>low-income people. We have resisted and not a single one of >those measures was ever used, and those that we did >implement to confront this terribly difficult situation were >discussed with all of the people, not just in our National >Assembly. > >ON CUBA'S ELECTIONS > >We do have a National Assembly--even though many people >ignore it--characterized by a democratic spirit that fills >us with pride because it is the neighbors who put up the >candidates, nominate them for delegates of their districts >and elect them by direct and secret ballot. No candidate is >nominated by the party. They are all freely nom inated by >the district residents--no more than eight and no less than >two candidates from whom one is chosen--and elected on the >basis of their own merits and capacity. > >These district delegates make up the municipal assemblies >and these municipal assemblies, established at the grass >roots level, nominate the candidates to delegates of the >provincial assemblies and the deputies to the National >Assembly. These delegates must also be elected by direct and >secret ballot and must obtain over 50 percent of the votes >cast. Almost half of that National Assembly is made up of >these district delegates who are, as I have explained, >nominated and elected by the people, with no intervention by >our Party. The only role played by the Party is to guarantee >the observation of the procedures set forth in our >Constitution and our laws for the electoral process. > >Nobody needs to spend a penny, not a single one. > >The district candidates campaign together as a group, as do >the candidates to the National Assembly who are nominated in >every municipality, proportionally to the size of each >municipality, although every one must have a minimum of two >deputies in the National Assembly. This is the procedure, >the method we have developed to guarantee the democratic >principle. Yet, as I was telling you, when we adopted >measures to confront the difficult situation of the special >period all were discussed, first of all, at the grassroots >level, with workers, farmers, students and other mass >organizations, at hundreds of thousands of assemblies and >later at the National Assembly. Then, after they had been >studied by the National Assembly, they were sent back to the >grass-roots level for further discussion before their final >adoption by the Assembly. > >These measures protected everyone and guaranteed social >security for all. Among the main measures adopted were taxes >on alcohol, cigarettes and other sumptuary items. Medicines, >food or other essential products were never taxed and >despite everything, we still could ensure a liter of milk a >day for every child up to the age of 7. And do you know how >much the population had to pay for that liter of milk? >Accord ing to the official exchange rate, 1.5 cents of a >U.S. dollar, one and a half cents. > >We still have a ration card and we will maintain it for a >number of foodstuffs. But a pound of rice, which costs >between 12 and 15 cents on the world market--without >including the cost of transportation from distant places, >since we cannot buy it from the country closest to us, and >without including the cost of internal transport, >distribution and the rest--is sold to consumers for just >under one and a half cents. And a pound of beans is sold for >the same price as a liter of milk, 1.5 cents of a dollar. > >In our country, the vast majority of citizens pay 0 cents of >a dollar for the homes they live in because today, as a >result of the revolutionary laws, over 85 percent of homes >are owned by the families who live in them, and they do not >even pay taxes on them. In the remaining homes, located in >out-of-the-way places deemed essential for industry or >services, the tenants pay an extremely low rent or are >granted usufruct of them. > >That is why when people say that someone earns $15 or $20 a >month in Cuba, I say that you have to add X amount for what >they would have to pay for housing if they lived in New >York, X number of dollars for the cost of education, another >X number of dollars for health care, and other rising costs. >I am not saying that we are not poor, or that we do not have >needs; but we have distributed our poverty or resources as >fairly as possible. > >The prices of basic medicines are the same as they were in >1959, over 40 years ago. At that time they were cut by half >because one of the first things the Revolution did was to >lower the price of medicines and those who are administered >these medicines in a hospital do not pay a penny for them. >And if they need a heart transplant, a liver transplant, >other transplants or costly operations or treatments, they >do not pay a penny. This is what the Revolution did for the >people. > >AN OFFER TO TRAIN POOR U.S. MEDICAL STUDENTS > >At the moment there must be over 4,000 students from Latin >America and the Caribbean studying medicine in Cuba, and >that is a conservative estimate. Soon there will be 10,000. >Our country has done this in spite of the blockade and at >absolutely no cost to the students, who are provided with >adequate food and living quarters, laboratory equipment, >textbooks and clothing; and other costs are covered as well, >such as transportation to and from the school. The >invitation was opened to students from all over Latin >America as a way to promote unity, brotherhood and cultural >exchange. > >I recently learned something that really amazed me. We were >visited by some members of the Congressional Black Caucus >and as I was telling a lawmaker from Mississippi about these >programs he said: "Listen, there are a lot of places in my >district where there isn't a single doctor." I said, "What! >Ah, now I see: you are the Third World of the United >States." And I said: "We are prepared to send you a few >doctors free of charge, the same as we do for other >countries of the Third World." > >I suddenly realized the way things really are. You always >hear about how wealthy the United States is, about its gross >domestic product of over $8 trillion, and so on, and >suddenly there I was talking to a respected member of the >U.S. House of Representatives who said that there are not >enough doctors in his district. That is why I said, "We can >send doctors." > >And remembering the schools I immediately added, "And there >is something more: listen, we are prepared to grant a number >of scholarships to poor youth in your district who cannot >afford to pay the $200,000 it costs to get a university >degree." > >The member of the U.S. House of Representatives said to me >that other minorities face the same situation and he told to >me about the Chicanos, about the Indian reservations and >about other parts of the country, and he meant not only to >Latinos and immigrants but also to people born in the United >States. > >I can say here that we are prepared to accept 250 students a >year from the United States' Third World. They will learn >Spanish as well, and they will get to know young people from >all over the hemisphere to whom they will teach all they >know about America and its culture and the others will teach >them about theirs. I already said a figure, 250 scholarships >per year, but for the first pre-med course beginning in >March we could offer 500 to include other minorities. We >would not choose the candidates, they would be selected by >the members of Congress who want to help poor young people >in their districts to study medicine, and these young people >would commit themselves to go back home after they graduate >as doctors. > >ON U.S. SOCIETY > >There are serious social problems even in such a rich >country as this, the richest in the world. I want to mention >some of them. Thirty-six million people, 14 percent of the >population, live below the poverty line, a rate twice as >high as that of other developed countries. Double that of >Europe and Japan. Forty-three million people are not health- >insured and another 30 million have such low medical >coverage that it is practically non-existent. There are 30 >million illiterates and another 30 million functional >illiterates. > >Cuba did not make this up, these are official figures from >international org anizations. Among the Black population the >rate of poverty is over 29 percent; the rate for the whole >population is 14 percent. Among Black children the figure >reaches 40 percent. In some cities and rural areas in the >United States it is over 50 percent. Despite economic >expansion, the poverty rates in America are from two to >three times higher than those in Western Europe, and 22 >percent of American children live in poverty. These are >official figures. > >Only 45 percent of all workers in the private sector have >social security coverage. It is estimated that 13 percent of >the total U.S. population will not live beyond 60 years of >age. Women still earn only 73 percent of what men earn in >comparable jobs and make up 70 percent of part-time workers, >those who have no right to any social benefits. Between 1981 >and 1995, 85 percent of new workers with more than one job >were women. The richest 1 percent of the population, who in >1975 owned 20 percent of the wealth, now owns 36 percent. >And the gap keeps widening. > >There is not one millionaire, not one person who belongs to >the upper middle class, among the 3,600 people sentenc ed to >capital punishment who are now on death row in U.S. prisons. >One might wonder why. You perhaps have a better answer than >I do. I am not accusing anyone, I simply say what is going >on. > >In the whole history of the United States not one single >white man has ever been executed for having raped a Black >woman. Nevertheless, and this is an historical fact, during >the time that rape was considered a capital crime, of the >455 people executed for rape, 405 were Black: that is to >say, nine out of 10. > >A recent study by a non-governmental organization indicates >that Black men have a 13 times greater chance of being given >longer sentences than white men when it comes to drug- >related offenses, although there are five times as many >white men dealing drugs in the United States. > >More than 60 percent of the women in prison in the United >States are African American or Hispanic. > >ON SHAKA AND MUMIA > >You know that our people vigorously condemned the judicial >murder of Shaka Sankofa for a crime he did not commit, >despite the unanimous condemnation of world public opinion >and even that of many governments in the world. I requested >a lot of information, data, and details. I even went as far >as to look at small maps and sketches of the place where the >crime he was accused of was committed. Only one person >claimed to have seen him, at night, from quite a distance, a >quick glance that not even the most sensitive camera could >have recorded, that, and other evidence, led me to believe >in his innocence. I am not saying this because someone >claimed it was true, but because I analyzed all the >information and reached that conclusion. > >A televised round table was held in our country in which >internationally known figures participated. I can see from >here one person who took part in that round table. > >I am equally well aware that for some time now you have been >caught up in a very just struggle, a struggle which our >people also fully support: the struggle for the release of >Mumia Abu-Jamal, a journalist sentenced to death whose >unfair trial has given rise to a giant pro test movement >throughout the world. > >When, as is the case with the African Americans, racial >discrimination is added to social marginality, tens and tens >of millions of people suffer horribly from this injustice, >including those who have never been sentenced to death nor >to prison. Actually, they were born sentenced to be >humiliated every day of their lives. > >I am more or less white. I say more or less because there is >no ethnic group that can claim purity. I visited the United >States in November 1948. I had gone to visit Harvard. I >wanted to study economics. I already had revolutionary ideas >but I wanted to equip myself with more knowledge. > >On the journey back to New York, I traveled in a cheap >second-hand car bought for $200 or $300, one of those sold >for a bit more than they are worth as scrap metal, and I >drove along those highways down to Florida to go on to Cuba >by sea in a ferry. I stopped several times in some places >for lunch, a meal or to buy something. I perceived contempt >more than once, sort of a disparaging attitude just because >I spoke another language or because I was Hispanic. I had >the impression that it was not only certain ethnic groups >that were discriminated against but also people of any other >nationality who spoke a different language. > >Therefore, we could remind those who so hate Cuba, the >Revolution and myself in particular that they should thank >the Revolution every now and then, because without the >Revolution there would not be many Cuban millionaires [in >the U.S.], without the Revolution there would not be a so- >called Cuban American National Foundation, without the >Revolution there would not be Cuban members of the U.S. >Congress, they would not be able to sponsor certain bills, >they would not be courted in the election campaigns, they >would not be granted their every wish even though a large >majority of them do not vote. > >ON ELAIN GOZALEZ > >Eli�n is doing wonderfully. You can hardly imagine what a >happy boy he is, how intelligent he is, what a serious boy >he is, he is really extraordinary. Vast crowds did not >welcome him--just as we said--but only some schoolmates and >his closest relatives. Not one of us, not a single >[Communist] Party or State official was there. The family >spent six minutes greeting those who were there to welcome >them and then immediately left the airport with Eli�n. He >did not miss classes, not even the day he left the United >States. In two months, with his family, his teacher and his >little classmates, he had made extraordinary progress and >later, in Cuba, from June 29 up until July 28, he had >intensive classes together with his classmates who were >here. He graduated on a par with all the other children and >moved up to second grade. > >We can count on the support of the whole population, the >cooperation of all our people not to approach him when he >goes to school, not to shout slogans at him, to treat him >like any other child. He has only appeared on television a >few times, and that is because the people were demanding it. > >He is living in the same modest house where he lived before. >He is studying in the same school, he has the same teachers, >and his same classmates from first grade are still with him >and will be until the fourth grade. Also, in the middle of >this month his father began working in the same modest work >place because that is what he wanted. Not only the little >boy but his father also became very respected in our >country. He resisted all pressures, even when they tried to >buy him out with his son, with promises to return him the >child if he stayed to live in the United States. Millions of >dollars, and he never wavered, not for one second. > >Our people will never forget and will always thank the >American people who spoke out en masse in favor of the >legitimate rights of a father and his son. Once more I said >to myself: the American people are very idealistic, >therefore, for them to support an unjust cause they first >have to be deceived, they have to be made to believe, like >in Vietnam and other places, that that was right. In this >case, they learned the truth due to a variety of factors, >particularly through a million people marching in a struggle >that extended for seven months and which still continues >against the Cuban Adjustment Act, for the victims it >creates. That struggle is also being waged against the >Torricelli Act, the Helms-Burton Act, the blockade and the >economic war. > >ON FIGHTING FOR EQUALITY > >I am not claiming that our country is a perfect model of >equality and justice. We believed at the beginning that when >we established the fullest equality before the law and >complete intolerance for any demonstration of sexual >discrimination in the case of women, or racial >discrimination in the case of ethnic minorities, these >phenomena would vanish from our society. It was some time >before we discovered that marginality and racial >discrimination with it are not something that one gets rid >of with a law or even with 10 laws, and we have not managed >to eliminate them completely, even in 40 years. > >We are aware that there is still marginality in our country. >But there is the will to eradicate it with the proper >methods for this task to bring more unity and equality to >our society. On behalf of my Homeland, I promise to keep you >informed about the progress of our efforts. > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
