TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
Bahamas Blog International
Bahamas Blog International
« previous 5


USAID Reveals Its Plans For Subversion In Cuba
Related to country: Cuba

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Mercenary NGOs meet in Washington

• José "Pepe" Cárdenas and officials in charge of attacking Cuba have brazenly revealed in Washington how they are to squander the $45 million assigned to subversion in Cuba via "experienced" institutions, preferably European and Latin American ones

BY JEAN-GUY ALLARD—Granma International staff writer—



• IN its new plans for destabilizing Cuba, the USAID is to promote the clandestine dispatch of electronic materials to the island via European and Latin American intermediaries, which will undertake the dirty work that it cannot legally do: to send agents into the country under cover of so-called humanitarian licenses in order to make on-the-ground evaluations, and to guarantee their collaborators that their activities will never be divulged, over and above the Freedom of Information Act.

Forced by the General Accountability Office to fabricate a certain image of decency in the distribution of taxpayers’ money that it has squandered to date without the least accountability, the USAID (the so-called Agency for International Development), called an assembly at its Washington headquarters on May 14 to discuss the distribution of the $45 million assigned by the Bush administration to provoke a rupture in the Cuban revolutionary process.

For three hours, from 9:00 a.m. to midday, behind closed doors and in a conspiratorial atmosphere in line with the operations planned, José "Pepe" Cárdenas, USAID chief for Latin America, and a former Cuban-American National Foundation (CANF) director, headed a clique of federal official "specialists" on Cuba:

• His right-hand woman for the island, Elaine Grigsby, director of the Cuba Program;

• Amadjan Abani, from the USAID Aid and Acquisitions Office;

• Anthony Christino III, from the Department of Commerce Industry and Security Office;

• Clara Davis of the OFAC (the State Department Agency that monitors and punishes exchanges with Cuba).

Outstanding among the organizations present, some already notorious and others less well-known, but likewise dedicated to appropriating millions from the State Department, and whose representatives peopled the room, bent on getting a slice of the cake, were:

The pseudo Czech NGO People in Need; Global Partners, IBMC, Loyola University, the Center for Democracy in the Americas, Jackson State University, the Mississippi Consortium for International Development, the International Resources Group, the Panamerican Development Foundation, Partners of America, the Alliance for Family, the Trade Council of Hungary and the millionaire TV Martí.

No diplomat – not even the Czech agent Kolar – was present.

In what is equivalent to confessing authentic espionage operations against Cuba and in Cuban territory, "Pepe" Cárdenas, the former CANF director who replaced the supremely corrupt Adolfo Franco, insisted on the need to identify NGOS in third countries that can channel USAID’s resources for subversion.

He stressed the need to dispatch to Cuba, via such intermediaries, "propaganda pamphlets, cell phones and modern communications equipment," as well as "to train Cubans resident in third countries."

Highlighting the philosophy behind the significant expansion of the USAID’s Cuba Program, Cárdenas announced that its budget of $13 million in 2007, "shot up" to $45 million in 2008.

He then moved on to the new geography of this monumental squandering, noting Chile, Peru, Argentina, Colombia and Puerto Rico as countries most inclined to develop this clandestine operation.

However, Grigsby, supposedly his most faithful collaborator, commented that, in her experience, it would be difficult to find partners in Latin America.

As a good instructor of what clearly constitutes an intelligence operation, Cárdenas spoke of the convenience of using East European countries that have had recent transition experiences.

However, he did not go into details as to the degree of collaboration or complicity that U.S. intelligence clearly enjoys with government officials from the countries that he mentioned.

Replying to one question, Cárdenas forgot that he had already recommended "institutions experienced in carrying out this type of program," such as the NED, the NDI, the IRI, Florida International University, Freedom House, and his CIA agent Jaime Suchlicki…

And, of course, his buddy Frank "Paquito" Calzón’s Center for a Free Cuba.

"SECRET" OPERATIONS: ACCESS TO BE DENIED

With a language corresponding to an espionage operation, the former CANF director confessed that it is difficult to introduce materials into Cuba and thus implied that the work "had to be done in a clandestine manner."

Grigsby compounded the top secret nature of the designated tasks by stating that if applications for the declassification of documents should be made via the FOIA, USAID would only issue a "general summary" and would keep secret details of each NGO’s program, given that these concern "secret materials."

Clear as water.

In this same collective confession, Anthony Christino III spoke of the need to send computers and software to Cuba, for which his services would issue licenses.

For her part, Clara Davis, the pearl of the OFAC, proposed travel licenses, making it clear that so-called humanitarian licenses are to be utilized for infiltrating agents under the cover of projects linked to public health, the environment and "specific" initiatives.

She also referred, openly and crudely, to the "interest" in promoting travel to Cuba in order to undertake "on-the-ground evaluations" utilizing general licenses.

Davis noted that the largest entry of money into Cuba is done via the Churches, an intentional reference whose aim was to damage the excellent relations existing between the Churches and Cuban state.

ELECTIONS WILL DETERMINE THE FUTURE

In another confession in this lengthy succession of confidences, Grigsby pointed out that a further expansion of the subversive budget would depend on the November elections.

According to observers on the ground there is no doubt that the victims of this new turn in funding subversion in Cuba will duly adjust their accounts to the administration.

The organization that has handled the squandering of federal funds on fraudulent operations evidently called its meeting in order to be seen to be falling into line in the wake of the GAO reprimand.

Nevertheless, significantly enough, the USAID publicized the day and time of its assembly, but omitted to say where it was, so that those interested had to call and ask. The strategy worked. Very few new faces appeared for this sharing out of an already divided cake.

In its report, the GAO disclosed how USAID top officials managed to conceal the whereabouts of $65.4 million handed out over 10 years to friends in Miami and Washington.

José Cárdenas was a senior CANF director from 1986. He was successively director of "research and publications," spokesman for the organization, and chief lobbyist when the Mafia organization had a luxury "embassy" in Washington.

He is, of course, close friends of Ileana Ros Lehtinen and her two accomplices the Díaz-Balart brothers.

The CANF, created by the CIA under Ronald Reagan, spent a fortune funding the operations of international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, a fact that Cárdenas obviously knows.

He is equally aware of the already strident lamentations of the Miami capos, left in a somewhat precarious situation by the reorientation of USAID’s methods to the benefit of its traditional European correspondents. •

May 30, 2008 | 10:03 AM Comments  {num} comments

Tags:


HIV/AIDS In The Workplace
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Highlight On AIDS In The Workplace:
By Tameka Lundy -
Nassau, Bahamas:



As the International Labour Organization [ILO] commends the Caribbean region for new programmes to root out workplace discrimination against HIV/AIDS infected persons, in The Bahamas trade union activists say they continue to try to educate employers and employees about how to deal with the situation.

However, a few of them admitted that there are no comprehensive, detailed policies, although it was something that they are working towards.

Recently, the ILO said new programmes designed to step up action against HIV/AIDS in the workplace are becoming increasingly common in the Caribbean.

It referred to five Caribbean states in particular: Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago for working with the ILO’s SHARE (Strategic HIV/AIDS Responses in Enterprises) project to put into place policies and programmes to address discrimination and behaviour change in and through the workplace.

According to the ILO’s report "Saving lives, protecting jobs," ministries of labour, as well as employers and workers and their organizations from the region, play leading roles in initiating action on HIV/AIDS in the workplace.

In The Bahamas, there appeared to have been less progress.

"At this point I am not aware of any policy that is in place, but I know that we are working on policies," said Stephanie Braynen, trustee with the National Congress of Trade Unions, one of two umbrella unions in the country.

Ms. Braynen is also on the union’s HIV/AIDS policy committee.

UNAIDS, in its 2007 report, stated that HIV prevalence reached or surpassed 1 percent in The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Most countries in the Caribbean region, it reported, showed declines or stabilization of HIV prevalence, primarily in urban areas, whereas changes in semi-urban and rural areas have been slight.

In The Bahamas, young persons ages 15 – 19 are the fastest growing group of persons contracting HIV, according to local statistics. Within that age group, females outnumber males 2:1 and with new HIV infections, the ratio is 3:1. For persons between the ages of 15-29, AIDS has become the leading cause of death.

"We are doing a whole lot of training [about HIV/AIDS]," said Ms. Braynen of the efforts of the NCTU.

"We are trying to educate the employers and employees about HIV and how it is actually transmitted, so that there would be no discrimination or stigma towards HIV positive people in the workplace."

The ILO has highlighted the progress made in the implementation of HIV workplace policies and programmes at the enterprise and national levels in the 24 countries.

In Barbados, several large corporations have pledged US$ 150,000 in-cash and in-kind to the AIDS Foundation for the next three years to build the capacity of the country’s business coalition responsible for coordinating the private sector response to HIV/AIDS in the country and to support companies in HIV workplace initiatives.

For Belize, the ILO highlighted that the Ministry of Labour, Local Government and Rural Development is now playing a leading role in coordinating the workplace response as a result of the SHARE project. Working hand in hand with national partners, the project paved the way for the development of a national tripartite workplace policy on HIV and helped formulate the workplace components of the Belize National Policy on HIV/AIDS.

A key output of the project in Jamaica has been the successful transition from donor-funded activities to a national programme. The Ministry of Labour and social Security has developed a Voluntary HIV/OSH Workplace Compliance Programme managed by the Occupational Safety and Health Department that has scaled up the work of the ILO SHARE project.

Over 25 enterprises have signed up since the launch of the national programme in November 2007. In addition, the National Association of Hairdressers and Cosmetologists (NAHC) has sensitized 90 per cent of its 500 members to share information on HIV and AIDS and support behaviour change with clients and staff through peer education.

In addition, the report found a marked improvement in six pilot countries – Belize, Benin, Cambodia, Ghana, Guyana and Togo – over the last four years in attitudes of workers towards people living with HIV/AIDS.

The proportion of workers who reported supportive behaviour towards co-workers living with HIV rose from 49 per cent to 63 per cent on average during the life of the SHARE programme, according to the ILO.

In addition, the percentage of workers who reported using condoms with non-regular partners rose from 74 per cent to 84 per cent. In Belize, the proportion of workers who reported a positive attitude towards condom use increased from 52.7 per cent to 72 per cent.

John Pinder, president of the NCTU and head of the Bahamas Public Services Union, one of the largest trade unions in the country that represents government workers, acknowledged ILO programmes that have been crafted to deal with the rights of HIV infected persons.

"A number of our industrial agreements speak to the fact that there should be no discrimination against persons who are HIV positive," he said.

"The education process is an ongoing one to ensure that persons working in the workplace know the way in which HIV can be contracted …so we continuously educate workers on the fact that there is no need to discriminate against a person who is HIV positive."

HIV is having a devastating effect on the world of work. With 33.2 million people worldwide now living with the virus, the impact of the epidemic is being felt at all levels.

The majority of those infected are still working and in their most productive years, with skills and experience their families, workplace and country can ill afford to lose, according to the ILO.

But many are forced out of employment because of stigma and discrimination, or their working lives are cut short through lack of information about prevention, care and support.

May 26, 2008

May 29, 2008 | 7:55 AM Comments  {num} comments



British Government Warns British Nationals About Bahamian Water Sports
Related to country: United Kingdom

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

British Gov’t Warns About Bahamian Water Sports:
By QUINCY PARKER -
Nassau, Bahamas:



A top government official is issuing assurances in the face of a warning by an arm of the British government about the Bahamian water sports industry – that warning goes so far as to advise British nationals new to water sports not to rent water sports equipment.

A top government official is issuing assurances in the face of a warning by an arm of the British government about the Bahamian water sports industry – that warning goes so far as to advise British nationals new to water sports not to rent water sports equipment.

The Ministry of Tourism estimated that around 499,000 British nationals visited The Bahamas in 2006.

While the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said that most visits to The Bahamas are trouble-free, the body has warned British nationals travelling to The Bahamas about the water sports industry, which it says is "poorly regulated."

The FCO is the arm of the British government responsible for supporting British nationals overseas, whether they are travelling as tourists, or promoting British business interests.

Citing a number of accidents, including fatalities, the FCO advises travellers not to rent jet-skis unless you are an experienced jet-ski user.

Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette, who has Cabinet responsibility for Foreign Affairs, noted that the government is always concerned about what he termed "adverse press anywhere in the world."

Mr. Symonette linked the warnings to the 2002 death of two-year-old Paul Gallagher, who was struck in the head by a runaway speedboat while he was asleep on a Paradise Island beach when his family was on vacation at the Atlantis Resort. The British toddler later died.

"I’m confident that the courts here did what they had to do – the Coroners Court and the Supreme Court – in terms of the investigation of this matter," the deputy prime minister said. "It appears that maybe the Gallaghers are not happy with the results, and they have raised this a level.

"Yes there needs to be more policing of our regulations in regards to water sports, but I think you’ll find there was an amendment to water sports legislation which requires jet-ski operators to have licences, insurance and so on and so forth."

However, the FCO warned travellers that the legislation wasn’t enough.

"Despite new legislation in 2006, the water sports industry in The Bahamas is poorly regulated. Every year people are killed or seriously injured by the improper use of jet skis or other watercraft or by the careless or reckless operation of such equipment by others," the FCO said on its website.

"In view of a number of accidents, we advise you not to rent jet-skis or other water sports equipment unless you are an experienced user."

Still, Mr. Symonette was confident that the Bahamian water sports industry remains safe.

"Whilst I am concerned about any adverse publicity, we also have to look at the fact of the number of people on our waters every single day, and compare that with the relatively few accidents that have happened, and I think maybe that will tell the story," he said. "We’ve been very fortunate and the waters here are fairly safe."

The FCO said that if British tourists choose to rent any type of water sports equipment, they should first consider the dangers involved and satisfy themselves that adequate safety precautions are in place.

"Once satisfied about this, rent only from reputable operators and insist on sufficient training before use. Also ensure that the operator is licensed and has adequate insurance cover," the FCO said.

May 27, 2008

May 27, 2008 | 11:06 PM Comments  {num} comments



Martí’s Immortal Ideas
Related to country: Bahamas

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Reflections of Fidel:



JUST a few days ago, a friend of mine sent me the text of a report from Gallup, the well-known U.S. opinion pollster. I started to leaf through the material with the natural lack of confidence given the lying and hypocritical information usually used against our nation.

It was a survey on education in which Cuba was included, although it is usually ignored. It analyzed the situation in four regions of the world: Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America. A number of Caribbean nations were included in some aspects.

First question: Are children in your country treated with dignity and respect? Positive answer: Asia 73%, Europe 67%, Africa 60% and Latin America 41%. If the Caribbean countries are included, Gallup states that in Haiti, only 13% of those surveyed responded affirmatively to that question.

Second question: Do children in your country have the opportunity to learn and grow every day? In Asia 75% answered yes; in Europe, 74%; in Africa, 60%; in Latin America, 56%. Many of the countries of this region were under 50%.

Third question: Is this country’s education accessible to anyone who wishes to study independently of his or her economic situation? The answers reveal a painful situation in many Latin American nations and better answers from the English-speaking Caribbean.

I do not wish to offend any of the countries that I mention, but it would be meaningless to write these lines without noting the place occupied by Cuba – so many times slandered – in the survey. It was in first place among all the countries in the world. . Of those surveyed by Gallup, 93% answered yes to the first question; 96% to the second; and 98% to the third. As it is known, Cubans have the habit of answering any question with complete frankness.

Another particularly salient fact is that in Venezuela, 70% and 80% answered positively to the first and second question, respectively. This is a country that is developing a large-scale education program, eradicating illiteracy and promoting study at all levels, a process that began only a few years ago. On account of that, Venezuela occupied second place in the region.

The response to the third question was a yes from 82%, placing it third in Latin America and the Caribbean, exceeded by Trinidad and Tobago, in second place with 86%.

In important Latin American countries such as Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and Chile, 57%, 56%, 52% and 43%, respectively, answered yes to the question. Those that came out with the best results were the Dominican Republic, Panama, Uruguay, Belize and Bolivia, with 76%, 73%, 70%, 60% and 65%. Paraguay and Haiti are in the lowest places, with 17%.

Cuba is cooperating free of charge with these two countries and many other sister nations in the hemisphere, both in education and health, and giving special emphasis to the training of medical personnel. Thus Cuba is modestly fulfilling its duty as expressed by Martí: "Homeland is humanity!" as our national hero affirmed.

May 19th was the 113th anniversary of his death, which took place in Dos Ríos in 1895. As everybody knows, the U.S. military intervention frustrated the independence of our homeland. Innumerable patriots had died in the struggle that lasted nearly 30 years.

The great power to the north was always hostile to our struggle, given that for a long time it had assigned it the manifest destiny of forming part of its territory, at that time in full expansion.

The moment had arrived, the decadence of the Spanish empire, where the sun never set, gave the new imperial power the opportunity to snatch Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam. It sought pretexts, it utilized deception and lies, recognizing that in fact and in law the Cuban people were free and independent, as a means of seeking the support of its valiant combatants to support the war of the interventionists.

In that final struggle the Spaniards displayed the habitual bravery of their soldiers and the stupidity of their government. The Cevera squadron was annihilated ship by ship at the exit of Santiago de Cuba Bay by the U.S. battleships, as we have explained on other occasions, almost without being able to fire off a single cannon round. The great fraud came afterwards when, with the people already disarmed, the United States imposed the Platt Amendment and leonine economic agreements on Cuba; the country, laid waste and bleeding, moved inexorably toward becoming the property of the United States.

That is the real history.

What has been happening recently? It (the United States) is being driven crazy by the unyielding resistance of our people and their modest advance toward a more just world, despite the disappearance of the Socialist camp and the USSR.

Radio Martí, TV Martí and other sophisticated forms of media aggression with which it is trying to humiliate the Cuban people and destroy their resistance, are insults to the name of the national independence hero.

A deluge of speeches and lies are being lined up against Cuba. McCain, Bush’s candidate to the presidency of the empire, is speaking; Bush himself is speaking. Against whom? Against Martí. In the name of whom? Of Martí.

They are referring to atrocious acts of torture, something that has never happened in our country, and even the least informed of Cubans knows that. And who are the ones talking of torture? McCain, the candidate, and George W. Bush, the President.

What is the candidate saying?

"I would like to thank my two dear friends in Congress, Lincoln and Mario Díaz-Balart, who are great defenders of the people of Cuba. They are men of honor and integrity. I respect and admire them very much. They are the best members of Congress who I have worked with and whom I have known…"

"My friends, today on Cuban Independence Day we have the opportunity to celebrate the cultural legacy and the deepest roots of the Cuban people…"

"The independence fighters who won Cuba’s independence more than 100 years ago could not have imagined that their descendants would be in a struggle for freedom and democracy one century later…"

"One day Cuba will be an important ally for securing democracy in our hemisphere…"

"The dictatorship will not continue until the end of time and, as President, I will not passively await the day when the Cuban people enjoy the blessings of freedom and democracy. I will not wait…"

"My administration will force the Cuban regime to unconditionally free all the political prisoners and to plan elections under international supervision…"

"The embargo must be maintained until those crucial elements of democracy and social democracy emerge."

"Venezuela and Bolivia have to be prevented from following Cuba’s example."

In his book The Faith of My Fathers, McCain confessed that he was one of the five bottom students in his cohort at West Point. He is demonstrating that. At the end of his time in prison he was weak, and he acknowledges that as well. He launched innumerable bombs on the Vietnamese people. How many lives and how much money did that adventure cost? At that time gold was worth $35 and they squandered $500 billion in that war. The consequences are still being paid. A Troy ounce is now worth $1,000 and once again hundreds of billions are being squandered in wars. New and complex problems are compounding that.

Where are the solutions?

What did President George W. Bush say?

"One hundred and 13 years ago this week, Cuba lost its great poet and patriot, José Martí. And 106 years ago this week, Cuba achieved the independence for which Martí gave his life… Martí's warning proved truer than anyone could have imagined…"

"…the regime has not attempted even cosmetic changes. For example, political dissidents continue to be harassed, detained, and beaten…"

"The world is watching the Cuban regime. If it follows its recent public gestures by opening up access to information…, respecting political freedom and human rights, then it can credibly say it has delivered the beginnings of change... America refuses to be deceived, and so do the Cuban people. While the regime embarrasses and isolates itself, the Cuban people will continue to act with dignity and honor and courage…"

"This is the first Day of Solidarity with the Cuban People -- and the United States must keep observing such days until Cuba's freedom."

"We'll continue to support the Cubans who work to make their nation democratic and prosperous and just."

"…the United States has dramatically stepped up our efforts to promote freedom and democracy in Cuba. This includes our increased efforts to get uncensored information to the Cuban people, primarily through Radio and TV Marti."

"Today, I also repeat my offer to license U.S. NGOs and faith-based groups to provide computers and Internet to the Cuban people…"

"Through these measures, the United States is reaching out to the Cuban people. Yet we know that life will not fundamentally change for Cubans until their form of government changes. For those who've suffered for decades, such change may seem impossible. But the truth is, it is inevitable…"

"The day will come when all political prisoners are offered unconditional release. And these developments will bring another great day -- the day when Cubans choose their own leaders by voting in free and fair elections…"

"Today, 113 years after José Martí left us, a new poet-patriot expresses the hopes of the Cuban people… Willy (Chirino) will perform a song that is on the Cuban people's lips and in their hearts. And here are some of its lyrics: Nuestro día ya viene llegando.

As for the siege of hunger and blockade that has lasted for decades, not a word.

Martí was a profound thinker and upright anti-imperialist. In his epoch, nobody like him understood with so much precision the terrible consequences of the monetary agreements that the United States was trying to impose on the Latin American countries, the blueprint of those of free trade, which they have resurrected today, in conditions that are more unequal than ever.

"Whoever says economic union, says political union. The people that buys, commands. The people that sells, serves. Trade has to be balanced in order to ensure freedom… The people that wishes to be free, must be free in business." Those are the principles proclaimed by Martí.

In that period, payments were in silver or gold. Today they are made with paper.

In an unfinished letter to his friend Manuel Mercado written the day before his death, he noted:

"…I am in daily danger of giving my life for my country and duty, for I understand that duty and have the courage to carry it out – the duty of preventing the United States from spreading through the Antilles as Cuba gains its independence, and from overpowering with that additional strength our lands of America. All I have done so far, and all I will do, is for this purpose. I have had to work quietly and somewhat indirectly, because to achieve certain objectives, they must be kept under cover; to proclaim them for what they are would raise such difficulties that the objectives could not be realized."

It does not matter how many times these intimate and revealing words, so marvelously expressed, are repeated.

With those immortal phrases in his mind, a few hours later, he launched himself on his own account into the attack on the Spanish column. Nobody could have held him back. Riding in the front line, he received three fatal bullets in his impetuous advance.

On July 26, 2004, when Bush had already spent nearly three years bombarding, torturing and killing in his absurd anti-terrorist war, with the invasion of Iraq already underway, I analyzed his strange personality based on a study of the interesting book Bush on the Couch, by Dr. Justin A. Frank, which contains one of the most revealing and fundamental studies of the personality of George W. Bush:

"Conspiracy is a common phenomenon among consumers of alcohol, as is the perseverance evident in Bush’s tendency to repeat key words and phrases, as if the repetition helps him to stay calm and maintain his attention."

"…If, moreover, we assume that George W. Bush’s days of alcoholism have been left behind, the question remains as to the permanent damage that it could have caused before he stopped drinking, beyond the considerable impact on his personality that we can trace up to his abstinence without treatment. Any integral psychological or psychoanalytical study of President Bush will have to explore to what extent his brain and functions have changed in more than 20 years of alcoholism."

Neither of the two speakers on May 20 and 21st even mentioned the five Cuban anti-terrorist heroes, whose information made it possible to uncover the plots of Luis Posada Carriles and to prevent the sabotage of airplanes in full flight with foreign visitors on board, including U.S. citizens, in order to damage tourism. They pressured and bribed the president of Panama and helped to secure Posada’s release. Santiago Alvarez transported him to Florida. I publicly denounced that almost immediately. Everything has been proven. After that an enormous weapons arsenal was seized from Santiago Alvarez himself.

They want impunity for terrorists and mercenaries. How far they are from understanding Cuba and its people!

The gross lies of McCain and Bush constitute the only way of obtaining absolutely nothing from the heroic people who have known how to resist the power of the empire for almost half a century.

Our desire is to record for history: the immortal ideas of Martí that he water++

ed with his blood will never be betrayed!



Fidel Castro Ruz

May 22, 2008

11:12 p.m.

Translated by Granma International

May 25, 2008 | 9:55 PM Comments  {num} comments

Tags:
gallup, opinion, pollster, lying, hypocritical, education, cuba, asia, europe, africa, latin, america, caribbean, children, dignity, respect, haiti, learn, grow, economic, survey, slandered, cubans, cuban, venezuela, illiteracy, trinidad, tobago, argentina, mexico, brazil, chile, dominican, republic, panama, uruguay, belize, bolivia, paraguay, health, martí, homeland, humanity, national, hero, may, 19th, 113th, anniversary, dos, ríos, 1895, independence, patriots, patriot, hostile, decadence, spanish, empire, imperial, power, puerto, rico, philippines, guam, pretexts, pretext, deception, lies, lie, free, independent, valiant, combatants, combatant, war, interventionists, interventionist, spaniards, spaniard, bravery, soldiers, soldier, stupidity, government, cevera, squadron, platt, amendment, leonine, economic, agreements, socialist, ussr, socialist, ussr, mccain, bush, torture, lincoln, mario, díaz, balart, cultural, legacy, freedom, democracy, dictatorship, regime, embargo, vietnamese, wars, george, poet, josé, 106, political, dissidents, dissident, harassed, detained, beaten, human, rights, america, dignity, honor, courage, solidarity, democratic, prosperous, just, radio, ngos, ngo, computers, computer, internet, 113, willy, chirino, hunger, blockade, thinker, epoch, silver, gold, paper, manuel, mercado, duty, antilles, july, 2004, iraq, justin, frank, conspiracy, alcoholism, psychological, psychoanalytical, luis, posada, carriles, tourism, panama, santiago, alvarez, florida, terrorists, terrorist, mercenaries, mercenary


You only get to Negro nationalism after you pass intelligence and universal knowledge. That is what we have lost touch with. That is the Marcus Garvey that we have ... almost erased...
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

The 'secret Garveyism':
By THEA RUTHERFORD, Guardian National Correspondent -
Nassau, Bahamas:


UCLA professor and prominent Caribbean scholar, Robert Hill, introduced an audience on Thursday to a Marcus Garvey that perhaps many of us have never known.

For decades after his death in 1940, the world has been most familiar with the military Garvey, the "Africa for the Africans" Garvey. And people of African descent have celebrated the Garvey who established the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in 1914, a vehicle for pride amongst blacks living in a time when crushing racial prejudice seeped into the psyche and tortured self esteem.

Yet during his lecture given at the College of the Bahamas' Michael H. Eldon building, and jointly hosted by BACUS and the college's School of Social Sciences, Hill presented images of a multifaceted Garvey, one far too big to be stuffed into one chest of history. In Hill's presentation "Marcus Garvey's Mission," the historical and controversial figure emerged as yes, a soldier for black pride, and a gentleman but most of all a thinker, a scholar.

Hill argued that Garvey's foundation was his huge emphasis on acquiring and retaining knowledge. The "Africa for the Africans" Garvey came much later, after years of extreme self discipline in his personal quest for knowledge.

To encounter this Garvey, Hill took the audience to St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica, where Garvey was born and grew up. Faced with the options of becoming a cow herder or a wharf man in a rural town, Garvey chose to read, to escape the limitations of his environment through books.

"I was born in the country town of St. Ann's Bay," Garvey recalled in a speech he gave in 1935 before embarking on his exile to England. The speech was recorded in a Jamaican newspaper. "Naturally, as a little black boy I grew up there and I saw the limitations of society. If I had elected to remain in the town with the limitations of the town I would have gravitated towards becoming a cow boy or a wharf man or a laborer. But I was saved from accepting that because my father, after dissipating what wealth he had, left us as the residue some good books, and in my tender years I went to the shelf and I read."

Arguing that so many have either wittingly or unwittingly chosen to separate Garvey's pedagogy of imbibing knowledge with an unquenchable thirst from his African pride-infused ideology, Hill called for a refocus on this intellectual foundation of Garveyism.

"That is Garveyism - the secret Garveyism - that most people never know about," said Hill. "All they know about is the man with the plumes. All they know about is this man who was preaching back to Africa ... it's a much more complex and pertinent story than this pastiche that Garvey has been reduced to."

It is this focus on attaining knowledge that will prove timeless, that can empower generations of people across racial lines. Garvey's roots in education became the springboard for his frequent discourses on pride in identity among people of African descent. Such a springboard continues to be relevant for a new generation whose identities may be lost in a sea of materialism, ultimately resulting in waves of crime.

"How many little Bahamian boys grow up here and they look at the society and the society says these are your limitations, and what do they then do do?" asked Hill. "[Do] they accept the limitations or do they challenge those limitations?"

Garvey used education to challenge his limitations, and his influence went far beyond the island of his birth, settling in The Bahamas in the 1920s. Decades later the spirit of challenging limitations lived on in Bahamians who have made the world recognize their tiny home. Hill acknowledged a few of them at the beginning of his lecture, urging their countrymen to learn more about them.

"I'm extraordinarily proud to be received by you ... I feel that I'm encountering here in The Bahamas something of the ancestors of the great Dr. W. E. B. DuBois. Part of DuBois' ancestry comes from The Bahamas," he said. Hill also noted that the mother of James Weldon Johnson, the father of the Harlem Renaissance, was from The Bahamas. He mentioned that the country was the birthplace of theater great Bert Williams, and highlighted the accomplishments of Sidney Poitier and the Golden Girls. One of Garvey's own mentors - Dr. J. Robert Love, a Grant's Town native who became the first black man to be elected to the legislative council in Jamaica - was also from The Bahamas.

Garvey's tradition has the fuel to continue, as Hill pointed out in Lesson One of a mail correspondence course that he began in 1936 called the School of African Philosophy. In 1987 Hill published the transcripts of the lessons in a volume entitled "Marcus Garvey Life and Lessons" for the centenary of Garvey's birth.

The school began with 25 lessons on varied topics of African nationalism and the UNIA. But foremost was the very first lesson on "Intelligence, Education, Universal Knowledge and How to Get it." In the lesson Garvey instructs students, among other things, to read four hours each day.

"Lesson number one is not about reclaiming Africa," said Hill. "Lesson number one is not about African colonization. Lesson number one is not about Africa for the Africans at home and abroad. It is about intelligence, education and universal knowledge and how to get it. You only get to Negro nationalism after you pass intelligence and universal knowledge. That is what we have lost touch with. That is the Garvey that we have ... almost erased. We have to find a way to get back to that process that Garvey himself followed that enabled him to emancipate his mind from mental slavery."

While fielding questions after the lecture, Hill told the audience what he would tell someone who asked about this Garvey.

"I would say, how many hours are you prepared to read?"

May 25, 2008 | 12:17 AM Comments  {num} comments



« previous 5


Dennis Dames's Profile


Latest Posts
CARICOM is dead
The Caribbean: Who's...
Religious freedoms in...
Caricom's 'management'...
Why do we need...

Monthly Archive
December 1969
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
January 2010
February 2010
March 2010
April 2010
May 2010
June 2010
July 2010
August 2010
September 2010
October 2010
November 2010
December 2010
January 2011
February 2011
March 2011
April 2011
May 2011
June 2011
July 2011
August 2011
September 2011
October 2011
November 2011
December 2011
January 2012
February 2012
March 2012
April 2012
May 2012
June 2012
July 2012
August 2012
September 2012
October 2012
November 2012
December 2012
January 2013
February 2013
March 2013
April 2013
May 2013

Change Language


Tags Archive
america american bahamas bahamian bahamians caribbean crime crisis cuba cuban economic economy global government haiti health history ict4d individualeconomy international investment obama people political revolution social war washington world

Links
A+ Links Int'l
Affiliate Marketplace
Bahamas Dames
Bahamas Political Blog
Bahamas Search
Bahamian Phone Cards
Blog Directory
Blog Directory
Blogadr
Caribbean Blog International
Cheap Int'l Calling Cards
Dating Network
Dennis Dames Blog Dash
Dennis Dames Pages Online
Dennis Dames Web Hosting Store
Find me on Bloggers.com
LS Blogs
Vote For Me
Web Hosting


3652904 views
Important Disclaimer