FORTY-EIGHT years ago, mercenary forces in the service of a foreign power invaded their own homeland, escorted by a U.S. squadron, including an aircraft carrier and dozens of fighter planes. That date cannot be forgotten. The superpower to the North could apply the same prescription to any Latin American country. It has already occurred on many occasions throughout history in our hemisphere. Is there any declaration where it has been promised that such an action is never to be repeated in a direct form or via their own armies, as was the case in the Dominican Republic, Panama, Guatemala, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela and other countries?
The cunning and surprise Girón attack [Bay of Pigs] cost us more than 150 lives and hundreds of severely wounded. We should like to hear some self-criticism from the powerful country and the guarantee that it will never happen again in our hemisphere.
Yesterday was the seventh anniversary of the failed coup d’état against the Revolution in Venezuela.
For the good of democracy and human rights, a voice is needed to tell us from Washington that the School of the Americas, which specializes in coup d’états and torture, is to be closed down for ever.
We cannot forget that this April, the leader of ARENA, an oligarchic ally of Bush in the Iraq genocide, is still governing in El Salvador. With a million human lives sacrificed, there is sufficient blood to drown all the accomplices.
I am maybe offending in recalling this, or is it also prohibited, in the name of decency, ingenuity, and complicity, to mention the subject?
The measure to ease restrictions on travel is positive in itself, although minimal. Many others are needed, including the elimination of the murderous Cuban Adjustment Act, which is applied exclusively to just our country. We would like a response to the question as to whether the immigration privileges utilized to combat the Cuban Revolution and divest it of human resources might be also conceded to all Latin American and Caribbean peoples. But everything in Port of Spain will be secret. Prohibited to listen to the debate and the pronouncements of heads of state and government. In any event, what each one of them states will become known.
I do not wish to hurt Obama in the slightest degree, but he will be president for one or two terms. He has no responsibility for what has happened and I am convinced that he would not commit Bush’s atrocities. After him, however, someone similar to or worse than his/her predecessor could come along. Humans pass; peoples endure.
There are other extremely grave problems such as climate change, and the current president of the United States has decided to cooperate in that problem which is vital to humanity. We should acknowledge that.
Enough for today. I do not wish to add another word.
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 14, 2009
11:15 a.m.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
On the Blockade, Not One Word was Said (Taken from CubaDebate)
On the blockade, not one word was said
(Taken from CubaDebate)
VIA CNN, the government of the United States announced that Obama is to visit Mexico this week, initiating his visit en route to Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, where he will be within four days to participate in the Americas Summit. He announced the easing of certain odious restrictions imposed by Bush on Cubans resident in the United States in order to visit their families in Cuba. In response to inquiries as to whether such prerogatives extended to other U.S. citizens, the answer was that they were not authorized.
On the blockade, which is the cruelest of the measures, not one word was said. That is how they piously refer to what constitutes a genocidal measure. The damage is not only measured by its economic effects. It constantly costs human lives and causes painful suffering for our citizens.
Untold diagnostic equipment and vital medicines are not accessible for our patients even when they come from Europe or Japan, or another country, if they utilize certain U.S. components or programs.
Restrictions related to Cuba have to be applied by U.S. companies producing goods or services in any part of the world, in virtue of the blockade’s extraterritorial nature.
Richard Lugar, an influential Republican senator, and various others from his party with the same post in Congress, plus a number of important Democratic senators are in favor of eliminating the blockade. The conditions have been created for Obama to employ his talent in a constructive policy that would put an end to the one that has failed for almost 50 years.
On the other hand, our country, which has resisted and is prepared to resist as long as necessary, does not blame Obama for the atrocities committed by other U.S. governments. Neither does it question his sincerity and his desires to change the policy and the image of the United States. It understands that he waged a very hard battle in order to be elected, despite centennial prejudices.
Starting from that reality, the president of the Council of State of Cuba expressed his disposition to dialogue with Obama and, on the basis of the strictest respect for sovereignty, to normalize relations with the United States.
At 2:30 p.m. the head of the Cuban Interests Section, Jorge Bolaños, was called to the State Department by Thomas Shannon, assistant secretary of state [for Western Hemisphere Affairs]. Nothing that they talked about was any different from that reported by CNN.
At 3:15 p.m. a long press conversation began. The essence of what was stated there is contained in the textual words of Dan Restrepo, presidential advisor for Latin America, who stated [in Spanish]:
"Today, President Obama has directed that a series of steps be taken to reach out to the Cuban people to support their desire to enjoy basic human rights and to freely determine their country’s future. The President has directed the Secretaries of State, Treasury and Commerce to carry out the actions necessary to lift all restrictions on the ability of individuals to visit family members in Cuba, and to send them remittances. He’s further directed that steps be taken to enable the freer flow of information among the Cuban people and between those in Cuba and the rest of the world, as well as to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian items directly to the Cuban people.
"In taking these steps to help bridge the gap among divided Cuban families and to promote the increased flow of information and humanitarian items to the Cuban people, President Obama is working to fulfill the goals he identified both during his presidential campaign and since taking office.
"All who embrace core democratic values long for a Cuba that respects the basic human, political and economic rights of all of its citizens. President Obama believes the measure he has taken today will help make that goal a reality. He encourages all who share it to continue their steadfast support for the Cuban people.
"Thanks."
At the end of the conference he confided in all frankness: "Everything is being done for the freedom of Cuba."
Cuba does not applaud the ill-named Americas Summits, where our countries do not discuss on an equal level. If they serve for anything, it would be to make critical analyses of policies which are dividing our peoples, plundering our resources and placing obstacles on our development.
Now, all that is missing is for Obama to persuade all the Latin American presidents there that the blockade is inoffensive.
Cuba has resisted and will resist. It will never stretch out its hands asking for alms. It will continue advancing with its head held high, cooperating with the sister peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, whether there are Americas Summits or not, whether Obama, a man or a woman, a white or black citizen presides over the United States.
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 13, 2009
6:12 p.m.
(Taken from CubaDebate)
VIA CNN, the government of the United States announced that Obama is to visit Mexico this week, initiating his visit en route to Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, where he will be within four days to participate in the Americas Summit. He announced the easing of certain odious restrictions imposed by Bush on Cubans resident in the United States in order to visit their families in Cuba. In response to inquiries as to whether such prerogatives extended to other U.S. citizens, the answer was that they were not authorized.
On the blockade, which is the cruelest of the measures, not one word was said. That is how they piously refer to what constitutes a genocidal measure. The damage is not only measured by its economic effects. It constantly costs human lives and causes painful suffering for our citizens.
Untold diagnostic equipment and vital medicines are not accessible for our patients even when they come from Europe or Japan, or another country, if they utilize certain U.S. components or programs.
Restrictions related to Cuba have to be applied by U.S. companies producing goods or services in any part of the world, in virtue of the blockade’s extraterritorial nature.
Richard Lugar, an influential Republican senator, and various others from his party with the same post in Congress, plus a number of important Democratic senators are in favor of eliminating the blockade. The conditions have been created for Obama to employ his talent in a constructive policy that would put an end to the one that has failed for almost 50 years.
On the other hand, our country, which has resisted and is prepared to resist as long as necessary, does not blame Obama for the atrocities committed by other U.S. governments. Neither does it question his sincerity and his desires to change the policy and the image of the United States. It understands that he waged a very hard battle in order to be elected, despite centennial prejudices.
Starting from that reality, the president of the Council of State of Cuba expressed his disposition to dialogue with Obama and, on the basis of the strictest respect for sovereignty, to normalize relations with the United States.
At 2:30 p.m. the head of the Cuban Interests Section, Jorge Bolaños, was called to the State Department by Thomas Shannon, assistant secretary of state [for Western Hemisphere Affairs]. Nothing that they talked about was any different from that reported by CNN.
At 3:15 p.m. a long press conversation began. The essence of what was stated there is contained in the textual words of Dan Restrepo, presidential advisor for Latin America, who stated [in Spanish]:
"Today, President Obama has directed that a series of steps be taken to reach out to the Cuban people to support their desire to enjoy basic human rights and to freely determine their country’s future. The President has directed the Secretaries of State, Treasury and Commerce to carry out the actions necessary to lift all restrictions on the ability of individuals to visit family members in Cuba, and to send them remittances. He’s further directed that steps be taken to enable the freer flow of information among the Cuban people and between those in Cuba and the rest of the world, as well as to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian items directly to the Cuban people.
"In taking these steps to help bridge the gap among divided Cuban families and to promote the increased flow of information and humanitarian items to the Cuban people, President Obama is working to fulfill the goals he identified both during his presidential campaign and since taking office.
"All who embrace core democratic values long for a Cuba that respects the basic human, political and economic rights of all of its citizens. President Obama believes the measure he has taken today will help make that goal a reality. He encourages all who share it to continue their steadfast support for the Cuban people.
"Thanks."
At the end of the conference he confided in all frankness: "Everything is being done for the freedom of Cuba."
Cuba does not applaud the ill-named Americas Summits, where our countries do not discuss on an equal level. If they serve for anything, it would be to make critical analyses of policies which are dividing our peoples, plundering our resources and placing obstacles on our development.
Now, all that is missing is for Obama to persuade all the Latin American presidents there that the blockade is inoffensive.
Cuba has resisted and will resist. It will never stretch out its hands asking for alms. It will continue advancing with its head held high, cooperating with the sister peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, whether there are Americas Summits or not, whether Obama, a man or a woman, a white or black citizen presides over the United States.
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 13, 2009
6:12 p.m.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Evo’s inevitable victory (Tomado de CubaDebate)
EVO was entering the fourth day of his rigorous hunger strike today. He spoke yesterday night and at noon today. His words were serene, persuasive and forceful. He offered "a biometric electoral register," even better than the one that has governed electoral processes in his country, and described by international institutions as trustworthy and of high quality.
He is playing chess during his free moments.
Responding to a journalist’s question during a television interview as to how he would guarantee that the electoral register is ready for the December elections in the face of the oligarchy’s stratagems, he responded, "I believe in the people."
Nobody is disputing now that he is winning the battle without resorting to the use of force or abuse of power.
The adversary cannot resist his broadside. It is possible that an agreement will be announced in the early hours of Monday, without resorting to the Presidential Decree, in virtue of a Congressional Law, as Evo wished. Every hour that passes without this agreement will multiply the strength and the national and international support for the indigenous president of Bolivia.
Opposition parliamentarians have already returned and are negotiating. This is good news.
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 12, 2009
9:35 p.m.
He is playing chess during his free moments.
Responding to a journalist’s question during a television interview as to how he would guarantee that the electoral register is ready for the December elections in the face of the oligarchy’s stratagems, he responded, "I believe in the people."
Nobody is disputing now that he is winning the battle without resorting to the use of force or abuse of power.
The adversary cannot resist his broadside. It is possible that an agreement will be announced in the early hours of Monday, without resorting to the Presidential Decree, in virtue of a Congressional Law, as Evo wished. Every hour that passes without this agreement will multiply the strength and the national and international support for the indigenous president of Bolivia.
Opposition parliamentarians have already returned and are negotiating. This is good news.
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 12, 2009
9:35 p.m.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
The Bolivian Revolution and Cuba’s Conduct (Taken from CubaDebate)
ON several occasions, I have thought that I would not have to write the next day and I could devote part of the time to reading and studying, as I have done many times. But the important events that have occurred over the past few weeks, related to the world economy, politics and events such as those taking place in Bolivia, have prevented me from doing so.
At 10: 41 I communicated with Dausá. I wanted to know details of the state of health of Evo and the other Bolivian leaders who are today on their third day of hunger strike. He woke up fine, although weaker because of the lack of food. Those accompanying him, also on strike, are withstanding the situation; they are bearing up well and in a positive frame of mind. They are asking for books. They told the ambassador that they wanted books on Martí, Che and the Revolution. Today, our ambassador was responding to their wishes and sending them the Vida y obra de Martí, El socialism y el hombre en Cuba and other materials.
It is a known fact that the quality of the electoral register has been recognized by diverse international bodies, the OAS and the European Union included, which have no sympathies for the left, which have specialized services and, on the basis of their analyses, confirmed that the electoral register is one of the most serious on the continent.
Despite that, authorities from the legislative assemblies in Beni, Pando, Potosí, La Paz and Tarija - five of the nine departments in Bolivia – challenged the electoral register, in evident complicity with the opposition.
In Bolivia, the party with the largest presence in Parliament is Evo Morales’ MAS (Movement Toward Socialism); of the 130 deputies in the House of Representatives, 72 are MAS members. Thus, it is the most powerful party in Bolivia. The other deputies are divided between PODEMOS (Social Democratic Power), the second largest political party, comprised of the old followers of General Hugo Bánzar; and representatives of other traditional political parties. PODEMOS represents the Bolivian oligarchy. Its current leader is Jorge Quiroga, who assumed the Bolivian presidency shortly before Bánzar died, given that he was the latter’s vice president.
The MNR is the third largest party and is led by Mrs. Mirtha Quevedo. It has a smaller number of parliamentary representatives and they are opposed to MAS.
Unidad Nacional is the other opposition force in the Bolivian parliament.
In relation to Cuba, the main opposition parties are not characterized by their hostility.
Recently, following the constitutional referendum in January, a large Bolivian delegation visited our country in response to an invitation from our Party’s America Division. The delegation was made up of Carlos Borth and Roberto Ruiz, both senators from PODEMOS; Cesar Navarro, a very positive Evo supporter; Mario Justiniano, an MNR deputy and critic of Evo; Hugo Moldiz, editor of the weekly La Época, an excellent writer and a very good friend of Cuba; and Guido Rivero, the executive secretary of the so-called Fundación Boliviana para la Democracia Multipartidista, which organized the trip from March 11 through 15. They were looked after by the comrades from our Party’s International Relations Department.
It has been precisely to promote unity and cooperation among all political forces for the development of Bolivia that President Evo Morales has done everything in his power to foster cooperation while avoiding extremist positions that could damage the revolutionary process. How can anyone speak of extremism when the Bolivian leader consulted with the voters as to whether the size of properties should be 10,000 or 5,000 hectares? For the first time in the history of Bolivia, Evo has created a significant hard currency reserve which is now allowing him to confront the grave international financial crisis; he eradicated illiteracy in Spanish, Aymara and Quechua in less than three years; he has made it possible for the entire poor population to enjoy a secure minimum income; he is recovering energy sources and has secured the admiration of the world for Bolivia.
Our people are contributing to those efforts with their experience in the fields of education and health. Thousands of compatriots are making their selfless contributions there.
Our doctors have given 24,618,833 medical consultations, performed 35, 390 surgical operations and saved 20,102 lives.
A total 386,597 patients have now received eye surgery through Mission Miracle; of them, 25,198 are Brazilian, 24,240 Argentine, 17,008 Peruvian and 309 Paraguayan.
Close to 5,000 young Bolivians are currently studying medicine in Cuba.
This is our modest contribution to the sister people of Bolivia who have been the poorest and most exploited in Latin America.
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 11, 2009
1:43 p.m.
At 10: 41 I communicated with Dausá. I wanted to know details of the state of health of Evo and the other Bolivian leaders who are today on their third day of hunger strike. He woke up fine, although weaker because of the lack of food. Those accompanying him, also on strike, are withstanding the situation; they are bearing up well and in a positive frame of mind. They are asking for books. They told the ambassador that they wanted books on Martí, Che and the Revolution. Today, our ambassador was responding to their wishes and sending them the Vida y obra de Martí, El socialism y el hombre en Cuba and other materials.
It is a known fact that the quality of the electoral register has been recognized by diverse international bodies, the OAS and the European Union included, which have no sympathies for the left, which have specialized services and, on the basis of their analyses, confirmed that the electoral register is one of the most serious on the continent.
Despite that, authorities from the legislative assemblies in Beni, Pando, Potosí, La Paz and Tarija - five of the nine departments in Bolivia – challenged the electoral register, in evident complicity with the opposition.
In Bolivia, the party with the largest presence in Parliament is Evo Morales’ MAS (Movement Toward Socialism); of the 130 deputies in the House of Representatives, 72 are MAS members. Thus, it is the most powerful party in Bolivia. The other deputies are divided between PODEMOS (Social Democratic Power), the second largest political party, comprised of the old followers of General Hugo Bánzar; and representatives of other traditional political parties. PODEMOS represents the Bolivian oligarchy. Its current leader is Jorge Quiroga, who assumed the Bolivian presidency shortly before Bánzar died, given that he was the latter’s vice president.
The MNR is the third largest party and is led by Mrs. Mirtha Quevedo. It has a smaller number of parliamentary representatives and they are opposed to MAS.
Unidad Nacional is the other opposition force in the Bolivian parliament.
In relation to Cuba, the main opposition parties are not characterized by their hostility.
Recently, following the constitutional referendum in January, a large Bolivian delegation visited our country in response to an invitation from our Party’s America Division. The delegation was made up of Carlos Borth and Roberto Ruiz, both senators from PODEMOS; Cesar Navarro, a very positive Evo supporter; Mario Justiniano, an MNR deputy and critic of Evo; Hugo Moldiz, editor of the weekly La Época, an excellent writer and a very good friend of Cuba; and Guido Rivero, the executive secretary of the so-called Fundación Boliviana para la Democracia Multipartidista, which organized the trip from March 11 through 15. They were looked after by the comrades from our Party’s International Relations Department.
It has been precisely to promote unity and cooperation among all political forces for the development of Bolivia that President Evo Morales has done everything in his power to foster cooperation while avoiding extremist positions that could damage the revolutionary process. How can anyone speak of extremism when the Bolivian leader consulted with the voters as to whether the size of properties should be 10,000 or 5,000 hectares? For the first time in the history of Bolivia, Evo has created a significant hard currency reserve which is now allowing him to confront the grave international financial crisis; he eradicated illiteracy in Spanish, Aymara and Quechua in less than three years; he has made it possible for the entire poor population to enjoy a secure minimum income; he is recovering energy sources and has secured the admiration of the world for Bolivia.
Our people are contributing to those efforts with their experience in the fields of education and health. Thousands of compatriots are making their selfless contributions there.
Our doctors have given 24,618,833 medical consultations, performed 35, 390 surgical operations and saved 20,102 lives.
A total 386,597 patients have now received eye surgery through Mission Miracle; of them, 25,198 are Brazilian, 24,240 Argentine, 17,008 Peruvian and 309 Paraguayan.
Close to 5,000 young Bolivians are currently studying medicine in Cuba.
This is our modest contribution to the sister people of Bolivia who have been the poorest and most exploited in Latin America.
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 11, 2009
1:43 p.m.
Friday, April 10, 2009
News of Chávez and of Evo
YESTERDAY, Thursday the 9th, the tense situation in Bolivia captured our attention.
Today, Friday, an event of great interest is added: the arrival in Cuba of Hugo Chávez after his successful visit to China. While in Bolivia, the oligarchy is clashing with a leader as serious and solid as Evo Morales, in Venezuela the adversaries of the Bolivarian revolution, who placed all their hopes in the blow that the economic crisis would deliver that country, will understand that Chávez’ fight for socialism is capable of surpassing any obstacle. He promised that the achievements and great social advances will be maintained, that the country’s industrialization will maintain its rate and Venezuela will become an example of an industrialized country with social justice that would serve as an inspiration and example for the Third World.
His journey to China and Japan, in the midst of the crisis that is lashing all the nations of the world, is a veritable example of political strategy. Previously, he had participated in the South American and Arab Summit, two regions which possess vast natural resources. He saw in Japan one of the most industrialized countries of the world and of great economic potential, a significant market for Venezuelan products. Above all, he deduced with clarity that China, with its accelerated development, will become the greatest economic power on earth, an inevitable bastion of world trade and a point of support for the Third World countries that have been discriminated against and exploited by the richest capitalist powers.
News agency reports datelined April 8 noted the agreements signed after talks between the presidents of Venezuela and the People’s Republic of China, Hugo Chávez and Hu Jintao.
Those of yesterday, the 9th, reported on the activities which, at the request of the Chinese president, Hugo Chávez’ carried out that day prior to beginning his return journey.
The news agency reported widely on his activities in China:
"Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez stated today that he had come to an agreement with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao to increase cooperation in order to ensure that by 2010, China will receive one million barrels of oil per day.
‘I proposed to him, given the world situation (crisis), that we should discuss the possibility and we agreed to bring forward the goal fixed in the strategic agreement for 2013,’ Chávez today informed the100 national, provincial and local leaders of the Chinese Communist Party School , who applauded him.
"Attaining that supply, the construction of a Venezuelan refinery on Chinese territory and the creation of a bi-national shipyard for crude transportation, were the prime objectives of Chávez’ visit.
"The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, today described as ‘essential’ the building of a platform of alliances between China and Latin America and the Caribbean.
"The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, today concluded his visit to China with a meeting with Chinese Vice president Xi Jinping, who is considered Hu Jintao’s possible successor at the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC), at the next Congress in 2012.
"Xi is dean of the school where CPC leaders have been trained since the creation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and which Chávez visited today.
"’China knows how to look far into the future. After a few months after our government was elected, I was here and, with Jiang Zemin, we initiated a relationship which now, with Hu, we have decided to give a new strategic dynamism.’
"Yesterday Chávez said to Hu, in their meeting at the Great Hall of the People, that ‘China is the largest existing engine for pulling the world out of the crisis. "Today, in the School, he affirmed that ‘if Washington was the capital of the imperial world, Beijing today is one of the great capitals of the pluripolar world.’
"We are in the process of founding our School of the Party, which is barely one year old, and its founding core must pass through this, because we are beginning to give shape to a great Party with a clear ideology: socialism,’ he affirmed."
At around two in the afternoon President Chávez will do me the honor of a visit. It will be extremely interesting for me to learn the details of his tour abroad where, in total, he spent more than 12 days, thus demonstrating his unlimited confidence in the people, his growing socialist awareness and in the cadres who remained in the country.
During the day, more news will be arriving on Bolivia and the political battle of Evo and his selfless people. I shall continue writing, trying to be as concise as possible, given so much news.
At 13:15 I called Dausá. The news is that Evo still had not rested by 7:00 a.m. My Reflection of today reached him at that hour. He was happy and read it out to the journalists. He was pleased that I was closely following the situation. Then he slept for two or three hours.
Dausá supplied me with more precise information on the functioning of Parliament. Both in the House, which has a total of 130 deputies and where Evo’s Party has an ample majority, and in the Senate, with 27 congress members, where the opposition is in the majority, laws are passed by a simple majority.
The problem is that the Electoral Transition Law needs that majority in the two Houses to be approved. By having a larger number of members among the 27 in the Senate, the oligarchy is blocking it from being passed by demanding conditions that are unacceptable, such as the new electoral register; reducing to virtually none the number of special constituencies for the indigenous population created by the new Bolivian State Constitution approved by the people in the recent referendum, and finally, by imposing considerable restrictions on the voting possibilities of Bolivians resident abroad who, in the main, are Evo sympathizers.
Through those demands, they are trying to dispossess the Bolivian president of the growing support that he enjoys.
While a solution is being negotiated in virtue of the possible reduction of the 14 indigenous deputies that Evo is proposing to almost half, given that the opposition was only accepting three, they have started to intrigue, affirming that the indigenous president is betraying his own people. In that way they are attempting to reduce his forces, moreover by impugning the electoral register, which would call into question the right of 700,000 Bolivian electors. They are seeking the same objective with the limitations and obstacles on Bolivians resident abroad.
It is logical that Evo is not resigning himself to suspending the elections, nor to depriving a large number of Bolivians of the possibility of voting in virtue of the impugning of an electoral register whose quality has been endorsed by international agencies as one of the best in Latin America. At 14:05 I heard Evo speaking on television, serene, eloquent, persuasive.
It is impossible not to acknowledge him and support him. The hunger strike is not affecting his intellectual capacity in the slightest. "I am not seeking power for myself, I am seeking power for the social organizations," he affirms and reiterates. His replies to the press are truly eloquent.
Dausá informed me that many of the opposition parliamentarians, above all those from Santa Cruz, have left to spend Good Friday and the rest of Holy Week in their departments, as pious believers.
For his part, Evo is not going to lay down his attitude and it is maintaining it together with a group of leaders who are accompanying him in the Government Palace. But, in his turn, he has communicated with all his followers on hunger strike in the rest of the country to suspend their fast until Monday, so that they can be with their families for the weekend.
I heard another agreeable piece of news today at midday via the National television News. Our friend Bouteflika yesterday obtained a third constitutional mandate with the support of 90% of the electorate. That is good news for Cuba, which reminds us of the importance of solidarity with other peoples which has so much enriched our history since the early days of the Revolution.
At 15:55 Chávez arrived. He was accompanied by Luis Reyes Reyes, minister of the President’s Office who, with Rafael Ramírez, minister of energy and oil; Nicolás Maduro, minister of Foreign Affairs; and other cadres, accompanied him on his tour abroad. He had barely sat down when he began to tell me of his impressions.
He came extremely content with his meeting with Hu Jintao, president of China. He talked to me of the wide-ranging dialogue he had during his working visit, the dinner offered him afterward in the Great Hall of the People and his visit to the historic Chinese Communist Party Cadre School, suggested by the president. He exchanged impressions with the vice president of China and dean of the aforementioned school, Xi Jinping, who made a profound impression on him. He had already met him in Venezuela, a country that he visited as vice president of the great nation.
He also met with his friend Chen Yuan, president of the Chinese Development Bank, the son of the man who was president of that country in the initial revolutionary stage. He also spoke with the minister of foreign relations. He was highly praiseworthy of the talent and working methods of the Chinese leadership, in particular those of Hu Jintao.
The meetings and visits were with the press or without it. He responded to interviews. Through cables published by the agencies, he detailed what words he had spoken and which were the fruit of a translation or interpretation of what he said: they circulated his activities widely.
He returned via Vancouver, in the opposite direction. With a stopover, the flight took 16 net hours, half the time over territory of the United States, which placed no obstacle whatsoever on the Cubana de Aviación IL-96. He also recounted details of his visits and meetings in Qatar, Iran and Japan. He talked with many leaders. He devoted a number of minutes to greetings sent by many of his interlocutors. He is rigorous in that. He did not want to forget any of them, especially those sent by the Chinese leaders.
Among the issues of our meeting, which lasted for two hours and 50 minutes, we covered many matters. I stated that China was opening the way to employing the yuan as a hard currency, which was not artificially devalued in order to compete as imputed by its adversaries, but because its capacity to compete is progressively increasing.
Paul Krugman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, maintains that, in its next meeting, which every few years assigns the nature of convertible currencies to specific monies, it is possible that the International Monetary Fund will include the yuan together with the dollar, the euro, the pound sterling and other currencies. Those leading the world economy cannot go on ignoring it.
Evo could not be missing from our conversation. I explained to him in detail the information that I possessed, his excellent spirits and his preparedness to maintain the strike until the final consequences. He called him by telephone and expressed his total solidarity with him. Finally, he spoke of his upcoming visit to Argentina. He asked for information on the Trinidad and Tobago Summit and the position of Daniel [Ortega] who, with Cristina [Fernández], is to speak at the opening session of the same. I told him everything that I knew.
At 21:54 I called Dausá. I asked for news.
The Congress, convened for 19:00, was unable to meet for lack of a quorum. It was convened again at 20:30, there still wasn’t a quorum. At those times the television channels showed the opposition parliamentarians in their departments. García Linera lamented this absence and stated that that attitude bordered on the criminal; that they would be reconvened tomorrow, Saturday, at 12:30.That there will not be any other activity in Congress until the law is passed.
Evo is well. He was checked over by the doctor accompanying him. Despite Evo’s appeal to suspend the hunger strike until Monday, the strike of the leaders of the various departments of the country has continued in solidarity with the president. Today, according to the general secretary of the Bolivian Workers’ Central Organization, 1,027 people are taking part in 95 hunger strike pickets.
In a press conference, leaders of the National Coordination Committee for Change and the Bolivian Workers’ Central Organization proposed that, if the absence of the parliamentarians in Congress continues, they will take legal action against them. He informed me that he was going to visit the president tonight. It would take him 40 minutes to get from the embassy to the Palace. I promised to call him to greet Evo.
I called him at 22:20. He immediately handed the cell phone to Evo. I had the pleasure of hearing his serene, but firm voice, confident in the justice of his cause. I told him of our happiness at his good state of health. I congratulated him on his strength and his serene and eloquent words, which do not insult or wound anybody. I told him about Chavez’ visit and his attitude of solidarity with him and with Bolivia. I transmitted to him a message of solidarity and our confidence in his victory.
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 10, 2009
11:02 p.m.
Today, Friday, an event of great interest is added: the arrival in Cuba of Hugo Chávez after his successful visit to China. While in Bolivia, the oligarchy is clashing with a leader as serious and solid as Evo Morales, in Venezuela the adversaries of the Bolivarian revolution, who placed all their hopes in the blow that the economic crisis would deliver that country, will understand that Chávez’ fight for socialism is capable of surpassing any obstacle. He promised that the achievements and great social advances will be maintained, that the country’s industrialization will maintain its rate and Venezuela will become an example of an industrialized country with social justice that would serve as an inspiration and example for the Third World.
His journey to China and Japan, in the midst of the crisis that is lashing all the nations of the world, is a veritable example of political strategy. Previously, he had participated in the South American and Arab Summit, two regions which possess vast natural resources. He saw in Japan one of the most industrialized countries of the world and of great economic potential, a significant market for Venezuelan products. Above all, he deduced with clarity that China, with its accelerated development, will become the greatest economic power on earth, an inevitable bastion of world trade and a point of support for the Third World countries that have been discriminated against and exploited by the richest capitalist powers.
News agency reports datelined April 8 noted the agreements signed after talks between the presidents of Venezuela and the People’s Republic of China, Hugo Chávez and Hu Jintao.
Those of yesterday, the 9th, reported on the activities which, at the request of the Chinese president, Hugo Chávez’ carried out that day prior to beginning his return journey.
The news agency reported widely on his activities in China:
"Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez stated today that he had come to an agreement with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao to increase cooperation in order to ensure that by 2010, China will receive one million barrels of oil per day.
‘I proposed to him, given the world situation (crisis), that we should discuss the possibility and we agreed to bring forward the goal fixed in the strategic agreement for 2013,’ Chávez today informed the100 national, provincial and local leaders of the Chinese Communist Party School , who applauded him.
"Attaining that supply, the construction of a Venezuelan refinery on Chinese territory and the creation of a bi-national shipyard for crude transportation, were the prime objectives of Chávez’ visit.
"The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, today described as ‘essential’ the building of a platform of alliances between China and Latin America and the Caribbean.
"The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, today concluded his visit to China with a meeting with Chinese Vice president Xi Jinping, who is considered Hu Jintao’s possible successor at the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC), at the next Congress in 2012.
"Xi is dean of the school where CPC leaders have been trained since the creation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and which Chávez visited today.
"’China knows how to look far into the future. After a few months after our government was elected, I was here and, with Jiang Zemin, we initiated a relationship which now, with Hu, we have decided to give a new strategic dynamism.’
"Yesterday Chávez said to Hu, in their meeting at the Great Hall of the People, that ‘China is the largest existing engine for pulling the world out of the crisis. "Today, in the School, he affirmed that ‘if Washington was the capital of the imperial world, Beijing today is one of the great capitals of the pluripolar world.’
"We are in the process of founding our School of the Party, which is barely one year old, and its founding core must pass through this, because we are beginning to give shape to a great Party with a clear ideology: socialism,’ he affirmed."
At around two in the afternoon President Chávez will do me the honor of a visit. It will be extremely interesting for me to learn the details of his tour abroad where, in total, he spent more than 12 days, thus demonstrating his unlimited confidence in the people, his growing socialist awareness and in the cadres who remained in the country.
During the day, more news will be arriving on Bolivia and the political battle of Evo and his selfless people. I shall continue writing, trying to be as concise as possible, given so much news.
At 13:15 I called Dausá. The news is that Evo still had not rested by 7:00 a.m. My Reflection of today reached him at that hour. He was happy and read it out to the journalists. He was pleased that I was closely following the situation. Then he slept for two or three hours.
Dausá supplied me with more precise information on the functioning of Parliament. Both in the House, which has a total of 130 deputies and where Evo’s Party has an ample majority, and in the Senate, with 27 congress members, where the opposition is in the majority, laws are passed by a simple majority.
The problem is that the Electoral Transition Law needs that majority in the two Houses to be approved. By having a larger number of members among the 27 in the Senate, the oligarchy is blocking it from being passed by demanding conditions that are unacceptable, such as the new electoral register; reducing to virtually none the number of special constituencies for the indigenous population created by the new Bolivian State Constitution approved by the people in the recent referendum, and finally, by imposing considerable restrictions on the voting possibilities of Bolivians resident abroad who, in the main, are Evo sympathizers.
Through those demands, they are trying to dispossess the Bolivian president of the growing support that he enjoys.
While a solution is being negotiated in virtue of the possible reduction of the 14 indigenous deputies that Evo is proposing to almost half, given that the opposition was only accepting three, they have started to intrigue, affirming that the indigenous president is betraying his own people. In that way they are attempting to reduce his forces, moreover by impugning the electoral register, which would call into question the right of 700,000 Bolivian electors. They are seeking the same objective with the limitations and obstacles on Bolivians resident abroad.
It is logical that Evo is not resigning himself to suspending the elections, nor to depriving a large number of Bolivians of the possibility of voting in virtue of the impugning of an electoral register whose quality has been endorsed by international agencies as one of the best in Latin America. At 14:05 I heard Evo speaking on television, serene, eloquent, persuasive.
It is impossible not to acknowledge him and support him. The hunger strike is not affecting his intellectual capacity in the slightest. "I am not seeking power for myself, I am seeking power for the social organizations," he affirms and reiterates. His replies to the press are truly eloquent.
Dausá informed me that many of the opposition parliamentarians, above all those from Santa Cruz, have left to spend Good Friday and the rest of Holy Week in their departments, as pious believers.
For his part, Evo is not going to lay down his attitude and it is maintaining it together with a group of leaders who are accompanying him in the Government Palace. But, in his turn, he has communicated with all his followers on hunger strike in the rest of the country to suspend their fast until Monday, so that they can be with their families for the weekend.
I heard another agreeable piece of news today at midday via the National television News. Our friend Bouteflika yesterday obtained a third constitutional mandate with the support of 90% of the electorate. That is good news for Cuba, which reminds us of the importance of solidarity with other peoples which has so much enriched our history since the early days of the Revolution.
At 15:55 Chávez arrived. He was accompanied by Luis Reyes Reyes, minister of the President’s Office who, with Rafael Ramírez, minister of energy and oil; Nicolás Maduro, minister of Foreign Affairs; and other cadres, accompanied him on his tour abroad. He had barely sat down when he began to tell me of his impressions.
He came extremely content with his meeting with Hu Jintao, president of China. He talked to me of the wide-ranging dialogue he had during his working visit, the dinner offered him afterward in the Great Hall of the People and his visit to the historic Chinese Communist Party Cadre School, suggested by the president. He exchanged impressions with the vice president of China and dean of the aforementioned school, Xi Jinping, who made a profound impression on him. He had already met him in Venezuela, a country that he visited as vice president of the great nation.
He also met with his friend Chen Yuan, president of the Chinese Development Bank, the son of the man who was president of that country in the initial revolutionary stage. He also spoke with the minister of foreign relations. He was highly praiseworthy of the talent and working methods of the Chinese leadership, in particular those of Hu Jintao.
The meetings and visits were with the press or without it. He responded to interviews. Through cables published by the agencies, he detailed what words he had spoken and which were the fruit of a translation or interpretation of what he said: they circulated his activities widely.
He returned via Vancouver, in the opposite direction. With a stopover, the flight took 16 net hours, half the time over territory of the United States, which placed no obstacle whatsoever on the Cubana de Aviación IL-96. He also recounted details of his visits and meetings in Qatar, Iran and Japan. He talked with many leaders. He devoted a number of minutes to greetings sent by many of his interlocutors. He is rigorous in that. He did not want to forget any of them, especially those sent by the Chinese leaders.
Among the issues of our meeting, which lasted for two hours and 50 minutes, we covered many matters. I stated that China was opening the way to employing the yuan as a hard currency, which was not artificially devalued in order to compete as imputed by its adversaries, but because its capacity to compete is progressively increasing.
Paul Krugman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, maintains that, in its next meeting, which every few years assigns the nature of convertible currencies to specific monies, it is possible that the International Monetary Fund will include the yuan together with the dollar, the euro, the pound sterling and other currencies. Those leading the world economy cannot go on ignoring it.
Evo could not be missing from our conversation. I explained to him in detail the information that I possessed, his excellent spirits and his preparedness to maintain the strike until the final consequences. He called him by telephone and expressed his total solidarity with him. Finally, he spoke of his upcoming visit to Argentina. He asked for information on the Trinidad and Tobago Summit and the position of Daniel [Ortega] who, with Cristina [Fernández], is to speak at the opening session of the same. I told him everything that I knew.
At 21:54 I called Dausá. I asked for news.
The Congress, convened for 19:00, was unable to meet for lack of a quorum. It was convened again at 20:30, there still wasn’t a quorum. At those times the television channels showed the opposition parliamentarians in their departments. García Linera lamented this absence and stated that that attitude bordered on the criminal; that they would be reconvened tomorrow, Saturday, at 12:30.That there will not be any other activity in Congress until the law is passed.
Evo is well. He was checked over by the doctor accompanying him. Despite Evo’s appeal to suspend the hunger strike until Monday, the strike of the leaders of the various departments of the country has continued in solidarity with the president. Today, according to the general secretary of the Bolivian Workers’ Central Organization, 1,027 people are taking part in 95 hunger strike pickets.
In a press conference, leaders of the National Coordination Committee for Change and the Bolivian Workers’ Central Organization proposed that, if the absence of the parliamentarians in Congress continues, they will take legal action against them. He informed me that he was going to visit the president tonight. It would take him 40 minutes to get from the embassy to the Palace. I promised to call him to greet Evo.
I called him at 22:20. He immediately handed the cell phone to Evo. I had the pleasure of hearing his serene, but firm voice, confident in the justice of his cause. I told him of our happiness at his good state of health. I congratulated him on his strength and his serene and eloquent words, which do not insult or wound anybody. I told him about Chavez’ visit and his attitude of solidarity with him and with Bolivia. I transmitted to him a message of solidarity and our confidence in his victory.
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 10, 2009
11:02 p.m.
News from Bolivia (Taken from CubaDebate)
FRESH news on Bolivia arrived this morning, April 9, via a Bolivian television channel and reflected tension in the country.
Everything was going well. Important changes have been taking place. Evo’s prestige is growing in Bolivia and the world. He is steadily gaining more popular support despite the fact that the oligarchy controls virtually the entire media. An exemplary literacy campaign has eliminated illiteracy in record time; medical services now extend to the entire population; important historical needs of the Bolivian people are being addressed with original and new methods. The economy and hard currency reserves are growing. This is infuriating the oligarchy, whose members in Parliament are blocking the elections convened for the end of this year.
That maneuver has obliged Evo, the leading Party and the masses to adopt ways of struggle that are characterized by the moral force that they imply.
From the Government Palace, President Evo Morales, the National Coordinating Committee for Change and the Bolivian Workers’ Central Organization have declared themselves on hunger strike, demanding respect for the Constitution and the Electoral Transition Law, delayed for months in order to sabotage the elections.
Evo Morales declared the following:
"As Compañeros from the country’s various social organizations, faced with the negligence of a group of neoliberal parliamentarians, we are obliged to defend the people’s mandate.
"The parliamentarians knew that the Electoral Transition Law had to be approved within 60 days.
"However, they do not want a law passed that will guarantee the implementation of the Constitution.
"To ask for a new register is simply to say that there are no national elections for the end of this year, nor prefectural and municipal elections next year.
"For that reason, I reiterate, this effort by trade union leaders and the principal authorities at the head of COB and CONALCAM, for the defense of the sacred vote of the people.
"In a press conference I explained how the proposal of certain senators stated that the register for Bolivians living abroad must be approved by two-thirds in Congress, when they know that that two-thirds will not be attained.
"The current constitution does not state that either.
"Bolivians resident abroad also have the right to decide their country’s future and who the authorities in their homeland will be.
"It is the defense of the vote.
"Last year they came from Argentina asking for that right to be approved in the Senate, but it was not approved.
"Likewise, when they were talking about population density in order to guarantee special constituencies, basically it is so that these will not exist.
"So this effort is also in defense of the special constituencies of the indigenous movement.
"We have also heard that certain press media are saying that the government, that the president is closing Congress.
"Let‘s not talk about a siege, but rather let us make an appeal for the law to be approved.
"We have invoked this measure to defend democracy.
"The anti-democrats of before now believe themselves to be great defenders of democracy.
"Here are the compañeros who have given their lives and their time for true democracy.
"It is for that reason, so as to assume a real democracy, that regulations are passed in the National Congress.
"In Congress, parliamentarians have one of the best opportunities to guarantee democracy and also profound transformations in the structural context.
"I ask the opposition parliamentarians, let us make history together, all of us.
"One has to think about equality and the social solutions that the people want; there must be no egotism, sectarianism here.
"The people must come first, the homeland first and then sectorial or regional interests.
"My salutes, truthfully, to us jointly assuming the defense of democracy, of the people’s vote, of the overseas vote and other demands of a structural nature through the effort of a hunger strike.
"Thank you very much."
He ended his words with this call.
Throughout the day we shall be finding out how events develop.
At 14:25 I spoke with Rafael Dausá, our ambassador in La Paz. I learned of the news in that way.
Evo well, animated and serene. Only drinking water. He is accompanied in the Presidential Palace by leaders of the Bolivian Workers’ Central Organization and campesino leaders from the National Coordinating Committee for Change. García Linera, as vice president of Bolivia, is presiding over Congress. Talks with the oligarchic opposition are underway in a commission. One highly debated question is the number of indigenous leaders in Evo’s proposal on the representation of those communities, following the approved Constitution, without setting figures. Evo is proposing 14, the opposition is only accepting three. I sent greetings to Evo. No acts of violence had been reported up until that time.
At 16:01 I talked with Dausá again. He had passed on my greetings to Evo, who was planning to visit Cuba on April 9. He said he looked absolutely serene. He was playing chess with his compañeros. People are joining the hunger strike; this has extended to El Alto, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, La Paz and other cities. Popular organizations are constantly calling him to offer their support. The House of Deputies is overwhelmingly supporting him. In that sector of Congress, the advantage is in excess of the two-thirds required. The problem is in the Senate, where the oligarchy is in the majority.
Approval of the Electoral Transition Law required a majority in each House, thus it is easy to block its passing in Congress. However, Evo does have one legal recourse. Among his constitutional faculties he has the possibility of a Supreme Decree to pass the law under discussion. Moreover, in that case, he can dissolve Congress and convene parliamentary elections, but he does not wish to do that in his desire to preserve the country’s unity. That is why he is constantly inviting the opposition to share in efforts to develop the same to the benefit of all sectors of the nation. His honesty and democratic spirit are internationally recognized.
A few minutes ago I was listening to the debate in Congress. The hatred and insolence of the leaders of the oligarchy are incredible. They are trained in insults and personal offenses. They are incensed by Evo, the first indigenous person in the modern history of our America to govern a country and who is, furthermore, of ancestrally indigenous customs.
The disputed law has just been passed in the House by 100 votes in favor and 30 against. The debate is taking place in La Paz, in the due chamber of the legislative building located a few meters from the Government Palace.
At 18:40 I briefly communicated with Dausá again. He told me that representatives of the popular organizations are arriving in Murillo Plaza facing the Palace. He also commented on the insolence of the arguments, although he says that not all the oligarchy deputies are so gross, some of them behave correctly. Negotiations are also continuing and a decision will possibly be reached late in the night.
I am listening to the Senate debate which is just beginning, via the television.
The broadcast ended at 19:20, when an opposition senator asked for the meeting to be suspended in order to negotiate, joined by other senators. More than two hours later it had not yet resumed.
At 20:41 I called Dausá. Evo, well, constantly communicating with his cadres by cell phone. People are still arriving at Murillo Plaza, our ambassador knows that negotiations are advancing, but the opposition is asking for people to leave the Plaza and for Evo to end his hunger strike. Both things would be difficult to achieve. Dausá believes that an agreement could be reached by the end of the night. I promised to call him again.
I called Dausá twice more, at 22:20 and at 22:49.
The first call coincided with the words of García Linera explaining the situation at that moment. The impasse in Congress continues. He explained the advances during the day at the negotiations table. He lamented the intransigence of the senatorial minority. They are still demanding that Evo ends his hunger strike and that people are dislodged from Murillo Plaza. There is now no possibility that an agreement can be reached this Thursday. Perhaps on Friday morning, but that is not certain. Evo well and calm. His attitude remains invariable. In the second call he ratified the former after making some contacts that were pending.
It is now 12 midnight and there is no agreement. The opposition has left Parliament. I have to give this material to CubaDebate so that it can be published in time in our press. This is not a Classic baseball game, but in spite of that one has to go to bed very late. I do not harbor the least doubt that Evo will emerge victorious.
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 10, 2009
12:06 a.m.
Everything was going well. Important changes have been taking place. Evo’s prestige is growing in Bolivia and the world. He is steadily gaining more popular support despite the fact that the oligarchy controls virtually the entire media. An exemplary literacy campaign has eliminated illiteracy in record time; medical services now extend to the entire population; important historical needs of the Bolivian people are being addressed with original and new methods. The economy and hard currency reserves are growing. This is infuriating the oligarchy, whose members in Parliament are blocking the elections convened for the end of this year.
That maneuver has obliged Evo, the leading Party and the masses to adopt ways of struggle that are characterized by the moral force that they imply.
From the Government Palace, President Evo Morales, the National Coordinating Committee for Change and the Bolivian Workers’ Central Organization have declared themselves on hunger strike, demanding respect for the Constitution and the Electoral Transition Law, delayed for months in order to sabotage the elections.
Evo Morales declared the following:
"As Compañeros from the country’s various social organizations, faced with the negligence of a group of neoliberal parliamentarians, we are obliged to defend the people’s mandate.
"The parliamentarians knew that the Electoral Transition Law had to be approved within 60 days.
"However, they do not want a law passed that will guarantee the implementation of the Constitution.
"To ask for a new register is simply to say that there are no national elections for the end of this year, nor prefectural and municipal elections next year.
"For that reason, I reiterate, this effort by trade union leaders and the principal authorities at the head of COB and CONALCAM, for the defense of the sacred vote of the people.
"In a press conference I explained how the proposal of certain senators stated that the register for Bolivians living abroad must be approved by two-thirds in Congress, when they know that that two-thirds will not be attained.
"The current constitution does not state that either.
"Bolivians resident abroad also have the right to decide their country’s future and who the authorities in their homeland will be.
"It is the defense of the vote.
"Last year they came from Argentina asking for that right to be approved in the Senate, but it was not approved.
"Likewise, when they were talking about population density in order to guarantee special constituencies, basically it is so that these will not exist.
"So this effort is also in defense of the special constituencies of the indigenous movement.
"We have also heard that certain press media are saying that the government, that the president is closing Congress.
"Let‘s not talk about a siege, but rather let us make an appeal for the law to be approved.
"We have invoked this measure to defend democracy.
"The anti-democrats of before now believe themselves to be great defenders of democracy.
"Here are the compañeros who have given their lives and their time for true democracy.
"It is for that reason, so as to assume a real democracy, that regulations are passed in the National Congress.
"In Congress, parliamentarians have one of the best opportunities to guarantee democracy and also profound transformations in the structural context.
"I ask the opposition parliamentarians, let us make history together, all of us.
"One has to think about equality and the social solutions that the people want; there must be no egotism, sectarianism here.
"The people must come first, the homeland first and then sectorial or regional interests.
"My salutes, truthfully, to us jointly assuming the defense of democracy, of the people’s vote, of the overseas vote and other demands of a structural nature through the effort of a hunger strike.
"Thank you very much."
He ended his words with this call.
Throughout the day we shall be finding out how events develop.
At 14:25 I spoke with Rafael Dausá, our ambassador in La Paz. I learned of the news in that way.
Evo well, animated and serene. Only drinking water. He is accompanied in the Presidential Palace by leaders of the Bolivian Workers’ Central Organization and campesino leaders from the National Coordinating Committee for Change. García Linera, as vice president of Bolivia, is presiding over Congress. Talks with the oligarchic opposition are underway in a commission. One highly debated question is the number of indigenous leaders in Evo’s proposal on the representation of those communities, following the approved Constitution, without setting figures. Evo is proposing 14, the opposition is only accepting three. I sent greetings to Evo. No acts of violence had been reported up until that time.
At 16:01 I talked with Dausá again. He had passed on my greetings to Evo, who was planning to visit Cuba on April 9. He said he looked absolutely serene. He was playing chess with his compañeros. People are joining the hunger strike; this has extended to El Alto, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, La Paz and other cities. Popular organizations are constantly calling him to offer their support. The House of Deputies is overwhelmingly supporting him. In that sector of Congress, the advantage is in excess of the two-thirds required. The problem is in the Senate, where the oligarchy is in the majority.
Approval of the Electoral Transition Law required a majority in each House, thus it is easy to block its passing in Congress. However, Evo does have one legal recourse. Among his constitutional faculties he has the possibility of a Supreme Decree to pass the law under discussion. Moreover, in that case, he can dissolve Congress and convene parliamentary elections, but he does not wish to do that in his desire to preserve the country’s unity. That is why he is constantly inviting the opposition to share in efforts to develop the same to the benefit of all sectors of the nation. His honesty and democratic spirit are internationally recognized.
A few minutes ago I was listening to the debate in Congress. The hatred and insolence of the leaders of the oligarchy are incredible. They are trained in insults and personal offenses. They are incensed by Evo, the first indigenous person in the modern history of our America to govern a country and who is, furthermore, of ancestrally indigenous customs.
The disputed law has just been passed in the House by 100 votes in favor and 30 against. The debate is taking place in La Paz, in the due chamber of the legislative building located a few meters from the Government Palace.
At 18:40 I briefly communicated with Dausá again. He told me that representatives of the popular organizations are arriving in Murillo Plaza facing the Palace. He also commented on the insolence of the arguments, although he says that not all the oligarchy deputies are so gross, some of them behave correctly. Negotiations are also continuing and a decision will possibly be reached late in the night.
I am listening to the Senate debate which is just beginning, via the television.
The broadcast ended at 19:20, when an opposition senator asked for the meeting to be suspended in order to negotiate, joined by other senators. More than two hours later it had not yet resumed.
At 20:41 I called Dausá. Evo, well, constantly communicating with his cadres by cell phone. People are still arriving at Murillo Plaza, our ambassador knows that negotiations are advancing, but the opposition is asking for people to leave the Plaza and for Evo to end his hunger strike. Both things would be difficult to achieve. Dausá believes that an agreement could be reached by the end of the night. I promised to call him again.
I called Dausá twice more, at 22:20 and at 22:49.
The first call coincided with the words of García Linera explaining the situation at that moment. The impasse in Congress continues. He explained the advances during the day at the negotiations table. He lamented the intransigence of the senatorial minority. They are still demanding that Evo ends his hunger strike and that people are dislodged from Murillo Plaza. There is now no possibility that an agreement can be reached this Thursday. Perhaps on Friday morning, but that is not certain. Evo well and calm. His attitude remains invariable. In the second call he ratified the former after making some contacts that were pending.
It is now 12 midnight and there is no agreement. The opposition has left Parliament. I have to give this material to CubaDebate so that it can be published in time in our press. This is not a Classic baseball game, but in spite of that one has to go to bed very late. I do not harbor the least doubt that Evo will emerge victorious.
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 10, 2009
12:06 a.m.
News from Bolivia (Taken from CubaDebate)
FRESH news on Bolivia arrived this morning, April 9, via a Bolivian television channel and reflected tension in the country.
Everything was going well. Important changes have been taking place. Evo’s prestige is growing in Bolivia and the world. He is steadily gaining more popular support despite the fact that the oligarchy controls virtually the entire media. An exemplary literacy campaign has eliminated illiteracy in record time; medical services now extend to the entire population; important historical needs of the Bolivian people are being addressed with original and new methods. The economy and hard currency reserves are growing. This is infuriating the oligarchy, whose members in Parliament are blocking the elections convened for the end of this year.
That maneuver has obliged Evo, the leading Party and the masses to adopt ways of struggle that are characterized by the moral force that they imply.
From the Government Palace, President Evo Morales, the National Coordinating Committee for Change and the Bolivian Workers’ Central Organization have declared themselves on hunger strike, demanding respect for the Constitution and the Electoral Transition Law, delayed for months in order to sabotage the elections.
Evo Morales declared the following:
"As Compañeros from the country’s various social organizations, faced with the negligence of a group of neoliberal parliamentarians, we are obliged to defend the people’s mandate.
"The parliamentarians knew that the Electoral Transition Law had to be approved within 60 days.
"However, they do not want a law passed that will guarantee the implementation of the Constitution.
"To ask for a new register is simply to say that there are no national elections for the end of this year, nor prefectural and municipal elections next year.
"For that reason, I reiterate, this effort by trade union leaders and the principal authorities at the head of COB and CONALCAM, for the defense of the sacred vote of the people.
"In a press conference I explained how the proposal of certain senators stated that the register for Bolivians living abroad must be approved by two-thirds in Congress, when they know that that two-thirds will not be attained.
"The current constitution does not state that either.
"Bolivians resident abroad also have the right to decide their country’s future and who the authorities in their homeland will be.
"It is the defense of the vote.
"Last year they came from Argentina asking for that right to be approved in the Senate, but it was not approved.
"Likewise, when they were talking about population density in order to guarantee special constituencies, basically it is so that these will not exist.
"So this effort is also in defense of the special constituencies of the indigenous movement.
"We have also heard that certain press media are saying that the government, that the president is closing Congress.
"Let‘s not talk about a siege, but rather let us make an appeal for the law to be approved.
"We have invoked this measure to defend democracy.
"The anti-democrats of before now believe themselves to be great defenders of democracy.
"Here are the compañeros who have given their lives and their time for true democracy.
"It is for that reason, so as to assume a real democracy, that regulations are passed in the National Congress.
"In Congress, parliamentarians have one of the best opportunities to guarantee democracy and also profound transformations in the structural context.
"I ask the opposition parliamentarians, let us make history together, all of us.
"One has to think about equality and the social solutions that the people want; there must be no egotism, sectarianism here.
"The people must come first, the homeland first and then sectorial or regional interests.
"My salutes, truthfully, to us jointly assuming the defense of democracy, of the people’s vote, of the overseas vote and other demands of a structural nature through the effort of a hunger strike.
"Thank you very much."
He ended his words with this call.
Throughout the day we shall be finding out how events develop.
At 14:25 I spoke with Rafael Dausá, our ambassador in La Paz. I learned of the news in that way.
Evo well, animated and serene. Only drinking water. He is accompanied in the Presidential Palace by leaders of the Bolivian Workers’ Central Organization and campesino leaders from the National Coordinating Committee for Change. García Linera, as vice president of Bolivia, is presiding over Congress. Talks with the oligarchic opposition are underway in a commission. One highly debated question is the number of indigenous leaders in Evo’s proposal on the representation of those communities, following the approved Constitution, without setting figures. Evo is proposing 14, the opposition is only accepting three. I sent greetings to Evo. No acts of violence had been reported up until that time.
At 16:01 I talked with Dausá again. He had passed on my greetings to Evo, who was planning to visit Cuba on April 9. He said he looked absolutely serene. He was playing chess with his compañeros. People are joining the hunger strike; this has extended to El Alto, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, La Paz and other cities. Popular organizations are constantly calling him to offer their support. The House of Deputies is overwhelmingly supporting him. In that sector of Congress, the advantage is in excess of the two-thirds required. The problem is in the Senate, where the oligarchy is in the majority.
Approval of the Electoral Transition Law required a majority in each House, thus it is easy to block its passing in Congress. However, Evo does have one legal recourse. Among his constitutional faculties he has the possibility of a Supreme Decree to pass the law under discussion. Moreover, in that case, he can dissolve Congress and convene parliamentary elections, but he does not wish to do that in his desire to preserve the country’s unity. That is why he is constantly inviting the opposition to share in efforts to develop the same to the benefit of all sectors of the nation. His honesty and democratic spirit are internationally recognized.
A few minutes ago I was listening to the debate in Congress. The hatred and insolence of the leaders of the oligarchy are incredible. They are trained in insults and personal offenses. They are incensed by Evo, the first indigenous person in the modern history of our America to govern a country and who is, furthermore, of ancestrally indigenous customs.
The disputed law has just been passed in the House by 100 votes in favor and 30 against. The debate is taking place in La Paz, in the due chamber of the legislative building located a few meters from the Government Palace.
At 18:40 I briefly communicated with Dausá again. He told me that representatives of the popular organizations are arriving in Murillo Plaza facing the Palace. He also commented on the insolence of the arguments, although he says that not all the oligarchy deputies are so gross, some of them behave correctly. Negotiations are also continuing and a decision will possibly be reached late in the night.
I am listening to the Senate debate which is just beginning, via the television.
The broadcast ended at 19:20, when an opposition senator asked for the meeting to be suspended in order to negotiate, joined by other senators. More than two hours later it had not yet resumed.
At 20:41 I called Dausá. Evo, well, constantly communicating with his cadres by cell phone. People are still arriving at Murillo Plaza, our ambassador knows that negotiations are advancing, but the opposition is asking for people to leave the Plaza and for Evo to end his hunger strike. Both things would be difficult to achieve. Dausá believes that an agreement could be reached by the end of the night. I promised to call him again.
I called Dausá twice more, at 22:20 and at 22:49.
The first call coincided with the words of García Linera explaining the situation at that moment. The impasse in Congress continues. He explained the advances during the day at the negotiations table. He lamented the intransigence of the senatorial minority. They are still demanding that Evo ends his hunger strike and that people are dislodged from Murillo Plaza. There is now no possibility that an agreement can be reached this Thursday. Perhaps on Friday morning, but that is not certain. Evo well and calm. His attitude remains invariable. In the second call he ratified the former after making some contacts that were pending.
It is now 12 midnight and there is no agreement. The opposition has left Parliament. I have to give this material to CubaDebate so that it can be published in time in our press. This is not a Classic baseball game, but in spite of that one has to go to bed very late. I do not harbor the least doubt that Evo will emerge victorious.
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 10, 2009
12:06 a.m.
Everything was going well. Important changes have been taking place. Evo’s prestige is growing in Bolivia and the world. He is steadily gaining more popular support despite the fact that the oligarchy controls virtually the entire media. An exemplary literacy campaign has eliminated illiteracy in record time; medical services now extend to the entire population; important historical needs of the Bolivian people are being addressed with original and new methods. The economy and hard currency reserves are growing. This is infuriating the oligarchy, whose members in Parliament are blocking the elections convened for the end of this year.
That maneuver has obliged Evo, the leading Party and the masses to adopt ways of struggle that are characterized by the moral force that they imply.
From the Government Palace, President Evo Morales, the National Coordinating Committee for Change and the Bolivian Workers’ Central Organization have declared themselves on hunger strike, demanding respect for the Constitution and the Electoral Transition Law, delayed for months in order to sabotage the elections.
Evo Morales declared the following:
"As Compañeros from the country’s various social organizations, faced with the negligence of a group of neoliberal parliamentarians, we are obliged to defend the people’s mandate.
"The parliamentarians knew that the Electoral Transition Law had to be approved within 60 days.
"However, they do not want a law passed that will guarantee the implementation of the Constitution.
"To ask for a new register is simply to say that there are no national elections for the end of this year, nor prefectural and municipal elections next year.
"For that reason, I reiterate, this effort by trade union leaders and the principal authorities at the head of COB and CONALCAM, for the defense of the sacred vote of the people.
"In a press conference I explained how the proposal of certain senators stated that the register for Bolivians living abroad must be approved by two-thirds in Congress, when they know that that two-thirds will not be attained.
"The current constitution does not state that either.
"Bolivians resident abroad also have the right to decide their country’s future and who the authorities in their homeland will be.
"It is the defense of the vote.
"Last year they came from Argentina asking for that right to be approved in the Senate, but it was not approved.
"Likewise, when they were talking about population density in order to guarantee special constituencies, basically it is so that these will not exist.
"So this effort is also in defense of the special constituencies of the indigenous movement.
"We have also heard that certain press media are saying that the government, that the president is closing Congress.
"Let‘s not talk about a siege, but rather let us make an appeal for the law to be approved.
"We have invoked this measure to defend democracy.
"The anti-democrats of before now believe themselves to be great defenders of democracy.
"Here are the compañeros who have given their lives and their time for true democracy.
"It is for that reason, so as to assume a real democracy, that regulations are passed in the National Congress.
"In Congress, parliamentarians have one of the best opportunities to guarantee democracy and also profound transformations in the structural context.
"I ask the opposition parliamentarians, let us make history together, all of us.
"One has to think about equality and the social solutions that the people want; there must be no egotism, sectarianism here.
"The people must come first, the homeland first and then sectorial or regional interests.
"My salutes, truthfully, to us jointly assuming the defense of democracy, of the people’s vote, of the overseas vote and other demands of a structural nature through the effort of a hunger strike.
"Thank you very much."
He ended his words with this call.
Throughout the day we shall be finding out how events develop.
At 14:25 I spoke with Rafael Dausá, our ambassador in La Paz. I learned of the news in that way.
Evo well, animated and serene. Only drinking water. He is accompanied in the Presidential Palace by leaders of the Bolivian Workers’ Central Organization and campesino leaders from the National Coordinating Committee for Change. García Linera, as vice president of Bolivia, is presiding over Congress. Talks with the oligarchic opposition are underway in a commission. One highly debated question is the number of indigenous leaders in Evo’s proposal on the representation of those communities, following the approved Constitution, without setting figures. Evo is proposing 14, the opposition is only accepting three. I sent greetings to Evo. No acts of violence had been reported up until that time.
At 16:01 I talked with Dausá again. He had passed on my greetings to Evo, who was planning to visit Cuba on April 9. He said he looked absolutely serene. He was playing chess with his compañeros. People are joining the hunger strike; this has extended to El Alto, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, La Paz and other cities. Popular organizations are constantly calling him to offer their support. The House of Deputies is overwhelmingly supporting him. In that sector of Congress, the advantage is in excess of the two-thirds required. The problem is in the Senate, where the oligarchy is in the majority.
Approval of the Electoral Transition Law required a majority in each House, thus it is easy to block its passing in Congress. However, Evo does have one legal recourse. Among his constitutional faculties he has the possibility of a Supreme Decree to pass the law under discussion. Moreover, in that case, he can dissolve Congress and convene parliamentary elections, but he does not wish to do that in his desire to preserve the country’s unity. That is why he is constantly inviting the opposition to share in efforts to develop the same to the benefit of all sectors of the nation. His honesty and democratic spirit are internationally recognized.
A few minutes ago I was listening to the debate in Congress. The hatred and insolence of the leaders of the oligarchy are incredible. They are trained in insults and personal offenses. They are incensed by Evo, the first indigenous person in the modern history of our America to govern a country and who is, furthermore, of ancestrally indigenous customs.
The disputed law has just been passed in the House by 100 votes in favor and 30 against. The debate is taking place in La Paz, in the due chamber of the legislative building located a few meters from the Government Palace.
At 18:40 I briefly communicated with Dausá again. He told me that representatives of the popular organizations are arriving in Murillo Plaza facing the Palace. He also commented on the insolence of the arguments, although he says that not all the oligarchy deputies are so gross, some of them behave correctly. Negotiations are also continuing and a decision will possibly be reached late in the night.
I am listening to the Senate debate which is just beginning, via the television.
The broadcast ended at 19:20, when an opposition senator asked for the meeting to be suspended in order to negotiate, joined by other senators. More than two hours later it had not yet resumed.
At 20:41 I called Dausá. Evo, well, constantly communicating with his cadres by cell phone. People are still arriving at Murillo Plaza, our ambassador knows that negotiations are advancing, but the opposition is asking for people to leave the Plaza and for Evo to end his hunger strike. Both things would be difficult to achieve. Dausá believes that an agreement could be reached by the end of the night. I promised to call him again.
I called Dausá twice more, at 22:20 and at 22:49.
The first call coincided with the words of García Linera explaining the situation at that moment. The impasse in Congress continues. He explained the advances during the day at the negotiations table. He lamented the intransigence of the senatorial minority. They are still demanding that Evo ends his hunger strike and that people are dislodged from Murillo Plaza. There is now no possibility that an agreement can be reached this Thursday. Perhaps on Friday morning, but that is not certain. Evo well and calm. His attitude remains invariable. In the second call he ratified the former after making some contacts that were pending.
It is now 12 midnight and there is no agreement. The opposition has left Parliament. I have to give this material to CubaDebate so that it can be published in time in our press. This is not a Classic baseball game, but in spite of that one has to go to bed very late. I do not harbor the least doubt that Evo will emerge victorious.
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 10, 2009
12:06 a.m.
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