To attack Cuba would be to attack a sanctuary of universal ethics, President Fidel Castro told Cuban parliamentarians yesterday. He noted that the future had to be one based on ethics and a fairer society. If not, there will be no future for the humankind, he asserted.

After two days of debates during the sixth ordinary session of the Cuban National Assembly’s current legislature, parliamentarians agreed to name 2006 the Year of the Energy Revolution in Cuba, as proposed by Fidel.

We are making sure that we have four times the electricity generation capacity that the country will require, Fidel announced, adding that he was convinced that these new energy generating initiatives are bound to have worldwide repercussions.

By June or July of next year we will most certainly have installed 80 percent of the new national energy generation capacity, in addition to 80 percent of the new smaller emergency generators that are also being introduced. These new measures will allow Cuba to eliminate the occurrence of blackouts and will guarantee the smooth operation of all activities.

This improvement in the energy sector, he stressed, will provide the base for further development in other areas.

At the end of Friday night’s debates, the Cuban National Assembly passed the proposed State Budget and Social and Economic Plan for 2006.

The Cuban parliament also passed a petition by the Ministry of Finances and Prices seeking approval for a 2005 budget deficit that exceeded the anticipated figure. Among other factors, the Ministry cited additional expenditures as a result of a severe drought and damages caused by several hurricanes.

Moments before Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque had taken the floor to highlight a growing international isolation of the United States government during 2005 with respect to its blockade policy against Cuba, at a time when the island expanded its diplomatic relations and international cooperation bonds and enjoyed greater support from the international community.

He pointed out the almost universal rejection of the US blockade in 2005 and Cuba’s successful battle against disinformation campaigns and efforts to discredit the Revolution spearheaded by the US with the support of its European allies at the UN Human Rights Commission. For the first time 5,000 intellectuals, including eight Nobel prize laureates, came together to demand an end to the lies and manipulation in the Commission, noted Perez Roque.

All this took place while the US government decided to intensify its blockade, put into practice its so-called plan for assistance to a free Cuba and adopt yet new measures against the Cuban people which they announced will be presented to Bush in May 2006, said the Cuban foreign minister.

But even if the US Empire intensifies its war, Perez Roque underlined, the Cuban people hold the deep conviction that they will never be able to carry out their threats, including those of a military nature, because they lack legitimacy, international support, and the most minimal basis around which a pretext for such aggressions could be fabricated.

Felipe Perez Roque stressed, however, that while any US attempts to destroy Cuba would fail, it was important not to loose sight of internal weaknesses and errors that must be corrected to insure the invulnerability of the Revolution at present and especially with a view to the future, when the generation that brought about the historic 1959 victory of the Revolution would no longer be around.

To achieve this, he said, three basic premises were necessary: the moral authority of those in leadership positions based on personal example; the legitimacy of the process of social guidance based on honesty, self-sacrifice and public dedication; and, lastly, the maintenance of the popular support basis, based not on what the Revolution can offer its people materially, but on the ideas and convictions shared by the Cuban people to continue the island’s socialist project.

Today we don’t talk about survival but rather how to multiply efforts in all areas to guarantee the invulnerability of the economy and thereby insuring national security, said Deputy Lazaro Barredo at the start of the morning session.

Approaching the 50 year mark of the landing of the Granma boat that brought Fidel and the other rebels to Cuba to begin the Revolution struggle, he said, the Cuban people are today working on two challenging fronts: expanded education and greater efficiency.

Barredo noted that to fulfill expectations for 2006, the country was embarking on an offensive against corruption and negative conduct that find their way in, and against those who benefit from the work of others and try to profit at the expensive of the needs of the population. This battle is also aimed at eliminating waste and at subsidizing people and not products, he said, adding that it also requires administrations to do their work well.

Parliamentarian Rogelio Polanco stated that achievements made in 2005 demonstrate that it is possible to create a different society according to the people’s free will and in dignity.

Armando Hart Davalos, director of the Jose Marti Program’s National Office, spoke about Marti’s powerful legacy. In his analyses of socialism, he noted that Cuba’s Apostle warned about the dangers of foreign, obscure and haughty interpretations, ignorance and lack of education, and opportunism and human evil.

Hart Davalos noted that all of the great Cuban thinkers, from Felix Varela right through to Fidel Castro, have focused on the need for people to have a comprehensive general education. His address sparked an emotional exchange with Fidel.

Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro spoke about the decline of the US Empire, whose thirst for world dominance continually grows and is expressed in its use of sheer brute force. If there is to be another empire, it will be one based on ideas and never on the use of force, he said.

President Castro brought up proofs demonstrating beyond doubt the impossibility of the US government upholding peace. He said that today US world dominion is only possible through the exercise of violence, illegal torture centers, theories of pre-emptive war and genocide. As examples of the decline of the US system, he mentioned Vietnam, Angola and, more recently, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Fidel said it was a shameful show for the world watching Bush trying to justify the war in Iraq, while in his own country popular support plummeted.

Speaking about the aggressions waged against Cuba, the president said that the most important aspect is that history acknowledges the work of the Cuban people and their ideas, principles and clean behavior.

In regards to a recent meeting presided over by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in which Rice said that the hour has come for change in Cuba, the leader of the Cuban revolution remarked that there could be nothing more outlandish than having, at this point in time, such crazy woman reviving the issue of transition in Cuban. He added that it shows that they are totally insane and pitiful.

We believe in the triumph of our ideas —Fidel said—, adding that those organizing a Commission for a transition to democracy in Cuba are a pack of blockheads who did not deserve any respect.

Maybe we should propose a Cuban Commission for a transition in the United States, Fidel Castro noted, and asserted that Cuba is a country in transition towards socialism and communism.

After detailing how Cuba could increase its contribution to improving healthcare in Latin America and the Caribbean, Fidel Castro proposed that a new corrective eye-surgery program, that could benefit millions, be presented before the relevant international agencies.

President Castro explained that instead of the current practice of bringing patients to the island, Cuba would send doctors to directly treat patients, resulting in huge savings. In addition, the program would see Cuba training tens of thousands of specialists from other countries.

Fidel Castro announced that talks are underway with several governments and that in the new year it is possible that 15 additional eye clinics be set up like that recently established in Bolivia, adding that the personnel is in place to staff these new centers and additional specialists are presently being trained.

The Cuban president said that currently there are thousands of Cuban healthcare professionals working in dozens of countries attending to more than 59 million people worldwide as part of Cuba’s Comprehensive Health Program for other nations.

Fidel Castro’s statements were preceded by those from Public Health Minister Jose Ramon Balaguer, who noted that one of the greatest achievements of the Cuban Revolution is having created a whole host of generous and kind healthcare professionals ready to practice their profession wherever they are needed.

CUBAN WOMEN IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Commenting on data provided by Yolanda Ferrer, general secretary of the Cuban Women's Federation (FMC), on the cultural and professional advancement attained by Cuban women, Fidel highlighted their exceptional contribution to the healthcare sector, where females represent more than 70 percent of the doctors and nurses.

Of the overall healthcare personnel currently working in Venezuela, more than half—52.9 percent—are women. In general, women make up 52.3 percent of the workforce involved in the medical cooperation abroad, not counting those assisting earthquake victims in Pakistan.

Enrique Gomez Cabrera, in charge of the Social Workers program, pointed out that 72 percent of their graduates are young women.  Education Minister Luis Ignacio Gomez said that 71 percent of the island's 240,000 teachers are women. In 1959 that figure was only 30,000.

Yolanda Ferrer said that according to the 1953 Census, the female workforce of the island was 12 percent, including women who received a salary and those who had no remuneration for their work.  Most of those were maids and some 100,000 women were "used" in brothels.

The subject of women's involvement prompted a lively dialogue between Fidel and generals Leopoldo Cintra Frias and Delsa Esther Puebla (Tete Puebla), where they recounted episodes of the guerrilla struggle.

DEBATE ON CORRUPTION AND OTHER CRIMES

Corruption and other crimes were at the center of discussions by deputies in Friday's sessions.

Cuban Trade Union Federation leader Pedro Ross Leal said Cuba has all the needed conditions to encourage a culture of work that includes the individual's responsibility towards society and fighting against anything that may harm the Revolution, like theft and corruption. For those reasons, the trade union leader said it was decided to postpone the Congress of the Cuban Labor Federation until after a thorough discussion at each workplace on the issue of corruption and crime.

Ross said that 350 assemblies have already been held and he cited the ones at the Port of Havana and at railroad dependencies where debates have been very heated. He noted that some workers are reacting positively to the debate, but others are still justifying the theft and other improper conducts.

We have faith in the power of workers, Ross said. He added that the labor federation is
concentrating now on those places where the most problems have been detected: food and medication warehouses, large hospitals, hotels, other tourist resorts and stores.  He said problems that might exist in these places need to be countered, including the ones existing in their very political and trade union organizations.

Deputy Orlando Lugo Fontes spoke on behalf of the small farmers and members of cooperatives. He explained that they have acknowledged existing weakness and errors and are aware of what the demise of the Revolution would mean to them. This is why, he said, we have made the commitment of standing up to these problems, under the guidance of the Party and Fidel Castro.

In our sector, he added, we cannot forget the words of Fidel when he told a congress of our National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP) that "the main patriotic duty of farmers is to produce for the people."

Yolanda Ferrer spoke about the importance of citizen conduct in the construction of a socialist society. The FMC leader praised the role of women in Cuba, and contrasted their achievements with the gross inequalities lived by females in the other parts of the world.

Fidel Castro again took the floor to highlight that if an effort had not been made to put a stop to the theft of gasoline at the gas stations, Cuban authorities wouldn’t have realize how much money was being drained from the state budget.

He then added that nothing will remain without controls. He stated that the masses, and the workers, decent people in their overwhelming majority, are the ones who will be in charge of implementing these controls.

Fidel reiterated that the country is going to wage its battle against theft and corruption, and it is going to win it, as well as any other battle that may lie ahead. In the assemblies to analyze these issues, he said, people needed to be critical so that there is no need to come up with names in the media. We should not be forced to publicly disclose names, he stressed, adding that self criticism is a principle of revolutionaries, and that is why in the assemblies there should be self-criticism and the admission of improper actions.

After mentioning a growth of printing facilities, Fidel asked Carlos Valenciaga, a member of the Council of State, to speak on the investments at the Alejo Carpentier and Federico Engels print shops, which will soon be made operational. He said people who visit these centers are surprised to see the magnitude of the investments, and that some foreign visitors believe them to be the best printing facilities in Latin America.

The current production rate is at a tune of 40 million books a year, most of them text books and others meant for the annual book fairs.

OPPORTUNE TIME FOR SOLUTIONS

Carlos Lage Codorniu, national president of the University Students Federation, referred to the lessons learned at the parliamentary debates. Noting the kind words expressed by the lawmakers about the 17,000 university students assisting social workers in the fight against corruption and waste, he expressed confidence in the success of the effort.

At that point Fidel Castro held up one of the incandescent light bulbs being replaced by energy saving ones, noting that with the present costs of producing electricity, incandescent bulbs alone could ruin any economy.

"Down with incandescent bulbs" is the name of the campaign to substitute those light bulbs with energy saving ones. Youth leader Enrique Gomez Cabeza reported that 4.8 million light bulbs of all types have already been changed over to the energy savers. He then described the efforts to control the theft of fuel in some provinces like Santiago de Cuba.

An interesting exchange on the use of privately owned motorcycles as taxis in Santiago took place in the afternoon session.

At the request of Fidel Castro, Deputy Misael Enamorado, first secretary of the Communist Party for Santiago de Cuba, explained how the motorcycle-taxis have operated. Enamorado said in Cuba's second largest city the majority of the transport is private and passengers pay 10 pesos for a three or four kilometer ride.

He estimated that between 15,000 and 30,000 people use this form of transport and that motorcycle accidents are frequent in the city.

Fidel said that solutions must be found for the places where the situation is most critical. Transportation Minister Carlos Manuel Pazo interjected that the first 30 vehicles are headed for Santiago to be used by hospitals, funeral parlors and other services to the population.

The transportation situation in Havana and Santiago de Cuba was then analyzed by the parliament. Fidel Castro asked Pazo about the selection and training of some 400 drivers who will operate the new Chinese buses on the inter-provincial routes, as well as the results of the trial runs of some of those buses in the Cuban capital.

MARIA JULIA MAYORAL, RAISA PAGES, LOURDES PEREZ NAVARRO, JOSE A. DE LA OSA AND
ALBERTO NUNEZ BETANCOURT

(Granma) December 24, 2005