Reflections by Comrade Fidel
A CHALLENGE TO THE US
PRESIDENT
A few days now an article that contained a
number of facts related to the oil spill that occurred 105 days ago was
published.
President Obama had authorized the
drilling of that well because he trusted the capabilities of modern technology
to produce oil –which he wanted to be available in abundance- thus relieving
the United States of the dependence on the foreign supplies of such a
vital product for the present civilization.
The excessive consumption of oil had already led to a vigorous protest
by the environmentalists.
Not even George W. Bush ever dared to take
that step, given the bitter experience in Alaska with a tanker that carried the oil
extracted from that area.
The accident had occurred while searching
for the product that is desperately needed in the consumers’ society that the
newer generations inherited from the preceding ones, the only difference being that now
everything moves at an unheard of speed.
Scientists and environmentalists have
explained the theories related to the catastrophes that occurred during
hundreds of millions of years with the so called huge bubbles of methane that
caused the gigantic tsunamis that swept across much of the planet. Their winds, which reached twice the speed of sound, and their waves, which were 1 500
meters
high killed 96 per cent of all living species.
They expressed their fear that in the Gulf of Mexico, which for some cosmic reason is the
region of the planet where karstic rocks separate us from the enormous methane layer, the latter could be drilled, in this desperate quest for oil, with the very modern equipment used by
the technology available today.
After the oil spill caused by British Petroleum, the news agencies reported as follows:
“…The
[US] Federal Government has warned people to keep away from the epicenter of
operations, threatening
to impose a 40 000 dollar fine for every transgression and carry out arrests in
case there is any felonious act.
“…The
EPA [The United States Environmental Protection Agency] has officially pointed
out that Platform No. 1 is releasing methane,
benzene,
hydrogen sulphide and other toxic gases. Workers on the ground are now using
modern protection means which include state- of- the art gas masks supplied by the
military.”
Extremely transcendental events are
becoming unusually frequent.
The first and most imminent is the risk of
a nuclear war after the sinking of the sophisticated flagship ‘Cheonan’ which, according to the South Korean government, was torpedoed from a Soviet-made
submarine –both the torpedo and the submarine were manufactured more than 50
years ago- while other sources point to a unique possible and non-detectable
cause: a mine planted by the US intelligence services on the Cheonan’s
hull. The government of the People’s
Democratic Republic of Korea was soon to blame for that.
This weird occurrence was followed a few
days later by the adoption of Resolution 1929 of the UN Security Council, which called for an inspection of all
Iranian merchant ships to begin in no later than 90 days.
A second event, which in part is already rendering its
demolishing results,
has been the progressive advance of
climate change,
whose impact is even worse, which led to a denunciation contained in the
documentary film “Home” produced by Yann Arthus-Bertrand with the participation
of the most prestigious environmentalists of the world. And now there is this oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a few miles away from our homeland, which has given rise to all sorts of
concern.
On July 20 a report by the EFE news agency referred to
the statements made by the already well known Admiral Thad Allen, coordinator in charge of the oil spill
cleanup in the Gulf of Mexico, who said he had authorized British Petroleum, the owner of the well and the one
responsible for the spill, to continue for another 24 hours the tests to
determine the soundness of the ‘Macondo’ structure after the installation, 10 days ago, of a new containment cap.”
“According to official data, there are around 27 000 abandoned oil
wells in the sea bed of the Gulf of Mexico…”
“Ninety two days after the BP platform
accident, the US government main concern is that the
underground structure of the well is damaged and leaking oil through the rocks
and flowing in multiple end points of the seafloor”
It is the first time an official statement
refers to the fear that the oil may start to emanate from the wells which are
no longer productive.
Readers showing interest on the issue are
now able to make a difference between the sensationalist and the scientific
data. To me there is no satisfactory explanation for some facts. Why Admiral Allen stated that “the main
concern of the US Government is that the underground structure of the well is
damaged and leaking oil through the rocks and flowing in multiple end points of
the seafloor? Why did BP state it can not be blamed for the
crude that gushed 15 kilometers far from the blown out well?
We will have to wait another 15 days for a
relief well to be drilled, following a trajectory that is almost in parallel with
the one that caused the spill, at a distance of no less than 5 meters one from the other, according to the Cuban group that
analyzes the problem. Meanwhile we, as well educated children, should keep on waiting.
If there is so much confidence in the well
in parallel, why didn’t they resort to that measure
before? What shall we do next if that action fails, as it has happened with all others?
In a recent exchange I held with a person
too well informed about the details of the accident, given his country’s interests, I learned that because of the
characteristics and the situation around the well, in that case there is no risk of a
methane emanation there.
No news on the subject was published on
July 23.
On the 24th, the news agency DPA stated that a
“prominent US scientist had accused British Petroleum of bribing the experts
that investigate the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico to delay the publication
of data, as was denounced by the scientist to the
BBC network”, but it establishes no connection between
that immorality and any possible damage in the structure of the sea floor, the oil emanations and the unusual levels
of methane.
On July 26, London’s most important media –BBC,
Sunday Times,
Sunday Telegraph,
among others- reported that the “Board of Directors” of British Petroleum would
“discuss today the timing of Chief Executive Hayward exit “over his handling of
the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.”
Notimex and El
Universal of Mexico published that British Petroleum “…has
not decided on any change among its executives”, and adds that “a meeting of the Board of
Directors is due to take place this afternoon.”
On the 27th, news agencies reported that the British
Petroleum Chief Executive had been fired.
July 28: Twelve wire services and 14
countries, among them the US and several of its most important allies, made some embarrassing statements over
the publication by Wikileaks of
secret documents about the war in Afghanistan. Although Barack Obama admitted to be
‘concerned’ about the leak, […] he pointed out that the information is old and contained
nothing new.”
That was a cynical statement.
“The founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, said that the documents are an evidence
of the war crimes committed by the US troops.”
And they evidenced them so accurately that
they have shaken the very foundations of American secrecy. Such documents refer to the “deaths of
civilians, which were never accounted for publicly”.
This has created conflicts among the parties involved in the commission of such
atrocities.
As for the risks of methane emanations
from the wells that are not in production, there is a complete silence.
July 29: AFP reports the
unimaginable. Osama Bin Laden used to be
a man of the US intelligence services: “…Osama Bin Laden appears in the secret
reports published by Wikileaks as an agent that is active, present and praised by his men in the
Afghan-Pakistani border.”
It was known that, during the Afghan war against the Soviet
occupation, Osama collaborated with the United States, but the whole world thought that in his
struggle against the foreign invasion he had accepted the support offered by
the United States and NATO out of necessity and that, after that country was liberated, he refused foreign interference and
created Al Qaeda to combat the United States.
Many countries, Cuba among them, condemn his terrorist methods which do
not exclude the death of countless innocent victims.
Just imagine how surprised the world’s public
opinion was when it learned that Al Qaeda had been a creation of the government
of that country.
It was the justification used to launch
the war on the Taliban in Afghanistan and one of the motives, among others, for the invasion and occupation of Iraq by the US troops later on. These have been two countries where thousands
of American youths have been killed and a great number of them have been
maimed. More than 150 000 American
soldiers –joined by the members of the units of the belligerent NATO and other
allies such as Australia and South Korea- have been indefinitely deployed in these two
countries.
On July 29, the picture of a 22 year-old American
youth, Bradley Manning, an intelligence analyst who leaked 240
000 classified documents to the website Wikileaks, was published. He has not pleaded guilty
or innocent. However,
nobody will be able to lay a finger on him.
The Wikileaks members have sworn they will spread the truth throughout the
world.
On July 30, the Brazilian theologian Frei Betto
published an article entitled “Grito de la Tierra,
Clamor de los Pueblos” (Cry of the Earth; Clamor of the
Peoples).
Two paragraphs summarize the essence of
its content: “The Greeks of ancient times had already noticed it: Gaia, the Earth, is a living organism. We all come from it, after 13 700 million years of evolution. However, during the last 200 years, we have not learned how to take care of
it; we turned it into a merchandise in exchange for which we hope to get
maximum profits.”
“Today, all forms of life in the planet, including the human species –two thirds
of the world population survive under the poverty line- and the Earth itself
are threatened. To prevent the
anticipation of the Apocalypse it is necessary to question the myths of modern
times –such as market,
development, nation States- all of them based on an
instrumental rationale.”
On that same day, AFP published the following: “The
People’s Republic of China disapproves of the unilateral sanctions adopted by
the European Union against Iran, said today
Juang Yu, the spokesperson of the Chinese
chancellery.”
Likewise, Russia strongly protested against the
condemnations that resulted from the sanctions adopted by that region that is
in close alliance with the United States.
On July 30, AFP reported that the Minister of Defense
of Israel stated the following: “The sanctions that the United Nations adopted
against Iran […] will not force that country to
suspend its uranium enrichment activities aimed at manufacturing an atom bomb.”
On August 1st, AFP reported that “a top military
official of the Guardians of the Revolution warned the United States today against a future attack against Iran.”
“Israel did not rule out the possibility of a
military action against Iran aimed at halting its nuclear program.”
“The international community headed by Washington recently increased its pressure on Iran, which is accused of trying to equip
itself with a nuclear weapon by means of a covert civil nuclear program.”
“Javani’s assertions preceded a statement
by the Chief of the US Joint Chiefs of Staffs, Michael Mullen, who reaffirmed this Sunday that the US has a plan to attack Iran to prevent it from getting nuclear
weapons.”
On August 2, a news published by AFP, whose content was similar to the ones
published by all other news agencies, read as follows:
“I have to travel to New York on September to attend the UN General
Assembly. I am ready to sit down with
Obama, face to face, man to man, to talk freely about world issues in
front of the media and find the best solution”, said Ahmadinejad during a speech
broadcast by state television.”
“But President Ahmadinejad warned that the
dialogue should be based on mutual respect.”
“If they think they can swing around a
wand and tell us that we should accept everything they say, this will never happen”, he added.
Western powers ‘do not understand that things have changed in the world’, he said.”
“You are supporting a country that has
hundreds of atomic bombs; but you say you want to stop Iran, which could eventually have them some
day…”
The Iranians have declared that they would
shoot one hundred missiles against each of the US and Israel ships that blockade Iran as soon as they start inspecting an
Iranian merchant ship.
Thus, by the time Obama gives the order to
comply with the Security Council Resolution, he would also be ordering the sinking of
all US warships in that area.
No other US President has been faced with such a
dramatic decision. He should have
foreseen that.
On this ocassion, for the first time in my life, I address myself to Barack Obama, the President of the United States:
You should know that it is in your power
to offer humankind the only real possibility of peace. Only once will you be able to make use of
your prerogatives to give the order to open fire.
It is quite possible that later on, after this traumatic experience, the solutions found will not lead us
again to this apocalyptical situation. Every citizen in your country, even your worst left wing or right wing adversaries, will most certainly appreciate it, as will the people of the United States, which is in no way to blame for the
situation created.
I am asking you to deign to listen to this
appeal I am making to you on behalf of
the Cuban people.
I understand that a quick response is not
to be expected; nor will you ever give one.
Think it over and consult your specialists; ask your most powerful
international allies and adversaries for their opinion about the subject.
I am not interested in honors or glory.
Just do it!
The world could truly get rid of both
nuclear and conventional weapons.
The worst variant of all will be a nuclear
war, which is already virtually inevitable.
PREVENT IT!
Fidel Castro Ruz
August
3, 2010
6:00 p.m.