Question for Democracies in the international community of nations: Will you speak out tomorrow?

“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph.” - Haile Selassie I, Address in Addis Ababa (1963)

Dictatorships in China, Russia, Cuba and Saudi Arabia, that systematically violate human rights, and undermine international human rights standards will be elected to the UN Human Rights Council tomorrow. Will democracies speak out at the United Nations General Assembly during the vote on October 13th against their election? 

 

Truth Squad: Setting the record straight on Che Guevara's December 11, 1964 speech at the UNGA

"I'd like to confess, at that moment I discovered that I really like killing." - Ernesto "Che" Guevara, in a letter to his father after executing an unarmed man.  

Yesterday marked the 55th anniversary of Ernesto “Che” Guevara’s 1964 address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. Telesur, today presented sanitized excerpts to promote their international agenda promoting socialism and communism.  Australian publisher Ocean Press also has a sanitized version of the speech translated to English that leaves out Guevara's reference to his adversaries as "worms" and that the firing squads were operating.

Guevara in his speech called out the Venezuelan government as murderers of students while failing to mention the pro-Castro elements in Caracas [in the autumn of 1960] that took the lives of 13 persons and injured 100 in an attempt to overthrow the social democracy led by Rómulo Betancourt.

 Nor did Guevara mention that Cuban Communist leader Blas Roca, told a Havana rally on January 23, 1963 that when the communists gained full control [in Venezuela] and “make themselves owners of the great riches in oil, aluminum and everything their earth imprisons, then all of America shall burn.”  A cache of three tons of weapons was found on a Venezuelan beach in November 1963 that was to be used to disrupt the democratic elections there.


On December 11, 1964, the Argentine guerilla gave an inflammatory speech at the United Nations General Assembly, attacking Western countries with a special focus on the United States and countries of Latin America. Several states took the floor to challenge him and exercise their right to reply.  Venezuela noted Che Guevara’s hypocrisy in slamming other countries given that “repressive measures, which include executions by a firing squad, that are continually carried out by the Cuban Government against its own people do not seem to wound his sensibility.” Guevara replied:

"The representative of Venezuela also used a moderate, though emphatic tone. He said that the accusations of genocide are vile and that it was really incredible that the Cuban Government care about these things in Venezuela with such repression against its own people. We must say here something that is a well-known truth and that we have always asserted before the whole world: executions? Yes, we have executed people; we are executing people and shall continue to execute people as long as it is necessary. We know what the result of a losing battle would be and the worms also have to know what the result of the lost battle is today in Cuba. In these conditions we live by the imposition of US imperialism."

Below we will highlight an excerpt from that speech and provide the historical context that raises some fundamental questions about this speech using language that dehumanizes the other (a first step on the road to genocide) and celebrates terrorists and assassins.

For example, Guevara highlighted the plight of Pedro Albizu Campos, a Puerto Rican Nationalist as an example of American cruelty. However, he did not provide the context and actions that led to his imprisonment. Below is a brief description of what led to his imprisonment.

Don Pedro Albizu Campos led a series of coordinated armed actions called the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts in the 1950s for the independence of Puerto Rico that were carried out in Puerto Rico and Washington DC. Between 1950 and 1954 they killed one soldier, seven policemen, and wounded six soldiers and twenty-three policemen. The terrorists saw 16 of their own killed and nine wounded in these actions.

Two of the most high-profile actions, were the attempted assassination of a sitting U.S. President and the wounding of five congressman shot during a floor debate in the U.S. Capitol.


On November 1, 1950 two Puerto Rican Nationalists from New York City stormed the Blair House in Washington DC in a failed effort to assassinate U.S. President Harry S. Truman.

On March 1, 1954 four Puerto Rican Nationalists fired shots from the visitors' gallery in the House of Representatives of the United States Capitol during a floor debate, wounding five Congressmen, one seriously.


Now that the context has been provided. Here is what Mr. Guevara stated about this individual at his UN address on December 11, 1964:

“We express our solidarity to the people of Puerto Rico and their great leader, Pedro Albizu Campos, who, in another act of hypocrisy, has been released at age 72, almost unable to speak, paralyzed after having spent a lifetime in jail. Albizu Campos is a symbol of America still unredeemed but untamed. Years and years of prison, almost unbearable pressures in jail, mental torture, loneliness, total isolation from his people and his family, the insolence of the conqueror and its lackeys in the land where he was born; nothing broke his will. The delegation of Cuba, in the name of its people, pays a tribute of admiration and gratitude to a patriot who dignifies our America.” 

The same degree of scrutiny should be observed when reviewing Che Guevara's other writings and speeches. The communist revolution in Cuba was built on carefully constructed lies. Guevara's objective was not to speak categorical truths, but to seize power. His political descendants today continue to have the same agenda: the violent overthrow of democracies and the imposition of totalitarian communist regimes.

Remarks by President Trump on Cuba and Venezuela today at the UN General Assembly

"From the Soviet Union to Cuba to Venezuela, wherever true socialism or communism has been adopted, it has delivered anguish and devastation and failure." - Donald Trump at the UNGA

President Donald Trump addresses the UN General Assembly

The Office of the Press Secretary at the White House released President Donald Trump's full speech to the United Nations General Assembly this morning. Below is the excerpt that relates to Cuba and Venezuela. There is no mention either of the ongoing crisis involving U.S. diplomats physically harmed in Cuba that could lead to shuttering the U.S. Embassy in Havana or the thousands of Cuban soldiers in Venezuela that have been described as an occupying force by OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro. Nevertheless it is a remarkable statement that exposes the terrible record of communism generally and specifically analyses what is taking place in the two Latin American countries.

In some cases, states that seek to subvert this institution's noble aims have hijacked the very systems that are supposed to advance them.  For example, it is a massive source of embarrassment to the United Nations that some governments with egregious human rights records sit on the U.N. Human Rights Council.

The United States is one out of 193 countries in the United Nations, and yet we pay 22 percent of the entire budget and more.  In fact, we pay far more than anybody realizes.  The United States bears an unfair cost burden, but, to be fair, if it could actually accomplish all of its stated goals, especially the goal of peace, this investment would easily be well worth it.

Major portions of the world are in conflict and some, in fact, are going to hell.  But the powerful people in this room, under the guidance and auspices of the United Nations, can solve many of these vicious and complex problems.

The American people hope that one day soon the United Nations can be a much more accountable and effective advocate for human dignity and freedom around the world.  In the meantime, we believe that no nation should have to bear a disproportionate share of the burden, militarily or financially.  Nations of the world must take a greater role in promoting secure and prosperous societies in their own regions.

That is why in the Western Hemisphere, the United States has stood against the corrupt and destabilizing regime in Cuba and embraced the enduring dream of the Cuban people to live in freedom.  My administration recently announced that we will not lift sanctions on the Cuban government until it makes fundamental reforms.

We have also imposed tough, calibrated sanctions on the socialist Maduro regime in Venezuela, which has brought a once thriving nation to the brink of total collapse.

The socialist dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro has inflicted terrible pain and suffering on the good people of that country.  This corrupt regime destroyed a prosperous nation by imposing a failed ideology that has produced poverty and misery everywhere it has been tried.  To make matters worse, Maduro has defied his own people, stealing power from their elected representatives to preserve his disastrous rule.
 
The Venezuelan people are starving and their country is collapsing.  Their democratic institutions are being destroyed.  This situation is completely unacceptable and we cannot stand by and watch.

As a responsible neighbor and friend, we and all others have a goal.  That goal is to help them regain their freedom, recover their country, and restore their democracy.  I would like to thank leaders in this room for condemning the regime and providing vital support to the Venezuelan people.

The United States has taken important steps to hold the regime accountable.  We are prepared to take further action if the government of Venezuela persists on its path to impose authoritarian rule on the Venezuelan people.
 
We are fortunate to have incredibly strong and healthy trade relationships with many of the Latin American countries gathered here today.  Our economic bond forms a critical foundation for advancing peace and prosperity for all of our people and all of our neighbors.

I ask every country represented here today to be prepared to do more to address this very real crisis.  We call for the full restoration of democracy and political freedoms in Venezuela. (Applause.)

The problem in Venezuela is not that socialism has been poorly implemented, but that socialism has been faithfully implemented.  (Applause.)  From the Soviet Union to Cuba to Venezuela, wherever true socialism or communism has been adopted, it has delivered anguish and devastation and failure.

Those who preach the tenets of these discredited ideologies only contribute to the continued suffering of the people who live under these cruel systems.

America stands with every person living under a brutal regime.  Our respect for sovereignty is also a call for action.  All people deserve a government that cares for their safety, their interests, and their well being, including their prosperity.