Cuba

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Cuba Customs neutralizes more border infractions
By: Lisandra Romeo Matos

December 14, 2017


customs-drugThe General Customs of the Republic of Cuba ( AGR ) neutralized 29,916 infractions at the border until November 2017 , five thousand 663 more than the previous year, informed sources from that body today.

At a press conference, Camilo Barrios, director of the AGR Showdown, attributed the increase in violations to the increase in visitors to the country, air operations and cruises, and the entry of yachts to international marinas, among other causes.

According to the official, there were increasing attempts to introduce means that affect security, in addition to drug trafficking operations and for personal consumption, the detection of printed materials with subversive content, and the importation activity persisted with commercial character.

Barrios specified that there were 94 cases of drugs - the highest figure in the last five years - with 57.3 kilograms of narcotics insured until November of the current calendar.

Of the total of events, 38 were related to traffic and 56 to consumption , the executive explained, while he drew attention to the fact that in addition to the José Martí International Airport, there were also incidents in the Juan Gualberto Gómez, in Matanzas, and the Frank País, of Holguín.

According to Barrios, an attempt was made to introduce the drug impregnated in sheets of paper, ingested (the most common form), adhered to the body, as well as in food, luggage compartments and inside an air conditioning unit.

Regarding security infractions, he specified that 471 cases were reported , of which only one related to two firearms, while in the rest of the detections there were cartridges for sport hunting, telescopic peepholes, fulminans, mittens and devices. with electric shock.

Barrios added that there were three thousand 283 events involving more than five thousand satellite equipment and accessories with possibilities for connection and transmission of data remotely, including NanoStation, routers, switches and other wireless media.

In the case of commercial infractions, the official specified that up to the eleventh month of the calendar , 811 cases had been detected to try to introduce or remove motorcycle and car parts, birds, tobacco and contraceptive tablets by border, in addition to a sum of 50 thousand Swiss francs.

During the press conference, details of the work developed by Customs during the current year, as well as the projections for 2018, were offered.

http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2017/ ... jP8w_CnHtQ

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An industry of "pure" Cuban rhythm
A report presented in 2017 by the Center for Research and Development of Cuban Music indicated that the institutional system promotes the formation of more than 16,000 musicians throughout the Island in different ways.

Author: Yaditza del Sol González | yadidelsol@granma.cu

Author: Lissy Rodríguez Guerrero | internet@granma.cu

December 20, 2017 23:12:46


Cuban music transcends its ability to set an international benchmark. Photo: Yaimí Ravelo

The guy with the headphones in the bus. The fortyish neighbor who turns the volume up to the Van Van to do the Saturday cleaning in the house. The troubadour who rips with his fingers the strings of a guitar ... Each and every one share the same thing: music as a consubstantial element in their lives.

Because music, for Cubans, is more than simple chords and instruments. Maybe not all of us will enjoy the talent and the ability to create a son or a rumba, but from Congo and Carabali we have to feel it, to dance it. And it is precisely this mixture of African rhythms, plus the Spanish and even Asian heritage that accumulate in the repertoire, which makes it so diverse and, at the same time, unique.

So it is not surprising that Cuban music also falls in love with other lands, that it will stand up even the most bland, or that it may even become an exportable ruble for the country's economy. After all, here is a lot of creative talent.

With that certainty, deputies of the Commission of Education, Culture, Science, Technology and Environment were in these days of debate in the parliament, on the Cuban music industry as a source of income and instrument in the battle for an antihegemonic cultural diversity , as expressed Jorge Gómez, director of the Moncada group.

Because of its virtuosity, creativity and versatility, Cuban music is one of the largest in the world, said the director of the group, and is characterized by the ability to create universal references, as well as its competitiveness and potential to enter successfully. to the international market.

Although our musicians do not have the most sophisticated instruments - the artist valued - it is a fact that their live performances are sometimes studied by outstanding performers and the quality of the productions has forced major international events, such as the Grammy, to nominate our artists.

With concrete examples, the representative of Moncada said that the explosion of Cuban music is something that everyone is waiting for. "It's the now or never of our industry!" He said, adding that the challenge we are talking about implies the need for a multifactorial and multisectoral approach, which depends not only on the Ministry of Culture and its business entities.

That is why to take on the challenges in that industry, with intelligence and greed, is a priority to which we must bet. Gómez put it in perspective by speaking to the deputies about the need to convert the Cubadisco International Fair into a platform for launching Cuban music abroad.

It is also necessary to change the current criteria used to handle the delivery of the Cubadisco awards, said deputy Digna Guerra. Beyond the judgment of the specialists that make up the jury, the Cuban Academy of Record Arts (ACDA) must institutionalize and contribute, in the selection process, the votes of the music makers themselves, he said.

We already had an experience in the last edition of this International Fair, when more than 200 record producers, arrangers, performers, radio DJs, composers and critics, among others, nominated the artists in the different categories, commented the director of the National Choir of Cuba.

The institutionalization of the ACDA would stimulate the launching of the projects and award-winning artists, as a reference for other international academies, he added in conversation with Granma, the director of the Moncada group.


IDENTITY AND TRADITION ... WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT

Precisely for the sake of developing our music industry was presented in the 35th edition of the International Fair of Havana the project Strengthening competitiveness, organizational performance and export capacity of the Cuban music industry, signed in June 2016 by the Organization of the United Nations for Industrial Development (Onudi) and the Ministry of Culture.

In this space Mario Escalona Serrano, general director of the Egrem, and also national director of the project, said that one year after his signature the most important result is that a collective thought work has been achieved, and such synergies will allow actions to be taken. , for example, to strengthen the management of intellectual property and the promotion within the academic program of topics such as marketing, event production, finance and others.

In the development of the Cuban musical potential, a fundamental role is also played by the system of artistic education, to which the country "dedicates more than 80 million pesos each year, many of them in currency," said Abel Acosta, vice minister of Culture. , because the academy is the platform from which new talent emerges.

Undoubtedly one of the challenges that this industry has is to adapt to the digital era and take advantage of the advantages offered by technologies, which in the case of Cuba are not being exploited to the maximum, partly also because the distribution of digital music is limited for a connectivity issue and the non-existence of an integrated platform of its own that allows downloading these musical files to the internal public.

However, there are record labels that have taken significant steps to insert themselves, at least, in the international market. According to Granma, Ela Ramos Rodríguez, general director of Bis Music, the digital commerce of Cuban music is a gateway to export our sound and also receive a profit. For example, Bis Music has its entire catalog placed on international platforms and the contents are promoted from social networks, while digital sales represent almost 70% of its revenues for the record company.

The biggest challenge we have in this sense is that Cuban music reaches the big diffusing centers. Through some projects, such as the Onudi, the mechanisms of entry of our albums and artists to these renowned record companies will be favored, without ever renouncing the tradition and solidity of our musical values.

A criterion that Abel Prieto, Minister of Culture, also shared in the parliament, when expressing that we are obliged to look for market niches and strategic alliances, but without making concessions, or betraying the essence of our art.

http://www.granma.cu/cultura/2017-12-20 ... 7-23-12-46

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a succinct graphic:



but none of this matters cause they ain't got Netflix

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The new United States Strategy: projections towards Our America
Presented by its president Donald Trump, it defends its nationalist electoral platform of "United States First", which has meant in practice "The First Military-Industrial Complex" aimed at retaking global hegemony

Author: Abel González Santamaría | internet@granma.cu

December 28, 2017 22:12:55

Less than a year after assuming the White House, President Donald Trump released the new National Security Strategy of the United States on December 18, 2017. In presenting the document, the US president said that his country has entered a "new era of rivalry," in which its leadership is threatened by Russia and China, although "it will try to build good relations of cooperation with all countries."

This document constitutes the strategic guide of the foreign policy and security that the US government will have for the coming years. Politicians, analysts and academics from around the world try to evaluate its content of 68 pages, in order to determine the implications it will have for their countries and regions. The National Security Act of 1947 states that these reports have a public version and a "classified" version.

Since 1986 the public version began to be disclosed without access restrictions, so we are in the presence of a carefully crafted Strategy that exposes the vision that the United States government wants to impose on the rest of the nations. On this occasion an attempt is made to define a "Trump doctrine" for its foreign and security policy, which has a marked imperialist character. The document presented defends its nationalist electoral platform

«United States First», which has meant in practice «The First Military-Industrial Complex» aimed at retaking global hegemony.


THE «FOUR PILLARS» OF THE STRATEGY

It identifies four vital national interests or "four pillars" that the United States will have for the coming years, which ratify the militarist course of the current government. According to the document, they are summarized in:

I. Protect the people, the homeland and the American way of life: Strengthen border control and reform the immigration system to protect the country and restore sovereignty. They will confront threats before they reach the border or can cause harm to the population.

II. Promote American prosperity: They will renew the economy for the benefit of workers and companies in the country, which is necessary to restore national power. They will work towards free, fair and reciprocal economic relations. They will use their domain in the energy area to ensure that international markets remain open.

Both pillars present it with a seemingly noble approach, but with a strong demagogic charge. In their broad argument in the document, they try to justify discriminatory policies against minorities that contribute to the US economy, and instigate the practices and feelings of xenophobia that divide US society.

III. Preserve peace through the use of force: Rebuild the American military fortress to ensure that there is no greater one. They will use all state tools in a new era of strategic competence-diplomatically, informally, militarily and economically-to protect their interests. They will modernize the nuclear forces and their infrastructure.

IV. Boosting US influence: They must continue to deepen influence abroad to protect the American people and boost prosperity. Diplomatic and development actions will strive to achieve better results in all areas - bilateral, multilateral and information - to defend their interests, find new economic opportunities and face their competitors.

In these last two national interests it is reaffirmed that the use of force will maintain its pre-eminence, combined with its strategy of "public diplomacy". The objective they propose to modernize the nuclear forces and their infrastructure is dangerous for international peace. In the introduction of the report, Trump said that "they are making historical investments in the army", in correspondence with the law that signed a week ago that allocated 700 billion dollars to the Pentagon budget for fiscal year 2018.


APPROACH TO LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

The region is evaluated in the section devoted to the "Western Hemisphere", focusing on alleged threats to security and attacking Cuba and Venezuela. It is claimed that "democratic" states linked by shared economic values ​​and interests will be able to "reduce violence, drug trafficking and illegal immigration that threaten our common security, and limit opportunities for adversaries to operate from areas of proximity to us," in reference to Russia and China, identified in the Strategy as the main threats of the United States.

They point out that challenges remain such as transnational criminal organizations, which "perpetuate violence and corruption and threaten the stability of Central American states, including Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador."

Regarding Cuba and Venezuela, they point out that "governments cling to anachronistic authoritarian leftist models that continue to fail their peoples." They add that Russia continues to support its "radical Cuban allies, while Cuba continues to repress its citizens" and that China and Russia support the "dictatorship" in Venezuela, in frank manipulation of the respectful and collaborative relations that exist between our countries.

They also invite to build with the United States, "a stable and peaceful hemisphere that increases economic opportunities for all, improves governance, reduces the power of criminal organizations and limits the malign influence of non-hemispheric forces." They also project a group of actions to prioritize in the political, economic, military and security in the region.

They propose "to isolate the governments that refuse to act as responsible partners in advancing hemispheric peace and prosperity," adding the desire to see Cuba and Venezuela join "the shared freedom and prosperity" of the rest of the hemisphere. They refer that the United States will promote more economic reforms based on the "free market" and will continue supporting efforts to fight crime.

Again they treat their neighboring countries with contempt, ignoring the values ​​and culture of their peoples. The document is a true cookbook of imperial "humility" in the style of the Monroe Doctrine and the Cold War confrontation. It also demonstrates the low priority that apparently give to our region, by dedicating a single page of the report. However, one can not underestimate the aggressive and disrespectful rhetoric against Cuba and Venezuela, without recognizing in the least their contribution to guarantee regional peace and security, much less their social achievements.

Given the risks and threats contemplated in the Strategy, the Cuban people will maintain its socialist course and will continue to defend the Martí and Fidelista thought of a united "America of ours". This was stated by Army General Raul Castro Ruz, on December 21, 2017, at the close of the X Ordinary Period of Sessions of the VIII Legislature of the National Assembly of Popular Power: "the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have the duty to advance towards the political, economic and social integration of Our America. As I have stated in various forums, working for "unity within diversity" is an urgent need ».

Regarding the retreat of relations with the United States, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Councils of State and Ministers, made it clear that our country is not responsible and ratified that "Cuba has the Willingness to continue negotiating pending bilateral issues with the United States, based on equality and respect for the sovereignty and independence of our country, and to continue the respectful dialogue and cooperation on issues of common interest with the US government. " . However, he affirmed an unquestionable reality: "The Cuban Revolution has resisted the attacks of 11 US administrations of different sign and here we are and we will be, free, sovereign and independent."

http://www.granma.cu/mundo/2017-12-28/l ... 7-22-12-55

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At the epicenter of the urgent
The target of the priorities is well defined and it situates, right at the center, the recovery from the damages caused by the hurricanes Irma and Matthew

Author: Yudy Castro Morales | yudy@granma.cu

December 29, 2017 00:12:59


Photo: Miguel Febles Hernández

Economically speaking, 2018 will also be, as already said, a complex year, marked by the results of the 12 months that almost culminate, by the financial tensions that persist and the hostile shadow of the blockade.

The challenge is then to comply with "the main priorities within the priorities", as the vice president of the Council of Ministers and head of Economy and Planning, Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, recently said. And it is also to keep an eye on the efficient use of available resources, an issue that continues to be reflected in the fiscal year.

The target of the priorities is well defined and it situates, right at the center, the recovery from the damages caused by the hurricanes Irma and Matthew. Not leaving anyone helpless, rather than priority, is an inviolable principle that has brought us here.

And we must put all our efforts into those investments associated with development, infrastructures and the strengthening of foreign exchange earnings. Therefore, the Tourism Program, the Mariel Special Development Zone, the advancement of rail transport and renewable sources of energy, as well as the support of the National Electric System and the expansion of storage capacities, come to be located in the same way. mode, at the epicenter of the urgent.

The production of food is also close, in order to satisfy the national demand and the growth of tourism, the assurance of the sugar harvest, and support for industrial activity in terms of steel, cement, hygiene and cleaning products, packaging, construction materials, spare parts and equipment.

The sustainability of basic services to the population such as health, education, culture and passenger transport, among others, rather than integrating the group of priorities, is a commitment of Cuba with its people, which is, without doubt, the most valuable of our social project.

And in the list of what can not be postponed, the hydraulic programs for water saving and the confrontation to drought, as well as the actions derived from the Life Task, could not be omitted; nor would it be possible to exclude insurance for the basic table of medicines, both domestic and imported.

Likewise, ensuring the highest possible level of supply in the retail and wholesale markets, with an emphasis on the products with the greatest demand from the population and in those that guarantee compliance with activity levels, is among all that we will have to do with that we have, or with what we can.

But not by well defined the path of the priority, we can underestimate the transit. "The above objectives will be achievable to the extent that we are able to achieve, according to the country's top management, sustainable levels of income, investments and debts, and to maintain the principle of not assuming commitments that we can not honor at maturity. »

Nor would it be possible to "renounce the development programs that are underway and that are guaranteed funding", and it is essential "to carry out with intentionality the adjustments made to the plan of the Economy".

The aim is "to ensure compliance with the expected income from exports of goods and services and to advance in the promotion of new exportable items, to eliminate unnecessary expenses in all activities, to be extremely demanding in the rational use of energy carriers, to guarantee efficient management of operational inventories, and avoid paying salaries without productive support ».

And it is, above all, not to let us be surprised, in their wait, the priorities.

http://www.granma.cu/economia-con-tinta ... 7-00-12-59

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The world looks to the East
The impressive development achieved by the countries of the Asian continent in recent years has resulted in a greater global influence, thus allowing us to envisage a change in the international power balance

Author: Iramsy Peraza Forte | informacion@granma.cu

january 5, 2018 11:01:19


The Asia-Pacific region has become one of the engines of the global economy. Photo: AFP

THE world is increasingly looking toward the East and not by chance. The impressive development achieved by the countries of the Asian continent in recent years has resulted in a greater global influence, thus allowing us to envisage that the “longed-for” power balance in the international political arena could come very soon.

If anything has been reaffirmed in 2017, it is the ability of Asian nations to dispute the supremacy enjoyed by the traditional powers for centuries.

The rapid development and good health of economies such as those of China, India, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, and Indonesia, among others, confirm that the Far East is one of the main engines of international economic growth.

A common point among most of these states is the search for ways to minimize the onslaught of continuous financial crises.

Experts also note a series of measures to manage foreign capital investments and boost their industrial development, which, while involving high social costs that are still being paid today, have made the region a key talking point in discussions on the direction in which the global balance of power could move in the near future.

KEY POINTS

In terms of each individual country, there were many events that marked the Asian continent over 2017.

The escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula was the subject of ongoing debate faced with the possible outbreak of a nuclear war.

The territory shared by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea was once again rife with Washington’s threats of an attack on Pyongyang and the mobilization of a strategic military arsenal to the region, while the DPRK responded with successive nuclear tests of a “self-defense” nature.

Since President Donald Trump entered the White House, the situation has worsened and the sanctions against the DPRK have not ceased. Trump insists on maintaining pressure against the Asian nation, first by again including the territory on the State Department list of countries sponsoring terrorism, and then with the introduction of new punitive measures.

Pyongyang, meanwhile, has reiterated the self-defensive nature of its nuclear program that would seek to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity in case of an attack.

The international community has called on both sides to resolve their conflicts peacefully and through dialogue, in order to avoid a situation that would be catastrophic for all humanity.

Very close by, in Beijing, the state of affairs was very different and leaders of some twenty countries met in the first edition of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, with the purpose of sharing China’s development opportunities and aspiring to combined growth.

This was the highest profile event since China launched this initiative to build a new economic belt connecting Asia, Africa, and Europe.

In the spirit of “peace, cooperation, openness, transparency, inclusiveness, equality, mutual learning, mutual benefit, and mutual respect,” which characterized the ancient trade routes by which silk and other goods traveled from East to West, the more than one hundred countries and institutions participating in this project committed to consolidate this road to economic interconnection, which is expected to cover more than 60% of the world’s population and a third of global production.

While promoting investments in infrastructure to facilitate connections is the prime vision of this initiative, today the nations surrounding the Silk Road Economic Belt are already committing to greater challenges, and seeking to implement a new type of cooperation led by high technologies and the production of high added value.

The Chinese capital was also host this year to one of the most important events of this second world power, the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The event, the most important of the political life of the Asian giant, held every five years, represented the beginning of a new stage in which China will seek to materialize its goal of building a modern and modestly well-off society and a strong socialist power.

During the Congress, amendments were made to the CPC statutes, to adapt to current times, and the thought of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the organization and President of the country, on socialism with Chinese characteristics of the new era, was included in the Party Constitution, as a guide for action alongside Marxism-Leninism.

The new vision, backed by more than 2,300 delegates, aims to guide the Chinese people toward their goals of political, economic, and social development, while continuing the path of Marxism, communism, and essential socialist values.

However, 2017 was not only full of successes in this part of the world. A series of strong weather events overshadowed the region, which suffered the loss of some 1,300 lives due to floods alone, leaving almost 41 million homeless.

Nations such as Vietnam, the Philippines, and Japan faced the damage left by strong typhoons and tropical storms.

Vietnam, for example, was hit by 16 typhoons this year, resulting in 375 dead, 636 injured, and material losses of 2.3 billion dollars.

IN FIGURES:

The Asia-Pacific region saw 5% economic growth in 2017
Total GDP: 22.48 trillion dollars
Total population: 4.462 billion inhabitants
The region contributes 50% of global trade

http://en.granma.cu/mundo/2018-01-05/th ... o-the-east

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Habaneros wade through floodwaters near El Malecón after Hurricane Irma

Cuba embarks on a 100-year plan to protect itself from climate change
By Richard StoneJan. 10, 2018 , 1:24 PM

On its deadly run through the Caribbean last September, Hurricane Irma lashed northern Cuba, inundating coastal settlements and scouring away vegetation. The powerful storm dealt Havana only a glancing blow; even so, 10-meter waves pummeled El Malecón, the city’s seaside promenade, and ravaged stately but decrepit buildings in the capital’s historic district. “There was great destruction,” says Dalia Salabarría Fernández, a marine biologist here at the National Center for Protected Areas (CNAP).

As the flood waters receded, she says, “Cuba learned a very important lesson.” With thousands of kilometers of low-lying coast and a location right in the path of Caribbean hurricanes, which many believe are intensifying because of climate change, the island nation must act fast to gird against future disasters.

Irma lent new urgency to a plan, called Tarea Vida, or Project Life, adopted last spring by Cuba’s Council of Ministers. A decade in the making, the program bans construction of new homes in threatened coastal areas, mandates relocating people from communities doomed by rising sea levels, calls for an overhaul of the country’s agricultural system to shift crop production away from saltwater-contaminated areas, and spells out the need to shore up coastal defenses, including by restoring degraded habitat. “The overarching idea,” says Salabarría Fernández, “is to increase the resilience of vulnerable communities.”

But the cash-strapped government had made little headway. Now, “Irma [has] indicated to everybody that we need to implement Tarea Vida in a much more rapid way,” says Orlando Rey Santos, head of the environment division at Cuba’s Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment (CITMA) here, which is spearheading the project. The government aims to spend at least $40 million on Project Life this year, and it has approached overseas donors for help. Italy was the first to respond, pledging $3.4 million to the initiative in November 2017. A team of Cuban experts has just finished drafting a $100 million proposal that the government plans to submit early this year to the Global Climate Fund, an international financing mechanism set up under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Many countries with vulnerable coastlines are contemplating similar measures, and another island nation—the Seychelles— has offered to collaborate on boosting coastal protection in Cuba. But Project Life stands out for taking a long view: It intends to prepare Cuba for climatological impacts over the next century. “It’s impressive,” says marine scientist David Guggenheim, president of Ocean Doctor, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., that has projects in Cuba. “Cuba is an unusual country in that they actually respect their scientists, and their climate change policy is science driven.”

Rising sea levels pose the most daunting challenge for Cuba. Over the past half-century, CITMA says, average sea levels have risen some 7 centimeters, wiping out low-lying beaches and threatening marsh vegetation, especially along Cuba’s southern midsection. The coastal erosion is “already much worse than anyone expected,” Salabarría Fernández says. Storms drive the rising seas farther inland, contaminating coastal aquifers and croplands.

Still worse is in store, even in conservative scenarios of sea-level rise, which forecast an 85-centimeter increase by 2100. According to the latest CITMA forecast, seawater incursion will contaminate nearly 24,000 square kilometers of land this century. About 20% of that land could become submerged. “That means several percent of Cuban land will be underwater,” says Armando Rodríguez Batista, director of science, technology, and innovation at CITMA.

To shore up the coastlines, Project Life aims to restore mangroves, which constitute about a quarter of Cuba’s forest cover. “They are the first line of defense for coastal communities. But so many mangroves are dying now,” Salabarría Fernández says. Leaf loss from hurricane-force winds, erosion, spikes in salinity, and nutrient imbalances could all be driving the die-off, she says.

Coral reefs can also buffer storms. A Cuban-U.S. expedition that circumnavigated the island last spring found that many reefs are in excellent health, says Juliett González Méndez, a marine ecologist with CNAP. But at a handful of hot spots, reefs exposed to industrial effluents are ailing, she says. One Project Life target is to squelch runoff and restore those reefs.

Another pressing need is coastal engineering. Topping Cuba’s wish list are jetties or other wave-disrupting structures for protecting not only the iconic Malecón, but also beaches and scores of tiny keys frequented by tourists whose spending is a lifeline for many Cubans. Cuba has appealed to the Netherlands to lend its expertise in coastal engineering.

Perhaps the thorniest element of Project Life is a plan to relocate low-lying villages. As the sea invades, “some communities will disappear,” Salabarría Fernández says. The first relocations under the initiative took place in October 2017, when some 40 families in Palmarito, a fishing village in central Cuba, were moved inland.

Other communities may not need to pull up stakes for decades. But Cuban social scientists are already fanning out to those ill-fated villages to educate people on climate change and win them over on the eventual need to move. That’s an easier sell in the wake of a major hurricane, Rodríguez Batista says. “Irma has helped us with public awareness,” he says. “People understand that climate change is happening now.”

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/01/ ... ate-change

bolding added -->Socialism or Barbarism!

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Precious water
Cuba's new Water Law is focused on protecting water resources, with rational, efficient use

Author: Yisel Martínez | informacion@granma.cu

january 15, 2018 16:01:51


Photo: Raidel Rodríguez

Water, a natural resource indispensable to human development, is employed in dissimilar activities, and its efficient use depends on correct management and rational usage. This is a goal Cuba has been working on for years, and was precisely the purpose of the country's new Terrestrial Waters Law, which has been under development since 2013 and was approved this past November 16, 2017.

Given the colonial history of the island, the first laws governing terrestrial waters came from Spain. The first, in fact, was called the Law of Spanish Waters (1871-1891).

With the triumph of the Revolution, Decree-Law 138 emerged in 1991. Many of its articles, however, were out of step with the situation Cuba faced during the Special Period, which was just beginning. Thus, over subsequent years it became that necessary to issue judicial norms to address the legislative vacuum existent in the country in regards to the issue.

The National Water Policy, approved in 2012, provided the lead-up to the most recent law, with a view toward comprehensive, sustainable management of terrestrial waters - a necessary step that allowed the legal framework to better serve the country's projections.

Since then, many were involved in creating the law: Central State Administration, the country's largest consumers, specialists from the National Institute of Water Resources, and other experts in the field.

"Proposals were submitted to different levels; the opinions of these persons were taken into account; changes were made and the draft was circulated in both the enterprise sector and government, represented in our case by delegations.

"The meetings with the National Assembly were very enriching. First a video-conference was held, in which the proposal was presented, and later meetings were scheduled throughout the national territory, in which deputies from the provinces participated, specialists from university centers, technical and enterprise arenas.

"Lastly, the opportunity was provided, for any one who wished to give their opinion via email," said Edilberto Pérez Blanco, lawyer and advisor from the National Water Institute's legal directorate.

As a result of this process, some 200 proposals were made and 37.7% of the original document was modified, taking into consideration suggestions made, many of which were incorporated into the law.

"It is a modern law, that not only takes into account the experienced gained over this time period in water management, but also addresses international commitments, such as meeting the 2030 Development Goals, the approval of Resolution 64 related to potable water, its purification as a human right, and all that is happening in the country directed toward perfecting legal norms," explained Pérez Blanco.

This law, he said, addresses the issue of supply, and incorporates the concept of comprehensive, sustainable management related to the impact of human activity on waters. An important element is that public services are assured water supplies at required levels, to minimize negative impacts on the population, viewing water as a resource for all.

Pérez continued saying, "The responsible use of water is being taken into consideration, in addition to the consequences and impacts that occur in different spheres of life. The law also attempts to reconcile humans with nature, taking into account adaptation to climate change."

Incorporated into the new law are protection of water resources; productivity and economic development; annual allotment plans; and recognition of the country's principal basins. Likewise addressed are ways water resources are used in the country; management of precipitation; the system of reservoirs; and flood control.

Pérez explained that the regimen included describes water quality and quantities available, to make projections possible, along with results from periodic studies of rainfall, resources and other issues that "contribute to better management and use of the resource."

Likewise, the roles of several different entities are addressed in the law. For example, licenses from the Ministry of Interior for navigation on lakes and rivers are defined, and in terms of fees, since this is a centralized process in Cuba, the Ministry of Finances and Prices, as well as the Council of Ministers, are involved. The allotment plan, on the other hand, in which planning water usage as required is addressed, the Ministry of Economy and Planning is called upon to participate.

"As studies were done, we sought to complement other legislation on the topic, and to include some principles related to the management of terrestrial waters," he continued.

The new law includes regulations that define steps to be taken to fulfill certain requirements established, Pérez stated, "Among these we can find how to obtain authorization to use water supply infrastructure. Who are the authorities one must seek out; the documents to be presented for certain permits; document terms of validity; the resources one can use in a given request; how to proceed to cancel an authorization; and many other questions."

According to Pérez Blanco, the law's greatest strength is its practical nature, based in Cuba's reality: "The decree-law took more than 15 years, and the practice, the studies, the international experience - from which we have also learned about water management - allowed us to create a law that addresses the care of water and additionally fits perfectly with the context in which we find ourselves.

Nevertheless, he believes the greatest challenge will be building consciousness, given that the law in fitted to the country and the world's situation, including adaptation to climate change, an accelerating phenomenon. "Protecting the environment is not an obligation of the state, but of all citizens. Pressure must be put on institutions, in the best sense of the word, on the National Institute of Water Resources, on all those implicated, so that this effort has visible results soon," he insisted.

The new Law of Terrestrial Waters arrives as a needed tool to achieve efficient use of this resource. Accomplishing everything it sets out will depend on how the precious liquid is used and the capacity of relevant institutions to manage it.

THREE OBJECTIVES OF THE LAW

- Structure the comprehensive, sustainable management of terrestrial waters as a renewable but limited resource, to serve the general interests of society, the economy, health, and the environment.

- Establish measures to protect terrestrial waters on the basis of planning, conservation, and sustainability, in harmony with socio-economic development and protection of the environment.

- Establish measures for the protection and adaptation of society, the economy, the environment, and terrestrial waters to the negative impact of extreme weather events and climate change."

http://en.granma.cu/cuba/2018-01-15/precious-water

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Sugar workers’ leader Jesús Menéndez Larrondo commemorated
With a solemn march to Manzanillo railway station and a national act, Cubans of several generations paid tribute to the sugar workers’ leader Jesús Menéndez Larrondo, on the 70th anniversary of his assassination

Author: Dilbert Reyes Rodríguez | | informacion@granma.cu

Author: Madeleine Sautié Rodrígue | informacion@granma.cu

january 23, 2018 10:01:39


Jesús Menéndez, oil on cardboard, by Adigio Benítez Gimeno (1958).

With a solemn march to Manzanillo railway station and a national act, Cubans of several generations paid tribute to the sugar workers’ leader Jesús Menéndez Larrondo, on the 70th anniversary of his assassination.

The march was preceded by a solemn rally in front of the Fraternidad del Puerto former trade union premises, to where the angry people moved the body of the proletarian leader, after snatching it from the Rural Guard on the same night of the crime, January 22, 1948.

Before the monolith that remembers the martyr in the exact place where the Captain of the Rural Guard, Joaquín Casillas Lumpuy, ended his life, thousands of workers, students, combatants and others dedicated songs, dances and poems to the labor hero, including the placing of a floral wreath on behalf of the Cuban people by Federico Hernández, Party first secretary in Granma; Orlando Celso García, president of Azcuba, and Ismael Druyet, member of the National Secretariat of the Cuban Workers’ Federation.

Elizabeth Mendoza, a worker at the Enidio Díaz Machado sugar mill, in the municipality of Campechuela, stated that “The best monument we can build is to study more, always better ourselves, be responsible technicians or professionals and achieve efficiency in the sugar sector.”

José Antonio Pérez, secretary general of the National Union of Sugar Workers, affirmed that the ideals and work of Menéndez should be honored in each sugar mill, plantation, production unit and supporting enterprise, with daily efforts to advance the sector.

Meanwhile, in the Havana headquarters of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), tribute was also paid to Menéndez, known as the “General of the Sugar Canes,” following the poem by Nicolás Guillén, a beautiful elegy that immortalized him in verse.

In the brief act organized by the Aponte Commission, the Nicolás Guillén Foundation and UNEAC itself, poet Miguel Barnet, president of the latter, recognized the transcendental values of Jesús Menéndez’s work and recalled the day he was buried and the huge crowd that accompanied him to his final resting place, only comparable to those that attend important acts of the Cuban Revolution. Like Guillén, he also remains alive among us, he concluded.

http://en.granma.cu/cuba/2018-01-23/sug ... mmemorated

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US creates task force to promote ‘internet freedom’ in Cuba
Published time: 24 Jan, 2018 20:25

US creates task force to promote ‘internet freedom’ in Cuba


A teenager looks at his mobile phone as he connects to the internet in Havana, Cuba. © Carlos Barria / Reuters

The US has created a special task force to promote the free flow of information on the internet in Cuba, the State Department announced. The move was decried by Cuban media as an attempt to destabilize the island.

“The Department of State is convening a Cuba Internet Task Force composed of US government and non-governmental representatives to promote the free and unregulated flow of information in Cuba,” the agency said in a statement on Tuesday. “The task force will examine the technological challenges and opportunities for expanding internet access and independent media in Cuba.”

The unit is being put together in line with President Donald Trump’s memorandum on “Strengthening the Policy of the United States Toward Cuba” from June 16, 2017, the State Department said. The task force is scheduled to hold its first public meeting on February 7.

The Cuban Communist Party’s official newspaper, Granma, said the task force is really “aimed at subverting Cuba’s internal order. According to the paper, previously “phrases like promoting ‘freedom of speech’ and ‘expanding access to the internet in Cuba’ have been used by Washington as a pretext for schemes to destabilize the country using new technologies.”

Granma reminded its readers of the ill-fated ZunZuneo messenger, which was dubbed “the Cuban Twitter” when it was introduced in 2010. The US-made app, however, went offline two years later, after media revelations that it spied on its users and was actually aimed at provoking an uprising among the Cuban youth.

The Cuban paper cited a local expert who said “2017 will be remembered as the boom year for the expansion of internet access in our country.” Around 40 percent of Cuba’s 11-million population connected to the internet last year, which is 37 percent more than in 2010, the expert said.

The 500 public wi-fi hotspots across country created by the government registered 250,000 connections every day last year, according to Granma. Cuban authorities say that faster expansion of the internet on the island is hampered by US sanctions.

The US made an effort to mend ties with Cuba under President Barack Obama, as the neighbors reestablish embassies in Havana and Washington in 2014 after a 50-year break. Telecommunications equipment became one of the first exemptions from the US trade embargo, as the Obama administration saw improved internet access in Cuba as a key factor in rapprochement.

However, Trump announced a rollback of his predecessor’s policies towards the Communist island nation. In November, Washington introduced new travel restriction on Cuba for Americans, and barred them from doing business with dozens of stores, hotels, tourist agencies and even rum makers that were allegedly linked to the Cuban military.

https://www.rt.com/usa/416896-cuba-us-i ... ask-force/

This effort will have no great effect but will have some, there's usually some 'low hanging fruit'. From all I've read the Cuban masses are dedicated to socialism. The Chicken Littles who cry that Cuban socialism will fold at first contact with the delusions and bribery of capitalism reflect more upon themselves than the Cuban people.