Thursday, December 17, 2009

Sanctions don’t resolve anything, but just worsen situations – Rodriguez

Sanctions don’t resolve anything, but just worsen situations – Rodriguez
By Ernest Chanda
Thu 17 Dec. 2009, 04:01 CAT

CUBAN Ambassador to Zambia Carmelina Rodriguez has observed that sanctions imposed on any country do not resolve anything, but just worsen the situation.

At a public discussion orgainsed by the Southern African Centre for Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) and the Press Freedom Committee of The Post (PFC) in Lusaka on Tuesday under the theme 'Do sanctions resolve or fuel conflicts', Ambassador Rodriguez observed that the population suffers more as a result of sanctions.

“Cuba has a history of resistance; we have always fought for our rights. It is not always true that sanctions promote good governance. In most instances sanctions create worse environments; first it's the population that suffers the most,” Ambassador Rodriguez said. “In case of Cuba, sanctions have not promoted the interests of society.

That's why Cuban people are united against sanctions. We put a lot of resources in our military to protect ourselves, instead of pumping such resources in the economy. In Angola and Zimbabwe, for example, sanctions did not solve anything, but worsened the situation. The same thing happened in Iraq where a lot of people have suffered.”
And Ambassador Rodriguez has said there is a lot of misinformation about the political situation in Cuba.

She said contrary to international media reports that there was no democracy in Cuba; Cubans were in fact freely participating in their country's political affairs.

“There is a lot of misinformation about the Cuban political system. The international media like CNN Cable News Network, BBC British Broadcasting Corporation and others have misrepresented Cuba's political situation. What the international media calls the opposition in Cuba is a mercenary opposition financed by the United States; it has very few people,” Ambassador Rodriguez said.

“The political participation in Cuba is everywhere. We have the young and the old participating in Cuban politics.

In fact the participation of the ordinary people in Cuban politics is higher than in most countries. I'm not criticising any particular country because each country is free to have a political set up of their choice. So, it's not true that because we have a one party political system then we have very few people participating in politics.”

SACCORD executive director Lee Habasonda said sanctions had both good and bad effects on a particular country.

“For example, there wouldn't have been a government of national unity in Zimbabwe if it were not for sanctions. In my view they have a tendency of changing behaviour; they are not bad in themselves. It's unfortunate that they are not targeted at rich nations,” said Habasonda.

“We have also seen that sanctions have made countries self-reliant. Countries that have suffered sanctions have developed self-dependence. So, we can see that sanctions are both a tool for resolving conflicts and a tool for fueling conflicts.”

Labels: , , , ,


Read more...

posted by MrK @ 6:09 PM 0 Comments

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Revolution has converted Cuba into example of dignity – Carmelina

Revolution has converted Cuba into example of dignity – Carmelina
Written by Katwishi Bwalya
Sunday, January 18, 2009 6:26:52 AM

CUBAN Ambassador to Zambia Carmelina Ramirez Rodriguez on Thursday said her country’s Revolution has converted a humiliated and dependable neo-colonial country into a universal example of dignity.

During the 50th Anniversary of the Cuban revolution celebrations in Lusaka, Ambassador Rodriguez said the Cuban Revolution was a model of social justice, solidarity and a paradigm of resistance.

“From the beginning, the Cuban Revolution had established as one of its principal objective to overcome underdevelopment, eradicate poverty and defeat economic and social inequalities,” Ambassador Rodriguez said.

She said this was the principle that had been maintained along the five decades.

Ambassador Rodriguez said the Cuban Revolution had promised employment for all who had the capacity to work.

“The Cuban Revolution had promised free access to health, education for all, decent living conditions for all,” she said.

Ambassador Rodriguez said there was no single Cuban family feeling sorry for not being able to send a child to school or because a sick relative was unable to exercise the right to receive medical assistance.

She said Cubans were proud of the work that had been done and solid perspective of the country’s economic and social development.

“None of the almost one billion illiterates that exist in today’s world is a Cuban citizen. There is not any child at any traffic light cleaning windscreens or asking for something to eat,” Ambassador Rodriguez said.” We know that this work is far from being perfect, however, like any other human work, it is perfectible. We ourselves are the most unsatisfied with what has been done .We have a clear notion that we need to do a lot more than what has been done.”

She said the greatest achievement for the Cuban Revolution was the creation of human beings who were motivated by the desire to make a better world.

Ambassador Rodriguez said this was despite the challenges of fifty years of continuous harassment.

And home affairs minister Dr Kalombo Mwansa said Zambia applauded the political, economic and social advancements made by Cuba which had brought great benefits to the Cubans.

“Zambia’s desire is to take full advantage of initiatives that foster economic corporation between the two countries. Our common good of improving the living standards of our people demands that economic corporation be placed at the centre of our friendship,” said Dr Mwansa.

Labels: ,


Read more...

posted by MrK @ 6:28 AM 0 Comments