Cuban Parliament President Says the US and Europe are Constructing an Opposition in Cuba through Pro

[Mika]

Cuban Parliament President Says the US and Europe are Constructing an Opposition in Cuba through Propaganda
http://www.periodico26.cu/english/news_cuba/april2010/cuba-ep040310.html

Havana, April 3, (RHC).- The President of the Cuban Parliament Ricardo Alarcon said in Havana, in an interview for the Cuban webssite Cubadebate that the media propaganda campaign launched by the United States and Europe against Cuba aims at instilling the idea that there is an opposition in Cuba.

Alarcon said that there are other objectives like damaging Cuba in the diplomatic arena, which they have unsuccessfully tried before.

Alarcon said that while the Western Media readily echoed the accusations made against Cuba, not one word has been said about the case of the Five Cubans held prisoners in the United States since 1998 for preventing terrorist actions to be carried out against Cuba.

The President of the Cuban parliament said that even the founding fathers of the United States regarded Cuba as a natural possession and that when President Barrack Obama asks Cuba to do this and that he is acting as if he owned the island.

Brazilian Intellectuals Repudiate International Media Campaign against Cuba

The Brazilian Chapter of the Network in Defense of Humanity signed by scores of intellectuals and artists repudiated the anti Cuba international media campaign orchestrated by the United States and its European allies.

In a statement entitled Believe Me, which was first signed by architect Oscar Niemeyer, reminds all those Brazilians who might have given credit to what is being said about Cuba, that in that country rules a Constitution approved by the majority of the Cuban people.

The statement goes on to say that, in Cuba, people have the chance to cultivate their spirit through culture; and, that, in spite of the US blockade, Cubans have shared their achievements in education and public health with many countries around the world.

The Brazilian intellectuals and artists say that it is cowardice to turn against Cuba preaching about the true meaning of democracy and respect for human rights.

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[protocol rv]

1. Alarcon the Cuban must be from another planet

let's see, this guy Alarcon believes there's nobody in Cuba opposed to the communist regime...therefore I conclude he must be an extra terrestial from another planet.

Why? because any person born on this planet of homo sapiens stock knows very well there's no way we would ever agree enough with any government, no matter how good it may be. Even if Jesus, Buddha, Ghandi, Moses and Mohammed agreed to form a government together there would be a group of people wanting to do something else. In other words, Mr Alarcon must be an alien wearing a person suit. Check him out, because he has to have a zipper in the back of his head.

My DU friends, either this guy is an alien, or the Cuban oligarchs who have been running that government for over 50 years are so arrogant and have created such a distorted narrative, they seem to believe their own fantasies. If they have no opposition, why do they toss in jail Cubans who propose changing things? Who is on hunger strike in Cuba right now? Why do these political prisoners starve themselves?

Let's wait for the propaganda from the communists who post here. I'll be amused to see what they come up with.

[flamingdem]

3. If you had been there you might understand the situation

People are frustrated but understand the causes and they don't want regime change from TIO SAM. Even Cubans I know who hate Fidel/Raul don't want that.

[protocol rv]

4. I don't believe the guy is frustrated, he's an oligarch

Sorry, but I don't think the comment about not having any opposition (made by Alarcon) reflects frustration. It reflects a need to create a fantasy. I understand his behavior, Cuba is ruled by Fidel Castro, and anybody who dares oppose him vanishes from the political scene. I've heard what's been happening to younger leaders who dared whisper anything about change - they were jailed.

I also understand the Cubans in general don't want to be told what to do by Uncle Sam, but that's a boogey man. The communists are using the USA as an excuse to repress the people. But we know that's not going to work. It never does. Eventually, either Fidel dies or the people will take care of the problem. I've always felt it was better if they did it in an organized fashion, so as to avoid falling into undue American influence, but I'm afraid the change may end up being too adhoc and possibly violent (ie like happened in Rumania after the Timiosara massacre). A peaceful resolution is obviously better, but the communist aparatchiks are running out of time, that regime is evidently on very weak ground, lacks legitimacy, and survives only due thanks to Venezuela's money.

[flamingdem]

8. Did you read what I wrote?

I did not say Alarcon is frustrated, the Cuban people are frustrated. I think it's true that there is a lock on power, but they are aware that new voices have to be integrated, they will solve their own issues.

You are wrong about the younger leaders, they were demoted, not jailed.

Uncle Sam is not a bogey man, Tio Sam is pushing for regime change in Cuba, that means subversion of their government and a repitition of an exploitative history towards Cuba, instead of reparations, respect and apology for the Batista years, etc.

You are extremely wrong to compare Cuba to Eastern Europe, the Cubans are conforme and don't like change. They don't want violence, and it's not needed because it's not that divided there.

Yes they are in dire straights economically but that's been the case for a while, and they pull through.

Their main threat is an organized destabilization effort that seems to be underway once again thanks to the elements in the USA and Europe who see a chance to make the pretty island their own once again.

[protocol rv]

12. So the Cubans don't like change

But that's not what the Cubans who work here in Venezuela tell me. What do you think, that I blow hot air because I am on the CIA payroll? We got so many Cuban doctors, medical trainers, light bulb switchers, military guys, and other guys running around, it's not hard to give them a beer, sit down to play dominos, and then listen. They don't like the government in Cuba, and want to change it.

You see, this is really insidious for the communist regime, they send those guys here, try to keep them isolated from us, but they can't. And they see how Venezuelans get to own their own home, and their own hot dog stand, and car wash, and so on. What I mean is, here in Venezuela a poor person can start a business the way those Cubans can't do when they go home, and it is really bothering them. These are smart guys, with education, and they see a guy with a lousy 6th grade education here doing things they can't because Castro treats them like little children.

And these Cubans are, deep inside, complete entrepeneurs. You won't hear them talk about socialism, being in a commune, or the other baloney we hear from the left wingers in USA and Europe. Thesre guys are complete cynics, they already lived through all the communist theory, see how it is a failure, and they want to work for number one, to bring the wife the rice cooker, and a nice TV. They are sitting here scratching their heads, and figuring out all the money they can make if they get rid of the communist system. So what happens when they go back? They talk to their family about what they have seen in Venezuela, and all these guys then talk to other Cubans, and this is spreading like a fire through a forest. In a sense, this business line Castro and Chavez have to have so many cubans here is going to kill that communist oligarchy in Cuba a lot better than the Uncle Sam can ever do.

So you see, there is a lot more going on than you think there is. And Raul Castro knows this (the poor guy has had to live under his older brother all his life, but I hear from Cubans who know him he's actually smarter than Fidel), the reason why he wanted to make changes, but Fidel stopped him. And now they got Cubans openly asking for change. Those black Cubans who are starving themselves are not that stupid. They know they have a good chance to win and get out of jail.

[flamingdem]

19. Do you live in Venezuela?

I did not realize that.

If you haven't lived in Cuba it's doubtful you would understand that the Cubans are conforme and great complainers.

They have a lot to complain about but they aren't about to meet it head on. Instead, they take the opportunities presented by the situation.

Free medical education, then internationalist work, then the sympathetic ears that help them "escape".

You failed to mention that while they want the money via entreprenuership not many would want to be uneducated street workers. Maybe temporarily, but that's not their goal. Their goal like other educated people is middle class living, best found in Miami.

Note that none of them are in Cuba fighting for change.

Yes I agree the Cubans are entreprenurial but it is THE US GOVERNMENT that is imposing the EMBARGO that inhibits TRADE and TOURISM and thus business and small business.

The Cuban government will protect itself from the US and it's determination to IMPOSE REGIME CHANGE. Can you blame them? Should they just rollover?

[EFerrari]

2. It's good to see the Brazilians extending their support!

Good for them.

[protocol rv]

5. Lula won't be around for long

And the other guys are way ahead in the polls. So it looks like the Cuban regime's lifelines are being cut one by one.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Rec. #2. Thanks, Mika.

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

[Judi Lynn]

7. Alarcon is a very cool person, very bright, quick, perceptive.

He's wise, would make a wonderful leader in the years ahead.

He's certainly got our number, too. No doubt about it. He can see how the right-wing constantly plots to steal and destroy their government. The people threw OUT the dirty, bloody, torturing and murderous U.S. puppet government, they will not want another one back.

It's time this country matured, and put away the bully act which has worn out its "welcome" all over the planet.

[protocol rv]

9. And disconnected from reality

A cool and wise leader who claims there's no opposition whatsoever to a 50 year old regime? Give us a break, Judy. Do you really think there is no opposition to the Cuban regime within Cuba? The Cubans I talk to who come to Venezuela tell me they would change things if they had the chance.

[Mika]

10. Then they should get on with it. The Castro bros started up in the hills. Their popularity grew fast

The US created "dissidents" can run for office if they so choose - and they do - there's a thread in this forum on that.

Problem is.... their anti socialist platforms aren't popular at all, that is why they hold no elected seats in any of Cuba's three levels of Assemblies. They might get nominated for a run in an election, but their platforms prevent them from garnering enough popular votes to make it to the Ratification Elections.

Cubans overwhelmingly support their system of government. Even the CIA agrees with that.

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[protocol rv]

13. They are not US created dissidents

You have to be from another planet to really believe there's any nation on earth where all of the people agree with the government after it has been in power for 50 years (and you do mean all, don't you, you won't even allow for the existence of a small minority, about 15 % which dislikes the regime?).

That's as likely as Rush Limboug joining the Taliban.

[Mika]

17. More fabrications from you. I never said any such thing.

You have repeated this childish BS over and over. You seem to have missed my repeated differentiation between the indigenous opposition movements and the paid-for "dissidents" on the US payroll (that makes them wealthy) in Cuba.

The most prominent indigenous opposition movement leaders in Cuba, like Elizardo Sanchez, Oswaldo Paya, and Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo reject the taint of US gov and Miami exile terrorist group funding.

How disingenuous to ignore the indigenous opposition movements, or lump the US bought and paid for "dissidents" in with the legitimate indigenous opposition voices in Cuba tainting them despite their struggle to stay clear of foreign & corporate interests. Its the same propaganda tactic used by the Miami gusanos in an attempt to elevate themselves as the facilitators of the only opposition in Cuba. Your (and the US MSM's) forging and merging the two distinct groups as one drowns out the indigenous opposition movements - typical of the bigotry of Cuba haters, the real Cuban voices don't count, only the US paid-for "dissidents" do.

As per usual, your post is full of BS and lies.

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[protocol rv]

18. Quoting

"The US created "dissidents" can run for office if they so choose".

I take that to mean you think the dissidents are a US creation. Also, it should be evident Cuba doesn't have free elections. I know you post saying they do, but this is not true. Once the regime falls, I am sure there were books written about this regime, by newly free Cubans. It will hopefully not be as bad as what was found after the nazis fell in Germany. Or will it?

[Mika]

20. You simply cannot be that thick.

Therefore, I'm just about done with your infantile representations of my posts, and your paranoid uninformed delusions about Cuba.

You have no experience in/with/about Cuba. Just RW projections. And predictions. :crazy:

And lies.

You completely dismiss various PhD's analysis. You dismiss the indigenous opposition voices who denounce the US paid "dissidents". You ignore the good works by the decent Cubans in Cuba who overwhelmingly support their system, and by doing so you reveal your contempt for Cubans in Cuba who do these things and support their form of gov't.

While this all seems like a fun rhetorical debate to you, it is all too real to me and my family in Cuba. I haven't the time to waste on anti Cuba bigots.




Bye bye

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[protocol rv]

21. But I do talk to Cubans

As I explained, we have a lot of Cubans who come to Venezuela, and they talk. My representation of your post wasn't "infantile". Remember, the original Alarcon and your post imply quite strongly that there is no opposition to the Cuban regime by Cuban citizens living in Cuba, who do so out of their own volition because they don't like communism.

So let's clear it up. Do they exist or not? What is your opinion, that there is no native opposition to the communist regime whatsoever?

The point isn't if the US is paying some guys to oppose Castro. Hell, Chavez sends money in suitcases to Argentina to help Cristina Fernandez, and I bet there's a lot of money flowing to Castro to prop him up. So we are playing the same game. The US pays, Venezuela pays, other people probably pay. But the question remains, do you really think there's no opposition in Cuba other than the guys who are paid by the US?

[DissedByBush]

11. There is nobody in opposition in Cuba

Just like there are no homosexuals in Iran.

It's just too dangerous to be in those situations.

[protocol rv]

14. Great answer

I like the name dissed by Bush. What does dissed mean in the vernacular? I am from Venezuela, and some terms I am not sure about.

[DissedByBush]

15. Disrespected

Bush I said he didn't think atheists could be good Americans or patriots. I am an atheist.

This is the same asshole who sent me to a war for oil, and I did my duty as I swore in my enlistment oath.

You can understand a bit of resentment.

[protocol rv]

16. I understand now.

But the war was not for oil. You were fighting because your government wanted to colonize Iraq for its territory, and its people. The oil was a very secondary issue.

And I understand why you would feel that way. You have my sympathies. Do you remember Turning Tables?

[DissedByBush]

22. I don't believe the colonization bit

We were quite able to keep going to Baghdad after having destroyed much of the Iraqi army, but Bush ordered a halt.

Remember, Kuwait had close ties with the Bush family, and we couldn't allow a destabilizing force in the area to threaten our oil supply.

Never heard about Turning Tables.

[protocol rv]

23. You mean George Bush the First? I meant the Second.

George Bush the First knew how to restrain the system. But he also lost the next election, didn't he? He wasn't imperialist enough for the people who hold the levers of power.

According to my sources, the Bush administration didn't want to do much about Kuwait after Saddam invaded it. Kuwait, as you probably know, was set up by the British to block Iraq's access to the sea, and to have a weak state in a pivotal position which would depend on British Empire help to survive in such a tough neighborhood. The British drew a screwed up map on purpose, planting the seeds for the conflicts we see today - they thought they would remain an empire, therefore it would be ok to have people in the region going after each other, because this would mean they needed British control or hegemony to keep order. What the British didn't count on was the collapse of their empire after WW II, and the resulting emergence of the USA as the imperial cop.

So when Iraq invaded Kuwait, it was Margaret Thatcher who called Bush, and pushed him hard to take Kuwait back. There really was no need to do it, because Saddam wasn't about to cut off the oil. What Saddam wanted was to get his access to the sea, and stop the Kuwaitis from sucking oil from the Rumaila fields. Saddam wasn't exactly a smart character, he was greedy as hell, and he wasn't about to stop selling oil. But an Arab country with 6 million barrels per day capacity ruled by a volatile guy with a large army wasn't something Israel really wanted either, so the israel lobby and the weapons lobbies of course were very happy to see the Gulf War go the way it did.

Bush was very reluctant, but he decided to go ahead, limiting himself to just pushing Saddam out. At the time I thought he was going to redraw the map, but he didn't. I was so convinced he was going to redraw, I started looking forward to Turkey's reaction when the US told the Kurds they could have their own country. The US, of course, did no such thing, and the Kurds got the short end of the deal.

The neocons, I think, didn't like Bush's restraint, and thus he lost the elections.

But I've discussing the imperial drive which emerged fully fledged during the Clinton administration. It was during this period we saw the US begin to assume a more imperial role, such as the invasion of Somalia which led to the American defeat in Mogadishu, and later the bombing and invasion of Kosovo (which I believe was also inspired by the Israel Lobby and the Military Industrial Complex, according to what I read).

The imperial drive, of course, is also reflected in US moves to hem in the Russian Federation, the invasion of Afghanistan, installation of bases in Central Asia, the invasion of Iraq, support for the invasion of Somalia by Ethiopia, and of course the use of Colombia and other bases to fight the "war on drugs". But you'll notice the focus is more on the Middle East. Why should the US worry about Middle East oil? It's not the oil, that oil mostly goes to China and Japan, some to Europe. The US is just doing what the lobbies want, and their actions have nothing to do with freedom for Americans, or such other baloney.

I usually dig deep, and when I do, I find the hand of these two powerful American lobbies I mentioned, almost every time, involved in pushing the US towards imperialism and war. Sometimes the traces have to be made all the way back to college relationships between government officials and Lobby agents, but they are there. You would be amazed to see how inter-married they are, how a guy will marry somebody's daughter, and then he moves up into the right slot, etc. I keep a huge powerpoint wall chart with these linked relationships between lobbyists in the US, the neocons, and the military industrial complex, and US government officials, and the map is really fascinating. And I can add, there are almost no links to oil companies. The only link I see is to service companies like Halliburton - which also provide support services to the US military. But I see no real links to big oil.