Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Cuba Will Not Revoke Political Asylum for US Fugitives Who US Government Wants Extradited (Gosztola)

good news

On 12/25/14, 4:53 PM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) wrote:
> Cuba Will Not Revoke Political Asylum for US Fugitives Who US Government Wants Extradited<http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2014/12/23/cuba-will-not-revoke-political-asylum-for-americans-who-us-government-want-extradited/>
>
>
> By: Kevin Gosztola<http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/author/kgosztola/> Tuesday December 23, 2014
>
> <http://static1.firedoglake.com/47/files/2014/12/Screen-shot-2014-12-23-at-11.53.05-AM.png>
> Assata Shakur, who was given political asylum in Cuba
> Cuba will not revoke political asylum for Americans, such as Assata Shakur, who have fled the United States, the Associated Press reports.
> Since President Barack Obama announced a shift in US policy, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, New Jersey state police and the FBI have seized upon<http://chicagodefender.com/2014/12/18/fbi-wants-to-extradite-assata-shakur-after-renewed-cuba-relations/>
> the shift as an opportunity to force Cuba to return Shakur (also known as Joanne Chesimard) so she can finish her sentence. Shakur was convicted of killing New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster in 1973.
>
> News media have called attention to other fugitives<http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/18/what-s-next-for-the-cop-killers-hiding-in-havana.html> who are in Cuba. There are around 80 individuals the United States government could pressure Cuba to stop giving political asylum.
> But the Cuban Foreign Ministry's head of North American Affairs Josefina Vidal, who is the "point person on US relations," declared<http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f414eee3940b40d083351bb0974a48c0/cuba-signals-extradition-us-fugitives-table>, "Every nation has sovereign and legitimate rights to grant political asylum to people it considers to have been persecuted."
>
> "We've explained to the US government in the past that there are some people living in Cuba to whom Cuba has legitimately granted political asylum," Vidal added.
> There is no extradition treaty between the US and Cuba. However, the White House's National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in a statement that the Obama administration will "continue to press in our engagement with the Cuban government for the return of US fugitives in Cuba to pursue justice for the victims of their crimes."
> Lennox Hinds, Shakur's lawyer, has asserted<http://www.democracynow.org/2013/5/3/angela_davis_and_assata_shakurs_lawyer> that Shakur never took an officer's gun and shot a cop, executing the trooper "in cold blood."
> "If we look at the trial, we'll find that she was victimized, she was shot. She was shot in the back. The bullet exited and broke the clavicle in her shoulder. She could not raise a gun. She could not raise her hand to shoot. And she was shot while her hands were in the air. Now, that is the forensic evidence. There is not one scintilla of evidence placing a gun in her hand. No arsenic residue was found on her clothing or on her hands," Hinds said on "Democracy Now!" after the FBI placed her on the agency's list of "Most Wanted Terrorists."
> In a larger context, Hinds explained that there are clear grounds to offer Black Panthers (or other revolutionaries), like Shakur, political asylum.
> …There have been numerous individuals who have left the United States and went to foreign countries, allies of the United States, where those countries have refused to extradite them. France, for example, in the 1970s, there were Black Panthers who hijacked planes and went to France. Now, both France and the United States have extradition treaties. Not only that, France signed the 1963 Tokyo Convention, the 1970 Hague Convention and the 1973 Montreal Convention, with the United States. All of these are international agreements that require countries, host countries, that are holding individuals—who have hijacked planes—to extradite them or try them. France, after conducting their own independent review of these Black Panthers, refused to extradite them to the United States based upon France's assessment that if they would be returned, they would be subject to political and racial repression. So, I say that the Cubans' position is well grounded in international law…
> In fact, presumably, fear of political repression is how the US government has justified not extraditing individuals, who the Cuban government has wanted to see prosecuted for their alleged involvement in terrorism.
> Luis Posada Carriles, the mastermind behind the bombing of a Cuban airliner, entered the US in 2005. He was put on trial<http://www.thenation.com/article/159919/luis-posada-carriles-acquitted-texas> in El Paso, Texas, in 2011 for lying to immigration authorities about how he got into the country and his participation in terrorist attacks. In April of that year, he was acquitted.
> Venezuela had pushed for his extradition. But, a US immigration judge ruled he could not "be sent to either country, for fear he could be tortured." Part of what helped him escape extradition was the fact that he had connections<https://consortiumnews.com/2006/042606.html> to the CIA.
> Orlando Bosch, who died in Miami in 2011, was an associate of Carriles. According to an article<http://world.time.com/2011/04/28/death-of-a-terrorist-orlando-bosch-outclassed-by-cuban-dissidents/> written by Time's Tim Padgett after he died in 2011, "In the 1980s, after returning to the US, Bosch was arrested for his parole violation; but he was pardoned by then President George H.W. Bush in 1990 after pleading from Miami's politically powerful Cuban exile leaders. Bush did so despite warnings from his own national security officials that Bosch was, as then Attorney General Richard Thornburgh has since said, 'an unrepentant terrorist.'"
> For Salon, Tristram Korten and Kirk Nielsen highlighted<http://www.salon.com/2008/01/14/cuba_2/> Santiago Alvarez and Osvaldo Mitat. Alvarez allegedly "was on board a motorboat that strafed the shoreline of a Cuban fishing village in 1971 killing two men and wounding four others, including two young girls."
> He allegedly provided financial and military and other material support to Posada and other militants, including in April 2001 when Cuba captured "three Miami area residents after they clambered ashore with AK-47 assault rifles, an M-3 carbine fitted with a silencer and three semi-automatic Makarov pistols."
> In 2005 federal agents searched an apartment Alvarez kept north of Miami in Broward County and found a store of military hardware including an M-11 A1 machine gun, two Colt AR-15 assault rifles, a silencer, and a Heckler & Koch grenade launcher. Agents arrested Alvarez and his assistant, Osvaldo Mitat.
> According to Peter Margulies, prosecutors could have considered charging Alvarez with providing material support for terrorist activity, which carries a sentence of 15 years to life. Instead, they charged Alvarez and Mitat with seven counts of illegal weapons possession.
> Both pleaded guilty to one of the counts. The judge sentenced Mitat to about three years and Alvarez to just under four years. "While I have always been passionately interested in a free and democratic Cuba, I recognize that any conduct of mine must occur within the bounds of the law," Alvarez stated at his sentencing. After the plea, Alvarez supporters, who were able to remain anonymous, brokered a deal with prosecutors through a lawyer. In exchange for even more weapons, including 200 pounds of dynamite, 14 pounds of C-4 explosives and 30 assault weapons, the judge further reduced Alvarez's sentence to 30 months.
> There are numerous people like Alvarez and Mitat, who are essentially a part of what could be considered terrorist training camps, where they plot attacks to bring about a second revolution.
> "We've reminded the U.S. government that in its country they've given shelter to dozens and dozens of Cuban citizens," Vidal also said in a statement. "Some of them accused of horrible crimes, some accused of terrorism, murder and kidnapping, and in every case the U.S. government has decided to welcome them."
> There is all this focus on revolutionaries who committed violent crimes but little acknowledgment of the fact that the CIA has had ties to militant Cuban exiles and the US government has looked the other way as exile groups plan how to overthrow the government Cuba.
> Michael Daly of the Daily Beast wrote<http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/18/what-s-next-for-the-cop-killers-hiding-in-havana.html>:
> In announcing the end of the embargo, President Obama was clearly happy to announce that Americans visiting there will even be able to use their credit and debit cards.
> The question is whether we will be doing so in a country that continues to shelter cop-killers and a terror bomber and a mass murderer.
> How hypocritical is it to be outraged about this while not condemning the US government for sheltering terrorists who have planned attacks on Fidel Castro?
> Is there even a complete roster of criminals being sheltered by Cuba to compare to a roster of criminals being sheltered by the US? Because it seems like the US has done far more harboring of violent criminals, mostly because doing so has typically meshed well with the US government's agenda against Cuba.
> __,_._,___
> Professor Gloria Emeagwali
> History Department
> CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
> africahistory.net
> vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
> Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
> Africa and the African Diaspora
>
> ________________________________
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of kenneth harrow [harrow@msu.edu]
> Sent: Thursday, December 25, 2014 2:51 AM
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - US Embassy in Havana – The Cuba Caper (Koenig)
>
> i had the same reaction to the piece. i don't get it, it seemed like crazy thinking. you open an embassy and all the spies and evil ngos, sneak their spies in?? without the embassy they can't get tourist visas? this is unreal. further, cuban dissidents are all evil too? no, i'm glad to be able to cheer for obama on this after all the other appalling thing's he's done in the war on terrorism. too bad this wasn't done 6 years ago when we wanted the "real" obama to act without continually trying to work with the republicans. they had one agenda, block him no matter what, and sadly they seem to have won. finally he has nothing to lose and good things are taking place.
> this is one of the very very good things. gloria, the embargo and closed doors represented all that we hated about cold war politics for 50 years; time to cheer on this change, don't you think?
> ken
>
> On 12/25/14, 12:45 AM, Moses Ebe Ochonu wrote:
> There is a thin line between healthy skepticism and conspiracy mongering/cynicism, and this article in my opinion crosses that line. Can we wait for things to unravel before we sound the usual, familiar alarms about US imperialist traps and resource quests? What about giving the new shift a chance to see how it unfolds? I am no expert on diplomacy and the Cuba embargo but most of the expert commentary I've read--the ones that are not informed by conspiratorial reflections--conclude that Obama went as far as he could go with executive power. The embargo is an act of congress and only an act of congress can undo it as a legal reality. The incoming Republican congress is unlikely to lift the embargo. What Obama has done, experts have said, is to effectively end the embargo in practical quotidian terms while leaving its shell-- which means that as the various stages of the new rapprochement unfolds and are implemented, the impacts and relational consequences of the blockade will gradually fade away, and the embargo, although its legal framework may remain in place if congress does not act to remove it, will become practically meaningless, inconsequential to actual relations and interactions between the governments and peoples of the two countries. Of course, there is no uarantee that this paper vision will unfold exactly as the expert analysts and the Obama administration hope, but why don't we wait until the pitfalls of this vision manifest before we get hyper-critical about the new policy?
>
> Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
>
> On Wed, Dec 24, 2014 at 4:29 PM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu<mailto:emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu>> wrote:
> US Embassy in Havana – The Cuba Caper
> By Peter Koenig
>
>
> December 23, 2014 "ICH" -The lame duck, Obama, extending a conciliatory hand to Cuba by opening an embassy in Havana, by reopening, after 54 years of a criminal and crippling embargo, diplomatic relations? – At the same time Obama is making not a single concession in terms of lifting the blockade. This smells like a trap. Cuba beware!
>
> Imagine – a US Embassy in Havana – it would open the floodgates for US NED (National Endowment for Democracy) funded 'NGOs', for Washington's spies and anti-Castro propaganda machine; it would have free hand to destabilize the country. And what would Cuba gain? – Zilch, zero, nothing. Not even a gradual lifting of the embargo had been announced. To the contrary, it would open Cuba's borders to the vultures of Florida Cubans, eventually to theirs and other foreign investments, subjugating the country's huge social gains over the last half a century – universal free education and health services, by far the best social system of the Americas – to the sledgehammer of neoliberal privatization.
>
> Why would Cuba now need a US Embassy? After 54 years of struggling and surviving against Washington's nod? – In fact, nobody needs the empire – the empire's consent to financially and economically survive. Suffice it to look at the 'engineered' decay of the Russian ruble which eventually will leave Russia better off than before the downward slide of its currency and the likewise 'engineered' downward spin of the price of petrol. Everybody knows that the Middle Eastern oil producers, Obama's stooges, will not forever shoot themselves in the foot by flooding the petrol market and foregoing their oil revenues.
>
> What Cuba needs is free access to international markets – outside and independent of the United States. Cuba needs to integrate into an independent financial and monetary system, detached from the corrupt casino dollar. Solidarity by the rest of the world which has already helped Cuba survive the illegal, inhuman US embargo is now more than ever of the order. The support of a unity of nations must now help stem the temptation to bend to Washington's offer of 'diplomacy'.
>
> With the establishment of diplomatic relations, Cuba would be condemned to adopt the dollar as trading currency – no escaping the dollar, if ever Cuba wanted to hope for the good deeds of the empire – the lifting of the blockade.
>
> Look what happened in Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecuador – once a US Embassy is established, all the nefarious destabilizing elements could sneak in, willy-nilly. Plus, economic 'sanctions', would be nearer than ever, if Cuba doesn't behave. Both Bolivia and Venezuela have learned their lessons the hard way. After they closed the US Embassy and sent US organizations and NGOs home, they could breathe again. Though Venezuela is still suffering from Washington's diabolical arm of propaganda and direct interference in domestic affairs, she has no longer the burden of maintaining a 'diplomatic' tie with the northern aggressor.
>
> Most importantly, however – the US is vying for Cuban hydrocarbons, estimated today at 20 billion barrels of offshore oil reserves. Cuba, like Venezuela, is close to US Mexican Gulf shores, where the major refineries are waiting for the crude. During his tour of South America in July 2014, President Putin in a meeting with Cuban President, Raul Castro, signed an agreement whereby the Russian oil company, Rosneft, will assist the Cuban oil producer, Cupet, exploring and exploiting the island's offshore petrol.
>
> Is it coincidence or sheer self-interest, that just now, when Russia is digging for oil in Obama's backyard that he is offering diplomatic ties with the 54 years embargoed Caribbean island? – Your guess.
> Venezuela has the world's largest remaining hydrocarbon reserves, about 300 billion barrels. They are close to the US shores and would be the best bet for US mega-oil. But the White House's destabilizing efforts in Venezuela seem to fail. These efforts and other State Department blunders have helped increase US isolation in Latin America.
>
> Why not trying another approach? – A well disguised lie; insinuating with the opening of an embassy in Havana that the deadly embargo might ease in some undefined future between the brutal Goliath of the north and castigated, downtrodden David of the Caribbean. An embassy in Cuba may also earn some much needed kudos with other Latin American neighbors which have been upset for years about the criminal strangulation by the empire of one of their brothers.
>
> In fact, first reactions from Latin America to Obama's diplomatic initiative were positive. But more than caution is in order. – The establishment of a US embassy in Havana might be more than just a floodgate for US secret service agents and anti-Cuba propaganda. A US Embassy in Havana might begin breaking down US isolation in South America, especially in Brazil and Argentina. It might become a backdoor for Washington to gain access to these countries huge natural resources.
>
> Knowing about Washington's agenda of world dominance, it would be difficult to imagine that there is even a shred of goodwill behind Obama's move to 'normalize' relations with Cuba. – Havana beware!
>
>
> Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a former World Bank staff and worked extensively around the world in the fields of environment and water resources. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed – fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe.
> _______________________________________________________________________________________________
>
> Professor Gloria Emeagwali
> History Department
> CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
> africahistory.net<http://africahistory.net>
> vimeo.com/user5946750/videos<http://vimeo.com/user5946750/videos>
> Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
> Africa and the African Diaspora
> ________________________________________
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>] On Behalf Of Emeagwali, Gloria (History) [emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu<mailto:emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu>]
> Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2014 2:45 PM
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
> Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - CUBA: THANK YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA
>
> WB,
> This article captures some of my reservations and the need for caution.
> These are some of the facts to note. What is the point of isolating Russia and
> Venezuela with sanctions, while playing nice with Cuba?
>
> GE
> ............................................................................
> One Step Forward, One Step Back in US-Latin America Policy
> http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/international/227648-one-step-forward-one-step-back-in-us-latin-america-policy
>
> Alexander Main
> Friday, December 19, 2014,The Hill
>
>
> President Obama's decision to normalize relations with Cuba has grabbed headlines and drawn plaudits from around the world. In a short but historic speech, Obama announced a breathtaking series of measures including the reestablishing of full diplomatic relations with Cuba and the significant easing of restrictions on travel to the island nation. He also made a plea to Congress to undo the 54-year-old embargo against Cuba.
>
> But at the same time, Obama has supported a significant hardening of policy toward one of Cuba's closest allies in the region.
>
> Venezuela has just joined Cuba as one of only two countries in the Western Hemisphere subject to U.S. sanctions. Legislation mandating sanctions against Venezuelan officials was approved by voice vote in the Senate on Dec. 8 and then sailed through the House on Dec. 10. On Dec. 18, just one day after his speech on a "new course" on Cuba, Obama signed the sanctions bill into law. Cuban-American Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who authored the legislation, called it "a victory for the Venezuelan people."
>
> The trouble is, the people of Venezuela don't seem to agree with Menendez. A survey<http://venezuelablog.tumblr.com/post/91270642089/datanalisis-releases-polling-data-on-venezuelans> [1] carried out by independent pollster Datanalisis showed that nearly three quarters of Venezuelans oppose U.S. sanctions. The Caracas-based human rights organization PROVEA — a frequent critic of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — also vigorously rejects<http://www.derechos.org.ve/2014/07/11/provea-rechaza-posibles-sanciones-de-eeuu-contra-funcionarios-del-gobierno-venezolano/> [2] the measure. Other Latin American governments oppose the sanctions as well. At a May summit, South America's heads of state strongly voiced their opposition<http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/140524/unasur-rejects-intended-us-sanctions-on-venezuelan-officials> [3] to the Senate bill and its House companion, authored by Florida Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
>
> The stated purpose of the bill is "to impose targeted sanctions on persons responsible for violations of human rights of antigovernment protesters" that took to the streets between February and April of this year demanding Maduro's departure. The bill's promoters mention that over 40 people died during the protests but don't acknowledge that a large number of these deaths included state security forces and pro-government activists<http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/venezuela-who-are-they-and-how-did-they-die-new> [4] and were caused by the protesters<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/world/americas/crude-weapons-help-fuel-unrest-in-bastion-of-venezuelan-opposition.html> [5] themselves. Moreover, as human rights organizations have noted<http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/venezuela0514_reportcover_web_0.pdf> [6], Venezuelan authorities have carried out investigations of abuses and apprehended at least 17 security agents allegedly implicated in violent acts against demonstrators.
>
> Troubling reports of impunity still surround some of the killings and abuses perpetrated during the protests. But does Venezuela's human rights situation really justify sanctions? If so, then why hasn't the U.S. government sanctioned authorities in Colombia, where the army reportedly executed at least 5,763 innocent civilians<http://forusa.org/content/report-rise-fall-false-positive-killings-colombia-role-us-military-assistance-2000-2010> [7] between 2000 and 2010? Why hasn't it sanctioned Honduras, where security forces regularly commit extrajudicial killings<http://news.yahoo.com/ap-impact-honduran-police-accused-death-squads-235203072.html> [8] with impunity? Or what about Mexico, where 43 students recently disappeared, most likely all killed, with the alleged complicity<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/14/missing-students-mexico_n_6321866.html> [9] of both local and federal police? Instead of penalizing the governments of these countries, the U.S. continues to send them hundreds of millions of dollars in security assistance.
>
> So where do the sanctions against Venezuela come from?
>
> For years, a handful of members of Congress with ties to far-right Cuban exile groups has sought to harden U.S. policy toward Venezuela and other left-leaning Latin American governments with close relations to the Cuban government. In 2007, Ros-Lehtinen and three other South Florida representatives sent a letter to President George W. Bush, urging him to declare Venezuela's democratically elected government a "dictatorship" and grant temporary political asylum to Venezuelans who had overstayed their U.S. visas. In 2008, Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.), Ros-Lehtinen, Rep. Mario Díaz Balart (R-Fla.) and five other legislators sponsored a resolution calling for Venezuela to join Cuba on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
>
> Though these and other efforts didn't gain momentum, the sanctions legislation, introduced in both houses in March, benefited from intense media coverage around the 2014 protests and an unprecedented mobilization of opposition-aligned Venezuelans in the U.S. It passed the House in May but was held up in the Senate until early December. The administration, meanwhile, announced that it opposed sanctions since, in the words of a U.S. official, it "would reinforce the narrative of this being about the Venezuelan government standing up to the U.S."
>
> A group of Democratic legislators applauded<http://www.wola.org/sites/default/files/Colombia/Labor/VenezuelaLetter05272014.pdf> [10] the administration's position, noting that "unilateral U.S. intervention and sanctions have caused deep resentment throughout Latin America." This is perhaps especially true in Venezuela, where people still remember how the U.S. government supported a short-lived military coup<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/apr/17/usa.venezuela> [11] against late President Hugo Chávez back in 2002.
>
> Nevertheless, the administration began carrying out minor, unofficial sanctions — first revoking visas of Venezuelan officials and then barring U.S. exports of equipment with a "military end use" to Venezuela. Then, in late November, Antony Blinken, Obama's nominee for deputy secretary of State, told Sens. Menendez and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) that the administration was now fully supporting sanctions.
>
> The administration clearly dislikes President Maduro but is well aware that an aggressive unilateral measure like sanctions could undermine the divided Venezuelan opposition and further isolate the U.S. regionally. So why is it now supportive of sanctions?
>
> When Obama announced the dramatic shift in U.S. policy toward Cuba, he knew it would trigger outrage in the ranks of Cuban-American members of Congress. Though some of these legislators have fringe viewpoints on Latin America, they happen to have powerful committee positions and could make it even harder for the administration to achieve anything in Congress. The president apparently felt he should throw them a bone to try to appease them; the bone was a promise to back their Venezuela sanctions bill.
>
> Such trade-offs may make sense from a Beltway perspective. But allowing legislators stuck in a Cold War mentality to steer U.S. Venezuela policy is dangerous and risks wrecking the good will that the administration's Cuba detente is generating throughout the region. In the words of President Obama, it's time to fully "cut loose the [policy] shackles of the past." Not just with regard to Cuba, but on policy toward Venezuela and other left-leaning Latin American governments as well.
>
> Main is senior associate for international policy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
>
> Links:
> [1] http://venezuelablog.tumblr.com/post/91270642089/datanalisis-releases-polling-data-on-venezuelans
> [2] http://www.derechos.org.ve/2014/07/11/provea-rechaza-posibles-sanciones-de-eeuu-contra-funcionarios-del-gobierno-venezolano/
> [3] http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/140524/unasur-rejects-intended-us-sanctions-on-venezuelan-officials
> [4] http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/venezuela-who-are-they-and-how-did-they-die-new
> [5] http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/world/americas/crude-weapons-help-fuel-unrest-in-bastion-of-venezuelan-opposition.html
> [6] http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/venezuela0514_reportcover_web_0.pdf
> [7] http://forusa.org/content/report-rise-fall-false-positive-killings-colombia-role-us-military-assistance-2000-2010
> [8] http://news.yahoo.com/ap-impact-honduran-police-accused-death-squads-235203072.html
> [9] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/14/missing-students-mexico_n_6321866.html
> [10] http://www.wola.org/sites/default/files/Colombia/Labor/VenezuelaLetter05272014.pdf
> [11] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/apr/17/usa.venezuela
> Professor Gloria Emeagwali
> History Department
> CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
> africahistory.net<http://africahistory.net>
> vimeo.com/user5946750/videos<http://vimeo.com/user5946750/videos>
> Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
> Africa and the African Diaspora
>
> ________________________________
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>] On Behalf Of William Bangura [william.bangura17@gmail.com<mailto:william.bangura17@gmail.com>]
> Sent: Monday, December 22, 2014 5:06 PM
> To: dialogue
> Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - CUBA: THANK YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA
>
> Professor Gloria Emeagwali,
>
> What "facts" do you need? Raul Castro would not have pursued this rapprochement with President Obama without the blessings of his older brother Commandante Fidel Castro. President Obama is the "Moses" for Fidel Castro, his revolution and his Cuban people.
> Obama was born on August 4, 1960 and two months later on September 4, 1961 the United States Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act on September 4, 1961.
> Sister Gloria, I am an African and a GENUINE Pan-Africanist who does not believe in coincidence.
>
> WB
>
> On Thu, Dec 18, 2014 at 9:10 PM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu<mailto:emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu><mailto:emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu<mailto:emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu>>> wrote:
> Well there are pros and cons. This could be a ploy to isolate Russia further
> and divert attention from the sordid CIA torture record on the news.
> Once Russia and allies are routed, Cuba will be a sitting duck.
> Fear the" Greeks" bearing gifts. These are treacherous times.
>
> On the other hand, it could be what Bangura and others dreamt for, and a real horse rather than
> a Trojan carving. Should that be the case, congrats I say, but
> I need to get an endorsement from Fidel, before I bring out the
> champagne glass.
>
>
>
>
> Professor Gloria Emeagwali
> History Department
> CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
> africahistory.net<http://africahistory.net><http://africahistory.net>
> vimeo.com/user5946750/videos<http://vimeo.com/user5946750/videos><http://vimeo.com/user5946750/videos>
> Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
> Africa and the African Diaspora
>
> ________________________________
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com><mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>> [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com><mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>>] On Behalf Of william bangura [william.bangura17@gmail.com<mailto:william.bangura17@gmail.com><mailto:william.bangura17@gmail.com<mailto:william.bangura17@gmail.com>>]
> Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2014 5:15 PM
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com><mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>>
> Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - CUBA: THANK YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA
>
> The normalization of full diplomatic relations with Cuba was one of the salient reasons why I had campaigned for the then Sen. Barack H. Obama in the Democratic Presidential Primaries in Alexandria, Virginia and against Sen. John McCain in the General Elections that he will normalize full diplomatic relationship with Cuba before Fidel Castro dies.
> As a young boy living in Freetown, Sierra Leone I supported all the liberation movements in Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Rhodesia, South Africa and South West Africa. But I was very fascinated with the struggle in Angola because of the heavy presence of Cuban troops who were not only equipping and training the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) but were also involved in the fighting.
> In 1975 Cuban intelligence in Luanda, Angola's capital intercepted a signal that the South African Defense, the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) will invade southern Angola at Quinfangondo.
> President Fidel Castro telephoned Soviet President Leonid Breshnev and requested Aeroflots and Russian military transport planes to carry Cuban troops from Havana to Luanda. But there was a problem of refueling, and consequently, he called President Siaka Stevens of Sierra Leone and requested if the planes will refuel in Freetown--which is closer to Luanda--and that SOB (Stevens a faux supporter of the liberation struggle) demanded money. Castro then advised him to "fly a kite".
> Castro then called Sekou Toure of neighboring Guinea who accepted. The Guinean army will establish a five mile circumference around l'aeroport Gbessia in Conakry hours before the Russian planes were refueled en route to Luanda.
> On the eve of the battle at Quinfangondo the Cubans launched"Operation Carlota"<http://www.afrocubaweb.com/carlota.htm> and they were in the line of attack,
> operating the Russian tanks and flying the Russian Migs.
> Castro's admiration and fascination with Africans originate from his relationship with Juan Almeida Bosque<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/nyregion/13almeida.html?_r=0>. Castro had said Bosque was the greatest warrior he had ever seen. He also said that the difference between Bosque and Guevara was that the latter was more philosophical. During a pivotal battle in the Sierra Maestra after they--Fidel, Raul, Bosque, Che and the various rebels--had been ambushed and outnumbered by by Gen. Fulgencio Batista's troops Bosque commanded that, "Here, nobody surrenders". This directive became the mantra of the Cuban revolution.
> The Cuban victory in Angola <http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/42294/pamela-s-falk/cuba-in-africa> culminated to the liberation of South West Africa, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
> President Obama has not only rewarded Fidel Castro and the Cuban people for liberating his (Obama's) people from colonialism, but, he is also fascinated with her social and political enhancement in education, medicine, the arts and in sports.
> In Themne, my people will say "Obai Obama "Moemoe O" which translates to Thank you very much, King--it was British colonialism that devalued our Sierra Leonean Kings to Chiefs--Obama
>
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> There is enough in the world for everyone's need but not for everyone's greed.
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> ---Mohandas Gandhi
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> kenneth w. harrow
> faculty excellence advocate
> professor of english
> michigan state university
> department of english
> 619 red cedar road
> room C-614 wells hall
> east lansing, mi 48824
> ph. 517 803 8839
> harrow@msu.edu<mailto:harrow@msu.edu>
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--
kenneth w. harrow
faculty excellence advocate
professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
harrow@msu.edu


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