2006: Year of the Energy Revolution in CubaAfter two days of discussion at the International Conference Center, deputies agreed to designate 2006 as the Year of the Energy Revolution in Cuba, at Fidel’s suggestion.
"We are assured of having four times the electricity generation capacity that the country is going to need," Fidel affirmed, expressing his conviction that the measures adopted in this area will have a worldwide impact.
"It is very unlikely that we will not already have 80 percent of the new installed generating capacity by June or July of next year, added to 80% capacity in emergency plants," he commented. "That will make it possible to put an end to power outages and assure all activities. This energy development is the basis for new development," he added.
At the end of discussion, deputies approved the proposed State Budget Law and the guidelines for the 2006 Economic and Social Plan.
Cuban parliamentarians also expressed support for a request by the Ministry of Finance and Prices to approve the closing statement for 2005, which has a higher budget deficit than that anticipated by Parliament itself, taking into account additional spending in relation to the prolonged drought and damage wrought by hurricanes.
Right before they did so, Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque gave a brilliant speech stating that during 2005 there was a consolidation of the international isolation of the U.S. government in relation to its blockade of Cuba, while the Revolution had extended its diplomatic relations, received greater backing from the international community, and increased its ties of cooperation and solidarity with other peoples.
He noted that disapproval of the blockade had become almost universal, and another battle was successfully launched against campaigns mounted by the empire and its European allies in the UN Human Rights Commission (HRC) to discredit the island and spread disinformation. For the first time, 5,000 intellectuals – including eight Nobel laureates – had joined together to demand an end to the lies and manipulation at the HRC, the minister emphasized.
While all of this was going on, the U.S. government decided to intensify the blockade, putting into practice the so-called Plan for Assistance to a Free Cuba, and adopting new measures against our people, which – as announced – will be presented to the head of the White House this coming May.
"While the empire is intensifying its war, we have the profound conviction that it cannot and will not be able to carry out its threats, including military ones, because it is suffering from a lack of legitimacy, of international support, of a minimum foundation on which to fabricate a pretext for aggression toward our country," Pérez-Roque affirmed.
"While no imperialist attempt to destroy us will succeed," he added, "the importance of dealing with errors and internal weaknesses must be taken into account, in order to ensure the invulnerability of the Revolution in the present and above all in the future, when the historic generations that led the triumph of 1959 are no longer with us."
He stated that three basic premises are necessary for that end: the moral authority of those who lead the island, based on their personal example; the legitimacy of the process of social conduct based on honesty; a spirit of sacrifice and dedication to the people; and, lastly, the maintenance of popular support, and not support based on what the Revolution can give to its citizens materially, but because "we share common ideas and convictions to continue developing our socialist project."
CUBA’S MORAL AUTHORITY IS GROWING
"Today we are not talking about survival but about how to multiply our efforts in every area and secure our economic invulnerability, and with that, our national security," affirmed Deputy Lázaro Barredo as the morning session began.
"Almost 50 years after the Granma landing, we are facing a new challenge: to be more cultured and more efficient," he added.
He explained that in order to meet expectations for 2006, an offensive is necessary against the corruption and negative conduct entrenched in our own rank-and-file, and against those who are living off other people’s labor and trying to profit from the population’s needs. "This battle is also aimed at eliminating wasteful squandering; at subsidizing persons rather than products, and insisting that administrations give their best performance," he added.
Deputy Rogelio Polanco affirmed that the achievements of this year are showing the world that it is possible to build a different society, with our own will and dignity.
Armando Hart Dávalos, director of the National José Martí Program, remarked on the powerful presence of the Martí’s legacy. When discussing socialist ideas, he noted, Cuba’s national hero warned of perils such as obscure and arrogant foreign interpretations; ignorance and lack of culture; opportunism; and human ill-will. All great Cuban thinkers, from Félix Varela to Fidel, have advocated the development of a general integral culture, he added.
Hart’s comments led to a lively exchange with Fidel, who referred to the decadence of the U.S. empire, whose ambition for hegemony continues to grow and is being sought on the basis of naked force. If another empire is going to exist, he said, it can only be one based on ideas, never on force.
He expounded on the unquestionable evidence that it is becoming increasingly impossible for the U.S. government to maintain peace and that its world hegemony is only possible now through violence, illegal torture centers, and theories of preventative war and genocide. He cited the examples of Vietnam, Angola and, more recently, Afghanistan and Iraq, as examples of the system’s decadence.
A TRANSITION ONLY TO SOCIALISM AND COMMUNISM
Regarding a reported meeting presided over by Condoleezza Rice during which she said that the time for change has come in Cuba, the Cuban president commented: "Could there be a more stale idea than having this nut talk about transition at this point? They are absolutely crazy, it’s pathetic." ...
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2006: Das Jahr der Energie-Revolution (engl.)
