Monday, May 25, 2015

United States Cuba Relations: Guest Posting/Commentary - Should Embassies Have "Training Courses" - La Alborada



Editor: We republish with full credit to La Alborada, www.cubamer.org, its Op-Ed entitled "Should Embassies Have "Training" Courses" and ask the following:

1) Why do we have official "training" courses to begin with at our embassies in foreign countries?

2) Wouldn't journalism courses be more appropriately conducted at private universities and monies spent on "training" courses be better spent instead on actual scholarships for students to visit and attend our colleges?

3)Would we tolerate such "training" courses by foreign countries here in their embassies in the U.S?  Why is it acceptable then for us to do it in other foreign countries?

4) One of the stumbling blocks to normalization is what activities the U.S. embassy in Havana would conduct with Cuban civil society.  Similarly the Cuban embassy in Washington DC would conduct parallel activities with American society.  What is appropriate then and what is not?  That is what should be flushed out in black and white, in straightforward English and Spanish and put into writing, and respected by the parties.

5) Would the monies being spent on so called "Democracy" programs be better spent instead in the creation of a United States Cuba Bank for Reconstruction and Reconciliation to promote American and Cuban investment and compensation for all parties affected by the U.S. Trade Embargo?
Should embassies sponsor “training courses”?
La Alborada – May 25

Imagine that Cuba finds a big deposit of commercial-quality oil, so big that it can cover domestic needs and even derive income from exports. Maybe it's enough to fund a series of training programs operating from the new embassy in Washington and dedicated to the self-improvement of young people in the U.S.

The programs would cover four major areas, as follows.

One of the programs would focus on human rights (condition of Indian reservations, treatment of black people by police, jails, massive domestic spying, unaffordable education and health care, homelessness, and so on).

Another would discuss democracy versus oligarchy and plutocracy, covering aspects such as elections that are decided by the amounts of money involved, gerrymandering, rules meant to prevent voting, and the determination of interest groups including some from abroad. Also, special seminars would cover the Deep, or Phantom, State, including the national-security complex, the military-industrial complex, and high-level banks.

A third would address the role of journalists and how to create news media that are independent of the government control exercised through intermediaries like the corporate boards of directors, managing editors, and lower-level editors – even the advertisers. That would include how to use news and social media to impact on national and world opinions.

The fourth would prepare the participants for leadership, meaning how to organize against government levels according to particular demographic areas or social groups, with an eye to eventually bringing all of these together to face off against the national government at the right moment -- maybe even to bring it down.

This training would be accompanied by a few benefits. In order to motivate participation in the courses, those chosen would be granted stipends. In addition, Cuba would invite selected students to travel to the island for periods of total immersion at advanced levels, taught by very experienced personnel. Of course, that would not preclude some R&R at the beaches or Havana nightclubs.

The US would probably object to an educational series of this sort, and properly so. Embassies are for diplomacy, not for intervention in the internal affairs of other countries. Cuba could say, in the new spirit of reciprocity, "but you do things very much like this; why shouldn't we?"


It's a simple question. The answer would not be as simple.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Mayo 29-30, 2015: Fin de semana para Cuba


Canadian-Cuban Friendship Association Toronto

      PO Box 99051 – 1245 Dupont St     Toronto, Ontario    M6H 2A0     Tel: 416-410-8254   Fax: 905-951-8499
 Established 1977   CCFA Toronto      Email:  ccfatoronto@sympatico.ca   Website:   www.ccfatoronto.ca                                                       
                                                                                            Member of  www.CanadianNetworkonCuba.ca   (CNC)



Weekend on Cuba 2015


Friday, May 29   7:30 pm  
Five Decades of People to People Foreign Relations

Join author Nino Pagliccia and several of the contributors at the Toronto book launch of this collection of essays and stories about Canada’s solidarity movement in support of Cuba.

OISE Peace Lounge (7th floor),  252 Bloor Street (St. George Subway)



Saturday, May 30 (9am-5pm) & Sunday, May 31   (10am – 4:30pm)
Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC) 7th Conference

This national conference brings delegates from around the country for a weekend of information, panels and planning for the Canadian Network on Cuba. Topics include: 70 Years of Diplomatic Relations, Cuba Today and Tomorrow. Limited public observation space.

Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, Committee Room 2


Saturday, May 30  7:30pm
Fernando Gonzalez

Meet Cuban 5 Hero and Vice-President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples Fernando Gonzalez on his first visit to Canada. Fernando will be Joined by Dr. Jose Portilla Garcia of Cuba’s international medical missions to talk about Cuba’s Struggle for a better world.

Steelworker’s Hall, 25 Cecil Street

www.canadiannetworkoncuba.ca       www.ccfatoronto.ca      416.410.8254


All events are free

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Celebrado en Sherbrooke, Quebec, VIII Encuentro Nacional de Cubanos Residentes en Canadá

Esta era la señal que identificaba el lugar del VIII Encuentro

Sherbrooke, a unos 170 kms al este de Montreal, es una apacible ciudad donde se respira la tranquilidad provincial. Allí hay una numerosa comunidad de cubanos con sus raíces culturales y su identidad muy vivas. Hasta esta localidad viajamos los cubanos desde otras latitudes de Canadá para celebrar nuestro VIII Encuentro. Vivimos un fin de semana de hermandad y unidad.

El encuentro que reunió a representaciones de asociaciones de cubanos en otras ciudades canadienses, fue presidido por el Cónsul General de Cuba en Montreal, Alain González; el Embajador de Cuba en Canadá, Julio Garmendía y Ariadna Fuentes, la organizadora y alma de esta comunidad en Sherbrooke.


Ariadna, el Embajador y el Cónsul General en Montreal

Cada asociación hizo un balance del trabajo realizado desde el encuentro del 2014 y más tarde funcionarios de la embajada, incluido el embajador, actualizaron a los participantes sobre las nuevas leyes de inversión, la necesidad de defender a la patria desde las redes sociales y las relaciones entre Cuba y Canadá, que este año llegaron a sus 70 años ininterrumpidos.


El Embajador Julio Garmendía habla del estado actual de las relaciones Cuba-Canadá

Finalmente se aprobó la Declaración Final y se fijó el próximo IX Encuentro para la ciudad de Toronto.

Luego en horas de la tarde todos los delegados al encuentro junto a los cubanos de Sherbrooke fuimos a Coaticook, donde había un juego de pelota de los Capitales de Quebec. En este equipo juegan cuatro peloteros estelares de Cuba: Yordan Manduley, Yunieski Gurriel, Ismel Jiménez y Alexei Bell. Allí hubo un momento de gran emoción cuando el embajador les obsequió bates fabricados por Bill Ryan, mientras todos aprovechaban para hacerse fotos con los atletas.



Declaración

VIII Encuentro de Cubanos Residentes en Canadá
Sherbrooke, Quebec, 16 de mayo de 2015



Los cubanos reunidos en el VIII Encuentro Nacional de Cubanos Residentes en Canadá, en representación de las asociaciones de cubanos asistentes al encuentro, y el resto de nuestros compatriotas declaramos:

·    Defender la soberanía e independencia de Cuba ante cualquier amenaza.

·    Saludar los procesos de restablecimiento de relaciones diplomáticas, y normalización de las relaciones entre nuestra Patria y los Estados Unidos de América, anunciado por los Presidentes de ambos países, el pasado 17 de diciembre de 2015.

·    Expresar nuestro regocijo de saber la presencia en la Patria de los Cinco Héroes junto a su familia y pueblo.

·    Exigir el cese del bloqueo económico, financiero y comercial impuesto por el Gobierno de los Estados Unidos a nuestro país, el que constituye el principal obstáculo al desarrollo del país.

·   Saludar la decisión del Presidente Obama de excluir a Cuba de la lista de países patrocinadores del terrorismo, en la que nunca debimos estar incluidos.

·    Solicitar la devolución inmediata de la Base Naval de Guantánamo, territorio soberano que ocupa el Gobierno de los Estados Unidos desde 1903.

·   Defender la verdad de Cuba ante las campañas mediáticas anticubanas que desde los medios de comunicación y las redes sociales se realizan.

·   Reafirmar nuestra voluntad de apoyar y participar en el desarrollo económico de nuestro país, de acuerdo a la actualización del modelo económico cubano.

Viva Cuba Libre
16 de mayo de 2015
















Fotos: David Mateo