D-Day, V-Day
and
Beyond
- Iroel Sánchez -
This February 23, it was raining false news:
trucks
crossing the Venezuelan border only on Twitter, and "massive
protests"
in Havana in which two people yelled and no one chanted along.
Several
were filming these two, and among those filming could be heard,
"Viva
la Revolución
Cubana!"
D-Day for the enemies of Cuba and Venezuela first
became D
for 'doubtful' and then D for 'defeat.' For Cuba, as well as
Venezuela, V-day began, for 'victory.' For both nations, the
Cuban people voted overwhelmingly YES in the referendum to
approve the new Constitution on the 24th.
Defeated repeatedly in the latest episode of a
conflict
that
has already lasted 60 years, those who first said that the people
had no interest in debate on the new Constitution, then said that
there was no transparency in the compilation of results from the
popular consultation, and later that no attention would be paid
to the population's proposals, were left without excuses, and now
say that the YES campaign was so overwhelming, that the NO voice
could not be heard.
The truth is that the NO campaign began 10 years
ago,
when
they believed that with Fidel not nominated as head of state, the
time had come for a transition to multi-party capitalism. A
millionaire in Miami offered to finance the process and the
Comandante responded emphatically, "They want to buy us cheap."
One of the millionaire's collaborators confirmed recently, "We
have devoted exactly 10 years to this effort."
The NO campaign proposed a "multi-party" Cuba,
that of
blind
believers in representative democracy, in which the oligarchy
that cannot win organizes a coup, while media and corporate
powers vote on a daily basis for the minority that controls them;
"moderation" of Cuba's foreign policy to be more acceptable to
Washington, whose embassies are behind every anti-democratic
conspiracy in Latin America; and the "unbridled cult of wealth"
that Martí denounced, a far cry from the recognition of
the market and private property included in the new Constitution,
along with "increasingly more just redistribution of wealth." The
campaign's supporters had the opportunity to express themselves
with absolute freedom in the debates, but they were left as a
small minority, because the Party that called for and organized
the consultation is not sectarian, but rather committed to unity.
Just as Fidel defined it:
"Unity means sharing the battle, the dangers, the
sacrifice, the objectives, ideas, concepts, and strategies, which
are
agreed upon via debate and analysis. Unity means the common
struggle
against annexationists, sell-outs, and the corrupt, who have no
relation to a revolutionary militant. This unity around the idea
of
independence and against the empire advancing over the peoples of
Our
America, is what I have always referred to."
Barack Obama worked for the NO vote, declaring
Venezuela "an
unusual, extraordinary threat," and Cuba's principal economic
ally was obliged to reduce its deliveries of oil to Havana by
half. Rubio and Bolton, with Bolsonaro, worked for the NO,
reducing Cuban income earned via medical collaboration, and Mike
Pompeo -- like the sword of Damocles -- reduced the suspension of
the Helms-Burton Act's
Title
III to only 45 days.
Millions and millions for subversion -- $50
million
each year
is the figure publicly reported since Obama's mandate, surpassing
any Cuban national budget -- invested in papering the Internet --
that is accessed on the island with difficulties the U.S.
blockade has contributed significantly to creating -- most
recently to promote the NO vote. As just one example, suffice it
to say that an organization based in Miami, which uses the name
of God to subvert Cuba, received $2,302,464 from the U.S.
government between 2009 and 2017 for "the salvation of a society
lost in oppression and persecution," according to the
Cubamoneyproject site, which also reported the State Department
announcement last week that it is "looking for ideas for new
projects to promote democracy in Cuba." According to the casting
call, "Selected organizations will receive from $500,000 to $2
million to carry out their projects."
The President of the world's most powerful
country gave
the
NO vote a hand, when Donald Trump promised to eliminate socialism
from the Western Hemisphere.
The vote cast in Cuba on February 24 confirmed
the
victory
won the previous day in Venezuela for the dignity of Our America.
Because, in addition to the highly democratic process of
producing the new Cuban Constitution, it is obvious that Cubans
know what would happen if the YES vote had not won, as
overwhelmingly as it did, given that our enemies are trying with
all possible means to get rid of Maduro, who won 67 per cent of
the
popular vote with a bigger turnout than his objectors Trump,
Macri, and Piñera have ever seen.
Whoever may have disagreed honestly, based on
personal
opinion, without being part of an enemy campaign, has no need to
feel defeated. The defeat is only for the enemies of the homeland
and for those who put themselves in the empire's paid service.
The benefits, rights, guarantees, and duties that the new Cuban
Constitution establishes are for everyone, regardless of how they
think or how they voted. Because everyone was called upon and no
one excluded from the open process that created the
Constitution. It does not matter that the umpteenth strategy is
already being implemented, paid for by the usual liars, to
disguise their umpteenth failure. Remember that famous joke,
popular during Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba, in which Fidel
walked on water and one of the counterrevolutionary slanderers
said, "Castro is in a bad way, he can't even swim." With our vote
we have won the right to continue improving our country, to work
to solve our problems, to eliminate our own obstacles, and to
confront those created by others, to do so in peace and with all
Cuban men and women of goodwill, who are the vast majority.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 8 - March 9, 2019
Article Link:
D-Day, V-Day
and
Beyond - Iroel Sánchez
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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