April 7, 2011
Erasmo Calzadilla
Cuban political discourse and the island's official media made such a
huge shift from the revolt in Egypt to the disorders in Libya that I
began to think: What's behind all this? We received daily reports from
the country of pyramids, and on the television news we frequently saw
some youths protesting in the plazas and others being cruelly repressed.
However when Libya heated up with giant protests, they were hardly shown
on the TV screen, and nor was anything else heard (except when they were
carrying arms and seemed dangerous). The only thing spoken of were the
ill intentions of the western powers, and in the briefly shown images
the Cuban media prioritized the "leader's followers" waving green flags
and holding up photos of Gaddafi the "brother leader."
Curious about this change of attitude, I conducted a little research.
So what did I discover?
Firstly, I found that almost all of the Arab nations coming to a boil —
including Libya and Syria — are currently "headed" by tyrants who have
transformed republican institutions into dynasties. These are corrupt
men who, as corresponds in those cases, have cut civil rights down to
the roots and do their dealings employing extreme cruelty against their
opponents (today's butcher shop is overwhelming proof), although these
involve only pacifist fighters.
Gaddafi, speaking in front of television cameras, ended up saying:
"Those who don't love me deserve to die." Shouldn't this incitement to
violence be enough to deny him any support?
The two "socialist republics" (Syria and Libya) are socialist in name
only (the high life expectancy rates are not indicators that socialism
exists there). Gaddafi and Bashar al Assad are supported by minorities
of the rich and they maintain (or they have up to now) magnificent
relations with the "western empire" (to the point of supporting
elections of right wing politicians in Europe), and of late they have
caught the privatization fever.
And what else did I discover in my research? Good heavens… that the
government of Cuba maintains magnificent relations with both.
With Libya
In 2010, the ambassador of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya in Cuba described the relations between the two nations as
"excellent" and expressed his government's interest in investing in our
country.
And with Syria
In 2001, Fidel Castro traveled to that "brother" country.
Later, in 2009, a Syrian delegation came to Cuba and that same year
representatives from the island returned the visit (led by Deputy
Minister of Foreign Relations Marcos Rodriguez Costa and the Cuban
minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Collaboration, Martha Lomas
Morales).
In all these exchanges, 40 years of friendship were recognized and
recollections were made of the mutual support and cooperation in the
face of the monopolistic control of the western mass media.
In 2010, Raul Castro received Bashar al Assad on a state visit and as a
result they signed three bilateral cooperation agreements.
Conclusion: The government of Cuba has no conflicts with these capos.
Since the revolts began, "our little pals" have been going around
slaughtering with no holds barred. But it took an invasion by other
sons of b…… for the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP) to vigorously
condemn anyone. It seems that ICAP has confused who should be the
recipient of friendship.
The statement by that institution says in one of its paragraphs: "We
raise our voices calling to prevent the murder of freedom. What is at
stake is the independence and sovereignty of Arab peoples and of all
human beings on the planet."
I don't believe they're lying. But firstly, before freedom, people are
being murdered. And secondly, why didn't they say that before?
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