THE TIME HAS COME TO LEARN A BIT MORE ABOUT THE REAL FACTS

I have asked the Granma editors to release me from the honor of printing what I am about to write on the front page of our official Party newspaper this time because I am thinking of expressing some personal points of view about matters that, due to well-known reasons of health and time, I have not been able to present at the collective bodies of Party and State leadership or at Party Congresses or the corresponding meetings of the National Assembly of the People’s Power.

In our day and age problems are getting more and more complex and news spreads at the speed of light as many of us are aware. Nothing occurs today in our world that does not teach something to those of us who want to and are still able to understand new realities.

Human beings are an odd mixture of blind instinct on the one hand and conscience on the other.

We are political animals, as Aristotle rightly stated; Aristotle perhaps influenced humankind’s thinking more than any other ancient philosopher in his almost 200 treatises, as it has been recorded, of which only 31 have been preserved. His teacher was Plato who bequeathed to posterity his famous utopia about the Ideal State; in Syracuse where he attempted to put it into practice, it almost cost him his life. His Political Theory remained as an appellative to describe ideas as either bad or good. Reactionaries used it to describe both Marx and Lenin as theoreticians without taking into account in the least that their utopias inspired Russia and China, the two countries called upon to head a new world that would permit human survival should imperialism not unleash a criminal and exterminating war first.

The Soviet Union, the Socialist Bloc, the People’s Republic of China and North Korea helped us to resist the implacable economic blockade of the United States, the most powerful empire that has ever existed, with essential supplies and weapons. Despite its immense power it was not able to crush the tiny country that at just a few miles from its coast has been resisting for more than half a century all the threats, pirate attacks, hijacking fishing boats and sinking merchant ships, the destruction in mid-flight of the Cubana de Aviación aircraft in Barbados, burning down schools and other similar malversations. When it attempted to invade our country with mercenary forces in the vanguard, transported by US warships in a first stage, it was defeated in less than 72 hours. Later, counter-revolutionary gangs, organized and outfitted by them, committed acts of vandalism leading to the loss of lives or physical integrity of thousands of our compatriots.

In the state of Florida, they installed the largest base of activities against another country existing at that time. In the course of time, the economic blockade was extended to NATO countries and many other Latin American allies who, during the early years, were accomplices with the empire’s criminal policy which shattered the dreams of Bolivar, Marti and hundreds of great patriots of unimpeachable revolutionary conduct in Latin America.

Our small country was not only denied the right to be an independent nation just like any other of the numerous states in Latin American and the Caribbean, exploited and plundered by them, but the right of independence of our Homeland was totally stripped when the manifest destiny would carry out its task of annexing our island to the territory of the United States of America.

At the recently concluded Fortaleza meeting an important Declaration was approved among the countries making up the BRICS group.

BRICS proposes greater macroeconomic coordination among the principal economies, especially in the G-20, as a fundamental factor for strengthening the prospects for effective and sustainable recovery all over the world.

They announced the signing of the constitutive Agreement for the New Development Bank for the purpose of mobilizing resources for projects dealing with infrastructure and sustainable development of the BRICS countries and other emerging and developing economies.

The Bank will have an initial authorized capital of 100 billion dollars. The initial signed capital will be 50 billion dollars in equal parts among the founding members. The first president of the Board of Governors will be Russia. The first president of the Administrative Council will be Brazil. The first president of the bank will be from India. Bank headquarters will be in Shanghai.

They also announced the signing of a Treaty for establishing a Common Reserves Currency Fund for contingencies; its initial size is 100 billion dollars.

It reaffirms support for a multilateral system of free trade, transparent, inclusive and nondiscriminatory, as well as the successful inclusion of the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

They recognize the important role that these state enterprises play in the economy as well as the role of small and medium enterprises as creators of jobs and wealth.

They reaffirm the necessity of comprehensive reform of the United Nations, including its Security Council, for the aim of making it more representative, efficacious and efficient, so that it may more adequately respond to global challenges.

They reiterated their condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, wherever it may be occurring, and they expressed their concern about the continued threat of terrorism and extremism in Syria, at the same time as calling on all Syrian parties to commit to putting an end to terrorist acts perpetrated by Al-Qaeda, its affiliates and other terrorist organizations.

They energetically condemned the use of chemical weapons under any circumstances and welcomed the decision of the Arab Republic of Syria to adhere to the Chemical Weapons Convention.

They reaffirmed the commitment of contributing to a fair and lasting global solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict on the basis of a universally recognized international legal framework, including the resolutions corresponding to the United Nations, the Madrid Principles and the Arab Peace Initiative and they expressed their support for calling for, at the earliest possible date, the conference on establishing a zone in the Middle East free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.

They reaffirmed their will that the exploration and utilization of ultra-terrestrial space be reserved for peaceful ends.

They reiterated that there is no alternative to a negotiated solution for the Iranian nuclear question and they reaffirmed their support for it to be resolved by political and diplomatic means.

They expressed concern for the situation in Iraq and supported the Iraqi government in its efforts to overcome the crisis, defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

They expressed concern over the situation in the Ukraine and made a call for ample dialogue, decreased conflict and the moderation of all involved actors for the purpose of finding a peaceful political solution.

They reiterated their steadfast condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. They indicated that the United Nations has a central role in coordinating international actions against terrorism; this must be carried out in accordance with international law, including the UN Charter, and with respect for human rights and basic freedoms.

They acknowledged that climate change is one of the major challenges facing humankind and they made a call for all countries to build on the decisions adopted in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), with a view to arriving at a successful conclusion for the year 2015 of negotiations in the developing of a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed result with legal force under the Convention applicable to all parties, according to the principles and provisions of the UNFCCC, particularly the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and their respective capacities.

They expressed the strategic importance of education for sustainable development and inclusive economic growth, as well as underlining the close connection between culture and sustainable development.

The next BRICS Summit will be held in Russia in July of 2015.

It would seem that this is one more agreement among the many that are constantly appearing in the news wires of the main western news agencies. Nevertheless, the significance is clear and emphatic: Latin America is the geographical area of the world where the United States has imposed the most unequal system on the planet in the enjoyment of its internal wealth, the supply of cheap raw materials, buyer for its merchandise and the privileged depositor of its gold and funds that escape from their respective countries and are invested by American companies in the country or any other place in the world.

Nobody has ever found an answer capable of satisfying the demands of the real market we know today; nor is there any doubt that humankind is marching towards an era that is going to be fairer than that what human society has been up to our day.

The abuses that were committed throughout history are disgusting. Today what matters is what shall happen in our globalized planet in the near future. How may human beings escape from ignorance, the shortage of elementary resources for food, health, education, housing, decent jobs, security and fair remuneration. What is most important, whether it shall be possible or not, in this miniscule corner of the universe. If meditating about this is useful, it shall be to ensure the supremacy of human beings.

As for me, I haven’t the slightest doubt that when President Xi Jinping finishes with his activities rounding out his tour of our hemisphere, just as President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, both countries will be completing one of the greatest feats in human history.

The BRICS Declaration, approved on July 22^nd of 2014 in Fortaleza, advocates greater participation of other countries, especially those struggling for their development with a view to promoting cooperation and solidarity of peoples, especially with those of South America; in a significant paragraph, the Declaration points out that BRICS particularly acknowledges the importance of the South American United Nations (UNASUR) in the promotion of peace and democracy in the region and the achievement of sustainable development and the eradication of poverty.

I have gone on for considerable length even though the breadth and importance of the subject required the analysis of important matters that needed some sort of answer.

I was thinking that in the following days there would be a bit more serious analysis about the importance of the BRICS Summit. One only needs to add up the number of inhabitants of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to see that at this moment they make up half of the world’s population. In a few short decades China’s Gross Domestic Product will surpass that of the United States. Many states are already asking for Yuan and not Dollars, not only Brazil but several of the most important states in Latin America whose products such as soy and corn compete with those from America. Russian and Chinese contributions to science, technology and the economic development in South America and the Caribbean are decisive.

Great events in history are not made in one day. Huge tests and challenges of growing complexity loom over the horizon. China and Venezuela have signed 38 cooperation agreements. The time has come to learn a bit more about the real facts.

(Signed)

Fidel Castro Ruz

July 21, 2014

10:15 pm