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Castro Speaks at Civil Rights Conference
September 02, 2001
Key address by Dr. Fidel Castro Ruz, President of the Republic
of Cuba,
at the World Conference against racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and related intolerance. Durban, South Africa.
September 1,
2001.
Excellencies:
Delegates and guests:
Racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia are not naturally
instinctive reactions of the human beings but rather a social, cultural and
political phenomenon born directly of wars, military conquests, slavery and the
individual or collective exploitation of the weakest by the most powerful all
along the history of human societies.
No one has the right
to boycott this Conference which tries to bring some sort of relief to the
overwhelming majority of mankind afflicted by unbearable suffering and enormous
injustice. Neither has anyone the right to set preconditions to this conference
or urge it to avoid the discussion of historical responsibility, fair
compensation or the way we decide to rate the dreadful genocide perpetrated, at
this very moment, against our Palestinian brothers by extreme right leaders
who, in alliance with the hegemonic superpower, pretend to be acting on behalf
of another people which throughout almost two thousand years was the victim of
the most fierce persecution, discrimination and injustice that history has
known.
Cuba speaks of
reparations, and supports this idea as an unavoidable moral duty to the victims
of racism, based on a major precedent, that is, the indemnification being paid
to the descendants of the Hebrew people which in the very heart of Europe
suffered the brutal and loathsome racist holocaust. However, it is not with the
intent to undertake an impossible search for the direct descendants or the
specific countries of the victims of actions occurred throughout centuries. The
irrefutable truth is that tens of millions of Africans were captured, sold like
a commodity and sent beyond the Atlantic to work in slavery while 70 million
indigenous people in that hemisphere perished as a result of the European
conquest and colonization.
The inhuman
exploitation imposed on the peoples of three continents, including Asia, marked
forever the destiny and lives of over 4.5 billion people living in the Third
World today whose poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and health rates as well as
their infant mortality, life expectancy and other calamities --too many, in
fact, to enumerate here-- are certainly awesome and harrowing. They are the
current victims of that atrocity which lasted centuries and the ones who
clearly deserve compensation for the horrendous crimes perpetrated against
their ancestors and peoples.
Actually, such a
brutal exploitation did not end when many countries became independent, not
even after the formal abolition of slavery. Right after independence, the main
ideologists of the American Union that emerged when the 13 colonies got rid of
the British domination at the end of the 18th century, advanced ideas and
strategies unquestionably expansionist in nature.
It was based on such ideas that the ancient white settlers of
European descent, in their march to the West, forcibly occupied the lands in
which Native-Americans had lived for thousands of years thus exterminating
millions of them in the process. But, they did not stop at the boundaries of
the former Spanish possessions; consequently Mexico, a Latin American country
that had attained its independence in 1821, was stripped off millions of square
kilometers of territory and invaluable natural resources.
Meanwhile, in the
increasingly powerful and expansionist nation born in North America, the
obnoxious and inhumane slavery system stayed in place for almost a century
after the famous Declaration of Independence of 1776 was issued, the same that
proclaimed that all men were born free and equal.
After the purely formal slave emancipation, African-Americans
were subjected during one hundred more years to the harshest racial
discrimination, and many of its features and consequences still persist after
almost four more decades of heroic struggles and the achievements of the
1960ís, for which Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and other outstanding
fighters gave their lives. Based on a purely racist rationale, the longest and
most severe legal sentences are passed
against African-Americans who in the wealthy American society
are bound to live in dare poverty and with the lowest living standards.
Likewise, what is left of the Native-American peoples, which were the first to
inhabit a large portion of the current territory of the United States of
America, remain under even worse conditions of discrimination and neglect.
Needless to mention
the data on the social and economic situation of Africa where entire countries
and even whole regions of Sub-Saharan Africa are in risk of extinction the
result of an extremely complex combination of economic backwardness,
excruciating poverty and grave diseases, both old and new, that have become a
true scourge. And the situation is no less dramatic in numerous Asian
countries. On top of all this, there are the huge and unpayable debts, the
disparate terms of trade, the ruinous prices of basic commodities, the
demographic explosion, the neoliberal globalization and the climate changes
that
produce long draughts alternating with increasingly intensive
rains and
floods. It can be mathematically proven that such a predicament
is
unsustainable.
The developed
countries and their consumer societies, presently responsible for the
accelerated and almost unstoppable destruction of the environment, have been
the main beneficiaries of the conquest and colonization, of slavery, of the
ruthless exploitation and the extermination of hundreds of millions of people
born in the countries that today constitute the Third World. They have also
reaped the benefits of the economic order imposed on humanity after two
atrocious and devastating wars for a new division of the world and its markets,
of the privileges granted to the United States and its allies in
Bretton-Woods, and of the IMF and the international financial institutions
exclusively created by them and for them.
That rich and
squandering world is in possession of the technical and financial resources
necessary to pay what is due to mankind. The hegemonic superpower should also
pay back its special debt to African- Americans, to Native-Americans living in
reservations, and to the tens of millions of Latin American and Caribbean
immigrants as well as others from poor nations, be they mulatto, yellow or
black, but victims all of vicious discrimination and scorn.
It is high time to
put an end to the dramatic situation of the indigenous communities in our
hemisphere. Their own awakening and struggles, and the universal admission of
the monstrosity of the crime committed against them make it imperative.
There are enough
funds to save the world from the tragedy. May the arms race and the weapon
commerce that only bring devastation and death truly end. Let it be used for
development a good part of the one trillion US dollars annually spent on the
commercial advertising that creates false illusions and inaccessible consumer
habits while releasing the venom
that destroys the national cultures and identities.
May the modest 0.7
percentage point of the Gross National Product promised as official development
assistance be finally delivered. May the tax suggested by Nobel Prize Laureate
James Tobin be imposed in a reasonable and effective way on the current
speculative operations accounting for trillions of US dollars every 24 hours,
then the United
Nations, which cannot go on depending on meager, inadequate, and
belated donations and charities, will have one trillion US dollars annually to
save and develop the world. Mark my
words! One trillion US dollars every
year! There are no few people in the world who can add, subtract, divide and
multiply. This is not an overstatement!
Given the seriousness and urgency of the existing problems, which have become a
real hazard for the very survival of our specie on the planet, that is what
would actually be needed before it is too late.
Put and end to the
ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people that is taking place while the
world stares in amazement. May the basic right to life of that people, children
and youth, be protected. May their right to peace and independence be
respected; then, there will be nothing to fear from UN documents.
I am aware that the
need for some relief from the awful situation their countries are facing has
led many friends from Africa and other regions to suggest the need for such
prudence as would allow something to come out of this conference. I sympathize
with them but I cannot renounce my convictions, as I feel that the more candid
we are in
telling the truth the more possibilities there will be to be
heeded and respected. There have been enough centuries of deception.
I have only three
other short questions based on realities that cannot be ignored.
The capitalist,
developed and wealthy countries today participate of the imperialist system
born of capitalism itself and the economic order imposed to the world based on
the philosophy of selfishness and the brutal competition between men, nations
and groups of nations which in completely indifferent to any feelings of
solidarity and honest
international cooperation. They live under the misleading, irresponsible
and hallucinating atmosphere of consumer societies. Thus, regardless the
sincerity of their blind faith in such a system and the convictions of their
most serious statesmen, I wonder: Will they be able to understand the grave
problems of today ís world which in its incoherent and uneven development is
ruled by blind laws, by the huge power and the interests of the ever growing
and increasingly uncontrollable and independent transnational corporations? Will
they come to understand the impending universal chaos and rebellion? And, even
if they wanted to, could they put an end to racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and other related issues,
which are precisely the rest of them all?
From my viewpoint we
are on the verge of a huge economic, social and political global crisis. Let's try to build an awareness about these
realities and the alternatives will come up. History has shown that it is only
from deep crisis that great solutions have emerged. The people’s right to life
and justice will definitely impose itself under a thousand different shapes.
I believe in the mobilization and the struggle of the peoples! I
believe in the idea of justice! I believe in truth! I believe in man!
Thank
you."
**
Celebrate Cesar Chavez
There is a lot of motion toward a national holiday for March 31,
birthday of labor and civil rights leader Cesar Chavez. The foundation address
is www.cesarchavezfoundation.org. Texas
has an optional holiday for state workers, and I think that Tarrant County
workers get an actual holiday. Dallas city officials ducked the issue and tried
to split everybody by saying that Cesar Chavez had to be celebrated on Labor
Day. This issue is worth working on.
**
NAACP Magazine Keeps Improving, Prints
Castro Interview
By Jim Lane
The ageless Crisis,
organ of the NAACP, has been steadily improving since the last big change in
organization leadership. The September/October issue is particularly worthwhile
for several articles, but the interview with Fidel Castro by Federico Mayor
Zaragoza of Spain is particularly wonderful.
Zaragoza is the former director of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). He knows what questions to ask
of an internationally respected leader. Comrade Fidel, to understate the truth
quite a bit, knows how to answer questions!
I can't resist copying the Commandante's final response to a
question of what changes he would like to see in the world:
"I would be thinking of a world worthy of the human
species, without hyper-wealthy and wasteful nations on the one hand and
countless countries mired in extreme poverty on the other; a world in which all
identities and cultures were preserved; a world with justice and solidarity; a
world without plundering, oppression or wars, where science and technology were
at the service of humankind; a world where nature was protected and the great
throng of people living on the planet today could survive, grow and enjoy the
spiritual and material wealth that talent and labor could create. I dream of a
world that the capitalist philosophy will never make possible..."
For an NAACP membership and one years' subscription, send $30 to
NAACP/The Crisis; PO Box 64983; Baltimore, Maryland 21264-4983. People under 21
can get the deal for $15!
30
Question: I am interested in whether or not
you have any recent party literature
available,
pamphlets, brochures, etc. I live in Texas, so as you can
imagine
such material isn't exactly in wide circulation. I'm interested in
your
party and its positions on various issues of the day. The mainstream
parties
and press seem to cover one side (the right-hand side), and I would
like to
get a broader base of information. Please let me know what you
have,
and what if anything such material costs.
Answer: When we get new pamphlets, we send
it out to Texans for whom we have mailing addresses for free. The newest stuff
is on elections. English and Spanish. If you don’t already have “Bill of Rights
Socialism,” It’s a good one to get, because it sets our party aside from some
other parties in America and around the world. It would be a lot better if they
would put these things on line; cheaper and less trouble all around. The
newspaper is still the best way to find out about CPUSA, because it shows how
we work on issues as they come up. There’s a bookstore at 233 W 23rd
Street, NYNY 10011.
Question: I was wondering what are your
views on minorities. I am currently doing research and your party catches my
attention enormously.
Answer: CPUSA has an illustrious career of
defending civil rights. We always have and still do. There are lots of books on
this. I kind of like the one I just read, Hammer and Hoe, by Robin D.G.
Kelley.
Question: Also would you consider your party
on the same level of the republican and democratic party? What I mean by this
is what do you have on your voter registration. I really agree with a lot of
what this party stands for so please enlighten me more. I am a 21 year old man
and I am tired of seeing our troops spread out all over the global. Thank you.
Answer: We’re all for voter registration. Over
the decades, we have worked to solidify and extend voting rights for everybody.
Your American history book will tell you that America started out only letting
propertied older men vote. Here in Texas, African Americans were pretty much
left out of the electoral process until our own time, 1948!
We
don’t have much in common with the Republicrats because both of them organize
the government for the capitalists. We’re for the ones they oppress.