Cuba Archives - Page 20 of 24

27Dec

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Cuba

Comandante Fidel: Combatant to the End

NOVANEWS By: Dr. Helen Yaffe This file photo taken in the 1960s shows then Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro (L) lighting a cigar while listens Argentine Ernesto Che Guevara. | Photo: AFP Fidel’s genius was his ability to meet the need for tactical steps, responding to the day’s urgencies, without losing sight of the strategic direction. It could have been the armed struggle, terrorism, assassination or the serious illness which, at his own admission, nearly killed him in 2006; but in the end Fidel Castro lived through it all to die in peace. RELATED: Revolutionary Icon Fidel Castro Dies: Live Updates His death, at 90, on Nov. 25, 2016, has dominated news around the world. In Cuba, there will be several days of mourning, a procession through the island, and funeral on 4 December. M...

27Dec

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Cuba

The Day Fidel Castro Declared Cuba Free of Illiteracy

NOVANEWS Fidel Castro waves at literacy teachers and students at Revolutionary Plaza in Havana after declaring Cuba free of illiteracy, Dec. 22, 1961. | Photo: Cuba Debate "Only a country in revolution would have been capable of deploying the effort and energy necessary to carry out such a gigantic mission," Fidel said. Fifty-five years ago today, the Cuban leader Fidel Castro declared the socialist island a territory free of illiteracy, fulfilling the dream of the Cuban Revolution that began with a massive free literacy program for all Cubans. RELATED: Cuban University Students Commit to Continue Fidel's Legacy Fidel's words on that famous Dec. 22, 1961, in Revolutionary Plaza in Havana, was a result of the hard work of more than 250,000 young Cubans who took part i...

25Dec

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Cuba

Celebrating the life of Comrade Fidel Castro Ruz

NOVANEWS Narada News Mwandawiro Mghanga In the battle of ideas, we inherit from him a wealth of revolutionary weapons of theory and real experiences to defend and guide our struggle against capitalism, imperialism and all forms of reactionary ideas and practices. In this occasion, when we commemorate the passing on of Comrade Fidel, I have decided to reproduce a poem that I wrote in Kiswahil about two years ago about him. (Unfortunately, the English translation of the poem from its original in Kiswahili published below does not sound poetic.) Yes, Fidel is no longer with us physically but since he died a hero as I predicted (just as many of us did too) Fidel lives on. And because even Fidel was a human being and therefore mortal, we did not expect him to ...

25Dec

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Cuba

Homage to Fidel Castro: Important lessons for humanity

NOVANEWS Getty Images Benedict Wachira In his 20s, Castro already attempted to liberate his country from the grip of a military dictatorship. Eventually he succeeded. And once in power, his single agenda was to serve the Cuban people - and humanity through internationalist solidarity. What are the masses of young people languishing in poverty and hopelessness under misrule throughout Africa and the Global South waiting for? Arise! As El Comandante Fidel Castro’s ashes are interred today (4th December 2016) in Santiago de Cuba, the place where the July 26th rebel movement began its journey to overthrow dictatorship and capitalism, there are many lessons that Kenyans and the whole of humanity can learn from the life of this great legend. He remains a gr...

22Dec

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Cuba

On the Death of Fidel Castro

NOVANEWS Fidel Castro by Dr: Richard Falk I have been bemused by the captious tone and condescending assessments of mainstream media in the West reacting to Fidel Castro’s death on November 25, 2016. Typical was coverage in The Economist, which while acknowledging Castro’s epic historical role, and even grudgingly admitting that he achieved world class health care and universal education in his impoverished country, reached the ‘politically correct’ conclusion that these achievements were “outweighed by his drab legacy. Much of the human capital was wasted by his one-party system, police state, and stagnant centrally planned economy.” The lead editorial in The Economist went on even to mock the reverence ordinary Cubans felt for Castro: “Cubans say Mr. Castro was ‘like a father” to the...

17Dec

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Cuba

– FAREWELL COMRADE CASTRO. ETERNAL GLORY TO YOU! –

NOVANEWS 13 August 1926 - 25 November 2016 On 25 November 2016, at 10.29pm Cuban time, Comrade Fidel Castro, the inspirer of the Cuban revolution, died aged 90. His death was announced on television by his brother, President Raúl Castro. The Cuban people are marking nine days of mourning, and the whole country -- young and old, black and white -- is gripped by sadness and deep emotion at the passing away of their iconic leader. In 1951, Fulgencio Batista staged a coup d’état in the small island nation of Cuba, suspending the constitution and blocking the way to all peaceful means for bringing about change on the island, which continued to be run by criminal gangs and US corporations. Most of the nation’s resources had been sold to foreigners -- principally to American capitalists -- and ...

12Dec

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Cuba, Russia

Cuba and Russia Sign New Defense Agreement

NOVANEWS By Ian Greenhalgh The deal is designed to help Cuba "respond to modern challenges” and extends the historical partnership between the two countries. Cuba and Russia Sign New Defense Agreement Cuba and Russia signed a new defense technology agreement Thursday evening which will increase cooperation and help modernize Cuba’s armed forces until 2020. The deal signed in Havana further adds to Russia’s historical assistance of the socialist nation. The deal was signed at the Russian-Cuban intergovernmental commission in Havana by Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. Rogozin stressed that the agreement was squarely focused on “methodological assistance” and would not include arms sales. “We have our own methodology, experts knowing how to ensure short-term and near-te...

11Dec

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Cuba

Cuban Film Festival To Open, Will Pay Tribute to Fidel

NOVANEWS People read the Festival newspaper outside the Payret movie theater in Havana, Cuba, Dec. 6, 2008. | Photo: Cubadebate The festival will present 427 Latin American films in 10 days. Cuba will hold its 38th annual International Festival of New Latin American Cinema from Dec. 8-18 in Havana, the most important cinematographic event in the country. RELATED: How Fidel and Gabriel Garcia Marquez Changed Cinema Forever The organizers of the festival, in a statement on Nov. 28, mourned the death of their revolutionary leader Fidel Castro: "From the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema in Havana we join in the pain of the physical loss of one of our great founders and thinkers in Latin American cinema as a movement that still unites us today .....

11Dec

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Cuba

Fidel’s Legacy to the World: Revolutionary Theory and Practice

NOVANEWS By: Arnold August People rest on a sidewalk while waiting for the cortege carrying the ashes of Cuba's former President Fidel Castro, Santiago de Cuba, Dec. 4, 2016. | Photo: Reuters Fidel’s legacy lies in his capacity to link theory and practice, or practice and theory, through the concrete analysis of concrete conditions. From his high school days into the 1950s, Fidel Castro familiarized himself with the writings and activities of Jose Marti, among other 19th-century Cuban fighters for social justice and independence from Spain. OPINION: Cuba's Ongoing Resistance to US Ideological War Fidel read all of Marti’s 28 volumes. He also studied the works and practical activities of Marx, Engels and Lenin. He examined and held a deep respect for the Bolshe...

9Dec

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Cuba, USA

The Heirs of Meyer Lansky Want Compensation from Cuba. They Shouldn’t Get a Dime.

NOVANEWS By Jack Colhoun Meyer Lansky The heirs of Meyer Lansky, the impresario of the North American Mafia gambling colony in Cuba (1933-1958) are betting on a big payback from the negotiations between the United States and Cuba to normalize relations between the two countries. Compensation claims by U.S. citizens or businesses for properties nationalized by the Cuban revolution are among the issues under discussion. Lansky’s daughter Sandi, her son Gary Rapoport, and her brother Paul have filed a compensation claim against Cuba for the Riviera Hotel and Casino with the U.S. Foreign Claims Settlement Commission. The Cuban revolution confiscated the Riviera and other Mafia-owned properties after it toppled the gangster-linked regime of General Fulgencio Batista in 1959. “It was through...