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<h2><b>Rafael Cancel Miranda writes in defense of Cuba<br><br>
</b></h2><h4><b>March 26, 2010
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<a href="http://machetera.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/rafael-cancel-miranda-writes-in-defense-of-cuba/" eudora="autourl">
http://machetera.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/rafael-cancel-miranda-writes-in-defense-of-cuba/<br>
<br>
<br>
</a><i>Rafael Cancel Miranda, a giant in the Puerto Rican independence
struggle, a man who spent 25 years in prison in the United States
following an attack on the U.S. Congress meant to call attention to that
struggle, has a few suggestions for Guillermo Fariñas, the latest Cuban
hunger striker. In an
<a href="http://machetera.wordpress.com/2008/06/02/victory-is-in-the-struggle/">
interview</a></i> <i>some years ago, he spoke more about the attack at
the U.S. Capitol and explained the significance of the Cuban he mentions
here too: Saturnino.<br><br>
</i></font>
<dl>
<dd>“For me, Cuba is Saturnino, a black man who worked with me. When he
saw me eating bread with quail for lunch, he took me to his house. He
lived in total poverty but his mother gave me a sandwich from the larder.
He was called Saturnino, and that for me, is Cuba.”<br><br>
</dl>The Truth is On the Side of the Cuban Revolution and it Shall
Prevail</b> –
<a href="http://www.cubadebate.cu/opinion/2010/03/25/la-verdad-esta-con-la-revolucion-cubana-y-se-impondra/">
español</a><br><br>
Compañero José Estevez<br>
Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples<br>
Havana, Cuba<br><br>
Jose, my brother.<br><br>
Of course it is with the greatest of honor and a sense of justice that I
am signing the Declaration in Defense of Cuba to counter the hypocritical
and cynical campaign by the Yankees and the European Union. With
what moral authority can these plunderers of humanity speak of human
rights? It’s beyond cynical that those who have never bothered
themselves about the deaths by starvation of thousands of children who
would have liked very much to have something to eat, should suddenly and
in a very orchestrated way pretend to be so worried about someone on a
“fast.”<br><br>
This “fasting” gentleman – who I understand is black and is also said to
be a psychologist (if so, it is thanks to the Revolution) – has no idea
how his race was treated by those who today claim to be so concerned for
his health. I was surprised enough to hear about this psychologist
because I lived in Cuba under [Cuban presidents] Prío Socarrás and the
bloodthirsty Batista and I never knew of any black psychologists. I
remember that when the legal and illegal mafias were predominant in Cuba,
there were clubs where black people were prohibited from entering and
places where they were not even allowed to approach, such as the house
belonging to the DuPonts. To be precise, those that organized those
clubs were of the same mentality as those who today claim to be worried
about the health of the “faster.” I also remember the poverty of my
brother, the black man named Saturnino, who worked alongside me repairing
streets in Havana.<br><br>
Seeing as this “faster” is of the noble black race, I’d like to suggest
to him that he make a “fast” in favor of the liberation of a group of his
black brothers from the Black Liberation Army and the Black Panthers,
who’ve spent more than thirty-five years behind bars in Yankee prisons
for having fought for the rights of their race. Here are their
names:<br><br>
Abdulla Majad<br><br>
Sekou Odinga<br><br>
Dr. Mutulu Shakur<br><br>
Jalil Muntaquim<br><br>
Robert Seth Hayes<br><br>
Sundiata Acoli<br><br>
Also having spent more than three decades in prison are compañero Herman
Bell and the spiritual leader of the Native Americans (the originals)
Leonard Peltier, as well as the Puerto Ricans Carlos Alberto Torres and
Oscar López Rivera.<br><br>
As well, the “faster” might honor the four compañeros of the Black
Liberation Army who died while incarcerated: Kuwasi Balagoon, Bashir
Hameed, Albert Nuh Washington, Teddy Jah Heath. And he might also
remember his brother, the black journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, who has spent
years on death row.<br><br>
Of course, the imperialist and oligarchic press will not mention him, and
as we say amongst ourselves, they’ll look the other way; they’ll shut
their mouths, just as they remained silent about our Five Cuban
antiterrorist brothers, as they’ve remained silent about the rape of
Colombian girls by Yankee soldiers, as they’ve said nothing about Haitian
women marching to protest the abuses committed against them – including
rape – by the Yankee soldiers. Well…they’re black women and dressed
in the garments of poverty.<br><br>
The truth is with the Cuban Revolution and it shall prevail. The
fakers will fall in their own trap.<br><br>
Well, my brother José, I began to write these lines to you some three
days ago, but my father in law fell ill and you know what the deal is
with healthcare in Puerto Rico. The first thing they ask you is not
where it hurts, but how you’re going to pay and go on from there.
You can’t believe how many people die because they can’t pay.<br><br>
Onward, forever!<br><br>
With a warm Caribbean embrace,<br><br>
Rafael Cancel Miranda<br><br>
Machetera is a member of <a href="http://www.tlaxcala.es/">Tlaxcala</a>,
the international network of translators for linguistic diversity. This
translation may be reprinted as long as the content remains unaltered,
and the author and translator are cited.<br><br>
<br><br>
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