[Fidel and the Nicaraguan Sadinista's Daniel Ortega, back in the day]
Reflections by comrade Fidel
Neither represented nor excommunicated, only today could I
learn what was discussed at the Summit of Port of Spain.
They led us all to entertain hopes that the meeting would
not be secret, but those running the show deprived us of
such an interesting intellectual exercise. We shall get to
know the substance but not the tone of voice, the look in
the eyes or the facial look that can be a reflection of a
person’s ideas, ethic and character. A Secret Summit is
worse than a silent movie. For a few minutes the television
showed some images. There was a gentleman on Obama’s left
whom I could not identify clearly as he laid his hand on
Obama’s shoulder, like an eight-year-old boy on a classmate
in the front row. Then, another member of his entourage
standing beside him interrupted the president of the United
States for a dialogue; those coming up to address him had
the appearance of an oligarchy that never knew what hunger
is and who expect to find in Obama’s powerful nation the
shield that will protect the system from the fearsome
social changes.
Up to that moment, a bizarre atmosphere prevailed at the
The artistic function arranged by the host was really
spectacular. I have seldom seen something like it; perhaps
never. A good announcer, apparently a Trinitarian, had
proudly said that it was unique.
It was a feast of culture and luxury. I meditated about it.
I calculated the cost of all that and suddenly I realized
that no other country in the
display, that the venue of the summit is very wealthy, a
sort of
Could
luxurious summit? Their beaches may be wonderful but they
are not surrounded by the towers that distinguish the
Trinitarian landscape and accumulate with that
non-renewable raw material the enormous resources that
sustain today the riches of that country. Almost every
other island in the
north of this is directly battered by the hurricanes of
increasing intensity that hit our sister islands of the
Did anyone in that meeting remember that Obama promised to
invest as much money as necessary to make the
self-reliant in fuel? Such a policy would directly affect
many of the States taking part in the meeting since they
will not have access to the technologies and the huge
investments required to work on that area or any other.
Something really impressed me as the summit unfolded until
today, Saturday, April 18, at 11:47 a.m. when I am writing
these lines: Daniel Ortega’s remarks. I had promised myself
not to publish anything until next Monday, April 20, but
rather to observe the developments in the celebrated
summit.
It was not the economist, the scientist, the intellectual
or the poet speaking; Daniel did not choose an elaborate
language to impress his audience. He spoke as the president
of one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere, as a
revolutionary combatant, on behalf of a group of Central
American nations and the
partner of SICA (Central American Integration System).
It would suffice to be one of the hundreds of thousands of
Nicaraguans who learned how to read and write in the first
stage of the Sandinista Revolution, when the illiteracy
rate was reduced from 60 to 12 percent, or again when
Daniel received power in 2008 as the illiteracy rate had
increased to 35 percent.
His remarks extended for nearly 50 minutes. He spoke slowly
and calm, but the reproduction of the full text would make
this Reflection too extensive.
I shall summarize his statement using his own words for
each of the basic ideas he expressed. I will avoid the use
of suspension points and use inverted commas only when
Daniel quotes other people or institutions.
“
terrorist policy implemented by President Ronald Reagan on
behalf of the
“Our crime: we had freed ourselves from Anastasio Somoza’s
tyranny imposed through the intervention of the Yankee
troops in
“From the past century,
the expansionist policies, the war policies that brought
the Central Americans together to defeat them.
“These were followed by interventions extending from the
year 1912 to 1932, which resulted in the imposition of the
Somozas’ tyranny equipped, funded and defended by American
leaders.
“I had the opportunity of meeting President Reagan during
the war; we shook hands and I asked him to stop the war
against
“I had the opportunity of meeting President Carter and when
he told me that “now that the Nicaraguan people had got rid
of the Somoza tyranny it was time for
I said to him: No,
have to change.
States;
harbors;
American nation;
the
not the Nicaraguans.
“As the war was still going on, I had the chance to meet the
then recently inaugurated President of the
George Bush, senior. In the year 1989, at a gathering in
me, and he said: “The press has come here because they want
to see a fight between the president of the
and the president of
not to oblige them.”
“
States. The International Court of Justice in
decided on the lawsuit filed by
sentence. It clearly stated that “the
cease every military action, the mining of the harbors and
the funding of the war; that it should indicate where the
mines had been planted since it refused to provide that
information;” it also ordered the
compensate
imposed on that nation.
“We are waging a struggle in
unconditional solidarity of the fraternal Cuban people, of
Fidel who promoted such literacy campaigns in solidarity
with our peoples, and of President Raul Castro who has
continued these programs for the benefit of all of the
Latin American and
“Later, the Bolivarian people of
Hugo Chavez Frias joined in this effort with a generous
spirit.
“Most of the presidents and heads of government of Latin
President of the
whose only crime has been to fight for the peoples’
sovereignty and independence; to give solidarity,
unconditionally, to our peoples. That’s why it is
sanctioned, that’s why it is punished; that’s why it is
excluded. That’s why I do not feel comfortable today in
this
embarrassed to be attending this summit in the absence of
“Another country is not present here because unlike
which is an independent and supportive nation, that other
people is still submitted to colonialist policies: I mean
the fraternal people of
“We are working to build a great alliance, a great unity of
Latin American and
when the Puerto Rican people is also a part of that great
alliance.
“In the 1950s racial discrimination was institutionalized,
it was part of the American way of life, part of the
American democracy: black people could not walk into white
people’s restaurants or white people’s bars. The children
of black families could not attend the white children
schools. In order to turn down the wall of racial
discrimination it was necessary --and this President Obama
knows better than we do—Martin Luther King, jr, said: “I
have a dream.” The dream became a reality and the wall of
racial discrimination collapsed in the
“This meeting, this gathering is opening exactly the same
day that the invasion of
the President of Cuba Raul Castro, he gave me some data:
“Daniel, President Obama was born on August 4, 1961; he was
three and a half months when we attained victory in Playa
Giron on April that year. Obviously he is not accountable
for that historic event. The bombings on April 15; the
proclamation of socialism by Fidel during the funeral of
the victims on the 16th; the invasion on the 17th; on the
18th, the battle goes on and victory is attained on the
19th, before 72 hours had passed. Raul.” (On his return
from
Daniel he made a quick calculation and was wrong to assert
that Obama was three and a half months at the time of the
was born three and a half months later; that it was his
[Raul’s] mistake.)
“That is history. In the year 2002, also in the month of
April, on the 11th, a coup d’etat was dealt to murder an
elected president in the
President Hugo Chavez was seized; the order to murder him
had been issued. When the puppet regime took over, the
government through its spokesman recognized the putschers
and offered them support. We are right to say that that is
not history; such violent events against the institutions
of a people, of a progressive, supportive and revolutionary
nation took place hardly seven years ago.
“I think that the time I’m taking is shorter than the three
hours I had to wait at the airport inside the plane.
“The freedom of expression must apply to the big ones and
the little ones:
as an associate. The territorial area is 355,617.5 square
miles. The population is a little more than 41.7 million.
“We are asking that all immigrants in the
receive the TPS, but the causes of migration are the
underdevelopment and poverty of our Central American
peoples.
“The only way to stop that flow of emigrants to the United
States is not building a fence or reinforcing military
surveillance along the border.
“The
as it needs the Mexican labor force. Then, when the supply
of that labor force is higher than the demand of the
economy, repressive policies come into play, while funds
should be contributed without political strings attached,
without the conditions imposed by the International
Monetary Fund.
“We have the ungrateful task of protecting the
due to drug abuse.
“Just in
tons of cocaine last year. That, at a market price in the
billion dollars.
“How much does the
guarding its borders? It provides 1,200,000 dollars.
“It’s not fair, it’s not equitable, it’s not ethical. It is
not moral that the G-20 continues to make the great
decisions; the time has come for the G-192, that is, for
all countries in the United Nations to make them.
“Those who have had dealings with the IMF are perfectly
aware of what the Fund has meant, of the social,
agricultural and productive programs that have been cut off
to obtain resources to pay back the debt, a debt imposed by
the rules established by global capitalism. It has only
been an instrument setting forth and developing
colonialist, neocolonialist and imperialist policies from
the metropolises.
“Mahatma Gandhi, who waged a heroic struggle against
for the independence of
one-fourth of the resources of the planet to reach its
current state of development. So, what resources would
century, and since the end of the 20th century, it was not
only
established their hegemony at the expense of the
destruction of the planet and the human species, imposing
the consumerist patterns of their model.
“The only way to save the planet, and the sustainable
development of mankind with it, will be to lay the
foundations of a new international economic order, a new
socio-economic and political model which is truly fair,
supportive and democratic.
“There is the project known as PETROCARIBE and there is ALBA
–most of the
but there are also members of SICA which belong to
PETROCARIBE:
Republic,
““The heads of Sate and Government of Bolivia,
ALBA, consider that the draft Declaration of the Fifth
the following reasons:
(He goes on to read the ALBA Declaration on the document
proposed for the
““It does not respond to the issue of the Global Economic
Crisis, even though that is the greatest challenge faced by
mankind in decades.
““It unjustifiably excludes
general consensus in the region to condemn the blockade and
the attempts to constantly isolate its people and
government in a criminal fashion.
““What we are experiencing is a structural and systemic
global economic crisis and not just another cyclic crisis.
““The environmental crisis has been caused by capitalism
which had subordinated the necessary conditions for life on
the planet to the predominance of markets and profits.
“To avoid this outcome it is necessary to develop an
alternative model to the capitalist system. A system in
harmony with our Mother Earth and not one that plunders its
natural resources; a system of cultural diversity and not
of crushing cultures and imposing cultural values and life
styles that have nothing to do with the realities of our
countries; a system of peace based on social justice and
not on imperialist wars and policies; a system that does
not reduce them to simple consumers or merchandise.
“Regarding the
this country from the
countries of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of
Our America (ALBA) reiterate the Declaration adopted last
December 16, 2008, by all of the countries of
and the
economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on
by the United States of America, including the
implementation of the so-called Helms-Burton Act, widely
known to all.
“In my country,
strictly enforced the neoliberal policies, that is, from
1990, when the Sandinista Front left the government, until
January 10, 2007, when the Sandinista Front returned to
government; they enforced them for 16 years.
“As the Nicaraguan Revolution triumphed in 1979, it found
that the tyrannies and governments that had been imposed
and sustained in
self-defined democratic governments, had left
with 60 percent illiteracy.
“Our first big battle was to eradicate illiteracy. We
undertook that battle and reduced illiteracy to 11.5 or 12
percent. We couldn’t go further because we were imposed a
war policy by the Reagan administration.
“We left the government in 1990 with 12.5 percent illiteracy
in the country and on January 2007 we received back the
country with 35 percent illiteracy.
“This data have not been made up by the government; they
have been released by agencies specialized in education and
culture.
“That is the result of the neoliberalism applied in
healthcare and education were privatized and the poor were
left out. For others it was a good change because they
amassed fortunes; the model has proven successful to
concentrate riches and extend poverty. It is a great
concentrator of riches and a great multiplier of poverty
and destitution.
“It is an ethical problem, a moral problem, and the future
lies on it; not only the future of the most impoverished
countries --as the five countries of
Caribbean I have mentioned—that have little else to lose
other than our shackles, if there is not a change of
ethics, a change of moral, a change of values that will
enable us to be really sustainable.
“It is no longer a matter of ideology, it’s not a political
issue; it’s a matter of survival. And this applies to all,
from the G-20 to the G-5 who are the most impoverished in
Latin America and the
“I think that this crisis that is affecting the world today
and that is leading to discussions, debates, and to a
search for solutions we should approach it bearing in mind
that the current development model is no longer possible,
no longer sustainable.
“The only way to save us all is to change the model.
“Thank you, very much.”
Daniel’s phrases at the opening session of the
like a bell tolling for a centuries-old policy that until a
few months ago was applied to the peoples of
and the
It is 19:58 hours. I have just listened to the words of
President Hugo Chavez. Apparently, Venezolana de Television
introduced a camera in the “Secret Summit” and carried some
of his words. Yesterday we saw him graciously return
Obama’s gesture as he walked up to greet him,
unquestionably a clever gesture of the
president.
This time Chavez stood up from his chair, walked to Obama’s
seat at the head of a rectangular hall near Michelle
Bachelet, and presented him with the well known book by
Galeano, Las venas abiertas de
systematically updated by the author. I simply mentioned
the time it was when I listened to him.
It is announced that the
noon.
The
to press reports he has not only taken part in the plenary
session of the
subgroup.
His predecessor went to bed early and slept for many hours.
Seemingly, Obama works hard and sleeps little.
Today, the 19th , at 11:57 hours, I don’t see anything new.
The CNN news channel has no fresh news. The clock struck 12
when the Prime Minister of
rostrum. I prepare to listen to him, and then I perceive
some strange signals. Manning’s face looks tense. Later,
Obama speaks and takes some questions from the press; I
find him gruff although calm. I was surprised that a press
conference was organized with several leaders without the
participation of any of those who disagreed with the
document.
Manning had said before that the document had been
elaborated two years back when there was not a deep
economic crisis; therefore, the current issues had not been
properly examined. Of course, I thought, McCain was not
there; surely the OAS, Leonel and the
remembered the name of the military commander of the
invaders in 1965 and the 50 thousand troops that occupied
the country to prevent the return of Juan Bosch who was not
a Marxist-Leninist.
The leaders in the press conference were the Prime Minister
of
been rude to
Martin Torrijos from
Manning. The
were respectful to
had expressed their opposition to the blockade.
Obama spoke of the
could be of assistance in the fight on organized crime, and
of the significance of the
that the programs carried forward by the government of
Latin America and the
than
region.
We, the Cubans do not do it to gain influence; it’s a
tradition that was born in
country was fighting French colonialism, and we have later
done likewise in scores of
He was gruff and elusive with regards to the blockade in
his interview with the press; but he is already born and he
will be 48 years next August 4.
Nine days later, that same month, I will be 83, almost
twice his age, but now I have much more time to think. I
wish to remind him of a basic ethical principle with
respect to
crime to last, regardless of time; the cruel blockade on
the Cuban people takes lives and causes suffering; it also
affects the economy of the nation and limits its
possibilities to cooperate with healthcare, education and
sports services, with energy saving and with the protection
of the environment in many poor countries of the world.
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 19, 2009
2:32 p.m.
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