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The legal basis of Cuba’s nationalizations

The legal basis of Cuba’s nationalizations

The legal basis of Cuba’s nationalizations
The first nationalizations took place in Cuba when the Agrarian Reform was enacted, in May of 1959, and established compensation with 20-year government issued bonds

José Luis Toledo Santanderjune 11, 2019 11:06:26

The Revolutionary government promulgated nationalization laws to fulfill the Moncada program.

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Photo: Granma Archives
Given the increase in U.S. imperial aggression and arrogance, many Cubans are being heard these days paraphrasing General Antonio Maceo, on the occasion of his historic statement in Mangos de Baraguá, in 1878, when responding to a surrender agreement known as the Zanjón Pact, he said, “No, we do not understand each other.” I agree with them, we cannot understand the U.S. government, for many reasons, among them because we make an effort to give words the interpretation they deserve.

In the Helms-Burton Act, the terms “confiscated property” and “confiscated assets” are used regularly. As Dr. Olga Miranda Bravo explains, these terms are in no way “similar to nationalization,” defined as an act by which a nation, in a legal process, can, for different reasons, order the appropriation of private properties and place them within the public treasury.”

The confiscation of assets is an accessory legal act, subsequent to the commission of a crime, which implies, in addition to a penalty, the restitution of property ill-gained, with no right to compensation.The Council of Ministers, in use of powers recognized by the Fundamental Law of the Republic, February 7, 1959 – broadly and specifically inspired by the 1940 Constitution – enacted Law No.15 on March 17, 1959, which ordered the confiscation, and consequent adjudication to the Cuban state, of assets owned by Fulgencio Batista and all those who collaborated with his dictatorship, recognized as responsible for multiple crimes, as set forth in the Code of Social Defense, in effect at that time.When the Helms-Burton Act refers in its section 302 of Title III to trafficking with property confiscated by the Cuban government, it is protecting the very criminals cited in Law 15/1959, whose assets were confiscated because they had committed crimes. Continue reading The legal basis of Cuba’s nationalizations →

Pastors for Peace in Cuba

Pastors for Peace in Cuba

Pastors for Peace sends Trump administration a strong message
The group’s solidarity caravan conveys a clear message to the U.S. – and the world – challenging the hostile policy toward Cuba being followed by the current government

Author: International news staff | informacion@granma.cu
june 11, 2019 14:06:59

Reverend Raúl Suárez, from Ebenezer Baptist Church in the Havana municipality of Marianao, emphasized the importance of the Cuba-U.S. Friendship Caravan project organized by Pastors for Peace to the struggle against the blockade.

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Photo: Yaimí Ravelo
Cuba’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ana Silvia Rodríguez, stated that the Pastors for Peace solidarity caravan this year is of great relevance, since it is taking place during a difficult period for relations between Cuba and the United States, amidst escalating U.S. sanctions on Cuba.

According to Prensa Latina, the work of Caravan participants is sending a clear message to the United States and the rest of the world, challenging the hostile policies of the current administration, the Cuban diplomat said during a solidarity event held in New York.

Anti-Cuban leaders have learned nothing over these years of resistance, she added, our people will not surrender to pressure or threats. Now Washington is tightening the siege of Cuba, increasing aggressive measures, re-activating the Helms-Burton Act’s Title III, for example.

Restrictions on travel to the island have been increased, “Perhaps they are afraid that the U.S. people will learn the true reality of my country,” the ambassador observed.

Since 1992, when the Pastors for Peace Caravans began, Caravan organizers and participants have faced the harassment of the different U.S. administrations and forces hostile to the normalization of relations between the two countries. Caravan activists have overcome thousands of obstacles, making great sacrifices to deliver solidarity support to Cuba, recalled Rodríguez, Cuba’s alternate permanent representative to the United Nations.

The executive director of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization-Pastors for Peace, Gail Walker, noted that the solidarity work they do allows them to debunk misinformation and lies spread by the Donald Trump administration.

The Caravan’s travels around the continental U.S. are taking place early in June this year, rescheduled to better meet their goals since the Venceremos Brigade organized by U.S. and Puerto Rican activists will be in Cuba to commemorate its 50th anniversary in July, she reported.

The travel license system imposed by the White House is meant to “control what we do, where we go (…), so we will travel without a license, love is our only license,” Walker insisted.

“Ours is a labor of love toward our friends in Cuba, reflecting our commitment to the cause of ending the blockade,” she concluded.

In addition to bringing solidarity aid to Cuba, the Pastors for Peace caravans, under the guidance of the unforgettable Reverend Lucius Walker, was founded with the objective of challenging the economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba, which the U.S. has maintained for almost 60 years.

The births of Maceo and Che

The births of Maceo and Che

The births of Maceo and Che
The two legendary leaders were both born on June 14; chance could not have devised anything more appropriate

Granmajune 11, 2019 14:06:14

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Photo: habanaradio.cu
Eighty-three years separated the births of the two men. The first was a legendary figure when the second came into the world. While one said that anyone who attempted to appropriate Cuba would be left with only the dust from its soil, drenched in blood, if they did not perish in the battle; the other shed his blood on Bolivian soil attempting to prevent the empire from seizing Our America.

Both were invaders from East to West; both died in combat; both are today exemplary symbols of revolutionary courage and intransigence; both are now close to us, and we close to them; both did what a whole people has sworn to do; they were born the same day: June 14. Chance could not have devised anything better.

General Antonio Maceo, Cubans of today, educated in your immortal example, would have shared the honor of being with you on that glorious day you responded to the representative of the Spanish colonial power: We want no peace without independence.
Che, dear brother: all your comrades in arms would have liked to fight with you in the Quebrada del Yuro and for the liberation of America. It was an impossible dream. Fate had assigned our heroic people the mission of resisting 43 years of aggression and finally saying NO to the imperial government that threatens us and tries to impose on Cuba a new Platt Amendment, more ignominious than that of 1901. The people whom you helped to overthrow tyranny, is fighting today the most glorious struggle of its history against the government of the hegemonic superpower that seeks to destroy us.

Cuban revolutionaries, in the midst of the battle of ideas that we are waging today, and engaged in the arduous, heroic defense of the homeland, the Revolution, and socialism, today we pay special tribute to our two great heroes, with a firm and unwavering decision: we will all be like Maceo and Che!

(Excerpts of speech delivered by Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz, in a solemn commemoration of the births of Maceo and Che, held in Cacahual, Havana, June 15, 2002).

The Cuba we want

The country we want, President Díaz-Canel

The country we want
President Díaz-Canel met with administrative vice presidents from all provinces and the Isle of Youth special municipality and advocated for a sovereign, participatory, socialist nation, based on balanced, suThe country we want, President Díaz-Caneltínez Hernándezjune 10, 2019 16:06:54

The housing program was one of those analyzed by the President in a meeting with administration vice presidents from all provinces and the Isle of Youth special municipality.

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Photo: Leidys Labrador
THE President of Cuba’s Councils of State and of Ministers, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, during an exchange at the Palace of the Revolution with administration vice presidents from all provinces and the Isle of Youth special municipality, advocated for a socialist, sovereign, participatory nation, that is faithful to its history and defends its identity.
The country we want, he said, must be based on balanced, sustainable development, on prosperity in harmony with the environment, a fair distribution of wealth, and quality services for the entire people, according to the official Presidential website.
Also participating were the president of the National Assembly of People’s Power, Esteban Lazo Hernández, and First Vice President of the Councils of State and Ministers Salvador Valdés Mesa, as the President spoke of practicing solidarity; rejecting self-interest; repudiating discrimination; and defending the rights of all Cubans, not exclusive or privileged segments.
After discussing difficulties facing the nation with the regional cadres, Díaz-Canel reiterated the government’s two priorities: preparation for defense and the economic battle, both afforded the same level of importance.
Regardless of the circumstances, he stressed, we will not renounce the principles that have defined the Cuban Revolution since its inception, such as the worker-campesino alliance, the right to land for those who work it, universal and free access to education and health, as well as state ownership of the basic means of production.
During the meeting cardinal issues for the development of the country were analyzed, such as meeting commercial circulation plans, conserving energy, housing programs, and municipal food self-sufficiency.
Likewise, proposals from deputies to the National Assembly of People’s Power must be heeded, including those related to housing construction and subsidies; preventing fuel theft; and the production of food.
Among the unavoidable tasks in developing a better economy, Díaz-Canel mentioned the strengthening of socialist state enterprises; the ordering of non-state economic activity, without affecting its performance negatively; integrating all actors, forms of ownership and management involved in Cuba’s economic environment; making the investment process more efficient; boosting foreign investment; exporting more and replacing imports with domestic products.
He urged the efficient use of valuable human resources, and the skilled scientific workforce trained by the Revolution, to defend national production and encourage local development programs in all territories.
In this first exchange of this kind, the vice presidents of Administration Councils presented their experiences in each of the analyzed programs.
WITH LITTLE STEPS, GREAT THINGS ARE ACCOMPLISHED
We face the challenge of ensuring the comprehensive training of our athletes, to be young revolutionaries, true patriots and with extensive development as athletes, commented the President of Cuba’s Councils of State and Ministers, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermúdez, to close the XXXI National Seminar to prepare of the coming school year in the Cuban sports system.
After outlining aspects of increasing threats by the United States government in the region, and the resurgence of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade on our country, the President insisted on the need to put an end to “the import mentality that sometimes delays initiative and proposals to overcome problems.
”This is a school year in which we must continue confronting, from a socialist position, banality, ignorance and vulgarity, elements that imperialism attempts to cultivate. And we must help our young athletes understand that the construction of socialism is challenging, because it is based on sacrifice, on collectivism, on the defense of all and for all,” he stressed.
Referring to Physical Education classes, he said that this is where values are shaped, personalities molded, collectivism and solidarity forged.
Let us work toward developing beauty and the culture of detail as daily practices in sports, as well, he said, with little steps, great things are accomplished.
BATOS: AN INDUSTRY IS REBORN
While touring the Batos Sports Company, affiliated with the Light Industry Enterprise Group, President Díaz-Canel was able to appreciate the exquisite cleanliness and organization that reigns in the workshops, in which 256 types of sporting goods were manufactured last year.
Batos, founded in June 1965, produces and distributes sports implements and equipment, textile garments, supplies and services for the Cuban sports system, and in 2018 its more than 700 workers produced some 600,000 items, a figure that had not been reached since the years prior to the Special Period.
Accompanied by Osvaldo Vento Montiller, president of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education, and Recreation, and Andrés Alberdi Valero, Batos director, the Cuban leader toured areas involved in leatherworks, woodworking, and the fabrication of balls for different sports, where he asked about stability of the workforce and the quality of productions, among other issues.
Walking through the textile workshop, he recognized the new uniform models being crafted, with unique designs, high quality, and patriotic symbols standing out. (Info from www.presidencia.gob.cu)