When the 100% Communist Cuban propaganda rag Granma endorses a new Cuba news and information web site with a title like “New website in English presents reality of Cuba”, I find it offensive. This is not the first time I have been offended by the new Havana Times website which I am here today to expose as a pure propaganda tool of the Cuban government.

I believe that the Cuban government is promoting the Havana Times in order to counter the international popularity of Yoani Sanchez’s blog, Generacion Y (here in English) and put their own positive propaganda spin on blogging from Cuba. Let me say that Generation Y is the real truth about Cuba but has been warned by the Cuban government as being counter-revolutionary. Don’t let the Cuban government trick you into thinking that the Havana Times is some sort of an independent media source. The odd thing is that Yoani is not hateful or vindictive. She simply reports about everyday life in Cuba but apparently the Cuban government can’t handle it because they recently detained her for blogging.

Here is article in Granma praising the launch of Havana Times in Spanish (I have posted the Google translated version below in English.)

There was also this press release announcing the launch of Havana Times in Periodico26.cu. When two Cuban government publications promote a new Cuban website with “open minded thinking from Cuba”, you can be sure it is anything but open minded thinking from Cuba.

Havana Times management works for the Cuban government

Ihosvanny Cordoves, who is the English language translator for Periodico26.cu and writer for Radio Habana Cuba. He lives in Las Tunas Cuba and is the registrant in the whois information for the domain name HavanaTimes.org. Even though he lives in Las Tunas, he is using an address in Madrid Spain.

Circles Robinson who has his own propagandist blog at Circles Robinson Online offers a “fresh angle” on Cuba and casually “suggests” that you try HavanaTimes.org in his profile. Nowhere does he mention that he lives in Cuba nor does he mention that he works as a writer for many Cuban government publications.

Funny how Circles doesn’t want to have his name too much on HavanaTimes.org. It’s only here as an email address in the About Us page. Furthermore, I am not even sure how Circles Robinson can have a gmail address since he is living in Cuba. I would think Google would be in violation of the OFAC sanctions on some level. Then again, they probably don’t know that he is an agent of the Cuban government.

If you need proof, here are just a few of the articles that Circles Robinson has written for the Cuban government:

MINREX the Ministry of Foreign Affairs article by Circles Robinson

Radio Habana Cuba article by Circles Robinson

Adelante.cu Online article by Circles Robinson

ACN Cuban News Agency article by Circles Robinson

Cubarte The Portal of Cuban Culture article by Circles Robinson

Ahora.cu news agency article by Circles Robinson

Prensa Latina Cuba news article by Circles Robinson

(You may have to wait for some to load. If the pages are not there, check Google’s cache)

These many articles and sources are proof that Circles Robinson is a senior agent who is very active at high levels in the Cuban government. Here’s my little argument with Circles Robinson we had on GlobalVoices which is a recommended site at HavanaTimes.org.

HavanaTimes.org vs. HavanaTimes.com

The Cuban government should have been a little more thoughtful when they registered the .org version of Havana Times. HavanaTimes.com is owned by Havana Journal Inc..

First, they registered the .org which will “bleed” traffic to the .com unless the website is a pure non-profit organization. The HavanaTimes.org might be non-profit but surely not in the sense we Americans understand it to be. Second, they should have checked to see who owns the .com version and what they might think would happen when they try to fool the international public… and here’s why: HavanaTimes.com now points to this article you’re reading right now. So, not only do I have the Havana Journal to make my case against HavanaTimes.org, I have the HavanaTimes.com to use against them in order to show the international public the truth about the propaganda that the Cuban government tries to pass off as “open minded thinking from Cuba”.

The HavanaTimes.org domain name was registered in May 2008, more than four years after I registered my domain, HavanaTimes.com

There are other agents working for the Cuban government on travel sites who give positive reviews of Cuban hotels and offer travel advice yet they refuse to admit that they too are agents of the Cuban government. I wouldn’t mind the HavanaTimes.org and VoyHavana so much if they actually admitted that they are paid by the Cuban government to promote Cuba to an international audience.

English translation of Granma article “New website in English presents reality of Cuba”

ELIZABETH REYES TASÉ

The Havana Times website, designed to facilitate knowledge of the reality of the English-speaking country, was presented today at the headquarters of the Union of Cuban Journalists (UPEC), in the Cuban capital.

Available since last October in the e-mail http://www.havanatimes.org, the project responds to one of the objectives of the Eighth Congress of the UPEC, aim to increase the informational proposals that reflect, in English, currently in Cuba on the Internet.

With an attractive, lightweight design, the initiative shows journalistic work and views of non-professionals about life in the largest of the Antilles, through cultural notes, pictures, interviews, feature stories, news and other sections.

Circles Robinson, editor of the site, said the idea offers a clear and truthful about Cuba and from Cuba, with an open mind, to encourage an intelligent and respectful debate.

Open to partners within and outside the country, the digital portal on the premise that the diversity of approaches is not a weakness but a strength, and has reported increased number of visits in nations like the United States and Canada, he said.

Tubal Paez, president of the UPEC, pointed out that the site fosters a closer dialogue with American society, implementing a kind of communication base for understanding the social reality of Cuba.

Havana Times is a tool to defend the revolution in the fight media, the principal means currently used by the enemies of the island to distort reality, he concluded Páez. (AIN)

While Cuba still remains off-limits to Americans, there is a heated debate on whether or not Obama’s administration should scrap the half-century old embargo on the island nation. After all, Fidel Castro no longer holds the reigns of power and his brother Raul seems to be ready to relax the Communist Party’s grip on the economy. That said, save another revolution, change in Cuba is likely to come very slowly. However, this has not stopped many investors from keeping a close eye on Cuba.

That the island has attracted real estate speculators shouldn’t be a surprise. After all, Cuba is a beautiful country whose natural and cultural landscape has not yet been lost to over-development. It has had a fascinating history. Its people are mostly educated and have a strong sense of self. Cuba has received consistently high marks on the United Nations’ Human Development Report.

Of course, the country also faces huge challenges. Its economy is in tatters. Its infrastructure is substandard. Worse of all, it faces an embargo from its biggest potential market, the United States. “Time pretty well came to a standstill following the Revolution in 1959,” said Christopher P. Baker who authored, among five other books, The National Geographic Traveler: Cuba. Not much visible development has taken place since then.

Cuba at a glance

Located in the northern Caribbean, Cuba is the biggest island in the Greater Antilles. Its main island is 766 miles long. Approximately 11 million people live in Cuba. The island’s culture is a medley of aboriginal, Spanish, and African.

The 2008 UN Human Development Report puts Cuba at 51st out of 177 countries. This places the island in the top third of the development spectrum. The country indeed has archived a lot in terms of health and education. The average life expectancy on the island is 77.7 years, virtually tied with the United States’ 77.9. Its literacy rate is among the world’s highest. Its GDP per capita, however, ranks 94 which is close to the bottom of the middle tier countries.

The Human Development Report has been compiled since 1990 and seeks to look further than just plain economic indicators to rank countries based on their ability to advance the well-being to their citizens. The report doesn’t take into consideration human right issues such as political and intellectual freedom. If it had, Cuba would definitely have done badly in these areas. Its citizens have no say in who rules them. Press freedom is curtailed by the government and there are very limited property ownership rights.

The number of foreign corporations entering the Cuban market is rising. “Currently doing business in Cuba are Canadians, Spanish, Mexicans, British, German and Jamaican entities. China is boosting its investments in the mining industry, where Canada’s Sherritt Corporation has been the biggest presence in the past decade,” said Baker, who has traveled to the island more 30 times.

Real Estate in Cuba

Homes can only be exchanged and not sold in Cuba
“Most Cubans own their own homes, and some, such as tobacco farmers, own land, but sale is not permitted,” said Baker. “Home-owners are permitted to exchange homes with government approval on a like basis, that is properties must be similar.” Still, this doesn’t mean property transactions involving money don’t take place.

The underground property market is thriving in Havana, the nation’s capital, according to the International Herald Tribune. Prices are on the rise with as much as $50,000 changing hands. Speculators want to get a hold of historic homes with the expectation that private property will once again be the norm in the country. Some of the home exchanges taking place are legal and deal with similar properties. Most, however, involve swapping for a bigger or smaller property, with the party getting the bigger place paying the party wishing to trade down.

Cuba is known for its beautiful architecture. ”[The country] is a time capsule, with fabulous colonial structures, as well as a huge core of Beaux Arts, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and Modernist buildings,” said Baker. “But the infrastructure is badly corroded and a large percentage of homes are virtual slums that would be condemned in most developed Western nations.” Despite the Cuban government’s successful renovation of the country’s prominent colonial centers, much more needs to be done, both aesthetically and structurally. Full restoration will require billions of dollars that the country doesn’t possess.

Should Cuba open up, it has a lot going for it as far as attracting international investment. “Dozens of beaches offer huge potential for residential development, and this will be the focus of future real estate development aimed at foreigners,” said Baker.

Read the rest of the story from Buying real estate in Cuba

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Havana Journal Inc. owns CubaRealty.com and is always looking for website development partners.

Communist Cuba is slowly lifting the veil of secrecy surrounding its people and economy as demands from a more educated public, the information age and the need to manage better its affairs erode concerns about US snooping and the secretive instincts of bureaucrats.

Just a few years ago hardly any Cuban statistics were available online. Land use, sales at agricultural markets and monthly tourism arrivals, among other reports, were considered restricted information.

It took months to obtain a few initial printed figures covering the previous year’s economic and social performance. A statistical abstract of domestic information on one year was not published until the end of the next.

But Raúl Castro has demanded more accurate information since he stepped in for Fidel Castro, his ailing brother, in July 2006 and officially became president in February last year.

In a speech to parliament in 2006 he attacked shoddy data as “preventing us from knowing what has been done and what remains to be done”.

A relative deluge of readily available information has since appeared at the website of Cuba’s National Statistics Office reinforced by graduates of its University of Information Sciences. “Without a doubt the government is looking more at different phenomena, from demographics to social and economic issues,” says Oscar Maderos, the young director of the NSO.

With celebrations on Thursday marking the 50th anniversary of Fidel’s triumphant arrival in Havana during the Cuban revolution, the information on the site is one of the more tangible signs of thawing government control under Raúl’s presidency.

Last year the initial data for 2007 were released in January and the statistical abstract made available online in June. October 2008 agricultural market sales and November tourism data have already been posted on the site, along with dozens of previously secret reports, such as a study of internal migration.

Mr Maderos says the increasing skill of local webmasters and domestic demand are driving the improvement, rather than outside users.

“We were swamped with demands for national, provincial and even municipal information due to the universalisation of higher education,” he says.

Few students have computers, internet access or even phone lines, but they can view the website using the government-controlled intranet at work, school and local state-run computer clubs.

Controversy still swirls over the reliability of the information coming to light and important data remain secret: for example, the most recent nickel production figures, debt and some balance of payments information, crime statistics and details of the countries from which overseas health workers – Cuba’s most important source of foreign exchange – send back service revenues.

Mr Maderos insists the information published by his office is credible gives a detailed computer-aided explanation on how thousands of his employees gather it across the land. “We have more offices than anyone else in Cuba except the association of small farmers,” he says.

Even so, users differ about the usefulness of the information on the website.

“I do use the page and find it surprisingly good because it’s Cuba and I wouldn’t have thought they would make so much information available,” says a London-based debt broker, who wished to remain anonymous.

Pavel Videl at University of Havana’s Center for the Study of the Cuban Economy says: “The page has improved a lot. There is more transparency for us to work with. What’s strange is that they seem to be alone because you do not see similar progress with other institutions that manage statistics, for example the central bank’s page.”

G.B. Hagelberg, an international agriculture and sugar industry analyst, who often uses the website, says:

“Government statistics across the world are not immune to manipulation. The only way to keep them reasonably honest is by creating competition within the system . . . and there is none in Cuba.”

In a country where the state still dominates economic activity, Mr Maderos admits that his office has two roles: “To serve and control.”

Information remains restricted because of US sanctions, he says. “Why would the information we do release be false? You can’t forget our situation. We are under siege. It would be great if some day that changed, but for now we remain vigilant.”

The Cuban nickel industry garnered $552 million net profit on 70,400 tonnes of unrefined nickel and cobalt in 2008, local media reported Monday, citing the Basic Industry Ministry.

“The Cuban nickel industry gained economic leadership over the tourism industry in 2008, producing 70,400 tonnes with a net profit of $552 million,” the official Prensa Latina News Agency reported.

The agency said Cuba had the world’s second largest reserves of nickel and was the sixth producer.

Cuba produced around 76,000 tonnes of nickel plus cobalt in 2007 and plans to produce a similar amount in 2009.

There are three nickel processing plants in eastern Holguin province, two state owned and one a joint venture with Sherritt International of Canada.

Nickel is essential in the production of stainless steel and other corrosion-resistant alloys, while cobalt is critical for making super alloys used in aircraft engines and other products.

Cuban nickel is considered to be Class II with an average 90 percent nickel content.

Cuba’s National Minerals Resource Center has reported that eastern Holguin province has 34 percent of the world’s known reserves, or some 800 million tonnes, of proven nickel plus cobalt reserves.

The center says the region holds an additional 2.2 billion tonnes of probable reserves, with lesser reserves in other parts of the country.

Reporting by Marc Frank with editing by John Picinich

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Havana Journal Inc. owns CubaNickel.com and is always looking for development partners.

I have learned one thing from my various visits to Cuba over the years, and that is not to predict the demise of the regime. I did that sometimes, if only to offer a bit of hope to various despairing individuals who thought that a visiting foreigner might know more about their future than they did themselves.

But the brothers Castro are still there, ever more moth-eaten (in Raul’s case, almost mummified), and they have just celebrated the 50th anniversary of their revolution.

Nevertheless, change may be lurking around the corner at last, for Barack Obama represents the greatest danger that the regime has faced since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of its subsidies 17 years ago. The survival of the regime is due in large part to the unremitting hostility of the United States, which lets it appeal to Cubans’ patriotism, and to the trade embargo that gives it an excuse for its economic failures.

Obama is clever enough to understand that the best way to kill the communist regime in Cuba is with kindness, and he has no domestic political debts that would keep him from acting on that insight. In particular, he owes nothing to the Cuban exile establishment in Florida, which mostly voted for George W. Bush.

Once the question of where to send the remaining Guantanamo detainees has been resolved, Obama could close the base down entirely. Indeed, he could give the land back to Cuba as a free gesture, since it has no economic or strategic value to the US. That would seriously undermine the communist regime’s argument that the US is an implacable enemy that Cubans must confront with discipline and solidarity.

Then he could get to work on the ridiculous embargo on trade and travel to Cuba. The sanctions have been written into law in recent years, so he would need Congress’s assent to remove them. But if he got it, all the mechanisms of control built up by Fidel Castro over the past 50 years would probably begin to crumble.

The real question is: what happens then? The last time the fall of the Castro regime seemed likely, a couple of years after the collapse of the Soviet Union in late 1991, I went to Cuba in the guise of a tourist (there’s nothing like having a baby along to make you look innocent) and talked to a great many people informally.

Most of them expected the regime to fall soon, and a majority (though not an overwhelming majority) welcomed the prospect. However, they were all frightened of what might come next, for two reasons. One was the fact that at least 10 per cent of the Cuban population over a million people were true communist believers, and they were armed to the teeth.

Would they let their dream die without fighting to save it?

The other was that the exiles would come back from Miami and take over. Their money would let them buy up everything of value, and those who had endured decades of poverty under Castro would stay poor and marginalized. Even the few good things about ’‘socialist’‘ Cuba, such as the health care system, would be destroyed.

Well, my last trip to Cuba was less than two years ago, and things had changed. The poverty, the oppression and the despair were the same, but the true believers who would kill and die to save the revolution were noticeably scarcer.

This visit was part of a project in which various Western embassies, thinking that Fidel Castro’s illness might mean that big changes were on the way, brought in ’‘experts’‘ to talk to the Cuban elite about how things were done in democratic countries. It was pretty pointless work, frankly, but it did offer unusual access to the apparatchiks who really run the show in Cuba.

Most of the officials were about what you’d expect: loyal and fully institutionalized servants of the regime. But very few of them were passionate ideologues who would launch and fight a civil war to save it.

Generational turnover had done its work, and these were just people who were glad to have their jobs and the few privileges that came with them.

Generational turnover has been at work in Miami, too. Fifty years on, the original generation of Cuban refugees is gradually giving way to an American-born generation who still care about the country, of course, but are much less interested in going back and re-creating the Cuba of the 1950s.

So change is a lot less dangerous for Cubans than it would have been if the regime had collapsed in the early 1990s. If Obama sets out to destabilise the communist regime with offers of help and friendship, it might well work. And even if it doesn’t work right away, it would make the lives of Cubans a lot easier.

Gwynne Dyer is a London-based journalist.

Cubans will be permitted to build their own homes and do so using private funds, President Raul Castro announced on Sunday, in the latest reforms to back off the hardline communism of the past five decades.

Home construction in Cuba primarily has been left to the government, but demand has outstripped supply and a dire lack of housing has greatly frustrated the island’s 11 million inhabitants.

Raul Castro, 77 years old, who took over the reins of power from his older brother Fidel Castro last February, said the policy change would allow the quick construction of hundreds of thousands of new dwellings.

Cubans will be given clear guidelines about the dimensions of a proposed new dwelling, Castro explained on a local television program.

They will be told, “OK, here you can build. I’ve given you this amount of space, that amount of room for a street, and that amount for a sidewalk. Now build your little home with whatever you can,” the former defense minister said.

His remarks were made as he visited the newly built La Risuena neighborhood, a settlement of Venezuela-built homes erected with the help of oil money that has lessened, but not erased, the housing deficit.

The announcement comes just days after Cuba’s celebration of the 50-year anniversary of its 1959 revolution. Former leader Fidel Castro was a no-show at the celebrations.

Havana has succeeded in building only about half its annual goal of 100,000 new homes per year, and the dearth of dwellings worsened last year after Cuba was struck in succession by three hurricanes that leveled around a half million homes.

Over the past year, reforms initiated by the younger Castro brother have included putting vacant farmland in private hands, increasing farmers’ pay, and allowing private contractors such as taxi drivers back into Cuba’s transport sector.

Raul Castro also has allowed Cubans to buy computers, own mobile telephones, rent cars and spend nights in hotels previously accessible only to foreigners - provided they can afford such luxuries on the meager average pay, equivalent to about 17 dollars per month.
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Havana Journal Inc. owns HavanaHomes.com and is always looking for development partners.

Fidel Castro’s 16 words

Fidel Castro signed his last Reflection, as his essays are called, at 6:12 p.m. on Dec. 15. The column appeared in Granma, the Communist Party newspaper, and was entitled, “The unjustifiable destruction of the environment.”

The next words attributed to Fidel came at 7 p.m. on Dec. 31. The message was brief:

With the 50th anniversary of the triumph just a few hours away, I congratulate our heroic people.

Imagine that: Just 16 words (17 in the English translation) from the man who is said to have spoken more words on the public record than anyone else in history.
Now that could have been all that Fidel wanted to say. But it doesn’t seem to fit his style. I would have expected more words from the leader who holds the Guinness World Record for longest speech at the United Nations.

Those fleeting 16 words make me wonder if Fidel’s health has perhaps deteriorated. I know rumors about Fidel’s health are always floating around and it seems they’re usually wrong. I don’t want to contribute to that. But I can’t help but wonder what’s going on.

Some Cubans are certainly buzzing about it. One Havana resident told me he’s heard people speculating this week that Fidel is in very bad shape or has perhaps even died. There’s no evidence of this, but some Cubans are whispering and wondering, and some darkly suggest that authorities are keeping the legendary guerrillero on ice until after George Bush leaves office on Jan. 20 to deprive the American president the satisfaction of seeing Fidel’s demise during his watch.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE

SPEECH MADE BY ARMY GENERAL RAUL CASTRO RUZ, PRESIDENT OF THE STATE COUNCIL AND THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF CUBA, AT THE COMMEMORATION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CUBAN REVOLUTION. SANTIAGO DE CUBA, JANUARY 1ST, 2009, “YEAR OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY TRUMPH.”

Men and women from Santiago;

People from Oriente;

Combatants of the Ejército Rebelde, of the underground struggle and of every combat in defense of the Revolution throughout these 50 years;

Compatriots;

In a day like this, our first thoughts are for those who fell in this long struggle. They constitute a paradigm and a symbol of the efforts and sacrifices of millions of Cubans. Closely united in the clamor of battle, waging the powerful weapons embodied in Fidel’s leadership, his teachings and his example, we have learned how to transform our dreams into a reality; how to keep our heads cool and our confidence in the face of dangers and threats; how to get over the big setbacks; how to turn every challenge into a victory and to overcome adversity, no matter how insurmountable they might have seem.

Those of us who have had the privilege to experience the intensity of this stage of our history are well aware of the truth contained in that alert he issued that January 8, 1959, during his first speech after entering the capital:

“The tyranny has been overthrown. Our joy is immense. However, much remains to be done. We shall not deceive ourselves believing that in the future everything will be easier, because perhaps everything will be more difficult,” he said.

For the first time, the Cuban people had attained political power. This time, with Fidel, the mambises entered Santiago de Cuba leaving behind exactly 60 years of absolute domination by the emerging US imperialism, which did not take long to show its real purposes by preventing the Liberation Army from entering this city.

The great confusion and above all the enormous frustration caused by the US intervention had been left way behind. But the Mambí Army, despite its formal dismantling, always preserved its fighting spirit and the ideas that led Céspedes, Agramonte, Gómez, Maceo and so many other heroes and independence combatants to take up arms.

For over fifty years our people would endure corrupted governments and new US interventions, the Machado tyranny and the frustrated revolution that overthrew him. Later, in 1952, the coup d’état dealt with the support of the US administration, reinstated the dictatorship. This formula was commonly applied in those years to ensure its dominion in Latin America.

It was clear to us that the armed struggle was the only way. Again, the revolutionaries would have to face –as Martí before us—the dilemma of the necessary war for the independence that was cut short in 1898.

Thus, the Ejército Rebelde took up again the weapons of the mambises and after the triumph was forever transformed into the unbeaten Revolutionary Armed Forces.

The Centennial Generation, which in 1953 stormed the Moncada’s and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes’ barracks, was inspired in Marti’s important legacy and his humanistic global vision reaching beyond the attainment of national liberation.

Speaking in historical terms, a short time would pass from the moment the mambises’ dreams were frustrated to the triumph of the War of Liberation. Early in that period, Mella, one of the founding members of our first communist party and of the FEU (University Students Federation), became the legitimate heir and the bridge connecting Marti’s thoughts to the most advanced ideas.

In those years, the conscience and action of workers and farmers matured and a genuine, valiant and patriotic intelligentsia was formed which has accompanied them to the present. Then, the Cuban school, as a loyal repository of the fighting traditions of its predecessors, planted them in the best of the new generations.

Right after the triumph it became evident for every humble man and woman that the Revolution was like a social cataclysm of justice knocking on every door, from the large palaces on the 5th Avenue, in the capital of the country, to the poorest shanty in the remotest mountain or plain field.

The revolutionary laws not only fulfilled the program that inspired the Moncada but also went far beyond it in the logical evolution of the process. At the same time, they set a precedent for peoples of Our America, which 200 years back had started the movement for the emancipation from colonialism.

But, in Cuba the history of the Americas would take a different turn. Nothing morally valuable has been alien to the turmoil that even before January 1st, 1959, started to sweep away opprobrium and inequity while opening the way to the enormous effort of all the people determined to give itself everything it deserves and that it has built with its own sweat and blood.

Millions of Cubans, men and women, have been workers, students or soldiers; sometimes all of these as the circumstances have demanded.

Nicolas Guillén’s masterly verses synthesized what the January 1959 triumph brought to our people. “I have what I was meant to have,” he said in one of his poems, referring not to material wealth but to being the masters of our own destiny.

This victory is twice as worthy for it has been attained despite the unhealthy and vindictive hatred of the powerful neighbor.

The promotion and support of sabotage and banditry; the Playa Girón [Bay of Pigs] invasion; the blockade and other economic, political and diplomatic aggressions; the permanent slandering campaign aimed at denigrating the Cuban Revolution and its leaders; the October [Missile] Crisis; the hijackings of and attacks on civilian planes and sea crafts; the state terrorism, with its terrible result of 3478 dead and 2099 maimed; the attempts on the life of Fidel and other leaders; the murder of Cuban workers, farmers, fishermen, students, diplomats and combatants; these and many other crimes bear witness to the stubborn insistence on putting out, at any cost, the beacon of justice and honor that January 1st meant to so many.

One way or another, with more or less aggressiveness, every US administration has tried to impose a regime change in Cuba. Resistance has been the key word and the explanation of every one of our victories throughout this half century of continued fighting when we have consistently acted on our own and taken our own risks notwithstanding the extensive and decisive solidarity we have received.

For many years, Cuban revolutionaries have abided by Martí’s apothegm: “Freedom is most precious and one must either accept to live without it or be determined to buy it for its price.”

On the 30th anniversary of the victory, Fidel said at this square: “We are here because we have put up a resistance.” Ten years later, in 1999, from this same balcony, he said that the Special Period was “the most extraordinary page of revolutionary and patriotic glory and firmness […] when we were left absolutely alone in the West, only 90 miles away from the United States, and we decided to continue forward.” End of quote. We repeat the same thing today.

We have firmly resisted—far from any fanaticism—based on sound convictions, and on the resolution of all of the people to defend them at any cost. Presently, our glorious Five Heroes are a living example of that unshakable determination. (Applause and exclamations)

Today, we are not alone on this side of the ocean facing the empire, as it was the case in the 1960s when in January 1962 the United States of America forced on the OAS the absurd expulsion of Cuba, the country which had shortly before been the victim of an invasion organized by the US administration and escorted to our coasts by its own warships. Actually, as it has been proven, that expulsion was the prelude to a direct military intervention only prevented by the deployment of the Soviet nuclear missiles leading to the October Crisis, known to the world as the Missile Crisis.

Today, the Revolution is stronger than ever; it has never failed to stand by its principles, not even in the most difficult circumstances. This truth cannot be changed in the least even if some get tired or even renounce their history as they forget that life is in itself an eternal fight.

Does it mean there is less danger? No, it doesn’t. Let’s not entertain any illusions. As we commemorate this half century of victories, it is time to reflect on the future, on the next fifty years when we shall continue to struggle incessantly.

The observation of the current disturbances in the contemporary world tells us that the coming years will not be easier. This is the truth; I am not saying this to scare anyone.

We should also keep in mind what Fidel told us all, but especially the youth, at the University of Havana on November 17, 2005: “This country could destroy itself, this Revolution could destroy itself, but they [the enemy] cannot destroy it. We could destroy it ourselves, and it would only be our fault,” he argued.

In the face of this possibility, I ask myself:

What is the guarantee that such a horrible thing would not happen to our people?

How could we avoid such a numbing blow that we would need much time to recover from and to attain victory again?

I am speaking on behalf of all those who have been fighting from the moment the first shots were fired on the walls of the Moncada barracks 55 years ago and of those who fulfilled heroic internationalist missions.

Of course, I am also speaking on behalf of those who fell in the wars of independence and more recently in the War of Liberation. I speak on behalf of them all, and on behalf of Abel and Jose Antonio, of Camilo and Che, when I say that this demands foremost from tomorrow’s leaders that they never forget that this is a Revolution of the humble, by the humble and for the humble; (Applause) that they should never be misled by the enemy’s siren songs and be aware that, given its very essence, the enemy will never cease to be aggressive, treacherous and dominant; that they should never distance themselves from our workers, our farmers and the people at large; that the party members must prevent the destruction of the Party. Let’s learn from history.

If they act consistently, they will always have the support of the people, even if they make mistakes which do not breach basic principles. But, if their actions were inconsistent with such principles, they would even lack the strength and the opportunity to rectify, since they would fail to have the moral authority that the masses only grant to those who never back from the struggle. They could end up incapacitated for tackling internal and external dangers and unable to preserve the work that is the fruit of the blood and the sacrifices of many generations of Cubans.

Nobody should have any doubt that if that would ever happen our people would put up a fight, and today’s mambises would be in the frontline; that they would never be ideologically disarmed nor would they ever let down their sword. (Applause and exclamations)

It befits the historical leadership of the Revolution to prepare the new generations to take up the enormous responsibility of continuing to carry forward the revolutionary process.

This heroic city of Santiago and all of Cuba witnessed the sacrifices of thousands of compatriots, the rage accumulated for so many lives cut short by crime, the endless pain of our mothers and the sublime courage of its sons and daughters.

This was the birthplace of a young revolutionary killed when he was only 22 years old, a man who is a symbol of that willingness to make sacrifices, of that purity, courage and serenity, and of that love for our people: Frank País García.

This eastern land was the birthplace of the Revolution. It was here that the call of duty was made in La Demajagua and on July 26th; it was here that we landed in the Granma and started the fight on the mountains and the plains, the same that extended later to the entire island. As Fidel said in History Will Absolve Me, “every day here looks like it will be again the day of Yara and Baire.”

Never again shall poverty, ignominy, abuse and injustice return to our land!

Never again shall the heart of our mothers be filled with pain and the soul of every honest Cuban succumb to shame!

Such is the firm resolution of a nation on a war footing; a nation that is aware of its duty and proud of its history. (Applause)

Our people are well aware of every shortcoming in the work they have built with their own hands and defended with their own lives. We, the revolutionaries are our strongest critics. We have never hesitated to publicly discuss our flaws and mistakes. There are plenty of past and recent examples.

Since October 10, 1868, disunity had been the main cause of our defeats. After January 1st, 1959, the unity forged by Fidel has been the guarantee of our victories. Our people have been able to preserve that unity despite all of the ups and downs and the attempts at division, and have rightly placed common aspirations above differences, crushing meanness with the strength of collectivism and generosity.

Revolutions can only advance and endure when they are carried forward by the people. The full understanding of this truth and the consistent and unshakable action carried forward have been decisive elements in the victory of the Cuban Revolution over its enemies, and over seemingly insurmountable difficulties and challenges.

As we arrive at the first half century of the victorious Revolution, let’s pay homage first to our wonderful people and to its exemplary decision, courage, loyalty and internationalist and fraternal vocation; to its extraordinary show of will, its spirit of sacrifice and its confidence in victory, in the Party, in its maximum leader and, above all, in itself. (Applause)

I know that I am expressing the feelings of my compatriots and of many revolutionaries in the world, when I pay homage to the Commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz. (Applause and exclamations)

We know that a man alone doesn’t make history, but some men are indispensable as they can have a decisive influence in the course of events. Fidel is one of them; nobody doubts it, not even his most bitter enemies.

Ever since his early youth he adopted as his own one of Martí’s thoughts: “All of the glory in the world fits in a kernel of corn.” This he turned into his shield from everything that is superfluous or transient, into his main weapon to transform praises and honors—even if well-deserved—into greater humility, honesty, fighting spirit and love for truth, which he has invariably placed above all else.

He made reference to these ideas 50 years ago in this same square. His words that night are absolutely valid today.

At this very special moment when we think of our past journey and particularly of the long way ahead, when we reiterate our commitment to the people and to our martyrs, allow me to conclude by recalling the premonitory alert and the call to combat made by the Commander in Chief in this historic place on January 1st, 1959, as he indicated:

“We do not believe that all of the problems can be easily solved; we know that the path is fraught with obstacles, but we are men of faith, we are used to facing great difficulties. Our people can be sure of one thing, and that is that we can make one or many mistakes, but we will never steal and we will never betray you.”

And he added:

“We shall never let ourselves be carried away by vanity or ambition, […] there can be no greater reward or satisfaction than the fulfillment of our duty,” he concluded.

On this date full of significance and symbolism, let’s reflect on these ideas which constitute a guidance for true revolutionaries; let’s do it with the satisfaction of having fulfilled our duty until the present and having behind us a life lived with dignity in the most intense and fruitful half century of our history. Let’s do it with the firm commitment that we will always be able to proudly claim in this land: Glory to our heroes and martyrs! (Exclamations)

Long live Fidel! (Exclamations)

Long live the Revolution! (Exclamations)

Long live Free Cuba! (Exclamations)

(Ovation).

Here are the last two paragraphs of this article An Opportunity for Bill Richardson to Shine Once Again from the Huffington Post:

Long ago, American foreign policy towards Cuba was hijacked by special interest groups concentrated in Miami. Now that the winds of change are blowing in Washington, Bill Richardson has the perfect opportunity to invite Cuban economic czar Carlos Lage to Washington and inform him that change has come to policies that punish American businesses while creating the perfect scapegoat for economic mismanagement in Cuba. With regime change in Washington imminent, America is going to have a higher I.Q. to work with. No longer will the U.S. assist the Cuban government’s monopoly over its economy by fencing off American commerce and influence.

Now is the time for Sec. Richardson to promote a free trade agreement with Cuba. Such a bold move would do more to bring structural economic and political change to Cuba than anything we have ever seen. Sec. Richardson’s diplomatic skills would shine once more as American business prospers while American geopolitical interests are served once again by the stroke of his pen.

Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton are scheduled to visit Trinidad and Tobago on April 17 - 19, 2009 for the fifth Summit of the Americas to be held at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain Trinidad. Summit Coordinator Hector Morales says The April 2009 Summit of the Americas will offer President-elect Barack Obama a unique opportunity in his administration that will signal America’s commitment to Latin America.

President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez and President of Bolivia Evo Morales are also expected to attend the Summit.

Key issues on the schedule include energy, security, climate change, sustainable development, human prosperity, natural disasters as well as the global financial crisis.

There is discussion of the possibility of local protests but Trinidad officials say that given the extreme security conditions required for the President’s and Secretary of State’s protection, demonstrations and protests of any kind would not be allowed at any location in Trinidad due to the small size of the country. The Trinidad military and police would be deployed throughout Trinidad before and during the Summit.

President Obama and Secretary Clinton are expected to stay at the Hilton Trinidad hotel. There is speculation that Cuba and/or US Cuba relations could be discussed publicly or perhaps privately at some point during the Summit.