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President Bush's speech on Cuba Oct. 24th
represented what appears to be a brazen and
unprecedented escalation of the U.S.
government's hostility toward Cuba. Almost every
word uttered by Bush was a baseless lie or
slander against the Cuban Revolution, and
everything else was a very thinly veiled threat
of all-out war against the Cuban people.
During his speech, Bush surrounded himself with
families of the mercenaries that the U.S.
government has paid to try to overthrow the
Cuban Revolution, and referred to these
mercenaries as "political prisoners." No doubt
Bush was trying to make some terrible analogy
between the people he pays to overthrow the
government of a sovereign country and the five
Cuban heroes who have been languishing in U.S.
prisons for a decade now because they defended
their own country from the U.S. government's
criminal aggression.
In a part of his speech that was almost as
arrogant as it was absurd, Bush called on the
Cuban military and the Cuban people to turn
against their own government and to accept
"liberation" from the United States. He
ominously declared, "The operative word in our
future dealings with Cuba is not 'stability.'
The operative word is 'freedom.'"
The response of Cuban leaders was swift and
strong. Cuba's Foreign Minister condemned Bush,
telling him: "I have a message for you, you are
raving, you are talking to an army of liberation
and to security combatants who have prevented
more than 600 assassination attempts on Fidel.
You are mistaken, you do not know this people,
who are not in the category of the mercenaries
whom you pay here."
Indeed, Bush is "raving" if he thinks he has any
chance of convincing the Cuban people to turn
against the Revolution for any reason, much less
to become yet another neo-colony of U.S.
imperialism.
Bush is already isolated internationally in this
criminal policy. The New York Times noted that
even among the audience in the State Department,
where Bush gave his speech, the only people who
applauded were the mercenaries and the
right-wing Cuban politicians that were
handpicked to attend. All of the Latin American
diplomats in the room remained silent. Even in
his speech, Bush could only cite three countries
(Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic) that
support isolating Cuba. Almost every other
country in the world has condemned the U.S.
government's criminal blockade against Cuba, and
not one has yet expressed support for this
irresponsible escalation.
It is clear that when Bush speaks on Cuba, he is
speaking only on behalf of the U.S. ruling class
and a small population of rabidly right-wing
Cubans. He is certainly not speaking on behalf
of the people of the United States who have no
desire to or interest in waging war against the
people of Cuba. The people in this country--and
of Iraq and countless other countries--know all
too well what Bush has in mind when he speaks of
"liberation." No one wants more billions of
dollars spent on another murderous plunder of a
sovereign nation.
But the fact that Bush is completely isolated
politically will not alone guarantee Cuba's
protection. Neither will the fact that any
attack against Cuba will surely result in defeat
for U.S. forces. The U.S. government has been
relentlessly determined to defeat Cuba
throughout every single presidential
administration in the last fifty years. Bush, in
particular, is extremely reckless and arrogant.
The fact that he is facing defeat at this very
minute in Iraq hasn't stopped him from
threatening war against Iran, Venezuela, and now
Cuba.
The people of the U.S. must be ready to act to
defend Cuba. We must stand up to the Bush
administration; against all its imperialistic
adventures, but especially for Cuba, which
stands as a beacon of hope for people all over
the world who are struggling for real freedom
and real liberation. We must continue to fight
for freedom for the Cuban Five, who symbolize
Cuba's right to defend itself against U.S.
terror.
The Cuban people have shown nothing but kindness
and generosity to the people of the United
States. They have opened their medical schools
to students from the United States who want to
work as doctors in poor communities. They
offered assistance to Hurricane Katrina
survivors. In return, Bush has offered them
nothing but continued aggression. It's time for
the people of this country to stand in
solidarity with Cuba and to reject Bush's
program of endless war!
We demand an end to the blockade, freedom for
the Cuban Five, and absolutely no war against
Cuba!
U.S. Hands Off Cuba!
Free the Cuban Five!
Extradite the terrorist Luis Posada Carriles!
Venceremos! |
