All posts by JaimeM

Blockade

Blockade continues The Co-operative Bank acknowledges extraterritorial application of the blockade in Britain

The Co-operative Bank acknowledges extraterritorial application of the blockade in Britain

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The bank’s Chief Executive has finally confirmed in writing that the closure was due to the sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)

Author: Catriona Goss | cati@granma.cu
may 5, 2016 15:05:27

The Co-op Bank closed the accounts of the British Cuba Solidarity Campaign in November 2015. Photo: Getty Images
As reported in GI in March, the Co-op Bank closed the bank accounts of the British Cuba Solidarity Campaign (CSC) in November 2015, citing among the reasons a change in its “risk appetite” and “global regulations”.
Now, following a huge campaign by CSC members and affiliates, the bank’s Chief Executive Niall Booker has finally confirmed in writing that the closure was due to “risk” arising from the sanctions imposed on the island by the U.S. government.
Responding to direct questions from concerned CSC members, Booker stated “It is correct that the sanctions that are in place are those imposed by OFAC.”
As such, the bank has acknowledged the extraterritorial application of the blockade in closing the accounts. Obeying the sanctions imposed by the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is illegal under British and European Union law.

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Guatemala

The CIA has admitted that pilots recruited to bomb Cuba prior to the Bay of Pigs invasion also provided air support to defeat an insurrection in Guatemala

Playa Girón and the uprising in Guatemala
The CIA has admitted that pilots recruited to bomb Cuba prior to the Bay of Pigs invasion also provided air support to defeat an insurrection in Guatemala
Author: Gabriel Molina Franchossi | informacion@granma.cu
may 5, 2016 10:05:06

During the dawn hours of November 13, a group of Guatemalan militay officers rebelled against the regime of General Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes, accusing him of ignoring rampant corruption in his administration, and inviting foreign intervention in the country.

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Photo: http://www.prensalibre.com
Five months before the invasion at Playa Girón, November 13, 1960, Cuban pilots being trained in Guatemala by the CIA to attack the island, bombed Guatemalan military forces leading an uprising against the government of General Miguel Idígoras.
The political and military support provided by the Eisenhower administration and the CIA to Idígoras, saved the dictatorial regime which had approved the use of an estate – the Helvetia owned by Roberto Alejos, brother of the country’s ambassador in the U.S. – for the purpose of training troops to invade Cuba. This attack did eventually take place at the Bay of Pigs, in April of 1961.
The arrogance of CIA officials and their Cuban agents provoked the uprising in Guatemala by a group of officers who were able to take the Matamoros Garrison with the goal of assuming government power. The insurgents demanded the closing of the Retalhuleu base, in the country’s southwestern region, and the removal of corrupt officers collaborating with Idígoras, who had taken the place of puppet Carlos Castillo de Armas, installed as head of state in 1954 by the CIA, after the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz, the elected President of Guatemala. Castillo was dealt justice by a soldier within the government’s own headquarters.

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May Day, Uncategorized

Massive May Day parade in Havana

International solidarity on May Day
More than 200 friends of Cuba from 34 countries make up the 11th May Day Solidarity Brigade, who have traveled to the island to express their support for the Cuban Revolution. The brigade’s activities extend from April 25 through May 8 and include participating in the massive May Day parade in Havana

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Author: Nuria Barbosa León | internet@granma.cu
april 28, 2016 08:04:16

Every year friends from different parts of the world join the Cuban people to celebrate May Day. Photo: Juvenal Balán
More than 200 friends of Cuba from 34 countries make up the 11th May Day Solidarity Brigade, who have traveled to the island to express their support for the Cuban Revolution. The brigade’s activities extend from April 25 through May 8 and include participating in the massive May Day parade in Havana. 
Staying at the Julio Antonio Mella International Camp, located in the municipality of Caimito, Artemisa province, just west of Havana, the “brigadistas’” program includes voluntary work on local farms, talks from experts on the current process of updating the country’s economic model, tributes to Cuban heroes and visits to the provinces of Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus and Havana.

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Cuban Economy

Cubans welcomed the announcement on April 22 of a reduction of up to 20% in the price of certain products, the majority foodstuffs.

Reduction in food prices of up to 20%
Cubans welcomed the announcement on April 22 of a reduction of up to 20% in the price of certain products, the majority foodstuffs.

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Author: Redacción Nacional | internet@granma.cu
april 28, 2016 10:04:29

Cubans welcomed the measure designed to increase the population’s purchasing power over the short term.
Cubans welcomed the announcement on April 22 of a reduction of up to 20% in the price of certain products, the majority foodstuffs.
The Ministry of Finance and Prices highlighted in an informative note published the same day in the national press, that the Central Report to the 7th Party Congress, held April 16-19, states that “salaries and pensions are still insufficient to meet the needs of the Cuban family.”
The note adds that although the definitive solution to this complex situation will only be reached through an increase in the productivity and efficiency of the national economy, “the political will of the Party and government leadership to do everything possible to improve the situation of the population in the context of existing limitations, as well as a drop in food prices on the world market,” have led to the adoption of such measures, which aim to gradually increase the population’s purchasing power over the short term.
The announcement had an immediate impact: “Great news, I think the country’s policies should continue along this line, not only with well deserved wage increases based on greater productivity, but by continuing to reduce prices, above all of basic and essential products,” stated Jorge Luis, one of the many readers who expressed his reaction to the measure on the Granma website.
Cuba is currently in the process of updating its economic model in order to build a prosperous and sustainable socialism. As President Raúl Castro stated at the close of the recently held 7th Party Congress, this process demands “that the principles of justice and equality, which have served as the Revolution’s foundation, be preserved and strengthened.”
The Communist Party of Cuba First Secretary added, “A Revolution of the humble, by the humble and for the humble, as Fidel defined it, with undeniable social works constructed, will never find solutions to its problems behind the backs of the people, or with the restoration of capitalism, which would imply the application of shock therapies to layers of the population with the least resources, and destroy the unity and confidence of the majority of our citizens in the Revolution and the Party. In Cuba, I reiterate once again, no one will be left to their fate.”