Noam Chomsky latest RHC interview 10-28-2003

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here is an excerpt from Noam Chomsky's latest interview with
Radio Havana Cuba, given at the Palco Hotel on Tuesday.

I'm very grateful to Bernie Dwyer of the station's English
Department for providing the full transcript. An excerpt about
the Cuban Five appears at Cuba's Antiterrorista's website, but
this is the complete interview. As yet it isn't posted anywhere
else.

Chomsky takes up important questions about how and why he
stays active and motivated to struggle to achieve a better world
in the face of so many obvious challenges which surround us.

It appears Chomsky was very favorably impressed with what he
saw during the visit. That's reflected here in the interview from
which I'm extracting just one question and answer. Those who
were against Chomsky from a supposedly "left" vantage point
before his visit probably won't have their judgements in any
way modified by this transcript. Reasonable people will see
an clear and positive evolution in his outlook.
=========================================

[Bernie Dwyer]: During these times of US domination of the
world, what role do you see Cuba playing?

[Noam Chomsky]: Well, Cuba has become a symbol of
courageous resistance to attack. Since1959 Cuba has been
under attack from the hemispheric superpower. It has been
invaded, subjected to more terror than maybe the rest of
the world combined - certainly any other country that I can
think of - and it's under an economic stranglehold that has
been ruled completely illegal by every relevant
international body, It has been at the receiving end of
terrorism, repression and denunciation, but it survives.

If you look back at the declassified record and the
problems that Cuba was posing and therefore had to be
overthrown, one intelligence analyst said that "the very
existence of the Castro regime is successful defiance of US
policies that go back a hundred and fifty years". He's not
talking about the Russians. He is talking about the Monroe
Doctrine, which says we are the masters of the hemisphere.
It goes on to say that this really dangerous as it offers a
model that others might want to follow. That's what is
called "communist aggression". You have a model that
somebody wants to follow. So you have to destroy the virus.

Kissinger, for example, during the other 9/11 - the one
that happened in 1973 - was concerned that Allende, with
his democratic victory and social programs would spread
contagion not only in Latin America, but even in Italy
where the United States at the very same time was carrying
out large scale subversive operations to try to undermine
Italian democracy and even supported fascist parties in
Italy.

Yes, Cuba is the symbol of successful defiance that
accounts for the venomous hostility. The very existence
of the regime, independent of what it does, by not
subordinating itself to power is just an unacceptable
defiance for the rest of the world. It's a symbol of what
can be done without using harsh conditions. It's once again
a case of those under the most severe conditions are doing
things that others can't do.

So, for example, let's take Cuba's role in the liberation
of Africa. It's an astonishing achievement that has almost
been totally suppressed. Now you can read about it in
scholarship, but the contribution that Cuba made to the
self-liberation of Africa is fantastic. And that was
against the entire concentrated power of the world. All the
imperialist powers were trying to block it. It finally
worked and Cuba's contribution was unique. That's another
reason why Cuba is hated. Just the plain fact that black
soldiers from Cuba were able to beat back a South African
invasion of Angola sent shock waves throughout the
continent. The black movements were inspired by it. The
white South Africans were psychologically crushed by the
fact that South African forces could be defeated by a black
army. The United States were infuriated. If you look at the
next couple of years, the terrorist attacks on Cuba got
much worse.

But yes, it's a symbol of successful defiance. One can have
arguments about what society is like and what it does, but
that's for Cubans to decide. But for the world its symbolic
significance is not slight.

Read the entire transcript here:
http://www.walterlippmann.com/Chomsky-rhc-10-2003.html

FOR MORE NEWS AND INFORMATION ON CUBA:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/messages


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