The President Doesn’t Understand That He Doesn’t Understand
Published in La Jornada
(Mexico) on 31 July 2021
by Enrique Calderón Alzati (link to original)
(Mexico) on 31 July 2021
by Enrique Calderón Alzati (link to original)
Translated from
by Rebecca Reekie.
Edited by Patricia Simoni.
No, I am not referring to Enrique Peña Nieto, but to the president of the United States, Joe Biden. He and a large percentage of his country's population have been complicit with previous U.S. administrations in blockading a neighboring country. A neighboring country that has done nothing to them, apart from recovering its own sovereignty and seizing facilities dedicated to prostitution and gambling, owned by U.S. criminal groups.
How could the U.S. president understand the living conditions of the Cuban population during that time, when the purported Cuban authorities were nothing more than butlers in the service of gangsters who considered themselves masters of the island? Does he know anything about that history, one that is shameful for his country? It’s unlikely. His attitude confirms this. attitude.
As president, the one thing he should do for Cuba is ask for forgiveness for the years of mistreating its remarkable people and their government, one which has stood for its character internationally since the times of El Comandante, Fidel Castro.
Americans, as well as their president, seem to be unaware of significant aspects of the life and work of José Martí. Using a radio station with his name, he called on the Cuban people to take up arms against the Spanish government, with principles that had guided his own struggles. Martí said, "I have lived in the entrails of the monster and I know it," in reference, of course, to the U.S.
But there is something else that Biden neither knows nor understands. I am referring to the living conditions of the people of Central America and the Caribbean, punished by poverty and some by ignorance, who are now seeking to enter the United States to recover a little, just a little, of the money that companies and rich Americans took from their families and governments through actions that were condemned by international law.
For the people of the world and especially of our continent, the battle of Playa Girón in April 1961, in which the Cuban army defeated mercenaries sent by the U.S. attempting to invade the island to install a military government, has served as an example for the countries of the region. But it is surely one the U.S. president either ignores or prefers to forget.
Today as then, Cuba is not alone, even though the Soviet Union has disappeared. The U.S. government should know this. At a recent session of the United Nations General Assembly, every member except Israel voted against the criminal blockade established by the Yankees and maintained for some 60 years without reason.
Today the Mexican government, presided over by Andres Manuel López Obrador, has spoken out against threats by the U.S. administration in light of Mexico’s decision to send medicine, food and fuel to the Cuban people, using the Mexican navy in an act of national sovereignty, manifesting a clear challenge to the U.S. president by seeking to break the unjust blockade. I have no doubt that our government’s example will be followed by the leaders of other nations in the region and the world, showing Biden that his whims, like those of his predecessor, Donald Trump, further discredit him.
Moreover, the U.S. president does not seem to understand that times have changed as has the likelihood that he can continue to control the people of Latin America. People in Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Panama and Nicaragua, among others, as well as the people of Mexico, do not want to follow Washington's instructions any longer.
The initiative of Mexico’s president to leave the Organization of American States, controlled by the Yankee government, in order to create a new organization of Latin American character, seems to have immediately permeated the continental conscience. It sends a clear message to the U.S. of the importance achieved by the Simón Bolívar Project to make Latin America a brotherhood of nations, willing to unify efforts to alleviate poverty and gain the respect of the world.
Regarding the hearing tomorrow on the trial of former Mexican presidents, its importance lies with Article 87 of the constitution, which reads as follows: "The President, upon taking office, shall make the following oath: 'I swear to keep and uphold the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States and the laws that emanate from it, and to perform loyally and patriotically the office of President of the Republic that the people have conferred upon me, looking in all things for the good and prosperity of the Union, and if I do not do so, may the nation demand it of me.'" This clearly provides that all Mexicans entitled to vote have the legal capacity to hold former presidents and their accomplices accountable for criminal acts.
Additionally, Article 39 of the constitution itself clearly provides that "National sovereignty resides essentially and originally in the people. All public power emanates from the people and is instituted for their benefit … The people have at all times the inalienable right to alter or modify the form of their government." Therefore, this Sunday's hearing could become an opportunity to confirm that crimes committed by these people will not be subject to the statute of limitations.
How could the U.S. president understand the living conditions of the Cuban population during that time, when the purported Cuban authorities were nothing more than butlers in the service of gangsters who considered themselves masters of the island? Does he know anything about that history, one that is shameful for his country? It’s unlikely. His attitude confirms this. attitude.
As president, the one thing he should do for Cuba is ask for forgiveness for the years of mistreating its remarkable people and their government, one which has stood for its character internationally since the times of El Comandante, Fidel Castro.
Americans, as well as their president, seem to be unaware of significant aspects of the life and work of José Martí. Using a radio station with his name, he called on the Cuban people to take up arms against the Spanish government, with principles that had guided his own struggles. Martí said, "I have lived in the entrails of the monster and I know it," in reference, of course, to the U.S.
But there is something else that Biden neither knows nor understands. I am referring to the living conditions of the people of Central America and the Caribbean, punished by poverty and some by ignorance, who are now seeking to enter the United States to recover a little, just a little, of the money that companies and rich Americans took from their families and governments through actions that were condemned by international law.
For the people of the world and especially of our continent, the battle of Playa Girón in April 1961, in which the Cuban army defeated mercenaries sent by the U.S. attempting to invade the island to install a military government, has served as an example for the countries of the region. But it is surely one the U.S. president either ignores or prefers to forget.
Today as then, Cuba is not alone, even though the Soviet Union has disappeared. The U.S. government should know this. At a recent session of the United Nations General Assembly, every member except Israel voted against the criminal blockade established by the Yankees and maintained for some 60 years without reason.
Today the Mexican government, presided over by Andres Manuel López Obrador, has spoken out against threats by the U.S. administration in light of Mexico’s decision to send medicine, food and fuel to the Cuban people, using the Mexican navy in an act of national sovereignty, manifesting a clear challenge to the U.S. president by seeking to break the unjust blockade. I have no doubt that our government’s example will be followed by the leaders of other nations in the region and the world, showing Biden that his whims, like those of his predecessor, Donald Trump, further discredit him.
Moreover, the U.S. president does not seem to understand that times have changed as has the likelihood that he can continue to control the people of Latin America. People in Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Panama and Nicaragua, among others, as well as the people of Mexico, do not want to follow Washington's instructions any longer.
The initiative of Mexico’s president to leave the Organization of American States, controlled by the Yankee government, in order to create a new organization of Latin American character, seems to have immediately permeated the continental conscience. It sends a clear message to the U.S. of the importance achieved by the Simón Bolívar Project to make Latin America a brotherhood of nations, willing to unify efforts to alleviate poverty and gain the respect of the world.
Regarding the hearing tomorrow on the trial of former Mexican presidents, its importance lies with Article 87 of the constitution, which reads as follows: "The President, upon taking office, shall make the following oath: 'I swear to keep and uphold the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States and the laws that emanate from it, and to perform loyally and patriotically the office of President of the Republic that the people have conferred upon me, looking in all things for the good and prosperity of the Union, and if I do not do so, may the nation demand it of me.'" This clearly provides that all Mexicans entitled to vote have the legal capacity to hold former presidents and their accomplices accountable for criminal acts.
Additionally, Article 39 of the constitution itself clearly provides that "National sovereignty resides essentially and originally in the people. All public power emanates from the people and is instituted for their benefit … The people have at all times the inalienable right to alter or modify the form of their government." Therefore, this Sunday's hearing could become an opportunity to confirm that crimes committed by these people will not be subject to the statute of limitations.
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