Subjects Archives: History

Some days ago, on May 28, the violent battle waged at El Uvero was commemorated with well deserved references. An elemental duty forces me to clarify the facts. During those weeks, Manuel Piñeiro, “Red Beard”, as the leopard, who never changes its spots, as the saying goes, managed to send to Santiago de Cuba a […]

  This is a 10-minute film dedicated to freedom fighter Louis Reyes Rivera.  Rivera was a member of the 1969 occupation of City College, which was led by students of color and won open admissions.  He spoke to Students United for a Free CUNY at the AME Church in Harlem on October 27, 2011 before […]

This Reflection could be written today, tomorrow or any other day without the risk of being mistaken. Our species faces new problems. When 20 years ago I stated at the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro that a species was in danger of extinction, I had fewer reasons than […]

“We want freedom now, but we’re not going to get it saying ‘We Shall Overcome.’  We’ve got to fight until we overcome.” — Malcolm X “A social movement that only moves people is merely a revolt.  A movement that changes both people and institutions is a revolution.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On the […]

President Chávez presented his annual report on activities carried out in 2011 and his program for 2012 to the Venezuelan Parliament. After thoroughly carrying out the formalities required by this important activity, he addressed the official state authorities, members of parliament from all parties, and supporters and opposition members who had come to the Assembly […]

Yesterday I had the satisfaction of having a pleasant conversation with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I had not seen him since 2006, more than five years ago, when he visited our country to participate in the 14th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement of Countries in Havana. During the summit, Cuba was elected for the second time as […]

It is not a matter of being optimistic or pessimistic, knowing or not knowing elementary things, of being responsible or not for events. Those who would like to be thought of as politicians should be thrown onto the trash heap of history when, as the norm goes, they have no idea about everything or almost […]

World Peace Forum Teach-In, Vancouver, Canada, November 12, 2011 (Modified from Notes) We are at what social theorists call a “historic moment,” in which real change suddenly seems possible.  It is therefore all the more important to learn from past struggles.  One of the first lessens of a long history of dissent from the early […]

  This is my will.  I, Muammar bin Mohammad bin Abdussalam bi Humayd bin Abu Manyar bin Humayd bin Nayil al Fuhsi Gaddafi, do swear that there is no god but God and that Mohammad is God’s Prophet, peace be upon him.  I pledge that I will die as Muslim. Should I be killed, I […]

  “Real Class Warfare: The Great 1934 Longshore Strike in Portland” Presentation by Michael Munk Tuesday, October 11 7:30 pm Rialto Poolroom and Bar 529 SW 4th Ave, Portland Free and open to the public Must be 21 or over. On May 9, 1934, thousands of longshoremen along the West Coast walked off the job, […]

  With the hammer of NATO against the Gaddafi forces, Uncle Sam seeks to unlock Libya for the TNC(s). . . . Gervasio Umpiérrez is a cartoonist based in Montevideo, Uruguay.  This cartoon was published on his blog on 23 August 2011; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes.  Cf. “Libya’s economic freedom score […]

Throughout its history, capitalism never succeeded in preventing recurring economic cycles or crises.  However, they were usually contained within the system.  Economic crises usually did not become social crises; the system itself was usually not called into question.  Transition to a different system was then an idea kept away from public discussion, a project kept […]

It shouldn’t surprise us that many American liberals, including Muslims, are now joining the celebrations of Osama bin Laden’s death. They may not agree with how the War on Terror has been conducted, but they have at least tolerated it and have no reason to view Bin Laden with sympathy in any case. Let us also not forget that Barack Obama, who campaigned for the escalation of the war in Afghanistan, is a liberal himself. To view the mass relief at Bin Laden’s death as a pathology of conservative tea partiers and frat boys who don’t know any better is therefore to miss the point. Bin Laden was the most successful terrorist this country had seen, and the trauma of 9-11 and the fear that he could strike again anytime haunted American minds in ways they were not prepared for. It is, for those who wish to be rid of the imperial anxieties of the past ten years, the time to feel triumphant.

I was reading abundant materials and books to make good my promise of continuing writing on the Reflection of April 14 about the Battle of Girón when I had a look at the recent news that came yesterday, which were also as abundant as they are everyday. You could pile up mountains of news on […]

I was familiar with the content of compañero Raúl’s report to the 6th Congress of the Party. He had shown it to me a few days previously on his own initiative, as he has done on many other occasions without me asking him to because, as I already explained, I had delegated all my responsibilities within the Party and the state in the proclamation of July 2006.… Doing so was a duty that I did not hesitate for a second to fulfill.

Today I had the privilege of appreciating the impressive parade with which our people commemorated the 50th anniversary of the socialist nature of the Revolution and the Bay of Pigs victory.… Also, on this same day, the 6th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba began.

  A tribute to Yuri Gagarin and his first human spaceflight, 12 April 1961. . . . Music by Zemlyane (“The Grass at Home”).  Cf. <www.roscosmos.ru/main.php?id=87>, <english.ruvr.ru/tag_45875342/>, <ciudad-futura.net/2011/04/05/soyuz-gagarin-2/>, <www.yuriesfera.net>. | Print  

  Juliano Mer-Khamis embodied the uncompromising struggle for freedom and for dignity.  With his brutal murder the Palestinian struggle has lost a brilliant, charismatic, and courageous fighter for justice and freedom.  Both parts of his life’s work were seamlessly joined.  His art was inseparable from his political commitment.  The dignity and humanity which his art […]

Latin Americans are not born-criminals nor did they invent drugs. The Aztecs, Maya and other pre-Columbian human groups in Mexico and Central America, for example, were excellent farmers and didn’t even know about growing coca. The Quechua and Aymara were capable of producing nutritious foods on perfect terraces that followed the mountain level curves. On […]

Yesterday was a long day. From midday I paid attention to Obama’s vicissitudes in Chile, as I had done the day before with his adventures in the city of Rio de Janeiro. In a brilliant challenge, that city defeated Chicago in its aspiration to host the 2016 Olympics, when the new President of the United […]