History will absolve you Trayvon Martin.

The justice system may not, but History will absolve you Trayvon Martin. I cannot help but be reminded of the word of Fidel Castro in front of a court which did everything to enact injustice upon him. 

Dear Trayvon, the world knows of your innocence and the world knows of the crime of Zimmerman. The “Justice” system of the U.S.A is laughable indeed. Even using the word “Justice” to refer to to this system disgusts me. A ruling by an oppressive system does not change the truth, it is laughable. You are innocent dear Trayvon, and Zimmerman is a murderer. He may not face the penalty in this life, it is too early to say, but he will face true Justice in the court of God. 

You are immortal now dear Trayvon, your memory is a constant reminder of injustice in this system. Your sacrifice brought the true, racist, disgusting, figure of this country’s judiciary to light. It is because of you, that millions today see the true form of this disfigured “justice” system. For that, we owe you.

Your name is a mark on this nations history that won’t be erased. It is a mark which will continue to grow until it topples the system that did injustice to you.

May your memory continue to wake the masses from their slumber. Amen.

Dynamicity of Agricultural industry of Cuba

“Man really attains the state of complete humanity when he produces, without being forced by physical need to sell himself as a commodity.” Che Guevarra. This quote summarizes the goal the Revolution sought to achieve in Cuban society. A goal they achieved in the agricultural industry, but not without consequences. Cuba’s history is driven by change in agricultural norms and practices. Farmers have often been the ones driving change, and the ones facing the brunt of oppression. The agricultural industry of Cuba has been a dynamic one, changing with different leaders pushing it one way or the other. This research will explore the history of agriculture in Cuba pre-revolution, post-revolution, and during the special period; it will also discuss the relationship of Cubans with their agricultural industry, particularly through oral accounts by Cubans about the importance of agriculture in their lives.

After the Cuban-American-Spanish war in 1898, although Cuba won independence from Spain, it was already being neo-colonized by the United States. The Platt Amendment was passed by the U.S as a part of the Cuban constitution after the war. It made sure that Cuba remained dependent on United States militarily, socially, and economically. It did not allow Cuba to enter into treaties and agreements with other countries. It also made United States a guardian of Cuban interests with authority to use military force against Cubans if necessary. By doing so, the United States made sure there was a market for their goods in Cuba and a constant supply of sugar from Cuba to the U.S market. Large Cuban landowners or U.S corporations owned majority of the land and focused on growing sugar and tobacco on it; kicking off peasants who had been working the land in the process. As Cuba focused more on growing cash-crops, the people’s dependence on United States for food and clothing grew as well. Leading up to the revolution, about forty-seven percent of total caloric intake of Cuba was from imported foodstuff, a fact that only added to Cuba’s dependence.

Despite this, Cubans concentrated on their idea of national identity during this time. Unifying poems and teachings of Jose Marti defined the discussions of identity for Cubans. Such discontent and prevalence of unifying ideas led to a rebellion and downfall of Gerardo Machado in 1933. Gerardo Machado was the Cuban president during this time and was in the pockets of United States businesses. His policies led to major discontentment of the farmers and laborers. They were the ones who revolted as well. Flugencio Batista comes to power as a result of this rebellion. He ratifies the 1940 constitution, which has provisions for some Agrarian, and Education reform. Despite the ratification, the provisions of this constitution were not implemented. The U.S hegemony over Cuba continued with the focus on growing cash crops. Cuban land was depleted of minerals through production of sugar and tobacco. Large United States corporations, such as United Fruit, owned a majority of the land. The conditions of rural workers were deplorable before the revolution. The gap between the landowners and workers was extremely large. Less than eight percent of rural properties (land owners) covered seventy-one percent of the total land area. Due to these large land-estates, the majority of the land itself remained underutilized and un-irrigated.

After the revolution however, drastic changes were brought into place by the leaders in order to create a more egalitarian society. They wished for Cuba to break the hegemonic control of United States and raise the standard of living of all Cubans as a whole. Three factors that contributed to agricultural development during this era were equality promoting planning, large scale countryside transformations, and raising the socio-cultural level of the rural population. The first factor converted the previously existing unjust system of large estate holders to one that was better planned and diversified. The first Agrarian reform in 1959 and the second Agrarian reform in 1963 broke up land estates and re-distributed the land to peasants and small time farmers. Cooperatives and state controlled holdings became more common. Unemployment disappeared and the average salary of rural workers also increased, but the prices of commodities remained stable. Fourteen percent of the land was owned by cooperatives and individual farmers instead of large land owners. The rest was owned by the state. The people in the countryside were educated, hence allowing mechanization of agriculture and better planning. As a result, sugar, tobacco, livestock and other plantations grew significantly since 1958. All this was possible while raising the farmer’s standard of living. With all this, the farmer’s reliance on pesticides and herbicides also grew. While the focus remained on growing sugarcane, other agricultural sectors were also developed at this time.

The second significant action taken by the revolutionary leaders was implementation of large countryside transformations. Large scale development projects were initiated to build rural infrastructure, roads, hospitals, schools, and communities with access to water and electricity. These projects and developments allowed the rural areas to become populated with more comfortable standards of living. They provided the rural workers with necessities that had not been granted to them before. In agriculture, it allowed the rural communities to develop and utilize their agricultural resources. These new communities and infrastructure went beyond meeting minimum requirements. Rural communities were provided with sports clubs, musical groups, as well as other modes of entertainment. This policy met one of the goals of the revolution. That was to eliminate all social, economic, and cultural differences between the urban and the rural areas. Hospitals and schools provided the base for doctors and teachers to uplift rural communities. The third factor that impacted agricultural development was socio-cultural change in the countryside. This involved educating the masses and raising awareness about the need for change. The goal of this form of development was merging intellectual and manual labor. New job opportunities and new communities helped the peasants broaden their intellectual horizons. Intellectual and laboring skills were fused through development of new agricultural programs and placement of new schools and pre-university centers in rural areas. Cultural programs in cinema, music, television, books, and theaters that catered to needs of the countryside were developed.

All these changes were made possible with the price of angering the hegemonic power that controlled Cuba before the revolution. Taking land away from U.S companies and wealthy Cuban landowners after the revolution resulted in the United States placing a heavy embargo on Cuba. Being a sugar importing country historically meant that a trade embargo would freeze all forms of economic activity and eventually leads to the demise of the Cuban regime. Cuba’s historical dependence on United States for food imports in exchange for sugar meant that the Cuban people had no access to food now due to the underdevelopment of staple crops. Moreover, the embargo also took away the market for Cuba’s main crop, sugar. All this was occurring simultaneously with agricultural diversification. Due to the alienation by the U.S, Cuba found markets in the Soviet and eastern bloc in 1964. This meant that Cuba now became economically dependent on USSR instead of the U.S. The focus went to the production of sugar cane for these new markets. In return, the Soviets provided Cuba with fertilizers, petroleum, machinery, as well as food imports. Fifty-seven percent of proteins and more than fifty percent of calories consumed by Cubans were imported, only this time from the Soviets. Despite the increased quality of life of workers and farmers, increased productivity, and advancements in social and agricultural aspects of society; Cuba still did not achieve full sovereignty from foreign powers. Cuban leaders were unable to achieve that due to Cuba’s history of dependence on cash-crops, and the harsh embargo placed on it by United States. Cuba’s dependence shifted from being on United States, to USSR. This fact directed change in agricultural policy in the 1990s.

In 1989, the Soviet bloc fell and took the support it was providing Cuba with it. At the same time, the United States tightened its embargo on Cuba even more, expecting the regime to follow soon afterwards. The petroleum, foodstuffs, and technology the Soviets were providing Cuba was now gone. More than that, the large market for sugar Cuba had found in the Soviets was also gone. Cuba saw a fifty percent decrease in its GDP from 1989-1993. Transportation virtually stopped due to lack of petroleum. A period of hard times and starvation greeted Cuba in the 1990s. It was a “special period during times of peace” as Fidel Castro eloquently put it, and a time that took much from the Cuban people and tested the strength of the revolution. It also marked a time of dynamic change in agriculture in Cuba. New economic and agricultural policies were adapted from 1993 to 1995 in order to help recovery from this special period and a process which proved quite successful as Cuba entered the twenty-first century. Two policies enacted to recover and focused on agriculture during this era were the creation of Basic Cooperative Production Units (UBPC) in 1993, and enacting Farmer’s markets in 1994. The UBPC’s broke up the large cooperative state farms into smaller cooperative holdings in order to allow for better management and taking on sustainable agricultural practices. UBPC’s are small member owned and managed enterprises. The cooperative owns the production and members earn based on their share of productivity in the cooperative. The introduction of farmers markets in 1994 gave the farmers direct control over selling their produce. Farmers benefited greatly from this as they were able to sell their crops at supply and demand prices. This encouraged farmers to produce more fruits and vegetables instead of focusing on sugar cane. These prices were high for many Cubans as they depended on supply and demand. Cubans without the means to purchase from farmers markets had alternatives such as La Libre (overstocked goods sold by government at cheap prices), Urban Gardens (fresh vegetable stands from a nearby organic garden with prices 40-50% of farmers markets), Ferias (cheap fruits, vegetables and small livestock from state farms in state-sponsored fairs, though the fairs are infrequent), Topped Markets (Open markets where prices depend on supply and demand but within a limit), Dollar Stores (High prices for imported and canned goods), and Peso Stores (these stores carry Cuban manufactured equivalents of imports).

The unreliability of sugar harvest postponed the recovery so gradually that non-sugarcane industrial production grew. In 2002, the decision was made to cut the sugar cane production by half. From 1994-2006, production of vegetables and fresh condiments increased by seventy-seven percent. Despite the difficult circumstances of the special period, Cuban agriculture is transforming for the better. Farmers are abandoning wasteful methods such as using agrochemicals, and polluting water and soil. Use of alternative methods and technologies such as crop rotation and crop/animal integration, use of animal manure, composting, and use of animal traction instead of machinery. Biological pesticides are also gaining popularity. One example of biological pesticides is use of Neem trees. Neem extract is a natural pesticide that the trees use for protection against pests. In Cuba, Neem trees are grown for extraction of potent botanical pesticide to be used on crops. New methods and technologies have allowed farmers to make a significant difference in Cuba’s food supply while protecting the surrounding environment.

After paying the price of mono-crop production and dependence on foreign elements in the early 1990s, the Cuban regime shifted the focus of its industry towards one that promotes gaining true sovereignty, and succeeded. Cuban agriculture today is quite different from how it was in the earlier half of twentieth century. It has gone through different, difficult, changes that have revolutionized it into an industry that promotes social-economic equality on an individual and societal levels, while using sustainable methods of growth that promote a wholesome environment.

The Cuban people memorialize their agricultural industry and its history in a generally positive light. The shadow of sugar cane was cast long and hard on Cubans for a very long time. The sugar cane plantations that are no longer in use are memorialized in tours and museums. The Cuban people are aware of their history and where they are coming from. At the same time, the new focus on fruits and vegetables and gardens is strongly felt throughout Cuba. Access to Farmer’s markets, Urban Gardens and Ferias makes people come in direct contact with the people who grow their food. Green farming techniques have also gained popularity in recent times. New methods of cultivation and harvest are put in use. Surely the Cuban people know of the new methods being implemented which have brought down the prices of their produce as well created a more sustainable environment. I believe that Cubans memorialize their agricultural industry as a success of the revolution.

In order to prove my hypothesis that Cubans have a positive view of their agricultural sector and are involved in the process of knowing where their food is coming from; finding out about peoples knowledge of their food will be useful. I would like to visit and observe different types of food markets, urban gardens, and farms in Cuba. I would observe the different methods used for crop cultivation and note the prevalence of green methods in Cuban farms. I would also notice the differences in prices of products in different markets. I would also ask customers about where the best priced fruits and vegetables can be found as well as where is the best quality. More than that, I will also inquire if they know where the produce they are interested in is harvested from. I will also inquire the vendors about prices (whether high or low) and if they experience difficulties in reaching the consumer. By finding out the answers to these questions as well as observing firsthand what the farms and gardens are like, I would gain an idea of how Cubans think of their food and whether or not they memorialize it in a positive light.

Agriculture plays an important role in all societies. Cuba has a rich culture of agriculture. It has defined Cuba historically with large scale production of sugar, and it continues to define Cuba with the new methods and innovative techniques that have led Cuba towards a healthier lifestyle. The transformations the agricultural industry has gone through in Cuba have contributed towards creation of an egalitarian society which promotes healthy living for all classes of society. The Cuban people are aware of their rich history; when they were dependent on foreign powers, their struggle for sovereignty, the setbacks they faced, and the fruits their struggle bears them today. I would like to find out how deeply Cuban people are connected with their agricultural history and how knowledgeable they are about their agriculture today.

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Balari, Eugencio. Agricultural Policy with Social Justice and Development. Transformation and Struggle: Cuba faces the 1990s. Edited by Sandor Halebsky and John M. Kirk. Praeger Publishers, 1990.

Dur, Philip, and Christopher Gilcrease. “US Diplomacy and the Downfall of a Cuban Dictator: Machado in 1933.” Journal of Latin American Studies . 34. no. 2 (2002): 255-282.http://www.jstor.org/stable/3875789 (accessed May 3, 2012).

Garcia, Delia. Economic Crisis, Adjustments, and Democracy in Cuba. Cuba in 1990s. Edited by Jose Bell Lara. Jose Marti Editorial, 1999.

Martinez, Eugencio. The Cuban Economy in the 1990s: From Crisis to Recovery. Cuba in the 1990s. Edited by Jose Bell Lara. Jose Marti Editorial, 1999.

Sinclair, Minor. Going against the Grain, Agricultural Crisis and Transformation. A Contemporary Cuba Reader. Edited by Philip Brenner. Rowman and Littlefield, 2008.

Koont, Sinan. Sustainable Urban Agriculture in Cub. University Press of Florida, 2011.

Alvarez, Mavis. Social Organization and Sustainability of Small Farm Agriculture in Cuba. Sustainable Agriculture and Resistance: Transforming Food Production in Cuba. Edited by Fernando Funes. Asociacion Cubana de Tecnicos Agricolas y Forestales, 2002.

 

Syria and Venezuela: Application of Historical knowledge in modern-day conflicts

It is a very sad situation in Syria right now. It always is a sad situation when one’s country is invaded by mercenaries. It isn’t a “new” game. Whenever we hear of “masked gunmen” or “unknown thugs” it is usually mercenaries backed by the west. Examples of this are known throughout history. I will briefly go over the coup against Chavez in 2002 in Venezuela and use it to draw conclusions about the conflict in Syria. There are many similarities in the two cases. After all, history does repeat itself.

In the 2002 coup against Chavez in Venezuela, the bourgeoise of Venezuela held a rally and changed its course to meet the rally of Chavez supporters. The military intervened only to keep peace and keep the two parties from enacting violence. Suddenly, sniper fire came out of no where. Killing both, pro and anti Chavez supporters. The U.S and world media portrayed it as Chavez asking army to shoot its own people. They even showed Chavez supporters shooting at anti-Chavez protestors through a camera trick. In reality, what happened was that during the sniper fire, Chavez supporters who had guns (which is MANY people in venezuela) shot back at the general direction of the sniper fire, no where near the anti-Chavez protesters. Of course this information did not come out until after the coup had failed. On top of that, news reports started coming out about Chavez supporters and the Venezuelan army using grenades and machine guns. At the end of the day, more Chavez supporters were found dead, but that wasn’t reported.

After that incident, some members of the Venezuelan army defected and went to the side of the “people and democracy”. They took Chavez hostage and flew him to a prison. He could have died if it were not for a miracle. The poor, the disenfranchised, the people of the Barrios came out in support of Chavez. They surrounded the Miraflores (presidential palace) which the puppet govt. had occupied and used to established their rule. After a whole day of this siege (many chavez supporters died in this one too) the puppet govt. became scared, left, and returned the power to Chavez.

An investigation was launched. It was found out that the snipers had been hired by U.S. It was also found that the people who had established the puppet govt. had deep ties to Bush’s oil company (venezuela is an oil rich country so u can see where that was headed under the new govt.). The anti- Chavez protesters were the high class of Venezuelan society who had assets in the U.S.A. They feared that the entire nation may raise their standard of living on par with them. Many of them escaped to their wealth in U.S and are still causing problems for the govt. of Venezuela.

Now, this was a happy ending! but there weren’t many happy endings in majority of the places throughout the cold war. It is an old practice of U.S.A. So why use this event? because in many ways, one can see similarities between this event in Venezuela and the conflict Syria is going through right now. Gunmen? check. Starting with snipers? check. Reports of grenades? check. The Western media gung ho about propaganda? check. “Unconfirmed reports of Assads brutality” (which are all of ‘em)? check. Defaulters from the military forming opposition? check. Killing of Syrian soldiers and massacres in pro-Assad towns? also check.

The plot is quite ingenious really. The difference between the two scenarios is really about the magnitude of the violence. The U.S did not hold back with resources this time. It realized the mistakes made during 2002. It was not violent enough back then. The will of the people was not broken. This time, they know that the violence needs to be continued until the will of the people breaks. Then, they will move in with the NATO forces.

Truly unbiased reports can be found on VOLTAIRE NETWORK.

here are some links regarding Syria from Voltaire network.

http://www.voltairenet.org/Presidency-of-Arab-League-seeks-to

http://www.voltairenet.org/What-Is-Really-Going-On-In-Syria

Below is link to the text of the actual report that came from the Observer mission sent by the Arab league. The report which NATO and the Arab league is trying to bury because it proves Assads innocence. It is quite a basic observer report, a very easy read as well.

http://www.voltairenet.org/Report-of-the-Head-of-the-League

Israels policy to establish legitimacy: Destruction of Palestinian Identity

A good friend of mine sent me this article and asked me what i thought about it. To me, this is another way that Israel tries to establish legitimacy of its illegitimate nation.

A nation is a group of people tied together through many different aspects like history, language, religion, culture, economics, etc. The problem of legitimacy with the nation Israel does not lie in the bonds that tie the people together, but in the bonds that tie the people to the land they have occupied. That is something hard to establish for a nation born out of agrarian take over of that land and surrounded by nations that do not share the same heritage as people of Israel. It is this pseudo-desperation that has led Israel to adopt quite “aggressive” Political, Religious, Economic, and Cultural policies that promote hegemony of Israelis over Palestinians and establishes an attitude that promotes ethnic cleansing of the people of Palestine.

Below i point out a few of the Israeli policies and point out how they back up my claim.

An obvious one is the continued building of settlements in the West Bank; and the now evicted ones in Gaza. It is this policy of expansion through settlements that is in the wrong. Rapid land expansion through settlement of civilians establishes Israeli rule over those lands. By using ones own civilians in the front lines ensures victory in many ways. If the people of the West Bank are to retaliate violently, their murder can be easily justified internationally as they were trying to harm innocent civilians. More than that, it can be used as a tool to present a violent, terrorist nature of Palestinian people. So the Palestinians are left with no choice but to appeal to the U.N and foreign nations to stop this injustice, to no avail due to political maneuvers of Israeli politicians. In many ways, it is a genius plan.

In the political sphere, Israel labels the democratically elected political party in Gaza, Hamas, as a terrorist organization and uses that in order to justify an elevated position in the international arena. What this does is that it establishes a link to the land as they are seen as the only democratic government present in that region by the international community. Coupled with many laws within the state of Israel that censor books about Palestine and keep Arab children from learning about their heritage, it takes a turn towards trying to wipe out Palestinian identity as Israelis establish their own.

To boost the economy of Israel, they have put an embargo on Gaza. As the economy of Gaza collapses and people starve, the area is destabilized. So, Israel provides Gaza with their own products, forcing the creation of a market for their products; textbook colonialism. Not only this gives many economic advantages, but also it is promoted as a justification to continue the embargo to the international community. Once again their policies give them economic strength used to establish an identity with the region while at the same time, it targets and persecutes the Palestinians. Hence weakening the Palestinian ties to the land.

On top of this, recently another reform has come up that prohibits Israelis from boycotting companies associated with Israel. This policy is in direct contrast with the ideals of democracy and basic freedom to choose and follow ones own ideals. This policy specifically targets the Arab communities living in Israel which try to live off and support other Arabs alone. This policy not only has obvious economic benefits to Israel, but also tends to break that Arab community ties forcefully in order to assimilate them into a hegemonic culture.  

When it comes establishing cultural ties, Israel has not spared anything. They have made the official language Hebrew yet Israelis curse in Arabic as a form of humiliating the language. As the article in the beginning mentions, they have taken over Arab foods and other symbols and promoted them as inherently Israeli to the world. As majority of the people of Israel at time of its creation had come from Europe, they had very little ties to this land and rarely any unifying aspects except for the Hebrew language. After the creation of Israel, their government pursued nationalistic and often oppressing domestic policies rigorously in order to ensure unity among the supporters of Israel. Most of the time, these policies treated the Arab population in Israel very unfairly. From not being able to learn their own history in schools to having their language used as an insult to taking away cultural traditions that defined them. 

This post does not even come close to scratching the surface of injustices Palestinians have had to face as victims of a process meant to create an Israeli legitimacy as heirs to that region. Sadly, this process also leads to ethnic cleansing of the subjugated people. It won’t be too long before a campaign much like the Holocaust is launched by Israel to be done with other nationalities present in the region. Some even argue that such a campaign has already been in motion but it is more gradual than the original Holocaust so it is much harder to notice and more devastating than the Holocaust itself.

Ignite

Historical truths lead us to believe that in order for a revolution to occur, for people to unite, for tyranny to be uprooted, an ignition is needed. From the atrocities following the failure at Moncada barracks in Cuba, to the man burning himself in Tunisia; an ignition is necessary. What historical truths also teach us is that the ignition itself is an extreme, a radical act in itself which, by its very nature, represses the powers that have put people to sleep. It ignites them, infuriates them, grieves them, and leads them. By its nature, the ignition is a universal force. It is a force that culminates the atrocities that the rulers have committed, it is a force that reflects the injustice committed by the power. So it stands to reason to believe that the more unjust the power in question is, the more radical the ignition will be against it. That, my friends, is a dangerous thought indeed.

If we are to put it in perspective to where we stand. The great U.S of A, can one really imagine how powerful the eventual ignition will be? If we really see the threat the U.S.A is posing towards humanity, towards civilization itself! Everything from the failure of nuclear proliferation to global warming can be linked directly to the actions of Unites States. Under this boiling pot of atrocious actions taken towards the world, and its own citizens, one can only help but wonder how strong, how radical, how atrocious the ignition will be.

To be successful, the ignition also needs to be more radical than its failed predecessors. Did sending a strongly worded letter to your senator did not work? Well, naturally, the next step will be to knock on his/her door, not send them another strongly worded letter. Same way, Does a man burning himself send a strong signal in Tunisia? yes. But sadly, that is not enough for U.S.A, for a man did burn himself while protesting the Vietnam war, yet the amount of American troops in the region more than doubled after his oh so heroic action. It means the ignition will be stronger, much stronger.

To the liars in suits, to the butchers in uniform, to the psychopaths shrouded in power:

Beware of the ignition.