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President Bush's speech on Cuba Oct. 24th represented what
appears to be a brazen and unprecedented escalation of the
U.S. government's hostility toward Cuba. Almost every word
uttered by Bush was a baseless lie or slander against the
Cuban Revolution, and everything else was a very thinly
veiled threat of all-out war against the Cuban people.
During his speech, Bush surrounded himself with families of
the mercenaries that the U.S. government has paid to try to
overthrow the Cuban Revolution, and referred to these
mercenaries as "political prisoners." No doubt Bush was
trying to make some terrible analogy between the people he
pays to overthrow the government of a sovereign country and
the five Cuban heroes who have been languishing in U.S.
prisons for a decade now because they defended their own
country from the U.S. government's criminal aggression.
In a part of his speech that was almost as arrogant as it
was absurd, Bush called on the Cuban military and the Cuban
people to turn against their own government and to accept
"liberation" from the United States. He ominously declared,
"The operative word in our future dealings with Cuba is not
'stability.' The operative word is 'freedom.'"
The response of Cuban leaders was swift and strong. Cuba's
Foreign Minister condemned Bush, telling him: "I have a
message for you, you are raving, you are talking to an army
of liberation and to security combatants who have prevented
more than 600 assassination attempts on Fidel. You are
mistaken, you do not know this people, who are not in the
category of the mercenaries whom you pay here."
Indeed, Bush is "raving" if he thinks he has any chance of
convincing the Cuban people to turn against the Revolution
for any reason, much less to become yet another neo-colony
of U.S. imperialism.
Bush is already isolated internationally in this criminal
policy. The New York Times noted that even among the
audience in the State Department, where Bush gave his
speech, the only people who applauded were the mercenaries
and the right-wing Cuban politicians that were handpicked to
attend. All of the Latin American diplomats in the room
remained silent. Even in his speech, Bush could only cite
three countries (Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic)
that support isolating Cuba. Almost every other country in
the world has condemned the U.S. government's criminal
blockade against Cuba, and not one has yet expressed support
for this irresponsible escalation.
It is clear that when Bush speaks on Cuba, he is speaking
only on behalf of the U.S. ruling class and a small
population of rabidly right-wing Cubans. He is certainly not
speaking on behalf of the people of the United States who
have no desire to or interest in waging war against the
people of Cuba. The people in this country--and of Iraq and
countless other countries--know all too well what Bush has
in mind when he speaks of "liberation." No one wants more
billions of dollars spent on another murderous plunder of a
sovereign nation.
But the fact that Bush is completely isolated politically
will not alone guarantee Cuba's protection. Neither will the
fact that any attack against Cuba will surely result in
defeat for U.S. forces. The U.S. government has been
relentlessly determined to defeat Cuba throughout every
single presidential administration in the last fifty years.
Bush, in particular, is extremely reckless and arrogant. The
fact that he is facing defeat at this very minute in Iraq
hasn't stopped him from threatening war against Iran,
Venezuela, and now Cuba.
The people of the U.S. must be ready to act to defend Cuba.
We must stand up to the Bush administration; against all its
imperialistic adventures, but especially for Cuba, which
stands as a beacon of hope for people all over the world who
are struggling for real freedom and real liberation. We must
continue to fight for freedom for the Cuban Five, who
symbolize Cuba's right to defend itself against U.S. terror.
The Cuban people have shown nothing but kindness and
generosity to the people of the United States. They have
opened their medical schools to students from the United
States who want to work as doctors in poor communities. They
offered assistance to Hurricane Katrina survivors. In
return, Bush has offered them nothing but continued
aggression. It's time for the people of this country to
stand in solidarity with Cuba and to reject Bush's program
of endless war!
We demand an end to the blockade, freedom for the Cuban
Five, and absolutely no war against Cuba!
U.S. Hands Off Cuba!
Free the Cuban Five!
Extradite the terrorist Luis Posada Carriles!
Venceremos!
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