[NYTr] Fidel's letter on Bal Mtg, Roundtable, Dec 17, 2007 Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:42:27 -0600 (CST) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit [Here is the Spanish original text of Fidel's letter to the Roundtable broadcast on December 17, 2007. along with a rough English translation. Clearly, the media reported only on the last sentence or two of Fidel's letter, and completely ignored his dissection of the fraud at the Bali meeting. As Monbiot said yesterday, "It's worse than Kyoto." The letter is addressed to Randy Alonso, the news anchor of the Round Table. At the bottom is a hand-written note regarding the Dec 13th Roundtable, when Fidel's comments about the 1998 discussions he held with Canadian Prime Minister Jean ChrC)tien were covered at length. There was brief coverage of this in Granma International, but without the context it was hard to follow. Juventude Rebelde translated most of this, (including the transcript of a Roundtable program from 2001) which gives the context. This program, broadcast on Dec 13, 2007 was of course totally beyond the comprehension of the mass media. We'll send it separately. -NY Transfer] spanish sent by Joan Malerich Cuba.cu - speeches - Dec 17, 2007 http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/2007/esp/f171207e.html English follows spanish La Habana, 17 de diciembre de 2007 Querido Randy: EscuchC) C-ntegramente sin perder un solo segundo la Mesa Redonda del jueves 13. Las noticias sobre la Conferencia de Bali, apuntadas por Rogelio Polanco, director de Juventud Rebelde, confirman la importancia de los acuerdos internacionales y la necesidad de tomarlos muy en serio. En aquella pequeC1a isla de Indonesia se reunieron numerosos Jefes de Gobierno de paC-ses del llamado Tercer Mundo, que luchan por su desarrollo y reclaman un trato equitativo, recursos financieros y transferencias de tecnologC-a a los representantes de las naciones industrializadas tambiC)n allC- representadas. El Secretario General de Naciones Unidas, ante la tenaz obstrucciC3n de Estados Unidos en el seno de las 190 representaciones allC- reunidas, y despuC)s de doce dC-as de negociaciC3n, afirmC3 el viernes 14, hora de Cuba, cuando ya era sC!bado en Bali, que la especie humana podC-a desaparecer como consecuencia del cambio climC!tico. DespuC)s se marchC3 hacia Timor Oriental. Aquella declaraciC3n convirtiC3 la conferencia en una olla de grillos. Al dC)cimo segundo dC-a de estC)riles esfuerzos persuasivos, la representante yanqui Paula Dobriansky, tras un suspiro profundo, declarC3: "nos unimos al consenso." Es obvio que Estados Unidos maniobrC3 para sortear su aislamiento, aunque no cambiC3 en absoluto las sombrC-as intenciones del imperio. Vino el gran espectC!culo: CanadC! y JapC3n se adhirieron de inmediato a Estados Unidos, frente al resto de los paC-ses que demandaban compromisos serios sobre la emisiC3n de gases que originan el cambio climC!tico. Todo se habC-a previsto con antelaciC3n entre los aliados de la OTAN y el poderoso imperio, que en una maniobra de engaC1o accediC3 a negociar durante el aC1o 2008 en Hawai, territorio norteamericano, un nuevo proyecto de convenio, que serC-a presentado y aprobado en la Conferencia de Copenhague, Dinamarca, el aC1o 2009, que sustituirC-a al de Kyoto, al caducar C)ste en 2012. A Europa en la teatral soluciC3n le reservaron el papel de salvadora del mundo. Hablaron Brown, la Merkel y otros lC-deres de paC-ses europeos pidiendo gratitud internacional. Excelente regalo de Navidad y AC1o Nuevo. Ninguno de los panegiristas mencionC3 las decenas de millones de personas pobres que siguen muriendo de enfermedades y hambre cada aC1o dadas las complejas realidades actuales, cual si viviC)ramos en el mejor de los mundos. El Grupo de los 77, que comprende 132 paC-ses que luchan por desarrollarse, habC-a logrado consenso para demandar de los paC-ses industrializados una reducciC3n de los gases que originan el cambio climC!tico, para el aC1o 2020, del 20 al 40% por debajo del nivel alcanzado en 1990, y del 60 al 70% en el aC1o 2050, lo cual es tC)cnicamente posible. Demandaban ademC!s la asignaciC3n de fondos suficientes para la transferencia de tecnologC-a al Tercer Mundo. No olvidar que esos gases dan lugar a las olas de calor, la desertificaciC3n, el derretimiento de glaciares y el aumento del nivel de los mares, que podrC-an cubrir paC-ses enteros o gran parte de ellos. Las naciones industrializadas comparten con Estados Unidos la idea de convertir los alimentos en combustible para los autos lujosos y otros derroches de las sociedades de consumo. Lo que afirmo quedC3 demostrado cuando el propio sC!bado 15 de diciembre se hizo pC:blico a las 10 y 06, hora de Washington, que el Presidente de los Estados Unidos habC-a solicitado al Senado, y C)ste habC-a aprobado, 696 mil millones de dC3lares para el presupuesto militar del aC1o fiscal 2008, entre ellos 189 mil millones destinados a las guerras de Irak y AfganistC!n. ExperimentC) un sano orgullo al recordar la forma digna y serena con que respondC- las hirientes propuestas que me hizo en 1998 el entonces primer ministro de CanadC! Jean ChrC)tien. No albergo ilusiones. Mi mC!s profunda convicciC3n es que las respuestas a los problemas actuales de la sociedad cubana, que posee un promedio educacional cercano a 12 grados, casi un millC3n de graduados universitarios y la posibilidad real de estudio para sus ciudadanos sin discriminaciC3n alguna, requieren mC!s variantes de respuesta para cada problema concreto que las contenidas en un tablero de ajedrez. Ni un solo detalle se puede ignorar, y no se trata de un camino fC!cil, si es que la inteligencia del ser humano en una sociedad revolucionaria ha de prevalecer sobre sus instintos. Mi deber elemental no es aferrarme a cargos, ni mucho menos obstruir el paso a personas mC!s jC3venes, sino aportar experiencias e ideas cuyo modesto valor proviene de la C)poca excepcional que me tocC3 vivir. Pienso como Niemeyer que hay que ser consecuente hasta el final. *** Havana, December 17, 2007 Dear Randy: I listened to every minute of the Roundtable report on Thursday, December 13. The news on the Climate Change Conference in Bali, reported by Rogelio Polanco, director of Juventud Rebelde, confirmed the importance of international agreements and the need to take them very seriously. On that small island of Indonesia met many heads of government of the so-called Third World countries, who are struggling for their own right to development and demanding fair treatment, financial resources and technology transfer of the representatives from the industrialized nations also represented there. The United Nations Secretary-General, before the stubborn obstructionism of the United States among the 190 representatives gathered there, and after twelve days of talks, said on Friday December 14, (it was already Saturday in Bali) that the human species could disappear as a result of climate change. After that he went on to East Timor. On the twelfth day of fruitless efforts at persuasion, the Yankee representative Paula Dobriansky, after a deep sigh, finally said: "We join the consensus." Obviously, the United States was maneuvered to avoid isolation, but did not change at all the dark intentions of the empire. In a great spectacle, Canada and Japan immediately joined the United States, in contrast to other countries demanding serious commitments on the emission of gases that cause climate change. Everything was planned in advance between the NATO allies and the mighty empire, in a deceptive maneuver, as they agreed that during 2008 in Hawaii, in the United States, they would negotiate a new draft convention, which would be presented and adopted at the Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, by the year 2009, replacing the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012. Through this theatrical paper solution, Europe took on the role of savior of the world. Brown, Merkel and the other European leaders wanted the gratitude of the world. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. None of their speeches mention the tens of millions of poor people who are still dying of disease and starvation every year because of the complex realities of today, in which most of the world lives. The Group of 77, which comprises 132 countries struggling to develop, had reached a consensus to demand of the industrialized countries a reduction of the gases that cause climate change, by the year 2020, from 20 to 40% below the level reached in 1990, and from 60 to 70% by the year 2050, which is technically possible. There was also the condition that the industrialized nations allocate sufficient funds for the necessary technology transfer to the Third World. We must remember that these gases lead to heat waves, desertification, the melting of glaciers and rising sea levels, which could cover entire countries, or much of them. Meanwhile, the industrialized nations share with the United States the idea of turning food into fuel for cars and other luxurious waste of consumer societies. What they say was demonstrated when that same Saturday, December 15 the was released that the President of the United States had requested from the Senate -- and it was approved -- 696 billion dollars for the military budget for fiscal year 2008, including $189 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I felt a healthy pride in recalling how dignified and calmly I replied in 1998 to the offensive proposals brought by the then-prime minister of Canada Jean ChrC)tien. Albergo not illusions. [??] [Literally, "inn of illusions, or house of mirrors." In other words, this was a trap and Fidel means "I was not mistaken."] My deepest conviction is that the answers to the current problems of Cuban society -- where the average person completes the 12th grade, with nearly one million university graduates and where citizens have a real chance to study without discrimination -- require more varied responses to each specific problem than those contained in a chessgame. Not a single detail can be overlooked, and this is not an easy path, if we use human intelligence of a revolutionary society where we [also] rely on our instincts. My fundamental duty is not to cling to office, let alone obstruct the path of younger people, but to provide experiences and ideas whose modest value comes from the extraordinary times through which I have lived. I think that, like Niemeyer, you have to be useful until the end. Fidel Castro (for inclusion in the Roundtable newscast covering Bali.) 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