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It had
come into being in 1943 as a means of combating Nazi
submarines and protecting navigation routes during the
Second World War. It was decommissioned in 1950, when it
became superfluous. The South Command was designed to meet
the United States' hegemonic needs in our region at the
time. After 48 years, however, it has recently been
resurrected, and its interventionist aims need not be
proved: U.S. military chiefs themselves divulge these in
their declarations in a natural, spontaneous, at times
discrete fashion. Overwhelmed by problems with food prices,
energy, unequal trade, the economic recession which affects
the most important market their products have; inflation,
climate change and the investments required to satisfy their
consumer dreams, they mismanage the time and energy of
leaders and subordinates alike.
Truth is the decision to reassemble the Fourth
Fleet was announced the first week of April, almost a month
after the Ecuadorian territory was attacked with U.S. bombs
and technology and when, owing to U.S. pressures citizens of
different countries were killed or wounded. This was
vigorously condemned by Latin American leaders at the Rio
Group meeting held in the Dominican Republic's capital.
But worst still is that this is taking place at a
time when the dismemberment of Bolivia encouraged by the
United States meets with nearly unanimous condemnation. U.S.
military chiefs themselves have explained they will be
responsible for over 30 countries and for covering 15.6
million square miles of neighboring waters in both Central
and South America, the Caribbean Sea and its 12 islands,
Mexico and the European territories this side of the
Atlantic.
The United States has 10 Nimitz aircraft
carriers whose parameters, more or less similar, are the
following: maximum load capacity of between 101 and 104
thousand tons; 999-feet-long and 230.4-feet-wide deck; 2
nuclear reactors; maximum speed of 35 miles/hour; capacity
for 90 war planes. The last to be commissioned bears the
name of George H.W. Bush, the current president's
father. It has already been baptized with a bottle of
champagne by the progenitor himself and should be ready to
join the other vessels in coming months.
No other country in the world can boast of a vessel
like these, equipped with sophisticated nuclear weapons,
able to get within a few miles of any of our countries. The
next aircraft carrier to be commissioned, the USS Gerald
Ford, will be a new type of vessel which employs stealth
technologies that cannot be detected by radars and
electromagnetic weapons. The main manufacturer of the two
types of vessels is Northrop Grumman, whose current
president is also a member of the board of directors of the
U.S. oil company Chevron-Texaco. The last Nimitz cost
six million dollars. This did not include the cost of the
planes, projectiles or operations, which can reach figures
in the billions. It sounds like a science fiction story.
With that money, the lives of millions of children could
have been saved.
What is the declared objective of the 4th
Fleet? "To combat terrorism and illegal activities such as
drug trafficking", not to mention sending a message to
Venezuela and the rest of the region. It has been announced
that it will begin operations next July 1st.
Head of the South Command U.S. Navy Admiral James
Stavrides has stated that the United States needs to work
harder in “the market of ideas, to win over the hearts and
minds” of the people in the region.
The United States has already deployed the Second,
Third, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh fleets in the Western
Atlantic, Eastern Pacific, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean,
Eastern Atlantic and Western Pacific Oceans. The Fourth
Fleet was needed to patrol all the seas worldwide. The
United States has a total of nine Nimitz aircraft
carriers, active or nearly ready for combat, such as the
George H.W. Bush. It has sufficient reserves to triple
or quadruple the power of any of its fleets in a given
theater of operations.
The aircraft carriers and nuclear bombs our
countries are threatened with serve to spread terror and
death, but not to combat terrorism and illegal activities.
They should also serve to fill the empire's lackeys
with shame and strengthen solidarity among the peoples.
Fidel
Castro Ruz
May 4,
2008
8:46 p.m.
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