A Reflection on Hard and Obvious Realities

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Cuba:
A Reflection on Hard and Obvious Realities

Venezuela:
Chavez Urges Party for All-Out Campaign for Venezuelan Constitutional Reform

Reflections of Cuban President Fidel Castro

Because of its importance, I am prioritising this subject, among others.

I am not going to deny that the prerogatives of power, whether real, relative or fictitious, have an influence on human beings, because they were all educated this way, right from the remotest of times of the species.

I did not arrive in just a minute at what I am thinking today about power, but I consider that this is a matter of consistent thinking. I attribute the modest contribution of our Revolution to the fact that our responses to questions have never regressed, despite the harsh reality imposed upon us by the empire’s brutal blockade.

In the reflection published on July 31, I explained what it meant for me to have spent a year gathering information and meditating in depth on the vital problems which today threaten our species as never before.

On July 24, the Russian news agency Ria Novosti published the following information:

Colonel General Leonid Ivashov, a defence expert, stated that the main instrument of the US policy is the economic, financial, technological and military dictate.

By implementing this, the US is trying to secure the world’s hegemony for itself. Its national security strategy explicitly indicates the necessity of guaranteeing sustainable access, in other words, controlled access, to the key regions of the planet, strategic communications and global resources. It is a strategy that has been turned into a law, and this brings us to the conclusion that in the future the United States will face even tougher conflicts with Russia, China and India.

Washington insists on building a system capable of neutralising the nuclear potential of Moscow and Peking, its strategic rivals, in order to achieve military superiority. The United States wants to deploy its anti-missile shield not just in Europe but also in other parts of the world, to see what is going on in Russia and China. Likewise, it is seeking to increase its offensive arsenal at a pace that surpasses even that which was followed during the Cold War.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO lost the status it had as a defensive organisation when it was founded in 1949, and was transformed into a powerful and aggressive instrument at the service of the world oligarchy, eager to dominate the world. The new strategic concept of the Alliance, approved on April 1999 as a result of the efforts made by the United States, comprises new functions and expands its sphere of responsibilities to include the entire world, not just the North Atlantic. The current Secretary General of NATO, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, frequently visits Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The Alliance has started to ignore International Law and the UN Security Council. Meanwhile, the United States promotes the expansion of NATO and refuses to ratify the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), taking on the right to act outside of any limitations and disposing of troops as it wishes.

The United States would do anything in its power to prevent Russia from being an autonomous player. The debates on anti-missile defence, Iran and Kosovo, have not generated any formulas for compromise.

It is important for Russia to consolidate its positions and recover its geopolitical potential. Early on the 1970’s, when Moscow had achieved nuclear parity with Washington, the latter became aware of the fact that it could not beat Moscow militarily and accepted to negotiate on equal terms. Consequently, in 1972, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABMT) as well as all other subsequent Strategic Arms Limitations Treaties (SALT) were signed. Strength is the only thing that the United States cares about. If it feels to be in a stronger position, it will never make concessions to anyone.

In order to neutralise the plans for world hegemony it is necessary to build an alternative pole, and we already have the foundations to do so: the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

In fact, it appears to be rather incorrect to speak about the United States strength. The United States has military power, a vigorous economy and an enormous amount of hard currency which it can mint in unlimited quantities, but the geopolitical level of the country is extremely low. The United States inspires very little political confidence in the rest of the world.

In 1999, China and Russia stated before the UN General Assembly the need to preserve the Anti Missile Defence Treaty of 1972. All nations voted in favour of the proposal except for four: the United States, Israel, Albania and Micronesia. The result bears witness to the United States’ total international isolation.

Without the participation of Russia, it would be impossible to resolve the situation that has taken shape in the Middle East, the Balkans, the Korean Peninsula and other regions of this planet. This also holds true for China, which is able to put up to the pressures exerted by the United States. China enjoys great prestige in the world; it has a powerful economy and a strong currency.

The SCO ought to recruit new allies and combine the potential of those countries which want to and are capable of implementing an autonomous policy. First, it is necessary to officially proclaim the rejection against the United States world hegemony. Second, China and Russia must denounce the deployment of the US anti-missile defence system before the UN Security Council, as an action altering the architecture of global security and threatening the entire international community. China, India and Russia could form a united front in the face of the United States’ dictates. It is also possible to propose the stabilisation of the global financial system as a task. Within the SCO framework, a novel philosophy could be formulated, based on the harmony among civilisations and on the rational use of natural resources. The majority of States will surely support such measures, of that I am convinced. Thus, a new political pole will come into being, the pole of peace. The SCO mission is to create a new model of development for human civilisation.

Only an alliance of civilisations could oppose the United States’ empire: the Russian civilisation whose orbit includes the Community of Independent States (CIS); the Chinese, the Indian, the Islamic and the Latin American civilisations. It is an immense space where we could create more equitable markets, our own stable financial system, our collective security mechanisms and our philosophy, giving priority to the intellectual development of man in the face of western modern civilisation, which emphasises material goods, and measures success by the amounts of mansions, yachts and restaurants people have. Our mission is to reorient the world towards justice and intellectual and spiritual growth.

So much for Ivashov’s essential thoughts, as published by Ria Novosti.

We have been able to find out that General Leonid Ivashov is Vice President of the Academy on Geopolitical Affairs; he was Secretary of the Council of Defence Ministers of the Community of Independent States (CIS) and Chief of the Military Cooperation Department at the Russian Federation Ministry of Defence. On September 11, 2001, the day when the tragic events in New York occurred, which served as a pretext to define the basis of the genocidal policy of the United States almost 6 years ago, General Ivashov was the Chief of Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. He is a truly well-informed man. It is worthwhile that our people know about his views.

The concern which the Cuban Revolution has always had about the education of the people is obvious. Judging by my own experience, I soon came across the idea that only conscience could prevail over the instincts that govern us. Technological advances today speak of the possibility of manipulating the functions of the cells in the human brain. What good would all this do in a world ruled by the commercial value of goods and services? Who will have the final say in this regard? By this means and through the shameless brain drain, a phenomenon we should adamantly continue to discuss, the most valuable part of the human being could be destroyed: a human being's education via its conscience.

Laboratories can produce medicines to save lives, which could be something of great social value provided such products are available to all. But laboratories are also manufacturing all kinds of weapons that could put an end to human life.

Commercial advertising and consumerism are incompatible with the survival of the species. After all possible calculations, you will realise that natural resources, space, climate, weather, and the system cannot yield any other outcome, given their pace and the direction in which they are moving.

Fidel Castro Ruz

August 3, 2007.

7:15 p.m.

Kiraz Janicke, Venezuelanalysis.com

Caracas, August 26, 2007 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Addressing thousands of members of the battalions of the new United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), packed into the Poliedro Stadium in Caracas on Saturday, President Hugo Chavez called for an offensive to guarantee the approval in the national referendum of his project of constitutional reforms, which he says are necessary to guarantee the transition to socialism in Venezuela.

"We are going to pulverise the opposition in the referendum," he declared, and "I propose that after we approve them [the constitutional reforms], the book of the Constitution is converted from blue to red, the red book."

Chavez also announced that after discussions with the Military High Command, he was incorporating a number of changes into his proposal, which would continue to recognise the National Guard, (to be renamed the Bolivarian National Guard), after it had been argued that his original proposal would allow for its abolition, through incorporation into the other bodies of the Armed Forces. The Reserves would be renamed as the Bolivarian National Militia, as opposed to the Bolivarian Popular Militia in his original proposal. In addition he said he was in discussion with some governors that had slight differences over his proposed geographical redistribution of power.

Chavez said that although under the current constitution the National Assembly could separate the reforms to be voted on article by article in the referendum, he was calling for his proposal be voted on block as it was an "integral proposal" for the transition of Venezuela towards socialism.

As he outlined his ideas for the construction of the new party, Chavez argued the project of constitutional reform would provide "the fuel for the political and ideological debate in the battalions [of the PSUV]".

Acknowledging that of the 5.8 million people that had signed up to be members of the PSUV only approximately 1.5 million have participated in the socialist battalions, Chavez said, "We were sure that when we commenced the second stage of the process all these people that registered were not going to participate, for logical reasons – there are people that work on Saturdays, others that have family commitments and others that don’t have the sufficient level of commitment to be an activist. It’s natural that this is so."

In this sense he proposed to organise the new party in "concentric circles" of full members and non-full members. The different levels of membership he assured did not imply a hierarchy, but reflected different levels of time dedicated to the party, with different levels of rights and obligations. "Full members must have the time to carry out the political tasks of the party and convert themselves into disseminators and organisers, and they must be a revolutionary example," he continued.

In the internal life of the party Chavez called for "irreverence in discussion and loyalty in action". He also announced the creation of a Provisional Discipline Committee of the PSUV, headed by former vice-president Diosdado Cabello, and referred to a case of an aspirant whose conduct he said, was contrary to the formation of the PSUV.

According to confidential sources quoted in Diario VEA (August 26), Deputy Francisco Ameliach, leader of the "socialist bloc" in parliament, was the aspirant who was called to report to the discipline committee. Earlier in the week Ameliach had alluded to the possibility of resurrecting the Movement for a Fifth Republic (MVR – the largest pro-Chavez party that dissolved earlier this year to become part of the PSUV) for the regional elections of governors in 2008, if the formation of the PSUV had not been completed. Chavez also affirmed that unlike the MVR, all PSUV candidates for local, regional and national elections would be democratically chosen from the base.

Venezuelan vice-president and coordinator of the National Promoters Commission of the PSUV, Jorge Rodriguez, assured that the new party would be formed by November. The elections for spokespeople to the founding congress of the PSUV, which were postponed in August to prioritise discussion of the constitutional reforms, have been rescheduled for mid September. "After we have elected them [the spokespeople], we hope to install the Founding Congress in October, so that by November we have completely formed the structure of the biggest party in the history of America," Rodriguez clarified.

Rodriguez also said that Chavez would be travelling throughout the country to facilitate "the process [of formation] of the assemblies and battalions and also in the discussion of the constitutional reform".

Chavez also stressed the internationalist character of the PSUV and called for a new International of left parties, saying, "2008 could be a good time to convoke a meeting of left parties in Latin America to organise a new International, an organisation of parties and movements of the left in Latin America and the Caribbean."

"There is a resurgence of consciousness of the people and we must continue building the movements and leaders of a new left, of a new project," he added.