From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- Original: Spanish > > Key address by Dr. Fidel Castro Ruz, President of the Republic of > Cuba at the World Conference against racism, racial discrimination, > xenophobia and related intolerance > Durban, South Africa. September 1, 2001 > > Excellencies: > > Delegates and guests: > > Racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia are not naturally > instinctive reactions of the human beings but rather a social, > cultural and political phenomenon born directly of wars, military > conquests, slavery and the individual or collective exploitation > of the weakest by the most powerful all along the history of > human societies. > > No one has the right to boycott this Conference which > tries to bring some sort of relief to the overwhelming majority > of mankind afflicted by unbearable suffering and enormous > injustice. Neither has anyone the right to set preconditions to > this conference or urge it to avoid the discussion of historical > responsibility, fair compensation or the way we decide to rate > the dreadful genocide perpetrated, at this very moment, against > our Palestinian brothers by extreme right leaders who, in > alliance with the hegemonic superpower, pretend to be acting on > behalf of another people which throughout almost two thousand > years was the victim of the most fierce persecution, > discrimination and injustice that history has known. > > Cuba speaks of reparations, and supports this idea as > an unavoidable moral duty to the victims of racism, based on a > major precedent, that is, the indemnification being paid to the > descendants of the Hebrew people which in the very heart of > Europe suffered the brutal and loathsome racist holocaust. > However, it is not with the intent to undertake an impossible > search for the direct descendants or the specific countries of > the victims of actions occurred throughout centuries. The > irrefutable truth is that tens of millions of Africans were > captured, sold like a commodity and sent beyond the Atlantic to > work in slavery while 70 million indigenous people in that > hemisphere perished as a result of the European conquest and > colonization. > > The inhuman exploitation imposed on the peoples of > three continents, including Asia, marked forever the destiny and > lives of over 4.5 billion people living in the Third World today > whose poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and health rates as well > as their infant mortality, life expectancy and other calamities > --too many, in fact, to enumerate here-- are certainly awesome > and harrowing. They are the current victims of that atrocity > which lasted centuries and the ones who clearly deserve > compensation for the horrendous crimes perpetrated against their > ancestors and peoples. > > Actually, such a brutal exploitation did not end when > many countries became independent, not even after the formal > abolition of slavery. Right after independence, the main > ideologists of the American Union that emerged when the 13 > colonies got rid of the British domination at the end of the 18th > century, advanced ideas and strategies unquestionably > expansionist in nature. > > It was based on such ideas that the ancient white settlers of > European descent, in their march to the West, forcibly occupied > the lands in which Native-Americans had lived for thousands of > years thus exterminating millions of them in the process. But, > they did not stop at the boundaries of the former Spanish > possessions; consequently Mexico, a Latin American country that > had attained its independence in 1821, was stripped off millions > of square kilometers of territory and invaluable natural > resources. > > Meanwhile, in the increasingly powerful and > expansionist nation born in North America, the obnoxious and > inhumane slavery system stayed in place for almost a century > after the famous Declaration of Independence of 1776 was issued, > the same that proclaimed that all men were born free and equal. > > After the purely formal slave emancipation, African-Americans > were subjected during one hundred more years to the harshest > racial discrimination, and many of its features and consequences > still persist after almost four more decades of heroic struggles > and the achievements of the 1960=92s, for which Martin Luther King, > Jr., Malcolm X and other outstanding fighters gave their lives. > Based on a purely racist rationale, the longest and most severe > legal sentences are passed against African-Americans who in the > wealthy American society are bound to live in dare poverty and > with the lowest living standards. > > Likewise, what is left of the Native-American peoples, which were > the first to inhabit a large portion of the current territory of > the United States of America, remain under even worse conditions > of discrimination and neglect. > > Needless to mention the data on the social and > economic situation of Africa where entire countries and even > whole regions of Sub-Saharan Africa are in risk of extinction the > result of an extremely complex combination of economic > backwardness, excruciating poverty and grave diseases, both old > and new, that have become a true scourge. And the situation is no > less dramatic in numerous Asian countries. On top of all this, > there are the huge and unpayable debts, the disparate terms of > trade, the ruinous prices of basic commodities, the demographic > explosion, the neoliberal globalization and the climate changes > that produce long draughts alternating with increasingly > intensive rains and floods. It can be mathematically proven that > such a predicament is unsustainable. > > The developed countries and their consumer societies, > presently responsible for the accelerated and almost unstoppable > destruction of the environment, have been the main beneficiaries > of the conquest and colonization, of slavery, of the ruthless > exploitation and the extermination of hundreds of millions of > people born in the countries that today constitute the Third > World. They have also reaped the benefits of the economic order > imposed on humanity after two atrocious and devastating wars for > a new division of the world and its markets, of the privileges > granted to the United States and its allies in Bretton-Woods, and > of the IMF and the international financial institutions > exclusively created by them and for them. > > That rich and squandering world is in possession of > the technical and financial resources necessary to pay what is > due to mankind. The hegemonic superpower should also pay back its > special debt to African-Americans, to Native-Americans living in > reservations, and to the tens of millions of Latin American and > Caribbean immigrants as well as others from poor nations, be they > mulatto, yellow or black, but victims all of vicious > discrimination and scorn. > > It is high time to put an end to the dramatic > situation of the indigenous communities in our hemisphere. Their > own awakening and struggles, and the universal admission of the > monstrosity of the crime committed against them make it > imperative. > > There are enough funds to save the world from the > tragedy. > > May the arms race and the weapon commerce that only bring > devastation and death truly end. > > Let it be used for development a good part of the one > trillion US dollars annually spent on the commercial advertising > that creates false illusions and inaccessible consumer habits > while releasing the venom that destroys the national cultures and > identities. > > May the modest 0.7 percentage point of the Gross > National Product promised as official development assistance be > finally delivered. > > May the tax suggested by Nobel Prize Laureate James Tobin be > imposed in a reasonable and effective way on the current > speculative operations accounting for trillions of US dollars > every 24 hours, then the United Nations, which cannot go on > depending on meager, inadequate, and belated donations and > charities, will have one trillion US dollars annually to save and > develop the world. Given the seriousness and urgency of the > existing problems, which have become a real hazard for the very > survival of our specie on the planet, that is what would actually > be needed before it is too late. > > Put and end to the ongoing genocide against the > Palestinian people that is taking place while the world stares in > amazement. May the basic right to life of that people, children > and youth, be protected. May their right to peace and > independence be respected; then, there will be nothing to fear > from UN documents. > > I am aware that the need for some relief from the > awful situation their countries are facing has led many friends > from Africa and other regions to suggest the need for such > prudence as would allow something to come out of this conference. > I sympathize with them but I cannot renounce my convictions, as I > feel that the more candid we are in telling the truth the more > possibilities there will be to be heeded and respected. There > have been enough centuries of deception. > > I have only three other short questions based on > realities that cannot be ignored. > > The capitalist, developed and wealthy countries today > participate of the imperialist system born of capitalism itself > and the economic order imposed to the world based on the > philosophy of selfishness and the brutal competition between men, > nations and groups of nations which in completely indifferent to > any feelings of solidarity and honest international cooperation. > They live under the misleading, irresponsible and hallucinating > atmosphere of consumer societies. Thus, regardless the sincerity > of their blind faith in such a system and the convictions of > their most serious statesmen, I wonder: Will they be able to > understand the grave problems of today=92s world which in its > incoherent and uneven development is ruled by blind laws, by the > huge power and the interests of the ever growing and increasingly > uncontrollable and independent transnational corporations? > > Will they come to understand the impending universal chaos and > rebellion? And, even if they wanted to, could they put an end to > racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other related > issues, which are precisely the rest of them all? > > From my viewpoint we are on the verge of a huge > economic, social and political global crisis. Let=92s try to build > an awareness about these realities and the alternatives will come > up. History has shown that it is only from deep crisis that great > solutions have emerged. The peoples=92 right to life and justice > will definitely impose itself under a thousand different shapes. > > I believe in the mobilization and the struggle of the peoples! I > believe in the idea of justice! I believe in truth! I believe in > man! > > Thank you. > _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
