Cuba Libre
By Israel Shamir
A Talk for the International Conference
WITH ALL AND FOR THE GOOD OF ALL
Havana, Cuba (24 – 26 October, 2005)
In the North of the Holy Land, in a deep
valley, there is a shining white stone pierced by a perennial
spring. One may swim in its lucid waters into the depth of the
rock, until the tunnel abruptly ends. But a brave soul can
inhale, dive under the stony roof for a few meters and emerge in
a spacious chamber with good air to breathe and sunlight to
enjoy. Such a narrow passage is called a ‘siphon’, and
daredevils venture into this great unknown, hoping for the air
bubble in the deep innards of earth. This is a risky enterprise,
for they do
not know whether they
face a siphon or a dead end.
In 1991, Cuba came to the abrupt end of the
world socialist system. In a course of a few months, the mighty
edifice built by the workers of the world in Russia and Eastern
Europe collapsed and was taken over by the imperialist forces
and their local agents. A cowardly or simply prudent man would
turn back into the tender clutches of the new world order
waiting at the exit. But Cuba, led by intrepid Fidel, bravely
soldiered
on, into total darkness of isolation, blockade, embargo, trade
war and threats of invasion. Cubans survived with little food
and no oil, grass grew thick on their
motorways, and their
enemies in Miami and Washington counted days to Cuba's collapse.
Surprisingly, this adventure worked out well,
for Cuba is no longer alone – her Bolivarian sister Venezuela
stands next to her. The blockade is broken, Venezuelan oil flows
into Cuban factories and power stations, the darkness is left
behind. The Cubans emerged into the sunlight. Their
cars are running the roads; people come from all over the world
to learn the lesson of survival and victory. Once the backyard
of the Yanks, Latin America today strives for freedom and
independence.
Cuba's miraculous survival and the
Venezuelan breakthrough were made possible, to a not
discountable extent, by the stubborn peoples of the Middle East,
for theirs
was the area the US imperialists planned to take over after
their victory in the Eastern Europe. Instead, they concentrated
all their attention in Faluja and Baghdad, in Gaza and Ramallah,
in Tehran and Damascus, and forgot about the glowing unrest in
Latin America. Thus the Eye of Sauron was wandering in far-away
places and battlefields while its Nemesis was approaching the
Dark Tower. Even now, as we speak here, the US war machine is
ground down by the barbudos of Iraq. Iran withstands the
pressure, encouraged by your successes. The bleeding wound of
Palestine is still open, and the overextended Yanks, in hock to
the Zionists, can’t disengage from the Middle East and turn to
slipping-away Latin America. The neocons of Washington have thus
brought the long-predicted disaster to their
own powerbase.
Your stand is the great encouragement to
people everywhere. Belarus upheld the red banner of the Soviet
Union; it sticks to its independence despite NATO threats. In
Kiev, the pro-American president tried to vote against Cuba, and
masses of people crowded the main square protesting; they forced
him to apologise for this act. In Russia, your friends are
recovering lost ground. The Red giant of China goes through its
modernisation and liaises with Venezuela.
The world has changed greatly since 1991. If,
in the 1980s, Islamic militants fought the Russians on the US
side in Afghanistan, now they have made a full turn-around, and
have taken an important place in the anti-imperialist struggle.
In Palestine, Hamas has gained wide public support; in Lebanon,
over a million men and women demonstrated in support of
Hizbullah. This is not to be dismissed -- in the new war against
globalising imperialism, we need all the allies we can get!
Their success also shows the need of the masses for spiritual
dimension. The Old Left led by rigid Marxists overlooked it; now
we should build a new coalition for freedom, for spirit, for
patriotism and love for one’s land against the enslaving,
uprooting neo-Liberal and pro-Zionist forces.
The great success of Cuba was due to this
amalgamation of Left paradigm with patriotism as expressed in
Fidel’s words “Patria o Muerte.” Patriotism offers a way for new
coalition building, for there is a convergence of interests of
various Left and Right patriotic forces, despite many inherent
differences. Within the Left, as well as within the Right, there
are pro-globalist, pro-US and anti-globalist, anti-US elements.
In post-Soviet Russia, such a political coalition between the
Communists and other Left patriotic forces on one side and the
Nationalists, religious and right-wing patriotic elements on the
other side came to existence, in order to counteract the union
between pro-Western left liberals and pro-Western right-wing
neo-liberals.
Such coalitions are not a new phenomenon:
Chairman Mao called for cooperation with the nationalist
Kuomintang against the compradors. However, there are new
elements. The new globalist imperialism differs from the older
version by its anti-spiritual anti-national anti-traditional
tendency. This tendency creates new possible allies, namely, the
patriotic elements in the national churches, nationalists and
traditionalists.
Within the US, your great neighbour to the
North, disenchantment grows with the imperialist course of the
political establishment. We wish US well, provided they keep to
themselves. A good dose of isolationism is the best we can hope
for them. Let them sort out their social disparity, attend to
their own problems, and forget about the rest
of the world for a while. It will be
good for them, and for the world.
|
