CUBANEWS NOTES FROM LOS ANGELES
by Walter Lippmann, August 20, 2004
http://www.walterlippmann.com

This has been one of the most amazing weeks in my memory.
It's hard to know where to begin, with so much going on.
In these Notes I try to look beyond the individual news
events and stories in an effort to put them into a broad
and coherent overview. With so much happening, it isn't
easy of course, but we don't want to lose sight of the
forest for the trees. Comments from readers on these are
quite welcome. I'm sure I've left some things out, too!

Let's begin with nature.

Clearly, the most important story for Cuba this week is the
efforts by the island's people to overcome the damage done
by Hurricane Charley. Relief and reconstruction efforts are
proceeding as the Revolutionary Government mobilizes all of
its forces toward re-establishing the basics of life in the
areas where these have been damaged or stopped. This is the
Cuban government's highest priority. While no appeals have
come out from the Cuban authorities to the world for help
in coping with these events, groups in Miami are collecting
aid and making plans to get it to the island. Details:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/9446826.htm

A small indication of the relief efforts can be checked:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/message/29005

The Catholic Church has joined in relief efforts as well:
http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=57756

You'll recall that on Friday the 13th, the State Department
announced it was "giving" Cuba $50,000.00 for disaster aid.
No one in Cuba, to my knowledge, has commented on this bit
of bizarre and nauseating hypocrisy from a regime which has
been even further escalating US steps to starve the Cuban
people in to submission. Read Washington's own statement:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2004/35233.htm

The most important thing which readers of these messages in
the United States of America can do is to call on the White
House to lift its restrictions on travel and remittances to
Cuba which have had an even greater impact in light of the
hurricane's damage. Here's what Nelson Valdes of Cuba-L, a
magnificent list-serve on Cuba recommends:

Hurricane Charley killed 4 persons and destroyed 16,000
homes in Cuba. It also obliterated many crops in western
Cuba. The entire town of Guanimar, for example, has no
homes standing. Water supply, electricity and gas services
have been affected throughout the entire province of
Havana. Cattle, chickens and other animals did not survive
the 240 km per hour gusts of wind and the heavy rains. The
US media has reported on the $15 billion dollars of damages
created in Florida by the hurricane. It is unknown what is
the total worth of the4 damages produced in Cuba, but the
damage is as high as in Florida.

We are urging you and anyone else you can contact to ask
the President of the United States:

1. lift his prohibitions on Cuban American travel
2. lift prohibitions on remittances by Cuban Americans
3. allow that anyone in the US send humanitarian aid to families,
churches, hospitals and humanitarian institutions in Cuba.

Allowing travel and assistance by means of a general license,
even if limited to a short period of time, should permit
humanitarian contact and assistance among Cuban Americans
and their relatives in Cuba.

If you reside in the United States we are requesting that
you send an email to the President of the United States
proposing that he lifts the limitations on the traveling
to Cuba.

e-mail: president@...
fax: 202 456-2461
phone: 202-456-1111
=======================================================

PROFITEERING IN FLORIDA IN LIGHT OF HURRICANE CHARLEY

The United States government, particularly with the
advent of the Helmb-Burton, Torricelli and the latest
Bush Commission reports has determined itself to be the
judge, jury and executioner of Cuba. The United States
intends, if it could get its way, to impose US-style rule
on Cuba since it considers the "American Way of Life" to
be the model for humanity. Because of this, it's all the
more important and appropriate for us to look at what kind
of model the United States is providing for Cuba's people.

Florida, a state where Cuban exile militants play such a
prominent role in political life, provides an excellent
case-study. There we can get a preview of what Cuba could
look forward to if those exile militants could get their
hands on the island again. Jeb Bush, president George W.
Bush's brother, even appointed the grandson of Cuban
dictator Fulgencio Batista to the state supreme court,
even though he had never served as a judge in his life.

Florida, a state whose electoral debacle in 2000 put an
entirely unelected and illegitimate man into the White
House, in large part by excluding thousands of Blacks
from the election rolls, a process still going on now.

While in Cuba four people lost their lives in the days of
Hurricane Charley, over 17 have been reported killed in
Florida. The weather itself seems to have been worse in
Florida, as I read the news, but the level of disorgan-
ization seems much higher in Florida. Looting as well as
price-gouging by profiteering businesses in Florida are
becoming a national scandal now. Here's one story from
the CBS television network
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/08/10/national/main635143.shtml

FLORIDA, ELECTORAL TOURISM DESTINATION
Cuba's GRANMA INTERNATIONAL continues to follow the
ongoing saga of vote-rigging in the aftermath of the
stolen election of November 2000. Here's just a sample:

"Florida is the preferred destination for "electoral
tourism" next November 2. It is already known that the
ingredients are right for the farce of 2000 to happen
again. Michael Moore, director of Fahrenheit 9/11, has
already said that he will have his cameras in the area;
European observers have announced that they will be there
and several groups of activists have stated that they will
be omnipresent in the most controversial counties of South
Florida. There is not one analyst, political analyst or
sociologist in or outside the Union who doesn't dream of
adding themselves to the troupe.
-------------------------------------------------------
"The very same Jeb Bush who some weeks ago suddenly withdrew
a list of more than 40,000 former felons whom he wanted to
exclude, and on which only 61 Hispanics appeared (Florida
Hispanics tend to vote Republican) has just committed
another racist error. Now, following a judicial decision
against him, he has eliminated the form that would allow
those same excluded people to apply for the return of their
right to vote."
-------------------------------------------------------
In perhaps the most credible and best documented article on
the subject of the electronic voting equipment published in
The Nation and entitled How They Could Steal The Election This Time
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040816&s=dugger

Journalist and expert Ronnie Dugger writes:"The United
States therefore faces the likelihood that about three out
of 10 votes in the national election this November will be
unverifiable, unauditable and unrecountable. The private
election companies and local and state election officials,
when required to carry out recounts of elections conducted
inside the DREs, will order the computers to spit out
second printouts of the vote totals and the computers'
wholly electronic, fakable "audit trail." The companies and
most of the election officials will then tell the voters
that the second printouts are "recounts" that prove the
vote-counting was "100 percent accurate," even though a
second printout is not a recount." READ THE FULL STORY:
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2004/agosto/juev19/34elec-i.htm
=======================================================

MICHAEL MOORE on FLORIDA: "A VERY AMERICAN COUP"
In the past I've mentioned the value of a subscription to
GRANMA INTERNATIONAL's print edition. Another reason came
in today's mail. Not posted to the GRANMA INTERNATIONAL
website, but quite important, is an item covering almost
two full pages of the current issue for August 8, 2004.

Listed on the paper's front page, when you enter the
paper's center you find five of the six columns of the
two pages to be filled with an extended excerpt from the
book STUPID WHITE MEN by Michael Moore, the director of
Fahrenheit 9/11. He explains in the greatest detail how
the election theft of November 2000 was carried out,
providing facts, figures and clear and well-reasoned
explanations. Just next to that, and only occupying one
of the six columns, is a report on Ricardo Alarcon's
proposal for election observers to be sent to Florida
right away. THAT article is posted to the GI website:
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2004/julio/vier30/32elec.html

The front page of the August 8 issue is mainly filled
with one large photo of a demonstration in Miami against
the Bush administration's anti-Cuba measures. These
stories then occupy nearly three full pages of the paper.
Among the articles there, several have been posted to
the internet, but GI editor Gabriel Molina's essay
"Bush is appearing more and more like Nixon" is one of
the most important and one you should carefully read:
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2004/agosto/juev5/32bush.html

There's a separate article as well later on in the paper
headlined "Madness as a means of salvation", but that's
not about Washington's Commander-in-Chief. Rather, it's
a review of the Cuban production of Jean Giroudoux's
THE MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT, and isn't online, alas.
===============================================

SUBSCRIPTIONS TO GRANMA INTERNATIONAL IN PRINT:
$40.00 for 52 weeks
Readers outside the United States can send the money
or its equivalent to
EDICIONES CUBANAS
Apartado 6260, C.P. 10699
Cuidade de La Habana, Cuba

Readers in the United States should send payment to:
PATHFINDER PRESS
410 West Street
New York, New York 10014
=======================================================

IN VENEZUELA, A GIANT VICTORY FOR THE BOLIVARIAN PROCESS
Venezuela's recall referendum, defeated by a 59-41% margin
was certainly the best external political event for Cuba
in the world. This was the eighth time that President
Chavez has faced and defeated various electoral challenges
to the amazing Bolivarian Revolution unfolding under his
leadership. Virtually every government in Latin America,
along with the Carter Center and the Organization of
American States has recognized the clean nature of the
vote. Amazingly, even the Miami Herald editorialized
that the vote was clean. The political leadership of
the Venezuelan opposition has refused to bow before the
obvious political reality.

Washington, while forced to concede the recall's defeat,
but spoil sports as they are, congratulated the Venezuelan
"people" but not the Venezuelan government. Listen to the
State Department's news conference. Hear them squirm over
the election's outcome. Note, too, that they insisted
Venezuela conduct a "transparent audit" of the voting
outcome. That's what's needed in Florida, not Venezuela.
Listen if you would like to have your adrenaline stoked.
(Note that after the audit, Chavez' vote total went up.)
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2004/c12732.htm

Or you can read the transcript here:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2004/35296.htm

Cuba's government put out a thoughtful statement on the meaning
of the Venezuelan referendum, which you can also review here,
in a magnificent contrast to Washington's attitude on this:
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2004/agosto/mar17/34refer-i.html

The results are significant on many levels for Venezuela, but
for Cuba as well, it's a sign that Cuban diplomacy, and the
investment it has made in providing medical, educational and
other assistance to Chavez and the Venezuelan process has had
a positive impact. Think about all of those poor people who had
never had a neighborhood doctor, and now have one they can see,
and never have to pay a bill!

--------------------------------------------------------------
(And keep in mind, by the way, that the Cuban medics are in all
likelihood the only medical care which most ordinary people in
Haiti have to rely on, despite the overthrow of the government
of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Somehow the Cuban exile militants
who staff the Bush administration haven't found a way to try
to give these Cuban medics the boot. They wouldn't be likely
to find many takers among US doctors to replace the Cubans in
the event that they should compelled to leave Haiti.)
-----------------------------------------------------------

In these terribly challenging moments on the world scale, where
petroleum prices approach the incredible $50.00 a barrel level,
the defeat of the recall had a momentarily stabilizing effect
on international oil prices. This is good for Venezuela in its
ability to fund the much-needed domestic programs which have
been central to the Bolivarian project. It's also good for
Venezuela's neighbors in the region, including Cuba, who get
reduced rates for oil from the Venezuelan government.

The repercussion of this historic event, finally seem to be
accepted by the New York Times in an article today by their
correspondent in Caracas, Juan Forero, with the headline:
CHAVEZ VICTORY IS BLOW TO BUSH ADMINISTRATION:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/message/29013
=======================================================

IRAQI RESISTANCE CONTINUES AND DEEPENS
In Iraq, the resistance continues and deepens in Najaf and
other cities. As these lines are written, the situation in
Najaf remains uncertain. Washington has been bombing the
holy city all week, but has not yet thrown everything which
it has against the rebellious city. Resistance fighters hit
a building in the so-called Green Zone of Baghdad where the
US embassy staff is working. Photographs were shown of this
on the national television network news in the US last night.

Iraqi resistance fighters also hit an oil facility in Iraq,
which pushed international oil prices up to nearly $49.00
per barrel. It's obvious that the Iraqis won't be beaten
any time soon. It's unclear whether or not the US will take
the total plunge for a full-scale invasion and occupation of
Najaf. They backed away from Falloujah before, and they have
good reason to fear the consequences should they actually try
to put U.S. soldiers on the ground in the city of Najaf.

The Cuban media follows the actions of the Iraqi resistance
very closely and provides regular reports via Al-Jazeerah
as well as the writings of Robert Fisk.
=======================================================

BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS
This week I picked up three new books on Cuba, each of them
exploring a different aspect of the country and all of them
looking very well worth while.

DEENA STRYKER's WHEN THE REVOLUTION WAS YOUNG
(Beauford Publishing Group, 2004) was written when the author
was in Cuba during 1963-4 and consists of her reports on the
meetings she had with many revolutionary leaders, her visits
to different parts of the country. Lacking an index makes it
hard to look for specific subjects and people, but the book
as I've scanned through it, has a strong feeling of historic
authenticity. I particularly enjoyed her discussion of Fidel
Castro and whether or not he was a communist (lower case "c")
prior to the triumph of the revolution. Some of what she has
to report about Cuba following an earlier hurricane rings all
to familiar with what's happening on the island right now.

RICHARD GOTT'S CUBA: A NEW HISTORY
(Yale University Press, 2004) might be called a shorter and
thirty years more recent take on the broad sweep of Cuba's
historical development. Think on the conceptual scale of
Hugh Thomas's book, but much shorter and more up to date.
Gott, a regular correspondent for the London GUARDIAN has
been visiting Cuba since 1963. He is also the author of
IN THE SHADOW OF THE LIBERATOR, Hugo Chavez and the
Transformation of Venezuela (Verso, 2001) which was for
a long time the best thing we have in English on Chavez.
Now we're looking forward to the new book by Ocean Press
based on recent interviews with Chavez by Aleida March,
the daughter of Che Guevara. It asks and answers the
question, "Is Venezuela the new Cuba". Read about that:
http://www.oceanbooks.com.au/full_catalogue.php/page/2

COMANDANTE CHE: Guerrilla Soldier, Commander, and
Strategist, 1956-1967 bt Paul J. Dosal (Pennsylvania
State University Press, 2003). He had thought of doing
a full-scale biography of Che, but after four others
were published, he dropped that idea and decided to
concentrate on a look at Che more as a military and
a political figure. He's rather cautious as to giving
you a sense of his political attitude toward Che, but
the book appears very serious and well-researched and
is written in a smooth, non-academic style
====================================================

MICHAEL MOORE ATTACKED BY LEFTIST POLITICAL GROUP.
Michael Moore's movie FAHRENHEIT 9/11 is under attack
by the Socialist Workers Party, a left-wing grouping
based in the United States of which I was a member
many years ago.

According to the current issue of their viewspaper,
THE MILITANT (August 31, 2004), Moore's movie isn't
anti-war as you might have thought, but actually is
a PRO-WAR propaganda movie. Many on the political
left have criticized one or another aspect of the
movie, which wasn't, after all, the greatest movie
ever made in the history of world cinema. You'll
have to read their explanation of their perspective
for yourself, but to say FAHRENHEIT 9/11 is actually
PRO-WAR is a pretty out-there point of view. Needless
to say, I don't agree. I've written a few notes on it,
and assembled some additional references as well which
you can read about here:
http://www.walterlippmann.com/f-9-11.html


Well, more next time.


Walter Lippmann, Moderator
CubaNews list.