OMNI
CUBA NEWSLETTER #4,
January 16, 2015.
Compiled by Dick
Bennett for a CULTURE OF PEACE and Justice.
(#1 Feb. 4, 2011; #2 Oct. 21, 2012; #3
Nov. 29, 2014).
Please forward.
Blog: From War Department to Peace Department
Newsletters:
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OMNI’s many newsletters on US Imperialism.
Index:
See
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Contents of Cuba
Newsletter #3 at end
Contents of Cuba Newsletter #4
Robert Naiman,
End Embargo Petition
Common Dreams, Prupis,
US and Cuba Restore Diplomatic
Relations
Relations
Rubio Condemns
Obama’s Ignorance
Cuba Releases
Political Prisoners But without Accepting the
Allegation
US Political
Prisoners, Google Search
The Nuclear Resister Networking Anti-Nuclear and Anti-
Nuclear Political Prisoners
Dick Bennett, Political Prisoners and Trials
All Latin
America Cheering
History of US
Interventions in Latin America
VFP, It’s Only
the First Step, Calls for Additional Changes
Castro Wins
Confucious Peace Prize
Books Reviewed
in Preceding Cuba Newsletters
Contents of
Earlier Cuba Newsletters
END THE EMBARGO
ON CUBA
Just
Foreign Policy START A PETITION MANAGE PETITIONS
ABOUT
DONATE
SIGN THIS
PETITION
Congress: Help
Obama End the Embargo on Cuba
Petition by
Robert Naiman 12-17-14 http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/blog/commentary
To be delivered
to The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and
President Barack Obama
Members of
Congress should support President Obama's call to end the U.S. embargo of Cuba.
There are
currently 484 signatures. NEW goal - We need 750 signatures!
PETITION
BACKGROUND Following successful diplomacy to secure the release of U.S. citizen
Alan Gross, President Obama has called on Congress to end the U.S. embargo of
Cuba. [1]
President Obama
is right when he says that the 50-year U.S. embargo on Cuba has been a failure.
[2] The embargo hasn't improved the lives of Cubans or Cuban-Americans; the
embargo has imposed unjust hardships on Cubans and Cuban-Americans.
Unfortunately,
but not surprisingly, President Obama moves to improve U.S. relations with Cuba
and ease the embargo are already under attack by Republicans like Senator Marco
Rubio. [3] Show your support for normalizing U.S. relations with Cuba and
ending the embargo.
References:
1. “Obama Calls
on Congress to Lift Embargo,” New York Times, 12/17/14,
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2014/12/17/obama-cuba-embargo/
2. “Obama Calls
Cuba Embargo a Failure,” New York Times, 12/17/14
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2014/12/17/obama-calls-cuba-embargo-a-failure/
“Rubio Calls Obama
‘Willfully Ignorant’ on Cuba,”
New York Times, 12/17/14,
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2014/12/17/rubio-calls-obama-willfully-ignorant-on-cuba/
US and Cuba to Restore
Diplomatic Relations in Historic Overhaul Wednesday,
December 17, 2014 byCommon Dreams
By
Nadia Prupis, staff writer
The U.S. and
Cuba swapped prisoners on Wednesday. (Photo: Stewart Cutler/flickr/cc)
Update:
Following
Wednesday's momentous prisoner swap, U.S. officials said the country will
restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba for the first time in more than 50
years, including re-opening of the American embassy in Havana which has been
shuttered for nearly half a century.
In a speech on
Wednesday, President Barack Obama called the U.S. embargo against Cuba "a
failure."
"We will
end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests
and instead we will begin to normalize relations between our two
countries," Obama said. The deal, which involved trading American
contractor Alan Gross for the last remaining members of the so-called Cuban
Five, will "begin a new chapter among the nations of the America" and
move beyond a "rigid policy that’s rooted in events that took place before
most of us were born," Obama added.
A full end to
the economic blockade against Cuba would require legislation by Congress, but the administration signaled
that it would welcome that move by lawmakers. Immediate changes set to be implemented include loosening
restrictions on all travel categories, remittances, and banking and financial
transactions.
"The
dinosaurs in Miami who have kept US-Cuba relations in the Stone Age are finally
dying out," human rights activist Medea
Benjamin, who lived in Cuba for 4 years and has worked for 30 years to
normalize relations, told Common Dreams. "Obama's announcement is a
recognition that the new generation of Cubans agree with the majority of
Americans that the embargo is a relic of the Cold War that should be put to
rest. Now we just have to overcome the dinosaurs in Congress."
The deal comes
after 18 months of secret negotiations in Canada, as well as a meeting in the
Vatican, and one final 45-minute telephone call between Obama and Cuban
President Raúl Castro on Tuesday.
White House
press secretary Josh Earnest released a statement Wednesday admitting its
decades-long failure in Cuban relations. "It is clear that decades of U.S.
isolation of Cuba have failed to accomplish our enduring objective of promoting
the emergence of a democratic, prosperous, and stable Cuba," the statement
said. "We cannot keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. It does not serve America’s interests, or the
Cuban people, to try to push Cuba toward collapse."
Guardian
journalist Ewan McCaskill called the deal "a [b]reakthrough in U.S.-Cuban
relations after a wasted half-century of mindless hostility and
sanctions."
Mark Weisbrot,
co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said the change in
policy towards Cuba was prompted by a political shift in Latin America that has
seen the U.S. become increasingly isolated diplomatically in the region.
"Relations
between Latin America and the Obama administration have been the worst probably
of any U.S. administration in decades," Weisbrot said on Wednesday.
"This will help, but new sanctions against Venezuela will also raise
questions in the hemisphere about whether this is a change in direction or
merely a giving up on a strategy that has failed for more than 50 years."
"Because
of the historic transition in Latin America over the past 15 years, with left
governments elected in most of the region, basically the rules and norms were
changed for the whole hemisphere. Various Latin American governments—and not
just those on the left—have been increasingly vocal in recent years that the
status quo cannot stand, and that Cuba must be treated as an equal, and
welcomed into fora such as the Summit of the Americas," Weisbrot said.
"Washington’s Cuba policy is being pulled into the 21st Century thanks to
this regional shift."
Earlier:
The U.S. and
Cuba exchanged prisoners Wednesday morning as part of a landmark deal that paves
the way for an overhaul of American relations with the island nation and allows
U.S. contractor Alan Gross, as well as the last three members of the so-called
Cuban Five, to go home.
President
Barack Obama is expected to announce Gross' release at noon.
CNN reports:
Gross'
"humanitarian" release by Cuba was accompanied by a separate spy
swap, the officials said. Cuba also freed a U.S. intelligence source who has
been jailed in Cuba for more than 20 years, although authorities did not
identify that person for security reasons. The U.S. released three Cuban
intelligence agents convicted of espionage in 2001.
President
Barack Obama is also set to announce a broad range of diplomatic and regulatory
measures in what officials called the most sweeping change in U.S. policy
toward Cuba since the 1961 embargo was imposed.
The Cuban Five
were a group of intelligence officers who were convicted of espionage in 2001,
allegedly for collecting information on U.S. military bases and Cuban-American
leaders in exile. The three who were included in the swap are Gerardo
Hernandez, Luis Medina, and Antonio Guerrero.
Gross was
arrested by Cuban authorities in 2009 while working to bring satellite phones
and computer equipment to the island's Jewish communities. Although Gross had
traveled to Cuba as part of a U.S. Agency for International Development
program, he did not have the permits required under Cuban law to distribute
communications equipment. He was arrested under suspicion of espionage and
convicted of "acts against the independence or the territorial integrity
of the state."
CNN continues:
Wednesday's
announcement that the U.S. will move toward restoring diplomatic ties with Cuba
will also make it easier for Americans to travel to Cuba and do business with
the Cuban people by extending general licenses, officials said. While the more
liberal travel restrictions won't allow for tourism, they will permit greater
American travel to the island.
Secretary of
State John Kerry has also been instructed to review Cuba's place on the State
Sponsors of Terrorism list, potentially paving the the way a lift on certain
economic and political sanctions.
Writing at
Vox.com, Ezra Klein outlines what each nation has agreed to as part of the new
agreement:
What the US will give Cuba
Diplomatic
opening: The U.S. will take steps toward restoring diplomatic ties with Cuba,
severed since 1961.
Embassy in
Havana: This will include the goal of reopening a US embassy in Havana in the
coming months. The embassy has been closed for over half a century.
Release alleged
Cuban spies: The US will release three Cubans who were convicted of espionage
and imprisoned in the US: Gerardo Hernandez, Luis Medina, and Antonio Guerrero.
All three prisoners were members of the "Wasp Network," a group that
spied on prominent members of the Cuban-American community. CNN reports that
Hernandez, the group's leader, was also linked to the downing of two two
civilian planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a U.S.-based dissident
group.
Easing business
and travel restrictions: The U.S. will make it easier for Americans to obtain
licenses to do business in Cuba, and to travel to the island. CNN reports that
the new rules still won't permit American tourism, but will make it easier to
visit for other purposes.
Easing banking
restrictions: Americans will be able to use credit and debit cards while in
Cuba.
Higher
remittance limits: Americans will be able to send up to $2000 per year to
family members in Cuba. Cuban-American remittances are a major source of income
for many Cuban families.
Small-scale
imports of Cuban cigars and alcohol: US travelers will be able to import up to
$400 in goods from Cuba, including $100 in alcohol and tobacco products.
Review of basis
for sanctions: Secretary of State John Kerry has been ordered to review Cuba's
status as a "state sponsor of terrorism." If his review determines
that Cuba no longer deserves that status, that will be a first step towards
lifting at least some US sanctions.
What Cuba will give the US
Release Alan
Gross: US contractor Alan Gross had been imprisoned in Cuba for the last five
years on charges of attempting to undermine the Cuban government. His detention
has been a major issue for the US and the Obama administration. He has been
released and is on his way back to the United States.
Release
political prisoners: Cuba will release 53 political prisoners from a list
provided by the United States. CNN also reports that Cuba is releasing a US
intelligence source who has been imprisoned in Cuba for more than 20 years, but
it is not clear whether that individual was one of the 53 included on the list.
Increased
internet access: Cuba will allow its citizens increased access to the internet.
The US has long sought this as a means of increasing pressure within Cuba for
democratic reform.
Access by the
UN: Cuba will allow officials from the United Nations and the International
Committee of the Red Cross to return to its territory.
This work is
licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-
Related
Articles http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/12/17/us-and-cuba-restore-diplomatic-relations-historic-overhaul
For Moment, the
World Embraces the Cuba Model – and Slaps the Empire
UN States to
US: End Cuba Embargo
Christopher
Columbus Driven by Ill Winds
Kissinger
Sought to 'Crack the Cubans,' New Documents Show
More in: U.S., Cuba
“Cuba
Releases Political Prisoners, As Agreed Upon With U.S.” Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Jan. 13, 2015). For a full story go to: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/12/us-usa-cuba-prisoners-idUSKBN0KL10K20150112
[The article does not mention that Cuba does
not consider the prisoners political (just as the US denies it has political
prisoners. The agreement did not
include release of US political prisoners.
–Dick]
US
POLITICAL PRISONERS Google Search, January 16, 2015
www.thejerichomovement.com/prisoners.html
o
o
The new Aztlan is now.
We shall no longer ..... Ruchell is the longest held political
prisoners in the U.S., having been locked up since 1963.
Politicized in prison ...
afgj.org/politicalprisonersusa
Sep 11, 2013 - Mumia Abu Jamal is the
most prominent political prisoner in the US. In
1981 ... Under public pressure, he is now in somewhat
improved prison ...
www.counterpunch.org/.../americas-own-political-prisoner...
CounterPunch
Dec 16, 2013 - Glowing praise is now coming
from American politicians as disparate as Newt Gingrich and
Barack Obama. But this praise comes with the ...
https://denverabc.wordpress.com/prisoners.../political-prisoners-database/
We now have
pdfs of almost all of the posters so far (except february 2010) on our ...about
imprisoned North American Revolutionaries, Political
Prisoners and ...
4strugglemag.org/political-prisoner-profiles/
There are about 100 political
prisoners in various prisons across the United States.
These women and men are listed and recognized as political prisoners by ...
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4strugglemag,
US Political Prisoners
There are
about 100 political prisoners in various prisons across the United States.
These women and men are listed and recognized as political prisoners by
numerous human rights, legal defense and progressive/socialist organizations.
These people all come from the Civil Rights/Black Power/New African Liberation
struggles, the Puerto Rican Independence Movement, Indigenous Peoples survival
struggles, Chicano/Mexicano Movements, anti-imperialist/anti-war movements,
anti-racist/anti-fascist struggles, the Women’s Movement, social and economic
justice struggles, and especially in the past several years, from the
Environmental/Animal Rights movement. They are Black, white, Latino and Native
American. Most of these political prisoners have been in captivity since the
1970s and 80s. Some were convicted on totally fabricated charges, others for
nebulous political conspiracies or for acts of resistance. All received huge
sentences for their political beliefs or actions in support of these beliefs.
Additionally,
there are many thousands of revolutionary minded, politically conscious
prisoners in U.S. jails. These are people who became more politically aware and
active once they landed in prison. A lot of these prisoners also get singled
out for extra harsh and restrictive treatment like the political prisoners.
Since 9/11, the U.S. has also imprisoned thousands of Arab and Muslim visitors
to this country, as well as some Islamic citizens and residents.
The U.S.
government likes to deny that it holds political prisoners. The harsh punitive
conditions of confinement, often in special “control unit type” prisons, that
political prisoners face day in, day out, decade after decade, exposes and
refutes this government myth. Not only does America hold political prisoners,
but they are being held under longer sentences than any kind of prisoners,
anywhere in the world! Despite this, these women and men remain committed to
their communities, movements, and principles. As best they can, through their
voices and very lives, they continue to uphold the politics of justice,
equality and liberation, especially for the poor and working class people
throughout the world. Political prisoners in the United States want and need
your awareness and support.
The
following organizations do support work for political prisoners in the U.S.:
Jericho
Movement – www.thejerichomovement.com
P.O. Box 650
New York, NY
10009 USA
P.O. Box 650
New York, NY
10009 USA
Partisan
Defense Committee – www.partisandefense.org
P.O. Box 99 Canal Street Station
New York NY
10013 USA
P.O. Box 99 Canal Street Station
New York NY
10013 USA
ABC
Federation - www.abcf.net
P.O. Box 11223
Whittier, CA
80603 USA
P.O. Box 11223
Whittier, CA
80603 USA
Searches
related to US political prisoners today
MORE US
POLITICAL PRISONERS:
The Nuclear Resister ed. by
Jack and Felice Cohen-Joppa. nukeresister@igc.org, 520-323-8697. POB
43383, Tucson, AZ 85733. The magazine networks the
nonviolent anti-nuclear and anti-war movement, including tracing each prisoner’s
trials, imprisonments, and releases.
And see
my book, Political Prisoners and Trials:
A Worldwide Annotated Bibliography, 1900 through 1993, pp. 267-304 on the US.
By John Dickson, History News Network, posted December
22, 2014
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President
Obama’s announcement of steps to open up diplomatic relations with Cuba this
week was, as nearly every media outlet has called it, historic. A State
Department official remarked to me that it felt a little like the fall of the
Berlin wall all over again. Quite right.
The problem is
that the history commonly cited goes back no further than 54 years. That may
seem like a logical point since diplomatic
relations were broken in January 1961, in the weeks before John Kennedy was
sworn in as President. Three months prior, the U.S. had imposed a trade
embargo. Such isolation has been the cornerstone of U.S. policy to Cuba ever
since. Obama’s announcement starts a
process to restore diplomatic relations, but it will require Congress to repeal
legislation to end the embargo. With a Republican Congress, that is unlikely.
The importance
of this week’s announcement, though, extends beyond U.S.-Cuba relations, and
can be seen best from a historic vantage point further than 54 years. It is a
history that is better known on the island, and throughout the hemisphere.
That extended history places Cuba front
and center in a broader context of U.S. predominance in the hemisphere, with a
recurring number of military interventions to protect business interests and to
install friendly governments. It dates back to the early 1800s with calls in Congress to annex Cuba
and an overture from President Franklin Pierce to purchase Cuba from Spain in
1853.
Going back
further than 54 years would naturally include competing versions of the U.S.
declaration of war against Spain in 1898 to liberate Cuba. Most Americans know
only the sinking of the USS Maine and Teddy Roosevelt’s Roughriders, without
reference to relegating Cuban independence fighters to the periphery of the treaty
ending the war or to the imposition of the Platt Amendment in 1903 that
restricted Cuban independence. Drafted at the State Department, this law
included seven provisions that were to be incorporated in the new Cuban
constitution. These included clauses that prohibited foreign powers from using
the island for military purposes, reserved the right of the U.S. to intervene
to protect life, liberty and property, and established an indefinite lease of
coaling stations and a naval base at Guantanamo Bay. The provisions of the
Platt Amendment stood until 1934 when President Franklin Roosevelt signed a
Treaty of Relations with Cuba as part of his new approach to the region. That
treaty, though, left in place the arrangement to continue the lease of
Guantanamo Bay as a U.S. naval base.
It was this
history that Castro referred to in a speech on January 2, 1959 in Santiago de
Cuba, the day after overthrowing the dictator Fulgencio Batista. Castro told a
crowd of 200,000: “This time, luckily for Cuba, the Revolution will truly come
to power. It will not be like 1898, when the North Americans came and made
themselves masters of our country.”
In his early
speeches following his ascent to power, Castro continued this theme,
pronouncing repeatedly, “Cuba is not Guatemala.” He was referring to 1954 when
the U.S. actively plotted to overthrow Guatemala’s democratically elected
President, Jacobo Arbenz, who tried to institute land reform that threatened
the large holdings of the United Fruit Company. Castro might have easily said,
though, that Cuba would not be Mexico or Haiti or Nicaragua, or more than a
half dozen other nations in the hemisphere that had fallen prey to U.S.
adventurism, through military occupation and intervention.
This is the
larger history that the rest of the hemisphere remembers in the wake of the
announcement last week. For as much as the Cuba under Castro since 1959
trampled on the rights of its citizens, and used the economic embargo by the
U.S. as a distraction from the real reasons for suffering on the island, Cuba
proved it would not be Guatemala. Cuba would refuse to succumb to the pressures
from the U.S. and chart a course of independence from the U.S. that was a point
of pride throughout the hemisphere. From Canada to Chile, people saw David standing
up to Goliath, repeatedly and enduringly. As long as the U.S. continued to
pursue policies of regime change on the island, in this hemisphere and even
beyond, leaders and their peoples were willing to overlook human rights in
Cuba. They were cheering for Castro, to sustain his path of independence from
the United States.
Seen from this
broader perspective, President Obama’s announcement opening up of diplomatic
relations with Cuba is of far greater historic significance than just its
impact on bilateral relations. This step spoke to the entire hemisphere, and
beyond. By acknowledging a new relationship with Cuba, Obama was stepping back
from a broader history of foreign policy pursuits of regime change. This would
allow the U.S. the room to engage Cuba on the broad expanse of the
relationship; we will continue the cooperation on migration issues, but also
address issues of human rights and economic trade, without being accused of
seeking to overthrow its leaders.
In the rest of
the hemisphere, where U.S. interests are actually much larger than what we have
at stake on the island, the diplomatic move last week removes a long-standing
sore point. We will have additional space in each of our bilateral relations
across the region to discuss our major interests in reducing threats from
transnational criminal organizations and building new trade partnerships.
Obama’s steps also give us credibility to emphasize human rights in Cuba and,
perhaps, actually gain support for a position that used to be seen as part of
an overall plot to bring down the Castro government.
Five years ago,
rumors of Fidel Castro's death brought out celebrations in the streets of
Miami, but they were the only people in the hemisphere celebrating. Premature
eulogies for the man who had stood up to the U.S. for 50 years were appearing
across the region. Some, like Alvaro Colom, the President of Guatemala, moved
to atone for past actions, referring to the leader who replaced Jacobo Arbenz
and who supported the U.S. in its plans for the Bay of Pigs: "I want to
ask Cuba's forgiveness for having offered our country, our territory, to
prepare an invasion of Cuba.“
Last week,
Obama changed the nature of the discussion we have with not only Cuba, but with
the entire hemisphere. Making such a move now will allow for the two years left
in his term to show the results of this policy of engagement, not only in Cuba,
but throughout the region.
The Astounding Record of United
States Interventions in Latin America
By John H.
Coatsworth, History News Network, posted December 22, 2014
SOURCE: ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America
12-22-14
(accessed)
John H.
Coatsworth is Monroe Gutman Professor of Latin American Affairs. Coatsworth's
most recent book is The Cambridge
Economic History of Latin America, a two-volume reference work, edited with
Victor Bulmer-Thomas and Roberto Cortes Conde.
In the slightly less than a hundred
years from 1898 to 1994, the U.S. government has intervened successfully to change
governments in Latin America a total of at least 41 times. That amounts to once every 28 months
for an entire century (see table).
Direct intervention occurred in 17 of
the 41 cases. These
incidents involved the use of U.S. military forces, intelligence agents or
local citizens employed by U.S. government agencies. In another 24 cases, the
U.S. government played an indirect role. That is, local actors played the
principal roles, but either would not have acted or would not have succeeded
without encouragement from the U.S. government.
While direct
interventions are easily identified and copiously documented, identifying
indirect interventions requires an exercise in historical judgment. The list of
41 includes only cases where, in the author’s judgment, the incumbent
government would likely have survived in the absence of U.S. hostility. The
list ranges from obvious cases to close calls. An example of an obvious case is
the decision, made in the Oval Office in January 1963, to incite the Guatemalan
army to overthrow the (dubiously) elected government of Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes
in order to prevent an open competitive election that might have been won by
left-leaning former President Juan José Arévalo. A less obvious case is that of
the Chilean military coup against the government of President Salvador Allende
on September 11, 1973. The Allende government had plenty of domestic opponents
eager to see it deposed. It is included in this list because U.S. opposition to
a coup (rather than encouragement) would most likely have enabled Allende to
continue in office until new elections.
The 41 cases do
not include incidents in which the United States sought to depose a Latin
American government, but failed in the attempt. The most famous such case was
the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of April 1961. Also absent from the list are
numerous cases in which the U.S. government acted decisively to forestall a
coup d’etat or otherwise protect an incumbent regime from being overthrown.
Overthrowing
governments in Latin America has never been exactly routine for the United
States. However, the option to depose a sitting government has appeared on the
U.S. president’s desk with remarkable frequency over the past century. It is no
doubt still there, though the frequency with which the U.S. president has used
this option has fallen rapidly since the end of the Cold War...
READ ENTIRE
ARTICLE AT REVISTA: HARVARD REVIEW OF
LATIN AMERICA
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Veterans Group Calls Restoration of Diplomatic Ties Between U.S.
and Cuba Only a First Step
Veterans Group Calls Restoration of
Diplomatic Ties Between U.S. and Cuba Only a First Step
9 4 0 Google +1 0 0 4
Veterans For
Peace welcomes the recent policy changes between Cuba and the United
States. In addition to a prisoner exchange, the new policy will also include
easing commerce, communication, and travel restrictions. It also includes
opening diplomatic relations which were severed in 1961.
As important as these changes are, they are only a first step.
Additionally, Veterans For Peace calls for:
·
Both houses of the US Congress to lift the embargo, because an embargo is an
act of war. In this vein, VFP urges its members and others to contact their
member of Congress to repeal the Helms-Burton act.
·
The release of the approximately 70 Islamic prisoners at
the Guantanamo prison who have been cleared.
·
The transfer of the remaining Guantanamo prisoners to US
prisons and to hold speedy trials.
·
The complete pull out of all US military personnel from
the Naval facility at Guantanamo Bay which has been occupied since
1898. We call for Guantanamo Bay to revert to Cuban sovereignty as
soon as possible.
·
Finally, Veterans For Peace calls for the US to cease all
overt and covert destabilization operations inside Cuba and to remain neutral
as the transition of power occurs in 4 years when President Raul Castro's term
ends. This includes the exercise of "soft power" through
NGOs and an end to programs seeking to undermine Cuba's
government under the direction of the misnamed National Endowment for Democracy
(NED), US Agency for International Development (USAID) and other similar
organizations.
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NEWS›CHINA South China Morning Post Dec. 16, 2014
SOCIETY
Fidel Castro wins
China's 'Confucius Peace Prize'
PUBLISHED
: Thursday, 11 December, 2014, 4:56pm
UPDATED :
Friday, 12 December, 2014, 5:11am
Agence
France-Presse in Beijing
·
In winning
the Confucius Peace Prize, Fidel Castro joins such luminaries as Kofi Annan and
Yuan Longping. Photo: AP
Fidel
Castro has been awarded China's version of the Nobel Peace Prize.
The
former Cuban leader beat more than 20 nominees including South Korean President
Park Geun-Hye, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and the Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation, a regional group led by Moscow and Beijing, to win this year's
Confucius Peace Prize, the mainland's state-run Global Times reported.
The
Cuban revolutionary was selected by nine judges out of a group of 16 experts
and scholars.
"While
in office, Castro didn't resort to violence or force to settle disputes in
international relations, especially with the United States," the Global
Timeswrote.
"After
his retirement, he has been actively meeting with leaders and groups from all
over the world and has made important contributions to emphasising the need to
eliminate nuclear war," it added.
The
Confucius prize was first given out in 2010, when it was awarded to Taiwan's Lien
Chan. However, the suddenness of the announcement and the timing - just two
days before jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize, much to Beijing's anger - sparked claims it had been set up under the
government's guidance.
A
Cuban exchange student received this year's award on Castro's behalf at a
ceremony on Tuesday, one day before Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi
accepted their joint Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo.
Since
leaving office in 2006 during a nearly fatal health crisis, Castro, 88, has
spent his free time writing books and articles for the official press in Cuba,
which now is led by his younger brother Raul.
The
Foreign Ministry yesterday denied any government connection to the Confucius
Peace Prize. The award was "organised by a civil organisation in China,
which showcases their aspirations for world peace", spokesman Hong Lei
said.
In
2011 the ministry ordered organisers to scrap the Confucius prize, but
academics pressed ahead and awarded it to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Former
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Chinese agricultural scientist Yuan
Longping shared the award in 2012. Yi Cheng, a Zen master who is the honorary
head of the Buddhist Association of China, was awarded it last year.
This
article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Castro wins
'China's Nobel Peace Prize'
BOOKS REVIEWED IN THE PREVIOUS CUBA NEWSLETTERS
#3
Salim Lamrani, Cuba, the Media, and the Challenge of
Impartiality and The Economic War Against Cuba: A Historical and Legal Perspective on the
U.S. Blockade
Leogrande and Kornbluh, Back Channel to Cuba:
The
Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana.
Steve
Brouwer, Revolutionary Doctors: How Venezuela and Cuba Are Changing the
World’s Conception of Health Care
#2
Keith Bolender. Voices
From the Other Side: An Oral History of
Terrorism Against Cuba
Lamrani, Cuba,
the Media, and the Challenge of Impartiality
#1
Paolo Spadoni, Failed Sanctions: Why the U. S. Embargo
against Cuba Could Never Work
Jon Elliston, Psy War on Cuba: The Declassified History
of US Anti-Castro Propaganda
James
Bamford, Body of Secrets
These last 2
books were briefly discussed and a full review cited.
Contents of Cuba Newsletter #3
US Terrorism Against Cuba (see
newsletters 1 and 2)
US Terrorist
Saboteurs Arrested in Cuba
William Blum,
US Attempts to Destroy Cuban Government
Lamrani, US
Economic War/Blockade Against Cuba
LeoGrande,
Covert Intervention, Regime Change
US Corporate Media vs. Cuba
Google Search
Lamrani, Cuba, the Media, and the Challenge of
Impartiality
Blum, US Empire
and Its Media
Ending US Persecution of Cuba
LeoGrande and
Kornbluh, Efforts Toward Reconciliation
Free the Cuban
5
The Nation’s Exchange Programs with Cuba
Tom Hayden on
Cuba, Forthcoming Book
Full Truth
About Cuba: Cuba Leads World in International
Medicine
Medicine
END CUBA NEWSLETTER #4
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