Reflections by comrade Fidel

MEETING LULA

It’s not the money injection per se to the developing countries that I criticized in my reflection yesterday, as some press dispatches chose to interpret.

When I spoke of The Worst Choice, I was thinking of the objectives of the money injection and the way it was given. I have been analyzing the idea that the financial crisis is the consequence of the privileges granted to the United States developed capitalism at Bretton Woods in 1944. At the end of World War II, this country was emerging with a considerable economic and military power. The phenomenon tends to repeat itself every so often.

Upon President of Brazil Lula da Silva’s arrival in the country, I addressed him a letter. We had not scheduled a meeting during his short visit to our country. On the abovementioned point I wrote:

“Whoever becomes the United States leader after the current crisis should feel a rising pressure from all of the Third World countries towards solutions involving every nation and not only a few of them. The wealthiest nations are in desperate need of the poor nation’s consumption, otherwise their goods and services production centers would be paralyzed. Let them use their computers to estimate how many trillions they’ll need to invest to enable the poor nations to develop while preventing the destruction of the environment and life on our planet.”

Any reader can see that when I speak of investing in the Third World, I mean making a contribution in funds, basically as soft loans, with almost no interest, in order to promote a rational ecology-friendly development.

I could meet with Lula who asked to see me despite his tight schedule. We talked for almost two hours. I explained to him that I would be making public the concepts contained in my letter. He did not raise any objection. Our conversation was, as usual, pleasant and respectful. He related to me in detail the work he is carrying out in his country. I thanked him for Brazil’s political and economic support to Cuba in its struggle and emphasized the decisive role played by Venezuela, a Latin American developing country and its President, in the most critical days of the Special Period and today, as the imperialist blockade has tightened and our country has just endured the scourge of two devastating hurricanes.

Despite our broad exchange, he was free an hour and a half before the time scheduled for his departure.

As I could see in the press reports this afternoon, he adopted a brave position with regards to the United States elections. If McCain were elected, he would not be able to count beforehand with the largest Latin American country: Brazil.

The G-20 meeting convened by Bush will be held in Washington next November 15. The first thing you see as you turn on a TV set is a Head of State addressing a high level gathering. I wonder how much time is left to the Heads of State to be informed about and to meditate on the complex problems afflicting the world.

The current President of the United States has no problem at all. He does not solve problems, he creates them.

Fidel Castro Ruz

October 31, 2008

5:15 p.m.