[Marxism] Fidel Castro: The McCain Tour and the Manifest Destiny of the U.S. Fourth Fleet

[Walter Lippmann]

(Some seem to think that Obama is the main danger and
endless denunciations of Obama must be prioritized.
That approach isn't held universally today, however.)
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REFLECTIONS BY COMRADE FIDEL

http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/reflexiones/2008/ing/f300608i.html

THE MCCAIN TOUR AND THE MANIFEST DESTINY OF THE U. S. FOURTH FLEET

While I was preparing a reflection about McCain's relationship with
the anti-Cuban terrorist mafia in Miami and other related subjects of
historical interest, fresh news was flowing about this character that
is being projected by the empire’s hawks as Bush’s replacement: his
visit to Colombia and Mexico which will begin tomorrow. It is not
possible to avoid them since they confirm the opinions we have
sustained.

“McCain will be in Colombia for two days, starting tomorrow on
Tuesday, and then he will travel to Mexico”, the Panamanian newspaper
La Prensa informs us.

“The United States Fourth Fleet returns to patrol Latin American
waters”, Clarín, the Argentine newspaper with largest circulation,
publishes; “this time under the command of Rear Admiral Joseph
Kernan. Kernan who, up till now has been Commander of Naval Special
Warfare Command, has a background that is rather worrying”, the
newspaper comments. “The naval officer belongs to the Navy SEALs, an
elite commando team made up of men chosen for the toughest of special
operations, trained to act in the most adverse and challenging
conditions. They were in action in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The
choice of Kernan to command the Fourth Fleet, according even to the
Pentagon's own admission, is absolutely unusual..." "Furthermore,
with this decision, the Southern Command reaches the same level of
importance as the Central Command operating in the Persian Gulf with
the U.S. Fifth Fleet”.

“What reason could the United States have to send such a powerful
naval force to a region in peace, without nuclear power, without any
real military conflicts or threats?·, the newspaper wonders. “They
are never going to admit that it is because of natural resources, 
but it is no coincidence that this decision comes up just when a
structural change in world economy is beginning, where reserves of
fresh water, food and energy resources take on a position of
important strategic value”, replies Professor Khatchik Der
Ghougassian of the Argentine University of San Andrés, an expert on
security issues.

The professor adds that “they do not hide the enormous importance of
the oceans of the southern Western Hemisphere and they admit that
this will increase their capacity for action since the U.S. Fourth
Fleet will be supervising ships and aircraft, including both civilian
and commercial navigating south of the United States.”

“James Stavridis, the current Commander of the Southern Command”,
Clarín continues, “added drug trafficking, the fight on terror and
the possibility to respond to the massive migration of refugees from
countries such as Haiti or Cuba. James Stevenson, Commander of the
United States Naval Forces Southern Command, specified that his
vessels would even reach the extensive system of rivers in South
America, navigating more in fresh waters than in the traditional salt
waters. In other words, they shall have a vast control of the Latin
American hinterland.

“United States Naval Forces Southern Command carries out social
activities such as the distribution of food or medical supplies that
would allow them to convince the U.S. Congress that such penetration
is justified”, the Argentine newspaper adds.

El Universal of Mexico, under the headline “John McCain will go from
the Basilica to Iztapalapa”, writes:

“John McCain will travel to Mexico not just to makes politics. Or
perhaps not just party politics. The Republican candidate will visit
the Basilica of Guadalupe. He will also tour one of the tough
neighbourhoods in Mexico City.”

“The visit McCain will make to Colombia and Mexico has had his team
of collaborators working overtime, even on weekends”, the newspaper
comments. “On Saturday night an event that had been planned as a
farewell reception for the closing ceremony of the conference of the
National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (known
as NALEO in English), turned into a discussion roundtable about the
scope of his trip to Latin America…he would be getting up early to do
an interview with a Televisa news program. Then he would head to the
northern part of the city where a half-hour visit to the Basilica of
Guadalupe is scheduled…he would attend a luncheon with members of the
American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico. Later he would be meeting
with Mexican and American businessmen…he would end the day with a
visit to the Iztapalapa neighbourhood where he would be briefed about
strategies to fight organized crime and support community harmony.”

Amidst a torrent of comments relating to the Republican candidate,
52,521 people with more than a million dollars live in South Florida,
according to the latest detailed report by an important research
firm. Almost all the capital came from Latin America.

McCain, not known to be a piously religious man, thinks that by
offering a prayer at the Basilica of Guadalupe he will fool
Catholics, Protestants, whites, blacks, Indians and mestizos in the
countries where, by contrast, extreme poverty grows on a daily basis.

Today the front page of Granma reads: “U.S. airline fined for
violating blockade against Cuba”, while a Mexican press agency refers
to some 57 thousand Cubans arriving in that country between 2005 and
2007. It is well known that 20 thousand Cubans of all ages, except
those fulfilling some inescapable social duty, are legally authorized
each year to emigrate to that country; they travel safely, both the
children and the adults have received education and are in good
health. With the aim of family reunification, Cuba supports this
sacrifice.

Those who have been enticed by the cynical Cuban Adjustment Act do so
directly or through third countries, either secretly or under some
legal cover; not only are they committing a despicable lack of ethics
but they are depriving our peoples’ economy of their specialists and
qualified workers. It is an outrageous brain drain and it takes away
our productive members; our homeland, in its heroic struggle, must
fight this with determination.

I shall publish the reflection I prepared earlier some other day. It
is worthwhile to know the real story.

Fidel Castro Ruz

June 30, 2008.

5:16 p.m.


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     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Paraíso bajo el bloqueo"
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