Cuba asks Obama to state development agenda for Africa

Cuba asks Obama to state development agenda for Africa
By Larry Moonze in Havana, Cuba
Sun 08 Nov. 2009, 04:01 CAT

CUBA has asked US President Barack Obama to state his development agenda for Africa. In an interview at Ministry of Foreign Relations last Wednesday, ministry’s sub-Saharan Africa division director Ambassador Ivan Mora said while Africa must work on integration and home-owned policies for socio-economic development President Obama should now announce his pledge to Africa.

Ambassador Mora said although it did not succeed at least former President George W Bush had a policy for Africa.

“Obama has no pledge yet for Africa,” he said.

“We are interested to know what he will do for Africa. Anything that the United States will do to help foster development in Africa Cuba will support it. As much as we are asking President Obama to lift the blockade against Cuba we are asking the US to have a real policy, a constructive engagement for real development of Africa.”

Ambassador Mora said questions abound on why Africa was not able to get the possibility of a developed society with more socio-economic advancement.

“The answer to that question is very difficult but in my view really is because the current international economic rules are against those countries, against the developing world,” he said.
Ambassador Mora said for instance, all major companies exploiting African oil were from Europe and the US.

He said Western companies owned and extracted all of African natural resources.
He said Africa received less than 20 per cent of revenue obtained from its resources.
Ambassador Mora said at least for now China was providing fairer business with African countries because the Chinese investments included trade and provision of infrastructure and technology transfer.

“How many years have African countries cried for technology transfer?” he asked. “We have to recognise that African governments are making efforts to get out of dependence,” Ambassador Mora said.

He said Africa was also making great strides to resolve conflicts most of which were generated by economic interests of Western powers.

Ambassador Mora said the only experience Africa could draw from Cuba was that it was impossible to develop without an educated nation.

He said by eradicating illiteracy society gets to assume the development role.

Ambassador Mora said equally a healthy nation was a prerequisite to economic development.
“It is impossible to advance economic development and otherwise if let us say 20 or 30 per cent of a country’s population has HIV/AIDS or dying because of malaria,” he said.

Ambassador Mora said Cuba’s priority for African countries now was in the area of human resources training and combating diseases.

“For instance the visit of the President of Zambia was huge. In Zambia we can do a lot and it is urgent that we strengthen cooperation,” he said. “We are ready to do all that Zambia requires and we hope to open windows of cooperation in many areas.”

He said Cuba-African relations must now diversify from historical ties of independence struggle to economic ties.

Ambassador Mora said the world was in a new era where it was necessary to build relations that were fundamentally on mutual economic goals.

He said Africa remained a reservoir of many natural resources but had not benefited from that wealth.
Ambassador Mora said the West’s relationship with Africa was one where transnationals got the benefits.

He said Cuba was against such commerce.
Ambassador called for traditional relations that encompassed wider and substantive economic and business interests.

He said Cuba and Africa should engage in exchange of technology adding that Cuba was ready to provide such in mining, energy and other sectors.

Ambassador Mora said there were many countries willing to jointly work with African countries such as Brazil, Venezuela and India.

He said Cuba intends to increase its missions in Africa.

Ambassador Mora said currently Cuba had 26 embassies in sub-Saharan Africa.
He said together with North Africa, Cuba had 32 missions.
Ambassador Mora said integration was the only way to face globalisation.

He said Africa like Cuba had a permanent crisis in terms of solving the economic development equation.
Ambassador Mora said while the global financial and economic crisis was impacting heavily on developing countries hopes for adopting the Doha Round had evaporated.

“That famous Doha Round has vanished, the light hope there was in that Round to address problems of investment, trade, finance flow, human resource development and technology transfer has totally disappeared,” he said.
Ambassador Mora said at the same time the use of the US Dollar for international commerce had become a fantasy.

He said African nations should take seriously resolutions of the Second Africa-Latin America summit that was held in September in Venezuela.

Ambassador Mora noted that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez proposed to establish a bank of the south for Africa and South America to facilitate the bi-continental development projects.

“That summit was not for papers and photo show,” he said. “It had concrete proposals. Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia are ready to put money as starting capital for such a bank and I think it is important the African states do the same. That will be their money and not from international financial institutions.”

Ambassador Mora said last week at the UN, time had come for developing countries to raise resources for their own needs.
“Nobody will come from Europe or the United States and say here is my money, use it for your development needs,” he said. “Nobody will provide solutions to our problems if we don’t decide to face them.”

Ambassador Mora said Cuba was very thankful of the solidarity it gets from Africa.
He said African countries had been on the Cuban side through all the island’s struggles.
Ambassador Mora said last week at the UN, all the 53 African countries voted for the resolution demanding the US lif its embargo against Cuba.

“This is an eternal debt. We have reason to continue our fight for Africa’s development in all spheres,” he said.
Ambassador Mora said several African leaders were urging Washington at bilateral level to end the blockade against Cuba.

“They do that even without telling us,” said Ambassador Mora. “While nothing has happened so far the Obama administration has all the possibility to do everything to lift the sanctions.”
He said today there was no single reason to maintain the siege against Cuba.

“Not even fabricated reasons,” Ambassador Mora said. “There was a period when the US claimed it maintain the embargo because of Cuba’s participation in African liberation struggles. Right now we don’t have any soldiers there.”