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Perhaps
some governments are unaware of the concrete facts, and so
for that reason Raúl’s message setting Cuba’s position
seemed to us to be very timely. I shall be generous in the
aspects that cannot be dealt with in a brief and precise
official statement.
The government of Georgia would never have launched its
armed forces against the capital of the Autonomous Republic
of South Ossetia in the dawn of August 8th,
engaged in what it called the re-establishing of
constitutional order, without previous coordination with
Bush who, last month in Bucharest, committed to support
President Saakashvili for Georgia’s admission to NATO; that
is like plunging a sharpened dagger deep into Russia’s
heart. Many European states that are members of that
military organization are seriously concerned about the
irresponsible manipulation of the nationalities issue,
fraught with potential conflict, which within Great Britain
itself might result in the disintegration of the United
Kingdom. This is how Yugoslavia was dismantled: Tito’s
efforts to avoid it proved useless after his death.
What need was there to light the powder keg of the
Caucasus? How often is the jug taken to the well before it
shatters? Russia continues to be a strong nuclear power. It
has thousands of such weapons. On the other hand, I must
recall that the Western economy illegally siphoned out more
than 500 billion dollars from that country. If Russia today
is no longer a Communist threat and it no longer has more
than 400 nuclear launching-pads directly aimed at Europe’s
military and strategic targets since they were dismantled
after the demise of the USSR, why do they seem determined to
surround it with a nuclear shield? The old continent also
needs peace.
The Russian troops stationed in South Ossetia were sent
there on an internationally recognized peace mission: they
were not shooting wantonly.
Why did Georgia choose August 8th, at the time
the Olympic Games were being opened in Beijing, to occupy
Tskhinvali, the capital of the Autonomous Republic? On that
day, four billion people on the entire planet were watching
on television the marvelous spectacle with which China was
opening those games. Only the American people could not
enjoy a live broadcast of the exciting festival of
friendship among all the people of the world that was staged
there. The monopoly over the broadcasting rights had been
bought by a television channel that had paid 900 million
dollars and wanted to earn maximum commercial dividends for
every minute of broadcasting time. The rival corporations
got even by covering news of the war in the Caucasus since
this was nobody’s exclusive. The dangers of a serious
conflict were threatening the world.
Bush did enjoy the spectacle as an official guest. On
Sunday the 10th, two and a half days later, he
could still be seen waving flags, pretending to be a
champion of peace and preparing to delight in the victories
of the excellent American athletes, those which his eyes,
accustomed to besmirching everything, were looking upon as
the symbol of the power and superiority of his empire. In
his moments of leisure, he held long conversations with his
officials in Washington, threatened Russia and encouraged
the humiliating speeches against that country given by the
representative of the United States in the UN Security
Council.
Some of the countries that had made up the socialist bloc or
been part of the USSR itself are today acting as United
States protectorates. Their governments, driven by a
reckless hatred for Russia, --such as the case of Poland and
the Czech Republic-- aligned themselves in positions of
absolute support for Bush and for the surprise attack on
South Ossetia by Saakashvili, an adventurer with a bizarre
background who was born under Socialism in Tbilisi, the
capital of the country, graduated as a lawyer from a Kiev
university and took postgraduate courses in Strasburg, New
York and Washington. He was a practicing lawyer in New York
City. He comes off as a Westernized Georgian, greedy and
opportunistic. He returned to his country supported by the
Yankees and then went fishing in the tempestuous river of
the USSR disintegration. He was elected President of Georgia
in January 2004.
Following the United States and Great Britain, that is the
country with most soldiers in the Iraqi war adventure; and
not precisely out of internationalist sentiment. When Cuba,
throughout almost two decades, sent hundreds of thousands of
combatants to fight for independence and against colonialism
and apartheid in Africa, they were not seeking fuel,
raw materials or capital gains: they were volunteers. Thus
our steel-like principles were forged. What are Georgian
soldiers doing in Iraq if not supporting a war which has
cost that people hundreds of thousands of lives and millions
of victims? What ideals are they defending there? It is
only natural that people from South Ossetia do not wish to
be sent as soldiers to fight in Iraq or in other parts of
the planet at the behest of imperialism.
Saakashvili, on his own, would never have jump to the
adventure of sending the Georgian army into South Ossetia,
where he would be clashing with Russian troops stationed
there as a peace force. A nuclear war is not something to
fool around with; and providing cannon fodder to the market
cannot be rewarded.
This reflection was already drafted when Bush spoke at 5:30
p.m. Cuban time. But none of what he said changes what we
are analyzing here: if only the U.S. government media war
is today even much more intense. It is the same
prefabricated maneuver that fools no-one.
The Russians have very clearly stated that the withdrawal of
the invaders to their positions prior to the conflict is the
only decent solution possible. Let’s hope that the Olympic
Games can continue without interruption by a very serious
crisis. The women’s volleyball match with a good U.S. team
was great and baseball has yet to begin.
Fidel
Castro Ruz
August
11, 2008
6:21
p.m. |
