Gil me libera de entrar en más detalles que alargarían innecesariamente mis palabras. Solo me detendré brevemente en lo que ahora mismo es el centro de las preocupaciones de todas y todos: las medidas para contener la inflación.

El Consejo de Ministros trabaja intensamente con objetivos y tareas muy claras que comenzarían por un esquema cambiario secundario para avanzar después en la recuperación del mercado cambiario, incluyendo, en cuanto sea posible, la compra venta de divisas a la población.

No perdemos de vista que es preciso incrementar las ofertas y se dan los pasos en ese sentido, estimulando, ante todo, el aporte de las producciones nacionales, pero también mediante diferentes vías de comercio exterior.

Se impondrán límites a los excesivos ingresos en instituciones y entidades estatales no sujetas a mayor producción y eficiencia y habrá un redimensionamiento del aparato estatal que permita reducir los gastos y orientar los mismos a la atención a las situaciones de vulnerabilidad.

También como parte de la Estrategia se da continuidad al proceso de ampliación y diversificación de los actores económicos y se requiere acelerar la presentación de propuestas con nuevas transformaciones para la empresa estatal socialista, sujeto económico principal de nuestro modelo, principalmente en lo relacionado con su autonomía de gestión, acceso a recursos, misión y funciones de las juntas de gobierno, de las OSDE, funcionamiento de las micro, pequeñas y medianas empresas estatales y las empresas filiales, entre otras.

Otro aspecto complejo es el nivel de desequilibrio macroeconómico, que se expresa en el aumento de las presiones inflacionarias y la depreciación del tipo de cambio informal. El desenvolvimiento en entornos cambiarios diferentes para el sector estatal y no estatal implica un obstáculo para la ampliación de los encadenamientos productivos entre ambos sectores.

A pesar de los aspectos positivos que se aprecian hasta la fecha en la gradual recuperación de la actividad económica y social del país, se requiere avanzar con más celeridad en la estabilidad macroeconómica, el incremento de la producción nacional y de las exportaciones, la inversión extranjera directa, la sustitución efectiva de importaciones y la eficiencia del proceso inversionista.

En medio de la compleja situación que enfrentamos se ratifican como prioridad: la recuperación gradual del peso cubano como centro del sistema financiero, el enfrentamiento a la inflación, la estabilidad del sistema electroenergético nacional, la atención priorizada a personas, hogares y comunidades en situación de vulnerabilidad; la descentralización de competencias en función de una mayor autonomía en los municipios y las transformaciones del sistema empresarial estatal.

A la par que se trabaja en la atención de las urgencias, no se renuncia al desarrollo. Se ha continuado perfeccionando la planificación estratégica del país mediante los macroprogramas, programas y proyectos; sistema de trabajo que ha permitido avanzar en la implementación de los Lineamientos aprobados en el Octavo Congreso del Partido Comunista de Cuba para el periodo 2021-2026.

Compatriotas:

El golpe y las pérdidas de los últimos días volvieron a poner ante nosotros un desafío aparentemente insuperable. La unidad, la solidaridad y el trabajo han vuelto a probarnos que juntos todos los desafíos pueden ser vencidos.

Ni los más enconados adversarios de la Revolución Cubana, atacándola a fondo y de modo sostenido durante 63 años, han podido poner de rodillas al invencible pueblo de Fidel. Y conste que no han desistido en el intento de borrar “este mal ejemplo” de resistencia creativa del mapa de América; por eso no nos invitan a la mesa que les toca servir.  ¡Somos una boca insumisa. Y no somos la única! (Aplausos.)

Hace poco me preguntaron cuál es la razón de que nos hayan vuelto a poner, por ejemplo, en una lista de países que amparan el terrorismo. No la hay. No existe razón alguna para el castigo, la sanción, el odio contra un pueblo noble, amoroso, gentil y alegre como el cubano. Solo hay sinrazones, perversidad, falta de ética y una grandísima frustración porque llevan 63 años naufragando de derrota en derrota (Aplausos).

Los hemos derrotado en todos los terrenos, no por ser más, porque no lo somos. No por tener más armas, porque no las tenemos. No por gracia o milagro divino, porque no nos creemos un pueblo elegido. Los hemos vencido porque nos sostienen ideas justas, porque amamos el amor y odiamos el odio.

Nuestra fuerza reside en valores humanos de inspiración martiana y fidelista; en el poder de la verdad y en la capacidad transformadora de la educación y la cultura. Esos valores no se cotizan en bolsa, no dependen de los vaivenes del mercado. Se siembran con el aprendizaje de la historia y se fortalecen en la práctica de la solidaridad.

¡Conquistar toda la justicia es la consigna y el horizonte! ¡La unidad que se afirma en la diversidad es el camino. Por él avanzamos!

¡Los tiempos siguen siendo complejos y desafiantes, pero ya estamos entrenados!

Firmes y convencidos:

¡Hasta la Victoria Siempre!

(Ovación.)

Granma

Saturday, May 28 – 2:00 p.m.
Frederick Douglass Square
456 Nostrand Ave. (corner of Jefferson)
Brooklyn, New York
Hosted by December 12th Movement

This May, Clarence Thomas, a retired member of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union Local 10 in San Francisco, is touring the East Coast to broadcast his book’s claim: “It is the time to advance our own demands, and to proclaim a political agenda in our own vital interests.”

Thomas talked about the struggle that culminated in the Million Worker March (MWM) at the Lincoln Memorial in 2004 and about the struggles tackled by the MWM movement in the years that have followed.

All of this is covered in his anthology “Mobilizing in Our own Name.”

Thomas first spoke at the Al-Awda Conference on May 6.

On May 11 he spoke at The People’s Forum, joined by key organizers of the MWM: Brenda Stokely, Larry Holmes, Johnnie Stevens and Sharon Black. Gloria Verdieu, an editor of the book, started the panel discussion.

Thomas spoke at the Teamster Joint Council 16 in Flushing on May 14, invited by Local 808 Principal Officer and MWM organizer Chris Silvera.

His final meeting in the metropolitian area occured on May 21, led by the vice chair of Transport Worker Union Local 100; president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionist New York chapter, and MWM organizer Charles Jenkins.

In between the meetings, Thomas spoke several times on WBAI and on a Zoom call celebrating Malcolm X’s birthday by People’s Organization for Progress in Newark, N.J.

Some of the urgent issues addressed in these forums have been organizing drives at Amazon, Starbucks and the labor fight against white supremacy after the murderous racist rampage in Buffalo, N.Y.

Find out more about the book at www.MillionWorkerMarch.com

SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 2022 AT 2 PM – 6 PM
Queer Liberation March for Trans and BIPOC Lives, Reproductive Justice, and Bodily Autonomy
Foley Square