Dear Friends and Interested Folks:
Cuba once again led the world at the United Nations General Assembly on Oct. 28th to condemn the U.S.-imposed criminal blockade by a vote of 188 against 2. And, yet again, Cuba is the unchallenged leader in the global fight against Ebola and as the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution stated, "… nor can it be denied that the heroic action of the army of white coats will occupy one of the highest places of honor in this history". And Cuba again has become a focus of attention by the New York Times, not only for its invaluable contributions against Ebola, but also calling for an end to the U.S. "embargo", as it is referred to while it actually consists of the extra-territorial economic blockade of a small nation island, which has gone on to write glorious pages in history for all of humanity since the triumph of its revolution on January 1st, 1959. And, yesterday, the Editorial Board of the New York Times wrote about the possibility of a prisoner swap of three of the Cuban Five who remain imprisoned in the U.S. for Alan Gross -the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s subcontractor, who was convicted for the crime of illegally bringing defense/military type internet technology in Cuba with the purpose of helping to destabilize Cuba and helping to topple its government (and not what the New York Times claimed in reference to him having brought such military-sensitive items for the "small Jewish community and to provide more Cubans with Internet access"). The New York Times called the anti-terrorist Cuban Five "spies" who could be in the swap for the sake of "normalizing" relations between the U.S. and Cuba for it will help to bring about "change" in Cuba for the benefit of the Cuban People! The Cuban Five were not "spies" but in the biased justice system of the U.S. were convicted of "conspiracy to commit espionage" and the editorial board of the New York Times should know better if its members have any journalistic ethics! Meanwhile in Canada, throughout the past couple of weeks, we have been drowned with news of sorrow and solidarity for the tragic death of two soldiers in Montreal and Ottawa! And, of course, these two tragic deaths helped the federal government to easily move fighter jets and military personnel to Kuwait (where the largest amounts of cash are delivered to all kinds of terrorist organizations in the region) and to Iraq! And, of course and as always, nothing is being said about the biggest (at the time of his conviction) self-confessed and convicted terrorist in the western hemisphere -Luis Posada Carriles- who is walking the streets of Miami -in our backyard- a free man. This is the same terrorist who in 1998 confessed in a New York Times interview, to having been the mastermind behind the 1997 bombings of tourist installations in Havana, one of which caused the death of Fabio di Celmo, a permanent resident of Montreal! But why has Cuba, a tiny spot on the planet, attracted the animosity of the most powerful economic, cultural and military system, which represents the 1% and its leftovers and which cannot stomach the Cuban Revolution and its achievements. The statistics speak volumes and Cuba’s actions speak much louder than any lie and than any deceitful point of view presented by the mainstream media. Cuba: Has helped some 8 million people in becoming literate, free of charge, using its program "Yo Sí Puedo" (“Yes I can")! Cuba: Has brought the miracle of vision to some 3 million humble people who were suffering from cataracts and other eye diseases! Cuba: Has the lowest infant mortality rate in the Americas! Cuba: Has shared and is sharing its human capital of "troops in white coats" in some 89 countries to the tune of 50,000 people! Cuba: Has treated and continues to treat Ukraine’s children after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster! Cuba: Has helped to bring an end to the racist apartheid regime of South Africa, through the sacrifice of thousands of its sons and daughters who volunteered to join Africa’s struggle to rid itself of apartheid and who selflessly lost their lives in the process! Cuba: Has, for quite some time now, invented/discovered vaccines for children's meningitis, a cream to prevent the amputations of diabetic patients, a vaccine to stop the growth of lung cancer and, most recently, vaccines to fight cancer! BUT the multi-national pharmaceutical companies won't allow humanity to enjoy the benefits of these vaccines and medications, as a result of the U.S. blockade against Cuba! Cuba: Has withstood the U.S. hypocrisy of John Kerry finding himself forced to acknowledge Cuba's efforts in leading the global fight against Ebola while, at the same time, the joint venture of the U.S. State Department and of the Department of Homeland Security called the Cuban Medical Professional Parole (CMPP) Program, seeks to promote and facilitate defections of Cuban medical aid personnel from their international posts to the United States! That is nothing short of bringing death to millions of humble peoples around the world who count on the selfless sacrifices of the Cuban internationalist medical personnel! Cuba: Has demonstrated so much humanity and integrity that in 2007 (precisely at the time of the 40th anniversary of Ernesto Che Guevara’s death), Cuban doctors working in Bolivia saved the sight of Mario Teran, the Bolivian army sergeant who executed Che Guevara at the order of the CIA. Cuba: Has had its forestry not only in place but it has doubled it since the victory of the revolution and this is worth mentioning for those who talk of "climate change" but don't want to learn from a small "underdeveloped" nation, which in 2006 was also declared as the only country in the world with sustainable development by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Cuba: Has had, this year alone, so many conventions that the developed nations will only dream of: the Young Artists’ convention (Asociación Hermanos Saíz), the Union of Writers and Artists’ convention, the Central Union of Cuban Workers’ convention, the Cuban Federation of Women’s convention, just to name very few! Cuba: Has established cultural centres in each of the 186 municipalities in the country, whereby all elements of culture are available free of charge to all! Just imagine being able to send your child to a ballet school free of charge here in Toronto or... . Cuba: Is guided by its core culture, which states that "Homeland Is Humanity" and, consequently, it has had so many cultural festivals this year, that no other nation on earth could compare! Cuba: Has a parliament whose members, to be elected, do not need to have tens of thousands and millions of dollars for advertising themselves as is done in so-called "democratic" nations but, rather, being elected is a badge of honour since the candidates are nominated and elected by their peers, based on their personal example in their communities, in addition to not receiving any compensation for representing their constituents, other than just the salary/wages received at their regular jobs! Cuba: Has had the majority of its internationalist healthcare workers around the world consist of women! Cuba: Has had Five of his heroes (two of them who are now back with their loved ones in Cuba) in U.S. dungeons for 16 years, but it doesn’t give up its morals to the fear of retribution, when its representatives express their solidarity with the Palestinians in the midst of Israel's massacres throughout the past summer! Cuba: Has earned more gold medals in Olympic games per capita than Canada, which spends millions of dollars to train athletes through corporate sponsorships, while Cuba has made it a human right to have access to sports training and facilities! Cuba: Has had to endure the injustice imposed on the Cuban Five for the past 16 years, but it has done so with dignity and courage while Adriana Pérez (the wife of Gerardo Hernández who was convicted to two life sentences plus 15 years), like a Titan, has been fighting back the tears of emotions for not having been able to visit her husband all these years, even though the prison regulations of the U.S. allow for family visits even for the hardest of all criminals! The list goes on and that is the reason for the hatred of the Cuban Revolution, its leadership and it is the reason for the world of lies made up and published by the mainstream media in an effort to undermine Cuba´s achievements but, regardless, humanity is learning the truth about them first hand, day in and day out. I did not bother mentioning the attitude of Canada’s media, which whenever they get a chance, they more or less imitate the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)’s format of broadcasting and publishing vicious lies against Cuba after conducting interviews with policy advisors to the U.S. State Department, who have an agenda of justifying USAID’s projects designed to destabilize Cuban order, such as projects claiming to bring freedom of access to the internet! Even knowing that under Canadian law, any business entity/individual found guilty of corrupting officials of another country must face legal punishments here in Canada, the Canadian news pages and airwaves were filled with cries of fouls and injustice resulting from the arrest and conviction of Canadian businessman, Mr. Vahe Tokmakjian, to serve prison time for the crimes of corruption, traffic of hard currency and tax evasion in Cuba! However, these same Canadian media entities do not have the audacity to ask the Prime Minister of Canada why he does not demand for the authorities of our neighbour to the south to apprehend Posada Carriles for his crimes that have cost the life of someone from Canada and which would have certainly claimed many more lives, had it not been for the courageous effort of people like the Cuban Five who are entrusted with the duty of providing security 24/7 for all and for anyone living in Cuba, whether as a resident or a tourist! And of course I humbly cannot expect that Obama is willing to free the anti-terrorist Cuban Five out of his goodwill, or any other such qualities which he seems to lack, considering the fact that as recently as this past April, we learned that a group of organized/armed terrorists dispatched from the U.S., were arrested in Cuba for trying to bomb some military installations! In fact, what is at the core of the imperialist system’s animosity against the Cuban Revolution, is Cuba’s unbroken resolve to defend its sovereign right and refusal to be bullied into a corner, even by the most powerful country on earth, which is adamant to destroy it not only through a criminal, illegal and immoral blockade, but also through the means of financing, training and directing the most heinous terrorist acts against the Cuban nation, which have claimed the lives of 3478 people to the present date and which have resulted in the maiming of thousands more! This is the reason why the struggle to free the anti-terrorist Cuban Five political prisoners of the empire shall continue without any interruption and without ever contemplating that the empire will free Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino and Antonio Guerrero, without a very expensive international political campaign for the U.S. ruling class and its representatives, be it Obama or whoever else! And we have to constantly remember Gerardo’s statement that "Only a jury of millions will bring us home to our loved ones", in order to stay on guard and be realists in our hearts and in our decisions for action. While the New York Times articles are newsworthy in terms of reporting on the blockade, Ebola and the Cuban Five, they are not worthy of ethical values, which would consist of exposing the truth in order to crush the wall of silence that has been created around the case of the Cuban Five. There are many examples of the Cuban Revolution's generosity throughout the world, such as the internationalist medical brigades that helped the peoples of Pakistan after they suffered a horrific earthquake in Oct. 2005 succeeded by the more recent arrival to the Himalayas of newly graduated local doctors who were educated and trained in Cuba free of charge; or such as the presence of Cuban medical personnel, educators, artists and other professionals, prior and after the 2010 catastrophic earthquake in Haiti; and such as the current example of hundreds of Cuba’s health-care professionals volunteering in West Africa to fight Ebola and other curable diseases. These examples warm our hearts and provide an ever greater source of inspiration to fight for the freedom of the Cuban Five, because they are symbols of Cuba's unbroken will to have independence with justice, not only for themselves but also in order to enable them to share what they have with the rest of humanity, whenever and wherever it is needed. Let us just equip ourselves with the truths and successes of Cuba’s Revolution –a nation that has been dealing with the most enduring trade blockade in modern history, while facing the terrorism emanating from the North on a daily basis, because as the truth speaks, the walls shall fall whether through Obama and the representatives of the 1% or whether through the New York Times and other such mediums. And the truth-seeking and justice-loving people shall embrace the case of the Cuban Five and the struggle to bring the criminal blockade to an end by following the instruction given by Cuba’s apostle, José Martí, when he said that "Homeland is Humanity”! Take care and have a nice day. Brotherly, Morteza Gorgzadeh Toronto Forum on Cuba www.torontoforumoncuba.com torontoforumoncuba@rogers.com
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