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 News from Around the Americas | December 2005 
Cuba Determined to Defeat Assaults
 Prensa Latina
| | Thousands march in front of a banner with the portraits of Latin American presidents (L-R) Fidel Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, during a protest against the presence of U.S. President George W. Bush at the 4th Summit of the Americas last month. (Reuters/David Mercado) |
Havana - Cuba´s undisputed place in solidarity and its determination to defeat any military aggression were ratified by President Fidel Castro while marking the 30th anniversary of the Cuban military mission in Angola.
In a ceremony held also to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the Granma yacht landing, the Day of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, Fidel stressed that veteran soldiers of both events will unquestionably have played a leading role in achieving that victory.
He said Cubans of yesterday and today have known how to fight and die with dignity in defense of justice, as they did in Angola, and so the immeasurable value of solidarity will persist in Cuba.
Current and future generations will carry on regardless of difficulties and will fight to keep the Revolution as politically invulnerable as it is militarily, and will be economically, he stressed.
With these arguments, the Cuban president paid tribute to the hundreds of thousands of men and women of the Island who contributed to preserve Angola's independence, to dismantle apartheid in South Africa, and to free Namibia.
President Fidel Castro recalled that Cuba's internationalist mission in Angola thwarted powerful, secret military plans of the South African regime and the US government.
He said that Washington did its best to install a puppet government and snatch legitimate rights from the Angolan people to turn the country into a condominium for Mobuto Sese Seko.
It was a battle against an army and a nation that had eight nuclear weapons, which were seriously expected to be used against Angolans and Cubans, for which some measures had to be adopted.
Regarding the Island's internationalist, solidarity gestures, he recalled sending arms and dozens of doctors to Algeria in 1961 as it fought against French colonialism.
This was the start of Cuba's internationalist medical collaboration that the Cuban President considered exceptional and without equal, despite conditions imposed by US hostility, including the blockade.
He stressed that the tiny Caribbean country has the world's largest number of doctors, currently more than 70,000, a number that will reach 100,000 in ten years, with their services available to benefit other peoples.
He also recalled Cuba's participation in the liberation of several African countries, including Angola, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Concerning the great significance of the so-called Operation Carlota, the Cuban head of State noted that on this 30th anniversary, Washington is forcefully trying to keep the name of Cuba out of commemorations and to present actions and victory as a result of chance and peoples´ imagination.
Now, the United States seems to have had nothing to do with the hundreds of thousands of Angolans killed, the villages devastated, the mines planted in Angolan soil, which is an insult to African peoples and an injustice against Cuba, the only non-African country that fought there.
Ambassadors of Angola, South Africa and Namibia present expressed their appreciation for the Island's solidarity and for the Cuban blood left on African soil.
Venezuela is on Maximum Alert
Prensa Latina
Caracas - Following President Hugo Chavez' advice to "have nerves of steel, stand on our own two feet, have faith in ourselves, and fortify our feeling of love, affection and fraternity," Venezuelans ready for Sunday´s congressional elections.
The president warned against a US maneuver to destabilize the elections and said the National Armed Forces and the people are on the alert before tomorrow´s vote to choose 167 deputies for the National Assembly, 12 for the Latin American Parliament, and 5 for the Andean Parliament.
The election occurs amid a campaign in which six opposition parties withdrew (1.33 percent of the total) and several explosive devices were detonated at several points in Caracas.
Three people were injured Friday from explosions near the Republic Attorney General´s and the Fort Tiuma 3rd Division of the National Armed Forces.
At the same time, three explosive devices were detected close to Central University and the offices of the National Electoral Council (CNE).
Authorities reported the arrest of 11 people in Ojeda, in western Zulia, and the confiscation of 55 Molotov cocktails, 31 containers of combustibles, 40 cell phones, and other items.
The members of the group, who had National Armed Forces identification cards, were accused of shutting down communication lines, damaging gas pipelines and public services. |
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