Page 4 Portland Obaerver, August 17, 1983
Is Cuba the problem?
EDITORIAL/OPINION
The United States policy in Cen
tral America Is explained by the
Reagan administration as a response
to Cuban/Soviet aggression In the
Punish 'sales tax' Democrats
The Democrats in the Oregon Legislature are
trying to figure out a plan for tax “ reform” or
property tax relief.
Having wasted the entire legislative session on
a sales tax plan that failed to pass the Senate,
House members will be under the gun when
Governor Vic Atiyeh calls a special session to
deal with taxes.
It has been discouraging to see the State’s
leading "liberal” Democrats leading the charge
to put a sales tax on the ballot. It is not only in
direct opposition to the Democratic Party Plat
form and all the party stands for, but it is an ab
dication of responsibility.
Eighteen Democrats met last weekend, but
the consensus seems to be to put a "m enu” on
the ballot to let the voters choose among several
unacceptable tax options. Yet, all o f these
Democrats know — and many readily admit —
that a slight increase in the income tax would be
adequate to meet the state’s needs and would be
the most fair and just tax.
The Multnomah County Democratic Central
Committee will consider a resolution on August
23th that will deny support to any Democratic
legislators who support a sales tax and will an
nounce the decision not to support a candidate
prior to the primary election.
This action is necessary and should be adopt
ed. It will help the voters differentiate between
Democrats who support the party platform and
those who use the name for political expediency.
Immigration for politics' sake
Reagan is using the threat o f "feet people” to
scare the American people into supporting his
war in Central America. He says millions of
little brown people will flood the U.S. from
Central America and Mexico if he is not allowed
to destroy Nicaragua and wage war for his allies
in Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, etc.
These hoards — poor, uneducated and disease-
ridden — will take jobs from American citizens,
he says.
At the same time, the administration is on an
all-out campaign to give "political asylum” to a
Russian boy. This boy, the son o f a Soviet diplo
mat, has been in the U.S. most o f his life but re
turned to the USSR for school last year. Report
edly, he has asked Reagan to help him stay in the
U.S. The FB I, the State Department, the C IA ,
the Immigration Service and o f course the press,
are spending thousands o f dollars attempting to
meet with the boy to determine how they can
allow or entice him to remain in the U.S.
In the United States a 16-year-old boy is too
young to legally smoke, drink, marry, have sex,
work without a special permit, join the military,
or vote. Yet our government claims a 16-year-
old should be able to make the crucial and prob
ably irreversable decision o f whether he wants to
give up his country and his family and remain in
this country — alone — when his family returns
to the Soviet Union. The U.S. Immigration Serv
ice is already holding a 12-year-old Russian boy
who asked to remain with his school friends in
Chicago when his parents, disillusioned immi
grants, returned to the Soviet Union. Although
the Illinois courts have found that he was de
tained illegally, the government has refused to
turn him over to his parents.
While kidnapping children and breaking up
homes for a temporary political coup, the
United States refuses asylum to Haitian and
Central American refugees, deporting them to
certain death.
The immigration policies o f this country are
obviously based on political expediency and not
on humanity.
Why no military coups in U.S.?
In a recent Congress on Latin American Poli
tical Thought held in Caracas, a question arose:
Why are there no military coups in the U.S.?
Although many o f the Latin American coun
tries have experienced several military coups
since their independence, the military has never
overthrown the government of the United States.
Bolivian Roberto Jordan Pando gave an incis
ive response, which was accepted to a greater or
lesser degree by the bulk o f the representatives
from Latin America, Europe, the U.S. and
other regions.
Although the Bolivian delegate spoke an ob
vious truth, his statement encompassed so much
wisdom and reality that no one objected:
" In the United States there are no coups
d’etat because there is no U .S. embassy in
Washington.”
The following is an interview with
Evan Cecil Martinet. Cuban ambas
sador to Trinidad and Tobago, b y a
group o f professionals fro m the
United States that too* place In
Havana on August 3rd.
M A R T IN E Z : Cube’* policy on Latin
America has always been a very
clear policy, clearly defined and
based on principles. This policy has
always been maligned and misinter
preted, and said to be an unfriendly
policy, by the different governments
that have gone through the W hite
House. This is far from the truth,
because Cuban policy has expressed
its friendship, brotherhood, and
hemispheric solidarity in spite o f the
aggressive U .S. position toward our
country.
This policy o f aggression began at
the very beginning, right after the
triumph o f our Revolution. The
U .S . administration began a policy
o f isolation, a policy o f political and
economic blockade, including a
policy o f psychological and propa
ganda war.
In spite o f this, our country has
always thought that Latin A m eri
cans and the Caribbean people were
brotherly and friendly countries
who were suffering the same prob
lems o f underdevelopment — de
pressed culture, lack o f scientific
and
technological
development,
social and racial discrimination,
severe problems o f women and
children, health problems, lack o f
resources — which could only be
faced with the closest unity and, in a
real sense, by national and social
liberation.
O ur foreign policy, from the very
beginning, has been a policy of
friendship toward the people o f the
United States. W e do not have any
type o f prejudice towards the North
American people. However, the
multinational corporations based in
the United States, which have a big
interest in our resources and which
formerly controlled our economy,
tried by every means to show that
Cuba was hostile to the United
States as a whole. Nothing could be
farther from the truth.
From the very beginning, the top
leaders o f the Revolution went to
the United States to show the friend
ship which our Revolution feels
toward the people o f the United
Sûtes. Then, when one o f the North
American administrations barred
United Sûtes citizens from travel
ling to Cuba, they made it appear
that it was Cuba that was not allow
ing North American citizens to visit
us.
In a general sense, our policy o f
principle rests on the fact that we
have solidarity with all the progres
sive movements, with all the libera
tion movements, with all the parties
and groups that are fighting for the
independence of Latin America and
ihc t arihhean
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This does not have anything to do
with intervening in the internal
affairs o f those countries. It is a
show o f solidarity with the people
and with the new forces that strive
to take their countries from deep
underdevelopment
—
social,
political, social underdevelopment
— in which they’ve been suffering
for more than a century.
We believe — and this is some
thing very important to the Cuban
Revolution which we discovered
very early — that the world needs a
new international economic order.
The world needs the humanity to
develop. And we believe, like all
non-aligned nations, that a world in
which a few have everything and the
great m ajority have nothing is not
possible.
Starting from that basic element,
all o f our political action has been
directed toward this new interna
tional economic order and toward
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In a recent speech, a member
of the U.S. Intereet Section In
Cuba asserted that Cuba’s
foreign policy Is a slaws to Soviet
foreign policy — that ell of
Cube's military supplies corns
from the Soviet Union, that
there Is massive economic aid
from the USSR, and therefore
Cube's foreign policy follows
Soviet foreign policy even closer
than the countries of Eastern
Europe that border on the 8ovlst
Union.
W ell, as for Cuba being a satellite
o f the Soviet Union, it is something
at which any Cuban would laugh.
Do North
Americans consider
Canada a satellite o f the United
States?
Do
North
Americans
consider England a satellite o f the
United States? Do North Americans
consider Israel a satellite o f the
United States?
I think the economies o f the
countries I ’ve named are linked to
the North American economy and
there is a predominance o f North
American international corpora
tions in the economies o f those
countries. But North American
propaganda has never said that
Israel is a North American satellite.
What happens is that if the North
American people might think that
Israel is a satellite, it is because
Israel is a small country. Big coun
tries are called allies and small
countries are called satellites.
Israel is an ally o f the United
States as much as Canada is.
Canada is a member o f N A T O .
N A T O is m ilitarily controlled by the
United States, but I ’ve never heard
that N A T O countries are North
American satellites or from the
"N o rth American b lo c." I hear
them say "Soviet bloc,” but 1 never
hear them say "N o rth American
bloc." And I hear talk about the
"Cuban satellite,” but 1 never hear
(hem talking about the "Israeli
satellite" or the "Canadian satel
lite.”
We are allies. We are close friends
of the Soviet people. W e are o f the
same ideology. We agree on the
same principles — we believe in co
existence; we believe in pluralism —
and this is why we are close friends.
Friendship cannot be confused with
subordination.
The aid the Soviet Union renders
us m ilitarily and economically could
be provided by the United States,
too. W hy doesn’t the United States,
instead o f blockading us, give us
dollars for our development; instead
o f talking about Radio M a rti, why
don’t they send us machinery for
our development. Instead o f talking
about the need to invade Cuba, why
don’t they send scientists to study
how we can better use our mineral
resources. Instead o f attempting,
through the C IA , to kill our leaders
and, instead o f introducing viruses
into our country to kill our children
and our people, why don’t they give
us assistance.
I f we have weapons from the
Soviet Union, it is because the
United Stales wants to conduct ag
gressions against us. I f they don’t
do that, what would we need wea
pons for? W e need them because the
United States wants to annihilate us.
Cuba can never be a danger to the
United States. Cuba can never be a
danger to the United States unless
its security is very weak.
So I think the issue o f satellites is
a matter o f propaganda. Only the
communists are satellites; the capi
talists are allies.
What Is tha situation with
Cuba's technical and military
help to othar nations?
The presence o f Cubans in other
countries is based on agreements
signed between Cuba and other na
tions. They may be giving medical
or technical assistance and, in a few
cases, military assistance. The west
ern press is always talking about
Cuban troops, which are there only
by invitation, not as aggressors. The
United States has half a million sol
diers in Europe and there’s no prob
lem with them and there’s no prob
lem with our soldiers. It is different
when soldiers are in a country and
nobody wants them there — like is
happening to North American sol
diers in the Panama Canal or in
Guantanamo, Cuba. W e do not
want them here.
la there e contradiction be
tween wanting e pluralistic
world that Includee Imperialist
countrlee that dominate under
developed countrlee?
What makes achieving a new
world economic order difficult is
not pluralism. It is the fact that the
interests o f some countries are
alienating interests, dehumanizing
interests that are not for the benefit
o f humanity. They are interests that
are only for the benefit o f corpora
tions. Sweden is a capitalist country,
yet it is really helping Third W orld
countries. But when the strongest
western countries have an aggressive
policy toward the world, the prob
lem is there. They believe the re
sources o f the world not to be re
sources for the world, but for them.
For the United States — not for the
people but for the corporations —
what is happening in Asia is as im
portant as what is happening in
Latin America. M any o f the Third
W orld countries that suffer are not
socialist countries, not communist
countries or progressive countries.
However, they are suffering the eco
nomic aggression o f the trans
national corporations. Therefore,
pluralism is not the problem. They
have the same ideologies, but have
different economic conditions.
How does Cuba decide who it
will aupport In countrlee like El
Salvador when many different
groups are oppoelng the govern
ment?
We do not choose groups. Our
solidarity is with the Salvadoran
people. The Salyadorans will have
to choose. W e support all those who
fight for the people against a crim i
nal regime.
Doee Cuba militarily aupport
the FMLN In El Salvador?
W ell, we do not support it m ili
tarily. W e give them all types of soli
darity, international support, all
types of possible support, but not
military support. In fact, they do
not need it. A ll the Israeli weapons,
the North American weapons, the
western weapons, are taken away
from the oppressive regime o f El
Salvador. Perhaps if they requested
it, if they needed it, perhaps we
would give it.
Will the Sendlnletae be able to
defend their revolution?
The
Nicaraguan
Revolution
cannot fail because o f one thing —
the majority o f the people support
the Sandinistas. Once a revolution
triumphs and the people support it,
it is impossible for that revolution to
fail.
Why doee the United Statee
hate Cube eo much — even more
then the Soviet Union?
Cuba was the country most subju
gated to the United States — even
more than Puerto Rico. Everything
in Cuba was dependent on the
United States. A ll we had was North
American; nothing was Cuban.
Then one day the Revolution
triumphed. We were the first in the
hemisphere to throw o ff United
States imperialism, the first to build
socialism. W e threw out the North
American companies that controlled
our country and took back our land.
I think they hate us so much because
they were so shocked that we could
do anything ourselves. And for 25
years they have not been able to
destroy us.
Portland Observer
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international peace — and. there
fore, toward ideological pluralism
and peaceful coexistence. These are
the basic fundamental requirements
which have oriented Cuban foreign
policy, and specifically our policy
toward our hemisphere.
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