All posts by JaimeM

Fidel Castro's Birthday

Fidel for all times

Fidel for all times

The historic leader was remembered during a tribute that featured the Children’s Theater Company La Colmenita

Author:  | internet@granma.cu

august 14, 2024 08:08:11

Photo: Artwork by Ernesto Rancaño 

From the José Martí’s thought that children are the ones who know how to love and are the hope of the world, the Children’s Theater Company La Colmenita, together with other artists, celebrated the 98th birthday of the Commander-in-Chief with the show ¡Buenos días, Fidel! (Good morning, Fidel!).
The theater of the Sala Universal de las FAR yesterday experienced moments of intense emotion, recalling passages of the invincible giant, from images that, in a tight synthesis, went through the immense work of the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution.
The tribute was attended by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, together with the members of the Political Bureau, Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of the National Assembly of People’s Power, and Roberto Morales Ojeda, secretary of Organization of the Central Committee of the Party; in addition to the Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdés Menéndez, deputy prime minister; the Commander of the Rebel Army José Ramón Machado Ventura, and other senior leaders of the Party and the Government.
The iconic image of a majestic green rose with the symbol of the ranks of Commander-in-Chief spliced in its center, presided at the beginning of the huge stage, to assume the leading role of the child-artists.
With the same strength with which her voice burst forth, the singer Tomasita Quiala provoked different emotions among those present to, from poetry, refer to the Commander’s birthday as “98 flowers hung with sadness,” and to remember Fidel in the present.
For about 50 minutes, artists and members of La Colmenita put their hearts to the test to, with the magic that always surrounds theater, reflect through art the ideas for which Fidel fought so hard.
Supported by legendary texts by Fayad Jamís, Jesús Orta Ruiz and Thiago de Mello, among others, the show spoke of love, loyalty to the homeland, commitment and fidelity; values that the Cuban leader defended and multiplied among several generations. The singer-songwriters Raúl Torres and Nelson Valdés also joined in.
The leader was present in many dimensions throughout the tribute. Because it is difficult not to admire and love Fidel, because he was a country, Cuba made voice, Fidel is for all times.
OTHER TRIBUTES ON THE ISLAND
Fidel was also honored at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba. The activity was also presided over by Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the PCC and President of the Republic, and by Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau and Secretary of Organization.
In verses, songs and fragments of interviews, the occasion was propitious to remember how personalities of the world had Fidel as a universal reference, immortalized in the poem Ronda a la Fortuna, which its own author, Nancy Morejón, read there.
Those present also paid a heartfelt tribute to the National Literature Prize winner on the occasion of her 80th birthday.
In Santiago de Cuba, a large representation of the people of the Hero City went to the monolith that treasures the ashes of the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, in the Necropolis of Santa Ifigenia, where flowers were placed on the grounds of the sacred site by Party leaders, the Government, political organizations, and the rest of those present, especially the youngest, accompanied by combatants of the Cuban Revolution, and his companion of a thousand battles, the Commander of the Revolution Guillermo García Frías, who dedicated emotional words to the Chief: “To you, eternal Commander, my unforgettable memory.”
Meanwhile, in Birán, the town in Holguín where the colossal revolutionary was born, the creation of the Provincial Commission in charge of organizing the Fidel’s Centenary was announced.

Cuban Sports

The Paris Olympiad was very competitive

In the invincible arms of Mijaín, the flag arrives today at the Homeland

The Paris Olympiad was very competitive, with 63 flags at the top of the award masts, at least once, and 91 countries entered in the list of medals

Author:  | informacion@granma.cu

august 12, 2024 13:08:56

Photocomposition with photos by Ricardo Lopez Photo: Ricardo López Hevia

Paris.— There is rarely a clearer image of the differences between the rich and the poor world than that seen in the Olympic Games.
If you take the medal table of Paris-2024, or any other of the previous events, and look at the first pavilions, you will notice that it looks more like a meeting of the G20 or one of the rich nations that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
That is why the first gold medals in the history of St. Lucia, Dominica and Guatemala are so valuable, even though they came 124 years after the start of these Games.
The three Brazilian, two Cuban, Ecuadorian and Chilean titles, those won by the African countries, the four silver medals won by Mexico and the Colombian medals are worth a great deal. They make us from the South sit in that luxurious hall, despite the fact that we are denied the business and technological development of the sport of the great powers.
And they are worth more, because the Paris Olympiad was very competitive, with 63 flags at the top of the award masts, at least once, and with 91 countries that registered in the list of medals.
These are also reasons to celebrate today, in the Homeland, our athletes – medalists or not – who will carry, in the invincible arms of Mijaín López Núñez, the lone star flag that they defended with so much fervor and love.

Venezuela verses Imperialism

Venezuela, When violence is a mask for impotence and illegitimacy

When violence is a mask for impotence and illegitimacy

In a joint communiqué, nearly a thousand organizations call for respect for the life, health and safety of all people, while condemning the acts of vandalism and violence committed against them

Author:  | informacion@granmai.cu

august 5, 2024 09:08:13

CARACAS, Venezuela.—A total of 924 Human Rights organizations and movements from different parts of the world signed a communiqué in which they recognize “the democratic legitimacy and authority of the National Electoral Council and, consequently, the decision to award the victory of this process to President Nicolás Maduro.”
The document signed, among others, by representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Chile, Spain, United States, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Serbia, urges to respect the life, health and safety of all people, while condemning the acts of vandalism committed by supporters of the extreme right, defeated at the polls.
In this sense, the Attorney General of the Republic, Tarek William Saab, informed that there is no arrest warrant against María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia, main promoters of the terrorist guarimbas of the last days.
“There is a general investigation that has had as a direct effect the arrest of people burning public headquarters with people inside,” and added that whoever makes a call to facts linked to acts of terrorism will be arrested.
In the exhortation for an atmosphere of peace to reign, “a sincere appeal to all parties to seek the truth, to exercise moderation, to avoid any kind of violence, to solve conflicts through dialogue, to take into account the true good of the population and not partisan interests,” Pope Francis made yesterday in favor of Venezuela, after praying the Sunday Angelus, in St. Peter’s Square.

Cuban Sports

He’s Known as ‘El Terrible’—and He Might Be the Greatest Olympic Athlete of All Time

He’s Known as ‘El Terrible’—and He Might Be the Greatest Olympic Athlete of All Time

Story by Robert O’Connell, Jared Diamond

PARIS—With a list of accomplishments longer than a swimming pool, Michael Phelps has a strong claim to be considered the greatest athlete in Olympic history. After all, his 23 gold medals is more than twice as many as anyone else.

But it turns out there’s another athlete, barely known to most of the sports world, who might have a better claim to that title. He stands at 6-foot-5, weighs about 290 pounds and has dedicated his life to overpowering some of the strongest men on the planet.

His name is Mijaín López—and he might be the most dominant Olympian of all time.

López is a 41-year-old Greco-Roman wrestler from Cuba who seems less like an athlete than a tall tale: as solid as a mountain, as ungraspable as air. He can’t match Phelps’s overall medal count, but he looks set to achieve one feat that neither Phelps nor anyone else at the Games has ever done before. With a victory in Tuesday’s match against Chile’s Yasmani Acosta, López would become the first person ever to win gold in the same individual Olympic event five times.

He’s Known as ‘El Terrible’—and He Might Be the Greatest Olympic Athlete of All Time© Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

“To be able to do that, it’s unheard of,” said Phelps, one of the small group of athletes to have won four times in a row. “There’s a reason why no one’s ever done it before.”

To the people unfortunate enough to have stepped into the ring with López, the remarkable streak of medals is just the beginning of his legend. Forget losing a match or settling for silver—entering the Paris Games, it had been more than a decade since he’d so much as given up a single point at the Olympics. His last gold medal, in Tokyo, came when his final opponent chose to stop competing, standing to one side and letting López raise his arms in victory.