Sleeping with Eyes Open

“Obama was at times overcome by tiredness,” states Fidel. The leader of the Cuban Revolution, who believes that the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States could become the hemispheric political organization that it should be without the United States and Canada, affirms that pictures of the discredited Summit of the Americas must be preserved as an example of what a true disaster looks like.

I observed Obama well during the famous “Summit Reunion.” He was at times overcome by tiredness, closing his eyes involuntarily, but on occasion actually sleeping with his eyes open.

The Cartagena meeting is not a gathering of misinformed presidents, but of official representatives from 33 countries within the hemisphere, a large majority of which demand responses to the crippling social and economic problems that overwhelm this region with unequal distribution of wealth.

I wouldn’t purport to predict the opinions of millions of people, all capable of analyzing with detachment and profundity the problems of Latin America, the Caribbean and the rest of the globalized world, where a few have everything and the rest possess nothing. Call it what you will, but the system imposed by imperialism on this hemisphere is worn out and cannot sustain itself.

In the immediate future, the world will have to face, among other problems, the correlation between climate change, security and feeding the increasing world population.

Excessive rains are hammering both Colombia and Venezuela. A recent analysis reveals that in March of this year, the United States recorded heat levels 4.8 degrees Celsius (8.6 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the registered historical average. The well-understood consequences of these changes in the capitals of prominent European countries create catastrophic problems for humanity.

The People Expect Clear Responses from Political Leaders

Colombians, in whose country the discredited Summit took place, are a hardworking and self-sacrificing people who, like others, need the collaboration of their Latin American brothers. In this case, they need the Venezuelans, Brazilians, Ecuadorians, Peruvians and others capable of doing what the Yankees — with their sophisticated weapons, expansionism and insatiable material appetites — will never do. At no other time in history will Jose Marti’s prescient formula be more compelling: “The trees must form a line, so that the giant of the humongous strides may not pass! Now is the hour of reckoning, and of the united march, and we must walk in tight solidarity, like silver in the roots of the Andes.”

Far removed from the brilliant and lucid thinking of Bolívar and Martí are the chewed up, sweetened and hackneyed words of the illustrious Nobel prize, which I heard yesterday in the afternoon, spun out with dizzying ridiculousness through the Colombian countryside. They only helped bring to mind the Alliance for Progress speeches, 51 years ago, when the monstrous crimes against the hemisphere had not been yet committed, and when our country fought not only for the right of independence, but also the right to exist as a nation.

Obama spoke about the handing over of territory. He didn’t say how much, or when, or how.

The transnational Yankees never renounced their control of land, water, mines and natural resources in our countries. They must abandon their military bases, retire their troops from each and every one of our territories and renounce unequal exchanges and the pillaging of our nations.

Perhaps CELAC will become the hemispheric political organization that it should be without the United States and Canada. Its decadent and unsustainable empire has already earned the right to rest in peace.

I think that pictures of the Summit must be properly conserved, as an example of a disaster.

I leave aside the scandals allegedly caused by members of the Secret Service, who are charged with the Obama’s personal safety. I have the impression that the team charged with this task characterizes itself by its professionalism. This was what I observed when I visited the UN and they attended to the heads of state. Without a doubt he has been protected by those who would not hesitate to act against him due to racial prejudices.

Here’s hoping that Obama can sleep with his eyes closed, although a few hours have gone by without someone droning on about the immortality of the crab in a surreal Summit.