The Wasted Bolivian Summit and the Words of Raul Castro

The Wasted Bolivian Summit and the Words of Raul Castro / Juan Juan Almeida
Posted on July 20, 2014

With much of the world caught up in the unharmonious rivalry of
football's World Cup, which ended last Sunday in Brazil, few people were
paying attention to the conclusion of the funereal G77+China summit.

It was attended by a couple of serious figures, a group of spermatzoon
zombies and a broad spectrum of political antiques who, given their
actions, did not seem to be living in an era in which theoretical
debates, respect for inequality and discord dominate.

This event — a theatrical fantasy based on an esoteric work of fiction —
ended on June 15 in the city of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. It was yet another
portrayal of lunacy, one in which uncreative delegates gave insipid
speeches full of florid mumbo-jumbo.

They amounted to monologues that sounded good but convinced no one. Ban
Ki Moon, the UN Secretary General himself, spoke of human rights before
a cynical troupe of representatives from countries – Zimbabwe, Syria,
Equatorial Guinea, Cuba and Venezuela – accused of violating them. And
the there was China, which arrived at the summit without bothering to
conceal its true intentions: commercial expansion and strategic
positioning in the Americas.

I suggest that analysts start paying attention to this particular issue
and stop ignoring Asia's current imperial-minded superpower, which has
invested more than one-hundred million dollars in the region over the
last eight years.

There were pleasant but disturbing words from the gruff, obstinate and
colorful Evo Morales, president of the summit and of Bolivia — the
poorest and most backward country in the South America — whose speeches
were sprinkled with his customary and dangerously foolhardy statements.
Instead of requesting more support for his nation, he proposed the
elimination of the UN Security Council as a means of creating a "new
world order."

A dictatorial government must appear above reproach and project an
exemplary image, at least according to books that try to explain how
power and social harmony in totalitarian systems are achieved
principally through fear. But it can intimidate the lackluster,
incoherent, arrogant and rigid.

General Raul Castro, with marked but unconvincing overacting and macho
bravado, eschewed the customary meddling policies of Cuba's
revolutionary government. Projecting instead a posture of economic
prowess and crocodile charisma, he publicly and shamelessly denounced
what he called "illegal, covert and subversive actions, used to
destabilize countries." The Cuban president added, "At the present time
state sovereignty is being transgressed and principles of international
law are being blatantly violated."

Has the General/President been drinking again or does he think that
saying one thing while doing another is not lying but rather just a way
to maintain a tradition that has been passed down?

In short, the sea.* I don't know if it was luck or misfortune but,
because attention was focused on goals, news of a summit attended by
presidents, heads-of-state and over 100 representatives from various
countries was not reported until the end of some newscasts. It is
evidence that we live at a crucial time marked by a complete leadership
vacuum. Worrisome.

*Translator's note: "en fin, el mar." Final line of a stanza from the
well-known poem "Tengo" ("I Have") by 20th century Cuban poet Nicolas
Guillen.

16 June 2014

Source: The Wasted Bolivian Summit and the Words of Raul Castro / Juan
Juan Almeida | Translating Cuba -
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