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Presentation on Commander Ernesto Che Guevara Memorial by Representative of Casa Las Americas

Presentation on Commander Ernesto Che Guevara Memorial by Representative of Casa Las Americas

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50 years have passed since the fall of Commander Ernesto Che Guevara in Bolivia, a fervent fighter for the freedom and well-being of the suffering peoples of America and the world; a hero of the glorious Cuban revolution.

Che belongs to a lineage of men and women who have attained eternal glory by their achievements for the good of humanity. With his death, an extraordinary human being was lost, and a brave fighter, who gave his life for the greatest force that flows through the universe: love. That is why his image has spread throughout the sphere of the planet.

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On the fateful afternoon of October 9 at one and 10 minutes of the afternoon of 1967, in La Higuera, Bolivia, with the assassination of the heroic guerrilla, a new star in the sky was born.

Other compañeros and compañeras here tonight discuss different aspects of the historical trajectory of Comandante Che. Casa de las América today shares theirs and narrates a brief chapter in the life of Che, a little known one—-as it was directly linked to the founders, specifically with a companion of ‘Casa:’ the late Don Pablo Estremera who, by the way, was the first president of Casa Cuba, what we now know as Casa de las Américas.

This comrade was a member of the July 26 movement in NY, founded by Fidel during his stay in this city in 1955. There it was established that said committee would be a support group for the combatants once they were on the war front that turned out to be in the Sierra Maestra. In due time after their arrival, the committee of 26 in NY is asked for a sum of money, which must be delivered to Fidel in the Sierra Maestra. Don Pablo Estremera was selected for this task because, despite being Puerto Rican by birth, he was the only one familiar with the region, having been raised around the Sierra Maestra.

Says the unpublished history, that Don Pablo, undertook his trip to the Sierra Maestra in search of Fidel, there he met with a brigade of guerrillas led by Che and they took him as a prisoner. When Che interrogates him, he tells him that he has an assignment from the July 27 NY committee to meet with Fidel. Che tells Don Pablo that if what he says is not true, he runs the risk of being shot.

After three days of touring the mountain range, they arrived at Fidel’s camp. Che went forward to alert Fidel of Don Pablo’s presence and told him that there was a parakeet there who said he had an assignment from NY to meet Fidel.

After three days of touring the mountain range, they arrived at Fidel’s camp. Che went forward to alert Fidel of Don Pablo’s presence—that there was a ‘parakeet’ who said he had been entrusted from NY to meet Fidel.

Parakeet? Fidel asked. Che relates tod the word parakeet because the man talked so much, did not stop talking on their way to Fidel. His name is Pablo Che replies. “Oh, that’s Pablito,” make it happen responded Fidel. Both men talked, in this way fulfilling the much difficult and dangerous task.

Since then Don Pablo was baptized by Che with the nickname of “Periquito.” A man of short stature and giant in bravery, at 65 years of age he became Fidel’s “mail delivery man” as he returned to the mountains when necessary. A great friendship was forged from that unexpected encounter between Che and the “Periquito” Pablo Estremera, the anonymous hero of the Cuban revolution.

In his visit to the United Nations, Che asked to meet with the compañeros and compañeras of Casa Cuba, especially Don Pablo Estremera, to thank him for the great work they did during the Cuban liberation war. A great friendship was established between Don Pablo and Che.

Long live Che, long live Fidel, and long live the great Cuban revolution.

Data acquired from the archive of Arnaldo Barrón

Venezuelan Elections

The Bolivarian Elections A Real Lesson in Democracy

VENEZUELA
A real lesson in democracy
The Bolivarian Revolution obtained 71% of the vote in the country’s December 10 elections, the largest margin of victory in Venezuela’s history, winning 308 of the 335 mayor’s offices
Author: Alina Perera Robbio | perera@juventudrebelde.cu
december 13, 2017 13:12:27

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Photo: www.eitb.eus

President Nicolás Maduro Moros described the voter turn out for December 10 municipal elections as “extraordinary,” noting, “In the last 140 days, on three occasions, we have exercised our popular will, our national sovereignty, our ability to make decisions.”
The head of state commented to the press, shortly before the vote, that 15 checks of the electoral system had been conducted, saying that as soon as the voting stations across the country were closed, 54% would be audited, and “This is the only place in the world where this is done.”
Maduro recalled that this is the 24th vote in the Bolivarian Revolution’s 18 years, and that the Venezuelan people have been subjected to every kind of warfare, from abroad and internally, yet, “We have become accustomed to this, and we have strengthened the nation’s political consciousness. No matter the economic war, no matter the psychological war, no matter the media war – the people always step up.”
He emphasized the importance of the battle for peace, saying, “The only alternative is the debate of ideas, political participation…”
Over the course of election day, several leaders of the Bolivarian Revolution shared their views with the press.
Diosdado Cabello, first vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) commented to Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) that during these moments, it is once again made clear that the nation is free and sovereign, and will not accept meddling or intervention by any other country in internal affairs.
Elías Jaua, vice president for Social Development and the Missions Revolution, stated on VTV that Venezuela continues to have vigorous popular participation, while Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza stated in his analysis that just when the violent opposition thought the leadership of the Revolution, the government and President, were weakened, the people reacted and peace was established.
President Maduro called on local authorities elected December 10 to govern with the people, to strengthen social policies of comprehensive attention, and build unity within revolutionary forces.
“I congratulate the Venezuelan people,” he wrote on his Twitter account, “for this great victory… We have won 308 of the 335 mayors’ offices and won 70% of the vote. Now it’s on to govern with the people in the streets, in the neighborhoods, in settlements, and to work for the unity of revolutionary forces,”
Reports indicate that the Revolution obtained 71% of the vote, representing
6,517,606 voters, as compared to the opposition’s 2,749,000.
Jorge Rodríguez, head of the Zamora Command running the PSUV election campaign, noted that this is the largest margin of victory any political force has ever achieved in Venezuela’s history.
He added that Chavista forces now hold more mayor’s offices than ever before, recalling that in 2013, they won 255.

Armando Hart

Raúl attends funeral tribute for Armando Hart, an essential figure in the country’s history

Raúl attends funeral tribute for Armando Hart
Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, President Cuba’s Councils of State and Ministers, attended the funeral tribute which took place at the Center for Martí Studies to honor Armando Hart Dávalos, an essential figure in the country’s history

Author: Leticia Martínez Hernández | internet@granma.cu
november 28, 2017 08:11:49

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Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, President Cuba’s Councils of State and Ministers, attended the funeral tribute which took place at the Center for Martí Studies to honor Armando Hart Dávalos, an essential figure in the country’s history.

Accompanied by other members of the Political Bureau, Raúl headed the final honor guard for the fervent revolutionary who based his thought on that of Martí and Fidel, and dedicated his entire life to the homeland.

The ceremony’s central remarks were delivered by First Vice President Miguel Díaz -Canel Bermúdez, who recalled the Hart ‘s work, and the extraordinary example of loyalty, selflessness, conviction, and consistent adherence to principles, which he leaves for today’s generation and those of the future.

Armando Hart

Armando Hart, a leading figure during the Cuban revolution who oversaw a literacy campaign

Armando Hart — known for his shock of white hair and dark-rimmed glasses — focused on promoting the life and works of Cuban independence hero José Martí. (Desmond Boylan/Associated Press)

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By Michael Weissenstein November 27 at 12:16 PM
Armando Hart, a leading figure during the Cuban revolution who oversaw a literacy campaign that tried to ensure that all Cubans could read and write and spent much of his career as culture minister, died Nov. 26 in Havana. He was 87.

Cuban state media said the cause was respiratory failure.

Designated education minister shortly after the 1959 revolutionary triumph that put Fidel Castro in power, Mr. Hart was tasked with sending more than 100,000 volunteers across the island for the literacy campaign. He served six years in the post and then was organization secretary for the newly formed Communist Party. He was culture minister from 1976 to 1997.

In his later years, Mr. Hart — who was known for his shock of white hair and dark-rimmed glasses — focused on promoting the life and works of Cuban independence hero José Martí.

Mr. Hart was reelected as a member of the party’s Central Committee in April 2011, although he gave up a seat on the more powerful Politburo. He also had sat on the island’s supreme governing authority, the Council of State, until he was removed in February 2008 amid reports that he was in ill health.

Armando Hart Davalos was born in Havana on June 13, 1930. He studied law at the University of Havana, where he joined the youth wing of the Orthodox Party, a major political party at the time.

After Fulgencio Batista took power in a 1952 coup, Mr. Hart joined Cuba’s Federation of University Students in protests against the new government. That same year, he graduated with a law degree and joined the opposition.

When Castro launched his revolutionary struggle with an unsuccessful attack on a military barracks in the eastern city of Santiago on July 26, 1953, Mr. Hart became an early member of the movement’s urban support group. He and other July 26 Movement organizers carried on after Castro and the other survivors were imprisoned and then later traveled to Mexico to form a rebel army.

Mr. Hart was arrested numerous times for his organizing activities in eastern Cuba after the rebels returned to Cuba in late 1956 to launch their guerrilla war from the island’s eastern mountains. His last arrest was in early 1958, and he remained behind bars until the revolution’s triumph nearly a year later on New Year’s Day 1959. Castro soon named Mr. Hart education minister.

In his later years, Mr. Hart published several books on political and cultural thought, including “Perfiles” (“Profiles”), a 1995 collection of texts studying the lives and works of Cuba’s political and intellectual leaders.

Among Mr. Hart’s favorite leaders was Martí. In February 1997, he was named director of the Cuban government’s Office of Martí Program, created to publish and promote Martí’s extensive writings. Mr. Hart also headed the José Martí Cultural Society.

Mr. Hart received the Order of Felix Varela, First Grade, the highest award Cuba’s communist government grants to Cuban and foreign intellectuals. The Cuban Foreign Ministry awarded him its Raúl Roa García medal, named for the first foreign minister under the revolutionary government.