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International
Libya
NATO's Ongoing Difficulty in Claiming
Legitimacy for Its Mission
 
As the foreign-engineered war in Libya enters its
fifth month and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins, NATO is facing
ongoing difficulty in claiming legitimacy
for its aggression against the country even as it insists on the
legitimacy of the National Transitional Council (NTC). NATO airstrikes
are
intensifying, with daily bombings in support of ongoing
"rebel" efforts to advance on government-held areas. Various sources
have claimed a 20 per cent increase in
airstrikes since July 25. Also, media outlets are increasingly
reporting that NATO airstrikes are targeting
civilian areas, key civilian infrastructure and Libyan protests against
NATO and its rebels.
It is important to keep in mind that NATO
countries and their allies, including the U.S., Canada, Britain, Italy
and Saudi
Arabia had declared the "rebel" NTC the sole legitimate authority in
the
country following a Libya Contact Group meeting
in Istanbul on July 15. The Libya Contact Group is a self-appointed
body of NATO and its allies, such as Saudi Arabia. Yet as NATO and
allied countries insist on the
legitimacy of the NTC, they themselves are facing an increasing crisis
of legitimacy.
Without regard for the Libyan people's
right to decide their own affairs, the imperialists smugly recognize
as "legitimate" the same force they
have propped up from the beginning. Since the July 15 meeting, Libyan
diplomats have been dismissed in the U.S. and other countries,
seemingly to be replaced by NTC
officials while some countries have begun the process of transferring
frozen Libyan
government assets in their banks to the rebels. The rebels anticipate
billions of dollars will be funnelled
to them through this theft of the Libyan people's assets, which they
want, according to their own statements, in order to buy weapons.
Providing money to the rebels for this
aim would also violate a UN Security Council mandated arms embargo.
The Libyan government has denounced these moves, refusing to back down
as the legitimate
authority of the country and holding firm that no negotiations are
possible until the NATO aggression ceases.
While NATO's "humanitarian
mission" is increasingly exposed as blatant foreign
aggression, the so-called rebels are more-and-more revealing their true
colours
as self-serving agents of foreign powers.
Since the beginning of the Libya war, NATO
propaganda has attempted to present the NTC forces as rebels
representing a supposed people's uprising against the alleged
dictatorial rule of the Libyan government. Almost immediately, this lie
began to unravel; far from being a people's force, the
"rebels" have exposed
themselves as agents of the U.S. and big European powers willing to
hold the
entire Libyan people hostage in their efforts to gain power. The sordid
links between rebel leaders
and groups with the CIA, MI6 (the British intelligence service), the
CIA-backed Al-Qaeda of the Maghrab and other foreign agencies are
becoming well-known despite
the lack of reporting on this by the major pro-war media outlets around
the
world. For example, one of the key NTC leaders is Khlaifa Hifter, a
1987 defector from the Libyan
government who lived in the U.S. until he returned to join the
"rebellion." During his time in the U.S., he
maintained links with anti-Libyan government forces.
Hifter is a known CIA asset and is alleged to be involved in the recent
assassination of his rival in the NTC, General Abdel Fattah Al-Younes.[1] The actions and sordid history of leaders
and groups involved in the NTC is becoming well-known, as reported
in-fighting discredits attempts of pro-war media outlets in NATO
countries to present them as a
professional, stable political force.
Diverse claims of disagreement and disunity within
the ranks of the so-called rebels' NTC have appeared in headlines
around the world since
the
assassination of General Al-Younes, the commander of the
NTC's armed forces
after his defection from the Libyan government.[2]
These include claims of mass defection
of "rebels" to the Libyan government, the exodus of
some NTC leaders from the country and calls to reshuffle the make-up
of the council. Furthermore, members of Al-Younes' Obeidi tribe, one
of the largest in the east,
accused the rebel leadership of having some role in the general's
death and, subsequently, fighting broke out between
"rebel" forces and tribe members.
In is also reported that the Libyan Supreme Tribal
Council issued a
proclamation to the African Summit condemning NATO and the NTC, and
vowing to expel the crusaders by the end of the month while affirming
the authority of the Libyan
government.[3] The
Tribal Council represents all of
Libya's tribes, including those in the east in NTC-controlled areas.[4]
At the same time, the African Union, CARICOM, and
other African and Caribbean institutions continue to denounce the NATO
mission, as do Venezuela and others.
Russia and China have constantly criticized the NATO strategy, calling
for dialogue and negotiations instead of fighting.
Oppose NATO Aggression!
 The stated aim of the NATO
aggression is to
protect civilians and topple the Libyan government in order to replace
it with the National Transitional Council (NTC). While in fact harming
civilians, NATO's aim to decide the fate of Libya and who its
government will be is a violation
of international law. Indeed, the situation is a clear instance of
foreign interference in the internal affairs of Libya through propping
up and backing one party in a civil war --
a civil war which itself was engineered by the imperialists. It is a
violation of the right of the Libyan people to decide their own
affairs, and affirm their national right to
sovereignty from all outside interference. As the war drags on, the
NATO mission in support of the "rebels" is being
increasingly exposed as the imperialist
project it is while it is facing an ever-greater united front of the
Libyan people against it. Across the country, Libyans are protesting
against NATO and the NTC.
TML calls on the Canadian
working class and people to denounce NATO's aggression against Libya
and oppose Canada's involvement in it. Now is the time
to demand that Canada get out of NATO and that NATO itself be
dismantled.
Note
1. See TML
Daily, March 4, 2011
– No. 32 for further information on the make-up of the
"rebels" and their links to imperialist security
agencies.
2. Aljazeera and agencies.
3. "End Game for Benghazi Rebels as
Libyan Tribes Prepare to Weigh In?," Franklin Lamb, August 3, 2011.
4. Ibid.
Libyan Movement Against NATO and
Its Rebels Grows
Stronger
- Jamilé Ghaddar -
Various sources report that the Libyan people are
increasingly mobilizing against NATO and its rebels across the country.
While demonstrations have been taking place
for weeks in government-held areas, protests and even fighting have now
begun to erupt inside areas under the control of the National
Transitional Council (NTC).
In the early days of the war on Libya, the
imperialists and their pundits had erroneously and self-servingly
claimed that the Libyan people would revolt in support of
the so-called rebels and against the government. Any second, we were
told, this uprising would materialize. This propaganda was a bid to
present
the so-called rebels in the garb of legitimacy;
that they are a people's force reflecting the popular will for change.
Yet
far from rebelling in support of the "rebels," Libyans across the
country are rebelling against them and their foreign backer NATO.
Early in the war, Libyan government head Col. Gadhafi
had called on people to rise up against the NTC in the areas
they control, and since the beginning of the NATO aggression the
government has distributed over 1 million arms (and perhaps as many as
2 million) to the masses of people. Clearly, this is not something to
be
done by a government afraid
of a lack of support from its people. In Tripoli, Sabha and other
areas, mass demonstrations against NATO have been reported for weeks
now. In recent developments, the
movement against NATO and its rebels is growing quickly inside NTC-held
areas in the east, including their stronghold Benghazi. According to Global
Research,
people in Benghazi, Darnah and Tobruk have taken
to the streets denouncing NATO and the armed gangs -- the so-called
rebels --
of the NTC, while fighting has actually
broken out in some areas.
On July 31, forces of the Warfallah tribe are reported
to have joined the revolt against the NTC in Benghazi with some taking
up arms and others demonstrating to demand an end to the
illegitimate rule of the NTC. NATO helicopters intervened, directly
targeting the demonstrators. There are reports that about 160 people
were killed during a peaceful indoor gathering focused
on political actions and group efforts to oust
the NTC. The exact figures of those killed by NATO inside Benghazi are
unconfirmed as their bodies were not returned and they are believed to
have been buried in
unmarked mass graves.
In related news, it is reported that on July 24, a
peaceful unity march from Al-Sabaa was attacked in
Gwaleesh with aerial support by NATO.
Three activists were killed and seventy injured.
Following this event, NATO attacked Al-Sabaa civilian areas, in
apparent retaliation, according to various
sources. Also, on August 2, many media outlets
reported that the Obeidi tribe has taken up arms against the NTC in
Benghazi.
The revolts of the Warfallah and Obeidi tribe
members in the NTC eastern-controlled areas come on the heels of
reports saying that the Libyan Tribal
Council on July 25 issued a proclamation denouncing NATO and the NTC,
and recognizing the legitimacy of the Libyan government.
NATO Airstrikes Support
"Rebel" Advance
Smoke rises after a
NATO airstrike on Tajura, a suburb of Tripoli, August 2, 2011.Air strikes on Zliten and Tripoli continue almost
daily as NATO provides aerial support for attempted "rebel" advances on
these government-held areas. The so-called
rebels, who control the central city of Misrata, are currently focused
on trying to push westward to Zliten, which would open for them the
coastal road to Tripoli, the Libyan
government's stronghold. Previously, "rebels" had been focused on
capturing oil-rich Brega but their repeated attempts failed, seemingly
leading them to shift focus to trying
to reach Tripoli through Zliten. Accordingly, NATO airstrikes
shifted geographically with the changing "rebel" tactics. As the
offensive continues, news outlets are
reporting the cost of some of these "humanitarian" airstrikes, a cost
measured in the loss of human life and the destruction of key
infrastructure needed by Libyan society.
According to news reports, NATO bombed
the Tripoli International Airport on July 18, which constitutes
civilian infrastructure and has never been used for military
purposes, while an August 3 bombing of three Tripoli TV Towers of the
Libyan Broadcasting Authority killed three journalists/technicians and
wounded 15 others. Libya's Great Man-Made River water system,
hospitals,
medical institutions,
schools, colleges, oil refineries, factories, stores, homes and other
civilian infrastructure across
the country have been hit by NATO since the beginning of the
aggression. NATO
spokespeople self-servingly claim that these sites were military
targets or, when
embarrassed by the facts, promise to investigate.
It was recently reported
that a hospital in Zliten was bombed on July 25, killing at least eight
people. A nearby food warehouse, like others
in the area, had also been hit in the same attack. Similarly, the Daily Telegraph
reports on August 5 that NATO hit a
two-storey home in Zliten, killing a mother
and two children. The Daily Telegraph, in the
same article, quoted various residents of Zliten denouncing NATO and
its rebels, including a local shopkeeper
who pointed out that they have no right to enter the city, adding, "We
will resist this conquest until the last drop of blood." A local lawyer
was also quoted as saying, "NATO
says they are protecting civilians but they are turning their weapons
on us."
NATO is bombing Libya under an illegitimate United
Nations Security Council resolution supposedly authorizing a no-fly
zone over the country. Of course, hitting water
networks, pipe factories and government sites has nothing to do with a
no-fly zone. In another clear violation of the resolution, news outlets
reported that a consignment
from Italy of 19,000 AK-47s was caught in Ajdabiyah by the Libyan
authorities, according to Libyan military sources. Security Council
Resolution 1970 (passed February
26) had also called for an arms embargo against Libya; the same
countries now providing arms to the so-called rebels continue to claim
their mandate from that already
illegitimate resolution.
Since NATO began its bombing of Libya on March 19,
it has conducted thousands of air strikes, and killed and injured
untold thousands. The rebels have tenuously
secured only certain areas of the country, and their repeated attempts
to oust the government from Tripoli and other areas have failed despite
the backing of the strongest
military alliance in the world, namely NATO.
A Great NATO-Made Tragedy:
Destruction of
Libya's Water System
On July 23, Pravda reported
that NATO bombed a water pipe factory in Al-Brega, killing six
guards. The factory manufactures pipes for the Great Man-Made River
irrigation system, which brings water to 70 per cent of
Libyan homes in the arid, desert country. The factory was hit after the
water supply network was
destroyed on July 22, according to Pravda. In
this manner, the imperialists guaranteed that the network cannot be
fixed with pipes from the factory. The general
manager of the Man-Made River Corporation, which controls the pipeline,
reported the attack. This will undoubtedly cause great suffering to the
Libyan people who depend
on the irrigation system for their water.
Construction of the irrigation system began in 1984
under the Gadhafi-led government, and is an amazing feat of human
planning and engineering which for the first time
brought a stable water supply to the entire country. The Great
Man-Made River Project is the largest and most expensive irrigation
engineering venture in the world.
It utilizes ancient, underground fossil water reserves to guarantee
that Libyans have equal water access across the country regardless of
location. Until NATO bombed the
irrigation system, the project was ongoing, involving constant upgrades
and expansions. It was part of the many nation-building projects
undertaken by the Libyan government
which led the country -- before the NATO aggression -- to be classified
as having one of the highest standards of living in all of Africa
according to practically every
United Nations' measure, including ones related to
access to clean water.
The destruction of the irrigation system is a
great NATO-made tragedy for the Libyan people for which it must be held
accountable.
Cuba
Communist Party Consolidates
Work of Its 6th
Congress
- Yaima Puig Meneses, Granma
International, August 1, 2011 -
 Beginning with a minute's
silence in honor of
Frank País García, Raúl Pujols Arencibia, and all
those who have given
their lives throughout Cuba's revolutionary struggle,
the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba held its second
plenum on July 30, Martyrs of the Cuban Revolution Day. The Party's
First Secretary, President
Raúl Castro Ruz presided.
Next, José Ramón Machado Ventura, second
secretary
of the Party, presented a report describing steps taken in each
province to follow up on issues discussed at the
6th Party Congress to create the necessary conditions for the
implementation of the Policy Guidelines approved and to prepare for the
National Conference of the Party
scheduled for January 28, 2012.
Machado Ventura explained that work has been
carried out keeping in mind the principle that the Party should not
take on other functions or missions beyond those
established in its statutes and norms. He emphasized that the
organization has the responsibility, first and foremost, to effectively
oversee economic activity, in order to warn
authorities of anything which might impact the fulfillment of plans or
projects of social importance, in a timely fashion, with solid
arguments, from the local level
to the highest.
He reiterated the need to demand that everyone, be
they Party members or not, fully carry out their duties. In this vein,
he indicated that self-criticisms cannot be accepted
if they amount to no more than justifications, nor can commitments be
put off from year to year and never fulfilled, neither by the
administration nor by the Party.
He emphasized the urgency of firmly demanding why
something required was not done when it was needed; who the responsible
parties are; what is being considered
to rectify the situation; what the results are thus far; and within
what timeframe a solution is expected -- so that the Party is in fact
playing the role it should.
Machado Ventura also reported on the Party's
provincial assemblies, the expanded plenums of municipal committees and
meetings of general secretaries of grassroots
organizations, as well as the discussions underway in Party workplace
nuclei. In all of these meetings, he said, different problems affecting
the economy have been opportunely
and critically addressed, with the characteristics of each region being
taken into consideration.
At the same time, he reported, those attending
these meetings have agreed on the need to adjust training and support
of cadres in accordance with current efforts to
strengthen ties with the community and eliminate bureaucratic methods,
the lack of creativity, the tendency to call too many meetings, and the
passivity and conformism
which characterize many leaders, turning them into people who only do
what they are told by a higher authority.
"To mitigate the problems which have emerged on
the local level, it is necessary to first change cadres' way of
thinking and acting, be they working within the Party,
the state or the government," he said.
Finally, he stressed the need to consolidate every
step and measure adopted, in order to honor the decisions made by the
6th Congress.
Marino Murillo Jorge, member of the Political
Bureau and head of the Implementation and Development Permanent
Commission, also presented a summary to the plenum,
describing the ongoing process of implementation of the Policy
Guidelines approved at the 6th Congress, as well as progress in
improving the structure and functioning of
government and central administration at different levels.
Along these lines, Murillo Jorge, also a Vice
President of the Council of Ministers, explained the principles upon
which the Commission's five-year plan will be based;
the current tasks underway; the economic decisions made which do not
require the development of new legal regulations; and the policies
which are in the investigation and
development stage.
Murillo Jorge also emphasized that the
Commission's work does not supplant the responsibility of any other
body or entity. He assured the plenum that, as a matter of
principle, the Commission will listen to all opinions offered about an
issue with the goal of achieving consensus.
At this point, Raúl was emphatic in saying that
any disagreement would be analyzed and not discarded out of hand, thus
guaranteeing an open discussion in which
everyone expresses what they think and want.
The Central Committee plenum was informed by Adel
Yzquierdo Rodríguez, member of the Political Bureau and Minister
of
Economy and Planning, as to the
performance of the economy during the first half of the year. Topics
addressed at the recent meeting of the Council of Ministers were
reviewed.
As for the development of the plan, Raúl
reiterated the need to better prepare those who are charged with its
elaboration, since, as is evident in the recent period,
deficiencies persist, in many instances, as a result of inexperience.
Once again, the First Secretary of the Party
emphasized the importance of changing methods and patterns of work
which, being ill-suited for the current situation, often
impede the correction of errors. "We cannot allow misunderstandings of
any kind to create obstacles in the enormous task we have before us,"
he stated.
New Session of Cuban Parliament Affirms Changes
to Strengthen Socialist Revolution
Cuba's National Assembly of People's Power opened
the seventh ordinary session of its seventh legislature on August 1 at
Havana's International Conference Centre.
This marks the first session of the National Assembly since the
Communist Party of Cuba held its landmark 6th Congress in April, which
conducted a sober reckoning of
Cuba's economy in broad consultation with the people and elaborated
many important changes to the economy to strengthen the Revolution.
On the first day of the new session, the Cuban
Parliament supported and approved the Economic and Social Policy
Guidelines of the Draft Party Program, approved
at the 6th Congress, which it had previously analyzed in draft form at
its ordinary sessions last December. The parliamentarians spoke to the
Guidelines as an essential element
for the work of all agencies and officials from the state and the
government
and for the people.
Presenting the proposal, José Luis Toledo,
president of the Commission on Constitutional and Legal Affairs, said
the party congress was preceded by a broad process
of mass consultation. More than 8,913,000 Cubans, in more than 163,000
meetings, participated in the discussion of the guidelines, in which
there were more than three
million interventions, Prensa Latina reports.
The economic policy rests on the concept that
socialism means equal rights and opportunities for all the citizens,
not egalitarianism. The new guidelines stress the principle
that the Cuban socialist society will not leave anyone defenceless,
Toledo said.
Various ministries and committees reported on the
work being undertaken to improve their efficiency and performance and
measures to eliminate corruption in order to
improve the situation of the Cuban people and better meet their
expressed needs.
Minister of Finances and Prices Lina Pedraza,
whose report to Parliament explained the settlement for last year's
state budget, noted that in 2010, for the first time, an
audit of the country's entire budgetary system was carried out. It
involved all provinces, five bodies of the State's Central
Administration and the Ministry of Finances and
Prices.
Regarding income, problems found included
financial indiscipline, insufficient supervision control mechanisms and
limitations in the systematic actions needed to secure
a rigorous compliance with agreed terms and plans. She emphasized that
budget settlement reports at different levels lack proposals for
measures to increase efficiency in
public expenditures.
Head of the Economic Affairs Committee of
Parliament Osvaldo Martinez extolled the State's budget management
and expenditure control in the last few years. He
also praised the audit as a way to identify problems and find their
solutions with as little damage as possible to the country's economy.
Economic Achievements
Highlighted
Cuban President
Raúl Castro and Vice President
José Ramón Machado. |
President Raúl Castro gave a speech to close the
plenary of the first day of the new session of Parliament,
in which he outlined the satisfactory results that led to 1.9-per cent
growth in the economy by the end of June.
Among areas with difficulties, Castro mentioned
the agriculture, food, iron and steel, and light and construction
materials industries, due to mistakes in planning and
shortcomings on the part of administrators.
He also stated that during the first six months of
2011, the economy's energy efficiency improved, the production of crude
oil grew and the arrival of foreign tourists
increased.
He stressed that exports increased, imports
decreased and the deterioration of sugarcane production was brought to
a halt.
As problems for the future, the president listed
the persistence of the world financial crisis, the rise in food and
fuel prices, and restrictions on Cuba for obtaining new
financing.
He also called for improving leadership in
agencies and institutions and for stepping up the re-qualification of
leaders and managers at all levels to comply with the
economic and social policy guidelines approved by the Congress of the
Communist Party.
Call for Change of Outlook
to Transform the
Country and
Guarantee Irrevocable Nature of Socialist System
The president also stressed that this is a different
era from that of the early days of the Revolution and the failure to
renovate one's thinking has caused damage to people and the Revolution.
He gave the example of an official who is also a
member of the Communist Party unjustly dismissed from her post for her
religious beliefs. Castro defined the attitude of
those who dismissed her as exhibiting a flagrant violation of human
rights as enshrined in the Constitution and approved by PCC congresses,
which guarantee access to posts
to any citizen regardless of his/her race or religious belief.
"We have said more than once that our worst enemy
is not imperialism, much less its local salary earners, but rather our
own errors, and if we analyze them thoroughly,
they become lessons," he said.
The president said all narrow, exclusive thinking
must be revised once and for all and adjusted to the reality that
emerged from the decisions of the 6th Congress.
The aspirations of Cuba's enemies to trigger
conflict between religious believers and the revolutionary process has
failed as most humble Cuban believers have supported
the Revolution, he noted.
"[A]ttitudes like those criticized here go against
our main means to consolidate independence and national sovereignty,
which is the nation's unity," he said.
Immigration Policy Update
President Castro also announced that the National
Assembly is working on updating the current immigration policy by
reformulating and drawing up a group of regulatory measures based on
the current and foreseeable future conditions.
"We make this step as a contribution to increase
the links of the nation with the immigrant community, whose composition
has radically changed in relation to the early
years of the Revolution," said Castro.
He reiterated that the nation is on the path of
renovating decisions that played a role at a certain moment in time but
are now anachronistic.
The president recalled how at that time the U.S.
government gave protection to criminals of the Fulgencio Batista
dictatorship, terrorists and traitors of all types, and
encouraged the brain drain of professionals.
He noted that most current Cuban migrants are
motivated by economic reasons and most of them maintain fidelity to
their family and homeland.
The president stressed that Cuba is the only
country in the world whose citizens are allowed to stay and work in
U.S. territory without any type of visa by virtue of the
criminal 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act.
He noted how this sensitive issue has been the
object of political and media manipulation for years in a bid to
discredit the Revolution and create conflict with Cubans
living abroad.
Demand for U.S. to End
Vindictive Treatment of
Cuban Anti-Terrorists
Also in the plenary session, a statement was
adopted demanding an end to the unfair
and illegal treatment suffered by the Cuban anti-terrorist Gerardo
Hernández, imprisoned in that country for almost 13 years.
Gerardo's
defence team is currently pursuing
a habeas corpus case on his behalf and the
statement denounces the new obstacles and difficulties Gerardo faces to
communicate with his lawyers and Cuban
consular officials.
The Cuban parliamentarians also call on their
colleagues worldwide to strengthen their solidarity to once and for all
achieve freedom for Gerardo and his four compatriots
Ramón Labañino, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero and
Fernando Gonzalez.
Moncada Day Celebrations
 
President Raúl
Castro presides over the main Moncada Day festivities in Ciego de Avila
province, July 26, 2011.
This year's main Moncada Day celebrations in Cuba,
also known as the National Day of Rebelliousness, took place in Ciego
de
Avila province. Every year, the honour
of hosting the main celebrations to mark the anniversary of the attack
on
the Moncada Barracks is bestowed on one province for its exceptional
performance in meeting the
political, economic and social goals set out in the prior year.
Presided over by General of the Army Raúl Castro
Ruz, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party of Cuba and
President of the Councils of State and Ministers, 60,000
people from Ciego de Avila gathered in Máximo Gómez
Báez Plaza for the
anniversary. The event began with a moving message of congratulations
from Venezuelan
President Hugo Chávez Frías.
José Ramón Machado Ventura, Second
Secretary of
the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and First Vice
President of the Councils of State and
Ministers, in his central address at the national event, reiterated the
principle that "our decision to defend and construct socialism will
never waver." He also conveyed
congratulations from Fidel and Raúl to the people of Ciego de
Avila for
having won the fraternal competition to host the July 26 celebrations.
 
Cuban Vice President
José Ramon Machado (left); Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca, First
Secretary of Ciego de Avila.
President Castro presented Jorge Luis Tapia
Fonseca, member of the Central Committee and First Secretary of the
Communist Party in the province, with the flag
accrediting Ciego de Avila as host of the central event on account of
its outstanding results.
Also present were veterans of the attack on the
Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Barracks, along with Granma
expeditionaries, who were greeted
by President Castro and Vice President Machado, as well as family
members of the five Cuban heroes unjustly incarcerated in the United
States.
Moncada Day Celebrated
Across Canada and Quebec
Across Canada and Quebec, the 58th anniversary of
the attack on the Moncada Army Barracks in Santiago de Cuba was marked
by groups in several cities,
including Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto and Vancouver.
Halifax
The Nova Scotia Cuba Association reports that
their July 29 Moncada Day event was a success. Great weather and a
lively display of flags and banners helped attract
a continuous stream of people to the festivities in Victoria Park in
downtown Halifax. The day featured speeches, poetry, literature tables,
live music and other
entertainment.
Montreal
 The Table de concertation
de solidarité
Québec-Cuba celebrated Moncada Day with a July 23
gathering
in the Assumption suburb of Montreal. Table members
and friends celebrated the event in a festive atmosphere in the company
of a delegation from the Cuban Consulate in Montreal.
The Table used the occasion to announce this
year's Montreal Day of Friendship with Cuba on September 10. There, the
Table will continue to popularize Cuba's
accomplishments amongst Montrealers. The theme of this seventh Day of
Friendship, which coincides with the bicentennial of the independence
struggles of the Americas,
will be: "Viva Cuba and International Solidarity!"
The upcoming speaking tour by
a Cuban doctor who is part of Cuba's medical brigade in Haiti was also
announced.
It will run October 15 to November 6 with stops in Canada and Quebec.
At the gathering, attendees expressed their appreciation
for the work of the outgoing Consul General
of Cuba in Montreal Laureano Cardoso, wishing him success in his future
endeavours.
 Ottawa
In Ottawa, the event for Moncada Day on July 24
was attended by Maria de la Luz B'Hamel, Charge d'affaires of the Cuban
embassy, who expressed the gratitude of
the Cuban people for the support of the Cuba solidarity movement in the
struggle against the blockade and for the release of the Cuban Five
prisoners in the U.S.
Toronto
Consul of Cuba in
Toronto, Raúl Delgado
Concepción. |
Moncada Day was celebrated on July 26 at the
Steelworkers Hall in Toronto with a political and cultural event
organized by the Toronto Forum on Cuba, the Black Action
Defence Committee and Asociación Cubanos en Toronto de Juan
Gualberto
Gómez. Special guests included the Consul of Cuba in Toronto,
the Consul Generals of the
Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela
and the Republic of Ecuador, and many other organizations that support
Cuba.
After an Indigenous Opening Ceremony, the
Honourable Consul of Cuba in Toronto, Raúl Delgado
Concepción, thanked
the participants and spoke about the historical
importance of the date in Cuba's revolutionary process under the
leadership of Fidel Castro.
Organizers were honoured to receive two messages
of greetings for this celebration; one from Ramón
Labañino on behalf of
the Cuban Five and the other from Rafael
Cancel Miranda, one of the main leaders in Puerto Rico´s struggle
for
independence.
Other speakers included Professor Keith Ellis, a
poet and scholar on Cuba, Owen Leach and Charles Roach of the Black
Action Defence Committee (BADC) who paid
tribute to the late Dudley Laws, one of the founders of BADC. Morteza
Gorgzadeh of the Toronto Forum on Cuba paid tribute to the late U.S.
attorney Leonard Weinglass
who played an important role as a member of the Cuban Five's defence
team.
CIA Forced to Release Long-Secret Official
History of Bay of Pigs Invasion
- Peter Kornbluh, National
Security Archive, August 1, 2011 -
Pursuant to a FOIA lawsuit filed by the National
Security Archive on the 50th anniversary of the infamous CIA-led
invasion of Cuba, the CIA has released four volumes
of its Official History of the Bay
of Pigs Operation. The Archive today
posted volume 2, "Participation in the Conduct of Foreign Policy" (Part
1 and Part 2), classified top
secret, which contains detailed information on the CIA's negotiations
with Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama on support for the invasion.
"These are among the last remaining secret records
of this act of U.S. aggression against Cuba," noted Peter Kornbluh, who
directs the Cuba Documentation Project at
the Archive. "The CIA has finally seen the wisdom of letting the public
scrutinize this major debacle in the covert history of U.S. foreign
policy." Kornbluh noted that the
agency was "still refusing to release volume 5 of its official
history." Volume 5 is a rebuttal to the stinging CIA's Inspector
General's report, done in the immediate aftermath
of the paramilitary assault, which held CIA officials accountable for a
wide variety of mistakes, miscalculations and deceptions that
characterized the failed invasion. The
National Security Archive obtained the declassification of the ultra-
secret Inspector General's report in 1998.
Volume 2 provides new details on the negotiations
and tensions with other countries which the CIA needed to provide
logistical and infrastructure support for the invasion
preparations. The volume describes Kennedy Administration efforts to
sustain the cooperation of Guatemala, where the main CIA-led exile
brigade force was trained, as well
as the deals made with Anastacio Somoza to gain Nicaragua's support for
the invasion. CIA operatives, according to the study, took over
diplomatic relations with Anastacio
Somoza, pressuring the State Department to agree to loans to Nicaragua
as a quid pro quo for covert support of the
invasion.
Volume 3 of the Official
History was previously
declassified under the Kennedy
Assassination Record Act; and volume 4
was previously declassified to the CIA historian,
Jack Pfeiffer, who wrote the study in the late 1970s and early1980s.
The Archive will post a detailed assessment of the declassified
history, along with two other volumes
tomorrow.
To view Volume 2 and other related documents,
visit the website of the National Security Archive: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB353/index.htm
August 6, 2011 Bulletin
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