Reflections by Comrade Fidel
WITHOUT
VIOLENCE OR DRUGS
Yesterday I analyzed the atrocious act of violence against US
congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, in which 18 people were shot; six died and
another 12 were wounded, some of them extremely seriously, among them the
congresswoman who was shot in the head, leaving the team of doctors no
alternative but to try to save her life and avoid consequences from the
criminal act as much as possible.
The nine-year-old girl that died had been born on the same day that the
A painful reality came to my mind that would surely concern many honest
Americans who have not been poisoned by
lies and hatred. How many of them know
that Latin American is the region of the world with the greatest inequality in
terms of the distribution of wealth? How
many have been informed about the infant and maternal death rates, life
expectancies, medical care, child labour, education and poverty prevailing in
the other countries of the hemisphere?
I shall limit myself to point out the rate of violence from the hateful
act that occurred yesterday in
I already pointed out that each year hundreds of thousands of Latin
American and Caribbean emigrants, plagued by underdevelopment and poverty, move
to the
Money and goods can freely cross
borders, I repeat, but not human beings.
By contrast, drugs and weapons cross, incessantly, in either
direction. The
Is
Why are the pertinent facts not being broadcast?
In an article by Spanish journalist and writer Xavier Caño Tamayo, published
on the
Even though the author is sceptical about the methods used up to today
to overcome the power accumulated by the great drug dealers, his article brings
data of unquestionable value to light that I shall try to summarize in a few
lines.
“…27% of the violent deaths in
the world happen in Latin American even though its population is just short of 9%
of the entire planet. In the last 10 years, 1,200,000 people have died
violently in the region.
“Violent favelas (shanty-towns)
occupied by the military police; bloodbaths in
“How do we explain such a
terrible reality?”
“The answer is given by a recent study made by the Latin American Social
Sciences Foundation. The report shows
how poverty, inequality and the lack of opportunities are the fundamental bases
for violence, even though drug and small weapons dealing serve to accelerate
the murderous criminal tendency.”
“According to the Ibero-American
Youth organization, half of the more than 100 million Latin American youth
between the ages of 15 and 24 are unemployed and without possibilities of
having a job. […] according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and
the Caribbean (ECLAC), the region has one of the highest rates of informal employment
of youth, along with the fact that one out of every four Latin American youth
neither has a job or is in school.”
“According to ECLAC, in the last few years, poverty and extreme poverty
in
“According to the UN, poverty
exists when people cannot satisfy basic needs in order to live with dignity:
sufficient food, drinking water, decent housing, basic health care, basic
education...The World Bank classifies that poverty by adding that it is extreme
poverty when people are living on less than $1.25 per day.”
“According to the 2010 World
Wealth Report, published by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch, the fortunes of
wealthy Latin Americans […] grew by 15% in 2009. […] in recent years the fortunes of rich
Latin Americans grew more than in any other region of the world. There are
500,000 rich, according to the Capgemini
and Merrill Lynch report. Half a million against 190 million. [...]
if there are a few with a lot, there are many who lack everything.”
“...there are other reasons to explain the violence in Latin America
[...] poverty and inequality always play a part in death and pain [...] is it a
coincidence that [...] 64% of the eight million dying of cancer in the world
happens in the regions having the lowest incomes, to which, of course, only 5%
of the money to fight cancer is dedicated?
“Looking straight into our eyes,
truly, could you live on $1.25 per day?”, so ends Xavier Caño’s analysis.
News about the massacre in
The specialists at the University of Arizona Medical Center are
cautiously optimistic. They are praising
the work of emergency crews who were able to operate on the congresswoman 38
minutes after the shooting. Such information can be found on the Internet
between 6 and 7 o’clock this afternoon.
According to them, “the bullet penetrated the frontal area closest to
the brain mass, on the left side of the head.”
“She can respond to simple instructions, but we know that swelling of
the brain could cause an unfavourable turn of events”, they stated.
They explain the details of each step they took to control breathing and
lessen the pressure on the brain. They
add that recovery could take weeks or months.
Neurosurgeons in general and the specialists related to this discipline
shall be following the information released by that team with interest.
Cubans closely follow everything regarding health, they tend to be
well-informed and they will also be happy with the success of those doctors.
On the other side of the border we know about the extremes to which
violence has reached in the nearest Mexican states, where there are also
excellent doctors. Nevertheless, there
have been several occasions when the drug-dealing mafia, equipped with the most
sophisticated weapons provided by the warmongering
Infant mortality in
Even though it hurts our modesty, it is a bitter duty to say that our
blockaded, threatened and slandered country has shown that Latin American
peoples can live without either violence or drugs. It can even live, and that’s what has
happened for more than half a century, without relations with the
Fidel Castro Ruz
January 9, 2011
7:56 p.m.