[Marxism] Fidel Castro: The Empire and the Independent Island (English)

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

(These are excerpts is the major new Reflection which was published 
over the past three days in the Cuban media. It's much too long to
post here in complete form.

(Among the many books available on this subject, Louis A. Perez, Jr's
Cuba Under the Platt Amendment, 1902-1934 would be an excellent source.
Probably very hard to find in the United States, but available in Cuba
in both English and Spanish is Undesirable Neighbors: The U.S. Naval
Base at Guantanamo by Olga Mirando Bravo. Politically conscious people
in Cuba particularly, will be reading and studying this material as a
lesson in history and the struggle for Cuba's full independence.)
=======================================================================

REFLECTIONS BY THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF  
THE EMPIRE AND THE INDEPENDENT ISLAND

August 14, 2007

http://www.walterlippmann.com/fc-08-14-2007.html 

Also available:
Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, German, Arabic
http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/index.html 

The history of Cuba during the la 140 years is one of struggle to preserve
national identity and independence, and the history of the evolution of the
American empire, its constant craving to appropriate Cuba and of the
horrendous methods that it uses today to hold on to world domination.

Prominent Cuban historians have dealt in depth with these subjects in
different periods and in various excellent books which deserve to be readily
available to our compatriots.  These reflections are addressed especially to
the new generations with the aim of helping them learn about very important
and decisive events in the destiny of our homeland.
 

Part I:  The Imposition of the Platt Amendment as an 
appendix to the Neocolonial Cuban Constitution of 1901.

The ?ripe fruit doctrine? was formulated in 1823 by Secretary of State and
later President John Quincy Adams.  The United States would inevitably
achieve taking over our country, by the law of political influence, once
colonial subordination to Spain had ended.

Under the pretext of blowing up the ?Maine? ?a still unraveled event of
which it took advantage to wage war against Spain, like the Gulf of Tonkin
incident, an event which was demonstrably prefabricated in order to attack
North Vietnam ?President William McKinley signed the Joint Resolution of
April 20, 1898, stating ??that the people on the island of Cuba are and by
right ought to be free and independent?,  ?? that the United States herewith
declare that they have no desire or intention to exercise sovereignty,
jurisdiction or control over said island, except for pacification thereof,
and they affirm their determination, after this has been accomplished, to
leave the government and control of the island to its people.?  The Joint
Resolution entitled the President to use force to remove the Spanish
government from Cuba.

Colonel Leonard Wood, chief commander of the Rough Riders, and Theodore
Roosevelt, second in command of the expansionist volunteers who landed in
our country on the beaches close to Santiago de Cuba, after the brave but
poorly utilized Spanish squadron and their Marine infantry on board had been
destroyed by the American battleships, requested the support of Cuban
insurrectionists who had weakened and defeated the Spanish Colonial Army
after enormous sacrifices. The Rough Riders had landed without horses.

Following the defeat of Spain, representatives of the Queen Regent of Spain
and of the President of the United States signed the Treaty of Paris on
December 10, 1898 and, without consulting of the Cuban people, agreed that
Spain should relinquish all claim of sovereignty over and title to the
island and would evacuate it.  Cuba would then be occupied by the United
States on a temporary basis.

Already appointed U.S. military governor, Army Major General Leonard Wood,
issued Military Order 301 of July 25, 1900, which called for a general
election to choose delegates to a Constitutional Assembly that would be held
in the city of Havana at twelve noon on the first Monday of November in
1900, with the purpose of drafting and adopting a Constitution for the
people of Cuba.

On September 15, 1900, elections took place and 31 delegates from the
National, Republican and Democratic Union parties were elected.  On November
5, 1900, the Constitutional Convention held its opening session at the
Irijoa Theatre of Havana which on that occasion received the name of Martí
Theatre.

General Wood, representing the President of the United States, declared the
Assembly officially installed.  Wood advanced the intention of the United
States government:  ?After you have drawn up the relations which, in your
opinion, ought to exist between Cuba and the United States, the government
of the United States will undoubtedly adopt the measures conducive to a
final and authorized treaty between the peoples of both nations, aimed at
promoting the growth of their common interests.?

The 1901 Constitution provided in its Article 2 that ?the territory of the
Republic is composed of the Island of Cuba, as well as the islands and
neighboring keys which together were under Spanish sovereignty until the
ratification of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898?.

Once the Constitution was drafted, the time had come to define political
relations between Cuba and the United States.  To that end, on February 12,
1901, a committee of five members was appointed and charged with studying
and proposing a procedure that would lead to the stated goal.

On February 15, Governor Wood invited the members of the committee to go
fishing and hosted a banquet in Batabanó, the main access route to the Isle
of Pines, as it was known then, also occupied at that time by the U.S.
troops which had intervened in the Cuban War of Independence.  It was there
in Batabanó that he revealed to them a letter from the Secretary of War,
Elihu Root, containing the basic aspects of the future Platt Amendment.
According to instructions from Washington, relations between Cuba and the
United States were to abide by several aspects.  The fifth of these was
that, in order to make it easier for the United States to fulfill such tasks
as were placed under its responsibility by the above mentioned provisions,
and for its own defense, the United States could acquire title, and preserve
it, for lands to be used for naval bases and maintain these in certain
specific points.

Upon learning of the conditions demanded by the U.S. government, the Cuban
Constitutional Assembly, on February 27, 1901, passed a position that was
opposed to that of the U.S. Executive, eliminating therein the establishment
of naval bases.

The U.S. government made an agreement with Orville H. Platt, Republican
Senator from Connecticut, to present an amendment to the proposed Army
Appropriations Bill which would make the establishment of American naval
bases on Cuban soil a fait accompli.

In the Amendment, passed by the U.S. Senate on February 27, 1901 and by the
House of Representatives on March 1, and sanctioned by President McKinley
the following day, as a rider attached to the ?Bill granting credit to the
Army for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 1902,? the article mentioning
the naval bases was drafted as follows:

?Art. VII.- That to enable the United States to maintain the independence of
Cuba, and to protect the people thereof, as well as for its own defense, the
government of Cuba will sell or lease to the United States lands necessary
for coaling or naval stations at certain specified points to be agreed upon
with the President of the United States.?

Article VIII adds:  ??the government of Cuba will embody the foregoing
provisions in a permanent treaty with the United States.?

The speedy passage of the Amendment by the U.S. Congress was due to the
circumstance of it coming close to the conclusion of the legislative term
and to the fact that President McKinley had a clear majority in both Houses
so that the Amendment could be passed without any problem.  It became a
United States Law when, on March 4, McKinley was sworn in for his second
presidential term in office.

Some members of the Constitutional Convention maintained the view that they
were not empowered to adopt the Amendment requested by the United States
since this implied limitations on the independence and sovereignty of the
Republic of Cuba.  Thus, the military governor Leonard Wood hastened to
issue a new Military Order on March 12, 1901 where it was declared that the
Convention was empowered to adopt the measures whose constitutionality was
in question.

Other Convention members, such as Manuel Sanguily, held the opinion that the
Assembly should be dissolved rather than adopt measures that so drastically
offended the dignity and sovereignty of the people of Cuba.  But during the
session of March 7, 1901, a committee was appointed yet again in order to
draft an answer to Governor Wood; the presentation of this was entrusted to
Juan Gualberto Gómez who recommended, among other things, rejecting the
clause concerning the leasing of coaling or naval stations.  

Juan Gualberto Gómez maintained the most severe criticism of the Platt
Amendment.  On April 1, he tabled a debate of the presentation where he
challenged the document on the grounds that it contravened the principles of
the Treaty of Paris and of the Joint Resolution.  But the Convention
suspended the debate on Juan Gualberto Gómez?s presentation and decided to
send another committee "to ascertain the motives and intentions of the
government of the United States about any and all details referring to the
establishment of a definitive order to relations, both political and
economic, between Cuba and the United States, and to negotiate with the
government itself, the bases for agreement on those extremes that would be
proposed to the Convention for a final solution.?

===========================================================================


The Guantanamo Naval Base since September 11. 

On September 18, 2001, President Bush signed United States Congress
legislation authorizing the use of force as a response to the September 11
attacks.  Bush used this legislation as a basis to sign a Military Order on
November 13 of that same year which would establish the legal bases for
arrests and trials by military tribunals of individuals who didn't hold U.S.
citizenship, as part of the ?war on terrorism?. 

On January 8, 2002 the United States officially informed Cuba that they
would be using the Guantanamo Naval Base as a detention center for Afghan
war prisoners.  

Three days later, on January 11, 2002, the first 20 detainees arrived, and
the figure reached the number of 776 prisoners coming from 48 countries.  Of
course none of these data were mentioned.  We assumed they were Afghan war
prisoners. The first planes were landing full of prisoners, and many more
guards than prisoners. On the same day, the government of Cuba issued a
public declaration indicating its willingness to cooperate with medical
assistance services as required, clean-up programs and a fight against
mosquitoes and pests in the area surrounding the base which is under our
control, or any other useful, constructive and humane measure that might
come up.  I remember the data because I was personally involved in details
concerning the Note presented by the MINREX in response to the United States
Note. We were very far from imagining at that moment that the U.S.
government was getting ready to create a horrendous torture center at that
base.

The Socialist Constitution proclaimed on February 24, 1976 had set forth in
its Article 11, section c) that ?the Republic of Cuba repudiates and
considers as null and illegal those treaties, pacts or concessions concerted
under conditions of inequality or which disregard or diminish her
sovereignty and territorial integrity.?

On June 10, 2002, the people of Cuba, in an unprecedented process of popular
referendum, ratified the socialist content of that Constitution of 1976 as a
response to the meddling and offensive expressions of the President of the
United States. Likewise, it mandated the National People?s Power Assembly to
amend it so that it would expressly state, inter alia, the irrevocable
principle which must govern the economic, diplomatic and political relations
of our country with other states, by adding to the same Article 11, section
c):  ?Economic, diplomatic and political relations with any other State may
never be negotiated under aggression, threat or coercion by a foreign
power.?

After the Proclamation to the People of Cuba was made public on July 31,
2006, the U.S. authorities have declared that they do not hope for a
migration crisis but that they are pre-emptively preparing to face one, with
the use of the Guantanamo Naval Base as a concentration camp for illegal
migrants intercepted in the high seas being a consideration.  In public
declarations, information reveals that the United States is expanding its
civilian buildings on the Base with the aim of increasing their capacity to
receive the illegal emigrants.

Cuba, for her part, has taken all possible measures to avoid incidents
between the armed forces of both countries, and has declared that she is
abiding by the commitments contained in the Joint Declaration on migratory
issues signed with the Clinton administration.  Why is there so much
talking, threats and brouhaha? 

The symbolic annual payment of $3,386.25 for the lease of the territory
occupied by the Guantanamo Naval Base was maintained until 1972 when the
Americans adjusted it themselves to $3,676.  In 1973, a new adjustment was
made for the value of the old U.S. Gold dollar, and for that reason the
cheque issued by the Treasury Department was since then increased to
$4,085.00 each year. That cheque is charged to the United States Navy, the
party responsible for operations at the Naval Base.  

The cheques issued by the government of the United States, as payment for
the lease, are in the name of the ?Treasurer General of the Republic of
Cuba?, an institution and official who, many years ago, have ceased to
function within the structure of the Government of Cuba.  This cheque is
sent on a yearly basis, through diplomatic channels.  The one for 1959, due
to a mere confusion, was entered into the national budget.  Since 1960 until
today these cheques have not been cashed and they are proof of the lease
that has been imposed for more than 107 years.  I would imagine,
conservatively, that this is ten times less than what the United States
government spends on the salary of a schoolteacher each year.  

Both the Platt Amendment and the Guantanamo Naval Base were unnecessary.
History has shown that in a great number of countries in this hemisphere
where there has not been a revolution, their entire territory, governed by
the multinationals and the oligarchies, needs neither one nor the other.
Advertising took care of their mostly ill-trained and poverty-stricken
populations by creating reflexes.

>From the military point of view, a nuclear aircraft carrier, with so many
fast fighter-bombers and escort ships supported by technology and
satellites, is several times more powerful and can move to any point on the
globe, wherever the empire needs it the most.

The Base is needed to humiliate and to carry out the filthy deeds that take
place there.  If we must await the downfall of the system, we shall wait.
The suffering and danger for all humanity shall be great, like today's stock
market crisis, and a growing number of people forecast it.  Cuba shall
always be waiting in a state of combat readiness.

 

Fidel Castro Ruz 
August 14, 2007. 
6:00 p.m.

 

     


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