By now, the images of the oil explosion that erupted in the Cuban province of Matanzas on Friday, August 5 and continues blazing have become international news. When lightning struck an oil tank in Cuba’s largest oil storage facility, it quickly exploded and began to spread to nearby tanks. As of now, four of the eight tanks have caught fire. Dozens of people have been hospitalized, over 120 have been reported injured, at least 16 firefighters are still reported missing and one firefighter has died.
This latest disaster – the largest oil fire in Cuba’s history – comes at a time when Cuba is currently undergoing an energy crisis due to soaring global fuel costs, as well as over-exploited and obsolete infrastructure. The raging fire will undoubtedly further exacerbate the electricity outages that Cubans are suffering from as a result of the on-going energy crisis that is occurring in the middle of one of the hottest summers on record globally.
Almost immediately, the Cuban government requested international assistance from other countries, particularly its neighbors that have experience in handling oil-related fires. Mexico and Venezuela responded immediately and with great generosity. Mexico sent 45,000 liters of firefighting foam in 16 flights, as well as firefighters and equipment. Venezuela sent firefighters and technicians, as well as 20 tons of foam and other chemicals.
The U.S., on the other hand, offered technical assistance, which amounted to phone consultations. Despite having invaluable expertise and experience with major fires, the U.S. has not sent personnel, equipment, planes, materials, or other resources to its neighbor that would actually help minimize the risk to human life and the environment. The U.S. Embassy in Havana instead offered condolences and stated on day four of the blazing fire that they were “carefully watching the situation” and that U.S. entities and organizations could provide disaster relief. They even posted an email, CubaHumanitarian@state.gov, for people who want to help, saying “our team is a great resource for facilitating exports and donations of humanitarian goods to Cuba or responding to any questions.” But people who have contacted that email for help receive an automated response in return, telling people to look at their fact sheet from a year ago.
Contrast this to Cuba’s response to Hurrican Katrina in 2005, when the Cuba government offered to send to New Orleans 1,586 doctors, each carrying 27 pounds of medicine—an offer that was rejected by the United States.
While the U.S. government pays lip service to helping in Cuba’s emergency, the truth is that U.S. sanctions on Cuba create real and significant barriers to organizations trying to provide assistance to Cubans, both in the United States and abroad. For example, Cuba sanctions often require U.S. organizations to get Commerce Department export licenses. Another obstacle is the lack of commercial air cargo service between the U.S. and Cuba, and most commercial flights are prohibited from carrying humanitarian assistance without a license. Cuba’s inclusion in the State Sponsor of Terrorism List means that banks, in both the United States and abroad, are reluctant to process humanitarian donations. And while donative remittances (which can be sent for humanitarian purposes) have been recently re-authorized by the Biden administration, there is no mechanism in place to send them, as the U.S. government refuses to use the established Cuban entities that have historically processed them. Moreover, payment and fundraising platforms such as GoFundMe, PayPal, Venmo and Zelle, will not process any transactions destined or related to Cuba due to U.S. sanctions.
In any case, the response to this disaster should come primarily from the U.S. government, not NGOs. An Obama-era Presidential Policy Directive specifically mentions U.S. cooperation with Cuba “in areas of mutual interest, including diplomatic, agricultural, public health, and environmental matters, as well as disaster preparedness and response.” Despite the 243 sanctions imposed by the Trump administration – and overwhelmingly maintained by the Biden White House – the Policy Directive appears to remain in effect. In addition, Cuba and the United States signed a bilateral Oil Spill Preparedness and Response Agreement in 2017 prior to Trump taking office, which the U.S. noted means both countries “will cooperate and coordinate in an effort to prevent, contain, and clean up marine oil and other hazardous pollution in order to minimize adverse effects to public health and safety and the environment.” The agreement provides a roadmap for bilateral cooperation to address the current humanitarian and environmental disaster. In addition, the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, which is part of USAID, “is responsible for leading and coordinating the U.S. government’s response to disasters overseas,” including sending technical experts as they have in more than 50 countries. Neither OFDA nor any other part of USAID, which spends approximately $20 million annually in regime change funding in Cuba (primarily to Florida-based groups), have offered humanitarian aid thus far.
As Congress takes important steps to advance legislation to address climate change and disasters, the Biden administration is watching a potential ecological disaster 90 miles from the U.S. coastline without offering meaningful assistance to contain it, both to protect the Cuban people but also to mitigate any potential marine damage to the narrow strait that separates the two countries.
Withholding assistance at this critical time indicates to Cubans, Cuban Americans and the world that the Biden Administration is not really interested in the well-being of the Cuban people, despite statements to the contrary. This is an opportunity to show compassion, regional cooperation, environmental responsibility, and, overall, to be a good neighbor. It is also an opportunity for the Biden administration to finally reject the toxic Trump administration policies towards Cuba and restart the broad bilateral diplomatic engagement that was so successfully initiated under the Obama administration.
Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan is a human rights lawyer and has written extensively about the principles of self-determination, democratic norms and gender justice. She is on the steering committee of ACERE (Alliance for Cuba Engagement and Respect).
Medea Benjamin is co-founder of Global Exchange, CODEPINK: Women for Peace and ACERE (Alliance for Cuba Engagement and Respect). She is the author of several books, including No Free Lunch: Food and Revolution in Cuba Today.
On August 5, a major oil storage facility in Matanzas, Cuba, 65 miles east of Havana, was hit by lightning. A tank that contained 25,000 cubic meters of crude oil caught fire after being struck. Since then, an enormous fire has been raging in Matanzas. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Ávalos Jorge, deputy head of Cuba’s fire department, said that it was impossible to estimate when the fire would be completely extinguished. This tremendous explosion and hard-to-control fire has led to several people being reported missing (including firefighters), many others injured with severe burns, and hundreds more evacuated from their homes. Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, rushed to Matanzas on August 6, interacted with the local officials who were trying to get the fire under control, met residents of the town, and the next day, interacted with the press and spoke about the heroic work done by the firefighters and the solidarity of the Cuban people. “We are going to overcome this adversity,” he said.
Four of the eight tanks at the storage facility have been impacted by these fires. By August 8, Matanzas Governor Mario Sabines Lorenzo also confirmed that three tanks had been compromised. Clouds of dust now hover over the island. Elba Rosa Pérez Montoya, Cuba’s minister of Science, Technology, and Environment (CITMA), said that scientists from various backgrounds were monitoring the situation to see if the smoke resulting from the fire will lead to any negative health effects for the residents of the surrounding areas. As of that point, she said, “We have no evidence that there are effects on human health.” Nonetheless, strange substances have been detected in the water supplies in Yumurí Valley, Matanzas. Diosdado Vera, an 89-year-old farmer, showed journalist Arnaldo Mirabal Hernández the unusual color and odor of the water in an old bathtub that serves as the water source for her cows. “There are approximately 3,200 particles in the air right now,” said CITMA Minister Pérez Montoya. “The clouds have sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, among other substances that are falling on Matanzas, Mayabeque, and Havana.” Meanwhile, Pérez Montoya said that a team of scientists is investigating the strange substances found in the Yumurí Valley.
This tragedy has also had immediate repercussions for the entire population in the province of Matanzas and the whole island of Cuba since it affects their electricity supply and access to health care, which already are strained under the weight of the U.S. blockade, due to lack of availability of spare parts and scarcity of medicines in Cuba, respectively.
The fire has already led to the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant in Matanzas being out of service due to a shortage of water and the contamination of the water cycle. This will likely lead to severe electricity outages amid record heat waves this summer. Ricardo Ronquillo Bello, president of the Union of Cuban Journalists (UPEC), tweeted that this tragedy will be “another test for Cuban journalism that will know how to honor with its humanism and social responsibility.” Ronquillo was referring to the onslaught of fake news that swept through social media, leading to a sense of alarm during an already difficult period.
In this dire crisis, the people of Cuba and their government have responded immediately, and this has resulted in on-site efforts to contain the fire, prevent a major environmental disaster, and keep the population safe. It has also led to a call for international aid and solidarity. The governments of Mexico, Venezuela, Russia, Nicaragua, Argentina, Chile and several others have promptly offered material aid, and some countries like Mexico and Venezuela have also sent experts and firefighters to confront this complex situation. Cuba’s Credit and Commerce Bank (Bandec) has set up an account so that people in the country can donate money to the people of Matanzas.
“Cuba is Matanzas,” said President Díaz-Canel, in the context of both the impact of the fire on the entire island and the solidarity that is visible across Cuba.
Sanctions
The U.S. blockade of Cuba fuels the fire that rages on in the country, despite denials by authorities in the United States. The U.S. government has both been stiffening up the blockade of Cuba and denying that sanctions have any impact on the functioning of the country (in fact, in 2021, then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki had said that the problems in Cuba are not due to the U.S. sanctions but rather are due to “the Cuban government’s economic mismanagement”). The U.S. Embassy in Havana has made assurances that the blockade authorizes U.S. entities and organizations to provide disaster relief and response. But organizations tell us that this is not the case, with the 243 sanctions imposed on Cuba working as a stranglehold against pursuing any activity in the country. Many of these organizations say that the process to send aid to Cuba is lengthy, with a licensing regime in place that requires expensive lawyers. Cuba’s inclusion in the state sponsors of terrorism list means that banks in both the United States and abroad are reluctant to process humanitarian donations.
While Washington says one thing and does another, the firefighters in Matanzas—aided by the reinforcements from Mexico and Venezuela—have been spraying foam on the fire to prevent it from spreading further, and helicopters have been pouring water on the other oil tanks to stop them from combusting. Even after the fire settles and the ashes remain, Cuba will struggle to rebuild these tanks and to solve its energy crisis. These are not merely domestic problems but rather are problems created and exaggerated by the harmful U.S.-imposed blockade that has been in existence for the past six decades.
Not long after the lightning strike, users on social media shared the hashtag #FuerzaMatanzas (be strong, Matanzas) on various platforms. Within 24 hours, the hashtag was shared by nearly a billion users, according to Dayron Avello, social media manager at Clínica Internacional Camilo Cienfuegos. A billion people have signaled their support for Cuba, a solidarity the U.S. blockade is unable to prevent.
Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter. He is an editor of LeftWord Books and the director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He is a senior non-resident fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China. He has written more than 20 books, including The Darker Nations and The Poorer Nations. His latest books are Struggle Makes Us Human: Learning from Movements for Socialism and (with Noam Chomsky) The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of U.S. Power.
Manolo De Los Santos is the co-executive director of the People’s Forum and is a researcher at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He co-edited, most recently, Viviremos: Venezuela vs. Hybrid War (LeftWord Books/1804 Books, 2020) and Comrade of the Revolution: Selected Speeches of Fidel Castro (LeftWord Books/1804 Books, 2021). He is a co-coordinator of the People’s Summit for Democracy.
This article was produced by Globetrotter.
It is cynical to use war as a way of beefing up chances of winning an election. This is exactly what Israel’s leader Lapid did in Israel’s latest aggression on the besieged Gaza strip. Two hard facts define what this war sought to achieve. First, it wanted to tug at the unity of the Palestinian resistance. Second, and equally disparaging, the international community went into silent mode. There was not an ounce of protest from the western world which so liberally, otherwise, pontificates about international law and human rights when it suits them. The message is patently clear – Palestinians lives don’t really matter. There is consistent hypocrisy on matters of war and peace from western quarters. It is clear that Palestinians will have to fend for themselves and not rely on the major political blocs or even the so-called emerging economies to act. It will have to be the grassroots, whether in the West or in the Global South, that will have to lead and support the resistance.
The Global South has also adopted reprehensible positions. They have not merely adopted silence and indifference; they have tacitly chosen the side of Israel. Consider growing trade relations between Israel and the larger countries in the Global South. The question is where is the backbone of these countries that barely 70 years ago were scrambling to get the colonizers out. The principle of Decoloniality is important to reassert when it comes to the Question of Palestine. In what is deemed to be the age of civilization, Israel chooses to pretend it is a democracy – the only one in the Middle East- which it does not even remotely resemble. It chooses the vilest and most brutal of political methods.
Israel is also creating dependence in the Global South by evolving as a supplier of armaments and military hardware to these countries. It ingeniously selects countries that are confronted by justice movements for liberation and even trains militaries in these countries alongside trade in armaments. For Israel it is a win-win situation as of now. How long with this last? It has been suggested that if Israel were to attack Gaza again, it might have to face the wrath of Iran. While the West, in its wishful thinking, might dismiss such a choice with nonchalance, deep inside there exists fear of a nuclear-armed Iran. Israel will soon have to also face the upsurge of resistance in the Palestinian territories and solidarity movements in the West and the rest of the world. China and Russia have never compromised on Palestine and that is an important foothold.
Israel’s apartheid profile grows even as it allows settlers to promote it on buses and on streets in proximity to Palestinian villages. Israel even obstructs civil society organizations who visit Palestine to study ways of heightened humanitarian and human rights solidarity.
Ranjan Solomon is a human rights activist, political commentator who believes that peoples’ power is a non-negotiable instrument to further democracy and justice.
It seemed all but a done deal: Israel is finally managing to bend the Arabs to its will, and Palestine is becoming a marginal issue that no longer defines Israel’s relations with Arab countries. Indeed, normalization with Israel is afoot, and the Arabs, so it seems, have been finally tamed.
Not so fast. Many events continue to demonstrate the opposite. Take, for example, the Arab League two-day meeting in Cairo on July 31 – August 1. The meeting was largely dominated by discussions on Palestine and concluded with statements that called on Arab countries to reactivate the Arab boycott of Israel, until the latter abides by international law.
The strongest language came from the League’s Assistant Secretary-General who called for solidarity with the Palestinian people by boycotting companies that support the Israeli occupation.
The two-day Conference of the Liaison Officers of the Arab Regional Offices on the Boycott of Israel praised the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which has been under intense western pressures for its unrelenting advocacy of international action against Israel.
One of the recommendations by Arab officials was to support Arab boycott initiatives in accordance with the Tunis Arab Summit in March 2019, which resolved that “boycott of the Israeli occupation and its colonial regime is one of the effective and legitimate means to resist.”
Though one may rightly cast doubts on the significance of such statements in terms of dissuading Israel from its ongoing colonization schemes in Palestine, at least, it demonstrates that in terms of political discourse, the collective Arab position remains unchanged. This was also expressed clearly to US President Joe Biden during his latest visit to the Middle East. Biden may have expected to leave the region with major Arab concession to Israel – which would be considered a significant political victory for the pro-Israel members of his Democratic Party prior to the defining November midterm elections – but he received none.
What American officials do not understand is that Palestine is a deeply rooted emotional, cultural and spiritual issue for Arabs – and Muslims. Neither Biden, nor Donald Trump and Jared Kushner before him, could easily – or possibly – alter that.
Indeed, anyone who is familiar with the history of the centrality of Palestine in the Arab discourse understands that Palestine is not a mere political question that is governed by opportunism, and immediate political or geopolitical interests. Modern Arab history is a testament to the fact that no matter how great US-Western-Israeli pressures and however weak or divided the Arabs are, Palestine will continue to reign supreme as the cause of all Arabs. Political platitudes aside, the Palestinian struggle for freedom remains a recurring theme in Arab poetry, art, sports, religion, and culture in all its manifestations.
This is not an opinion, but a demonstrable fact.
The latest Arab Center Washington DC (ACW) public opinion poll examined the views of 28,288 Arabs in 13 different countries. Majority of the 350 million Arabs continue to hold the same view as previous generations of Arabs did: Palestine is an Arab cause and Israel is the main threat.
The Arab Opinion Index (AOI) of late 2020 is not the first of its kind. In fact, it is the seventh such study to be conducted since 2011. The trend remains stable. All the US-Israeli plots – and bribes – to sideline Palestine and the Palestinians have failed and, despite purported diplomatic ‘successes’, they will continue to fail.
According to the poll: Vast majority of Arabs – 81 percent – oppose US policy towards Palestine; 89 percent and 81 percent believe that Israel and the US respectively are “the largest threat” to their individual countries’ national security. Particularly important, majority of Arab respondents insist that the “Palestinian cause concerns all Arabs and not simply the Palestinians.” This includes 89 percent of Saudis and 88 percent of Qataris.
Arabs may disagree on many issues, and they do. They might stand at opposite sides of regional and international conflicts, and they do. They might even go to war against one another and, sadly, they often do. But Palestine remains the exception. Historically, it has been the Arabs’ most compelling case for unity. When governments forget that, and they often do, the Arab streets constantly remind them of why Palestine is not for sale and is not a subject for self-serving compromises.
For Arabs, Palestine is also a personal and intimate subject. Numerous Arab households have framed photos of Arab martyrs who were killed by Israel during previous wars or were killed fighting for Palestine. This means that no amount of normalization or even outright recognition of Israel by an Arab country can wash away Israel’s sordid past or menacing image in the eyes of ordinary Arabs.
A most telling example of this is how Egyptians and Jordanians answered the AOI question “Would you support or oppose diplomatic recognition of Israel by your country?” The interesting thing about this question is that both Cairo and Amman already recognized Israel and have diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv since 1979 and 1994, respectively. Still, to this day, 93 percent of Jordanians and 85 percent of Egyptians still oppose that recognition as if it never took place.
The argument that Arab public opinion carries no weight in non-democratic societies neglects the fact that every form of government is predicated on some form of legitimacy, if not through a direct vote, it is through other means. Considering the degree of involvement the cause of Palestine carries in every aspect of Arab societies – on the street, in the mosque and church, in universities, sports, civil society organizations and much more – disowning Palestine would be a major delegitimizing factor and a risky political move.
American politicians, who are constantly angling for quick political victories on behalf of Israel in the Middle East do not understand, or simply do not care that marginalizing Palestine and incorporating Israel into the Arab body politic is not simply unethical, but also a major destabilizing factor in an already unstable region.
Historically, such attempts have failed, and often miserably so, as apartheid Israel remains as hated by those who normalized as much as it is hated by those who have not. Nothing will ever change that, as long as Palestine remains an occupied country.
Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappé, is ‘Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak out’. His other books include ‘My Father was a Freedom Fighter’ and ‘The Last Earth’. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net
The objective of the visit was not clear, besides making a stand against China with the usual “democracy” rhetoric. What will America gain by this visit? Nothing. There is nothing to win from this type of bullying, but very much to lose.
After Ukraine’s proxy war with Russia, it seems as if Taiwan is becoming the focus in a proxy war between the US and China. That would be suicidal, as the U.S. can not go to war in any form with China. We have already experienced the unforeseen consequences of the present conflict in Ukraine, which has impacted the world’s food and oil supplies. A conflict with China would have a hundred times more consequences that could take the White-West to a point of no return.
The world has changed drastically in the past 100 years, yet some of our politicians have not ,and Pelosi is the perfect illustration of that. They carry the old mentality of power, control, and forcing everyone to adopt their worldview. In the world today, we are mainly interdependent on each other and there is no going back. As we saw with a small country like Ukraine, whose war has disrupted the lives of maybe a billion people across the globe.
It is very easy to justify our differences, to go against others: Russia against the EU and US, Democrats against Republicans. It’s a mental form that defines everything from the rich against the poor to the tensions between the US and China. But his form has reached its limit. As Ariane Weinberger argued in her study The 12 Steps,
“Despite the conservative tendencies of our rulers and those who still believe in them, there is no denying that human consciousness has grown with globalization. In addition, with the recent events of the pandemic and planetary confinement, it is hard to ignore that the planet is ONE.”
This world is crying for new forms, which some call a paradigm shift, but mainly a new world is emerging in which a different way of structuring is required, one which leaves behind all of the references from the past that correspond to a different time in humanity’s process.
Weinberger describes this ‘new way of looking’ quite well. In the same study mentioned above, she wrote: “We were warned in time: To go against the evolution of things is to go against oneself! Any change implies the destabilization of an «established order», therefore of a fixed form, in equilibrium, in harmony. That is why any change, especially the big ones, put us in crisis. Without even getting into speculation about a «science fiction» of the future, it seems that soul-to-soul communication «sacralizes» our relationships. The relationship as a central value, the relationship above our individualities, above «who is right», the quality of the relationship taking precedence over the content of a conversation; the reciprocal good intention and the good cooperation more important than the result of the action…
“In the same way that the first cosmonauts left the atmosphere, escaping the law of gravity and seeing the Earth from the cosmos. This jump of perspective represents the first step toward breaking out of the confinement of one’s own subjectivity («solipsism»). It is a huge first step in our process of liberation.
“How could we then continue to live of our own free will in the different forms of slavery and determinisms that trap our minds? How could Pegasus return to life as a harnessed horse, with blinkers, plowing land, which he considers not to be it’s own?
“I am neither the center of the world nor the world. I no longer look «from myself», it’s rather a co-present look that looks at me and makes me understand that I am «only part» of the landscape, just like all the other phenomena which constitute it; that I am «on parity» with everything I perceive. After that, it is quite impossible to continue living with the «Darwinism», the «egocentrism» and by extension the «geocentrism», so deeply rooted in our present civilization … and which I am a part of!
“By observing their Earth from the outside, the cosmonauts saw that it was «One» (beyond its natural and artificial divisions). As for us, after observing our «form of personal representation» from outside — this coenesthetic form that unites everything in the same structure, a «field of co-presence» in which all perceptions and representations are linked —, we also realize that reality is One, a Whole, connected and interdependent…”
Ariane Weinberger is dedicated to the study of the mental form of people and the evolutionary process of the human being on a social, cultural, and spiritual level. Her personal research has led her to the teachings of Silo, which she has been following for over thirty years. In addition, Ariane continues her investigations in several fields. Her research on iconography and spiritual practices in prehistory led to the book Le Dessein de Sapiens au paléolithique supérieur (The Purpose of Sapiens in the Upper Paleolithic), whose hypotheses have aroused the interest of the academic world (publication in the ERAUL collection, now in the hands of the Presses Universities de France – PUF).
David Andersson: Author of The White-West: A Look in the Mirror, journalist, photographer and publisher, starting back in the 80’s with the Humanist Movement by publishing a neighborhood newspaper in Paris. Today, David is the coordinator of NYC bureau for Pressenza and is hosting a talk-show call Face 2 Face. The show is broadcast on Youtube and Facebook.
The outbreak of Cholera in Kashipur block of Rayagada and other 7 districts has resulted in the death of more than 17 people and unrelieved suffering of hundreds is reported by the Health minister in Assembly. For the last three decades , this has not been a new one to Kashipur and other tribal populous areas of the state where common people are routinely suffering with middle age diseases due to lack of basic amenities. Cholera visits every year in rainy seasons and becomes one of the major public health issues of Odisha. These serious health issues largely remain under-recognized by the governments and other non-govt. stakeholders that has been reflected in public health interventions in the cholera hot spot areas. The unabated loss of life shows our criminal negligence to check the death of poor tribal and Dalit in a backward pockets of the state in a time when we all are pre-occupied with celebrating the symbolic gesture of our ethnic and regional identities.
A recent survey by a team of activists of a lawyers collective, All India Lawyers Association for Justice, in their fact finding report said that the people who died in Kashipur are mostly STs and SCs belonging to Kondh, Paraja and Dom communities. They said the Kashipur community health centre (CHC) ,Tikiri Primary Health centre (PHC) and Ushapada Utkal Alumina company hospital and Rayagada district hospital were crowded with cholera patients. The treatment of the patients was without proper health care facilities as many patients were laying on the open space of Varanda with no beds available and the most shocking part is inadequate number of doctors and health staff even at the time of this crisis. Due to lack of basic facilities in PHC and CHC, mostly patients are being referred to Rayagada district hospital.
Local doctors say that it mainly spreads through contaminated water during the rainy season by use of water from paddy fields and non-function of tube wells. Open defecation is still in practice by majority due to lack of basic amenities such as safe drinking water and toilets and also limited awareness on personal hygiene and community sanitation. The hamlets lack basic living infrastructure such as standard housing, water source, shed for domestic animals, all weather roads, drainage lines and communications which are essential for each household.
Health experts revealed that not just Cholera but many other diseases such as Malaria are home to tribal pockets. Few years back more than 300 children of Malkangiri district died of Japanese encephalitis. The five major diseases, Malaria, cholera, Leprosy, Scabies and acute respiratory infection collectively account for more than 70 percent of the total patients of Odisha. This is one of the reasons for high IMR in the state as children are more vulnerable to such adverse environments. There has been a lack of minimum health infrastructure and doctors and health care staff mostly in the tribal areas of the state and it is evident that people have to travel a long distance with all kinds of transport related difficulties to visit the hospitals. Along with physical and social environment, malnutrition and food security has been a major concern which is closely linked to health issues but in spite of the use of NFSA’s limited rice distribution and schemes such as ICDS and most recent fortified rice distribution has not really solved the starvation, hunger and malnutrition issues of STs and SCs and other marginalized poor in South Odisha where the incidence of poverty remain high. It has been demanded that added to required rice there must be subsidized other essential food items such as Dal, Potato, and sugar, salt and edible oil through universal PDS with doorstep delivery.
The first national report on the state of India’s tribal people’s health submitted to the government by an expert committee on tribal health in 2018 reports that half of the tribal population, almost 5.5 core, live outside scheduled areas and are more vulnerable. It says the under-five mortality among STs equated to others has broadened as the child malnutrition is higher in case of tribal children than others. Malaria and tuberculosis are three to 11 times more common among tribal people, half of the malaria deaths in India occur among trials.
WHO in its annual report on Cholera in 2021 says the disease remains a potential threat to public health and an important indicator of high social inequality and lack of basic social development. The major countries having cholera disease such as Somalia, Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and India are also poor in the Human Development Index. It shows unequal societies are more prone to such diseases. The Long term solution to control this disease depends on all round economic development and that includes most importantly, access to basic amenities such as safe drinking water, toilet, and housing and good hygiene practice among masses.
It has been observed that though public funds for tribal areas have been routed from a number of government, corporate CSR funds and international sources including UNO agencies, the resources have largely remained unspent, diverted and misused by the authorities and development actors. The budgetary provision of SCSP, TSP and article 375(1) grant as an additional spending for tribal and Dalit community and each household have remain notionally allocated but largely unimplemented and diverted for other purpose. The most popular DMF fund having a special scheme of PMKKKY where safe drinking water and sanitation has been identified as the main item of spending have been overlooked by district administration, same is happening with funds under OMBADC. Not just funds but the special institutional mechanism under constitutional provision for administration of tribal areas are the responsibilities of President of India ,Governor of the state and Tribal advisory council headed by Chief Minister and Minister for ST and SCs welfare as per article 164(1) applicable to Odisha remain largely dysfunctional in recent times.
While celebrating Azadi Ki Amrut Mahotsav by remembering the freedom fighters and makers of modern Odisha such as Laxman Naik of Koraput who was hanged to death by the British, for building an egalitarian society, we must not forget the promises we made and our constitutional mandates. Unfortunately, as far as the health situation of tribal areas are concerned, we are still in a middle age and our conditions can be compared with the most vulnerable countries of the world such as Somalia and Ethiopia. The DRDAs must act with a yearly target to reach every household with safe drinking water and toilets by pulling resources from all possible sources in priority. Odisha being a tribal state having sizeable tribal population and tribal area must have proactive initiatives to further stop the untimely death of innocents. The deceased families must be compensated with proper rehabilitation out of state funds.
Manas Jena, social activist, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Email: manasbbsr15@gmail.com
No, this is not about baseball, though this writer as a youth participated in many squeeze plays. Sometimes they were actually ‘ Suicide Squeezes’, so apropos to this current political climate. No, this is about millions of us working stiffs who consider ourselves Socialists or Socialist thinkers. Some in the sadly corrupt Democratic Party call themselves ‘ Progressives’ , but… they rarely go ‘ The Full Monty’ and support viable socialist themes. Too many of them actually voted to increase the already obscene military spending under the false label of ‘ Defense Spending’. Almost all of them got involved politically and publically in supporting the Neo Nazi infiltrated Ukraine government. True socialists like this writer, if in office, would decide to sit that war out while pushing for negotiations to end it. Russia was wrong in attacking Ukraine and Ukraine was wrong in harassing ethnic Russians in the Donbas and Crimea regions. Oh, and Ukraine stuck its finger at Russia by lobbying for NATO membership. Both parties should not be supported in their actions, or their war.
Of course the long list of Democratic Party missteps ( mostly on purpose ) voting against working stiffs is not so recent. It seems the Dems have a sorry history of, when push comes to shove, in supporting the Super Rich Military Industrial Complex. Just look at what has been transpiring in the area of residential housing , now actually worse than ever. The ‘ Invasion of the Absentee Landlords’ is only growing as over a hundred million working stiff Americans are subjected to outright Feudalism! Large blocs of corporate landlords own thousands and tens of thousands of rental property ( and don’t forget that great news talk celebrity Sean Hannity and the spoiled super rich kid and Trump son in law Jared Kushner). Most of this sad scenario came from the massive home evictions and foreclosures during the orchestrated Sub Prime bubble of 2008-09. Remember good ole Henry Paulson, former CEO of the piggish Goldman Sachs and then current Sec. of Treasury under the Bush/Cheney Cabal? Recall how he stood in front of the cameras, almost choking back the crocodile tears, and told the world how ‘ We have to save our financial system from destruction’. By the way, Paulson retired from Goldman with a compensation package of…are you sitting down folks, $ 500 million!! Henry then pushed for what was later known as TARP, a $ 700 billion bailout of his Wall Street cronies, when folks like Ralph Nader, joining with many fiscal conservatives, demanded that those toxic firms be placed into ‘ Receivership’. That meant that Uncle Sam would pay for those septic Wall Street firms’ assets at like 10 cents on the dollar and own them. That measure would allow the tens of thousands of employees to stay on their jobs earning their regular pay. Then when Obama took office he made sure to satisfy his own corporate donors to continue this obscenity subsidized by our federal tax dollars. Go and watch the 2012 Marc Levin documentary ‘ Lost on Long Island’ to see how damaging those Wall Street layoffs were in 2008-09.
Now we see the utter epitome of what Ralph Nader labeled ‘ Twiddle Dum and Twiddle Dee’, the current Two Party/One Party system. Lately the right hand of this fist of empire has quickly transformed itself into an outright Fascist Menace, thanks to the snake oil salesman former president. Behind the curtain that he stands in front of are a slew of borderline Neo Nazis, some very super rich and many just plain ole lower and middle class fools. This must be stopped before we have an actual ‘ Coup de tat’ attempt that makes the January 6th one look ‘ants at a picnic’, which will then ferment a real Civil War. No kidding folks. This is what the movers and shakers of the other hand of the fist of empire, the Democratic Party, are actually counting on… Sadly. The Democrats really don’t have to do much to help us working stiffs at all. They just play the oldest game of ‘ Lesser of two evils’ . I don’t know about you but sometimes I cannot catch my breath, the squeeze is so tight! And I most likely will push that Democratic Party voting lever to stop that approaching monster! We working stiffs need to join together when the election cycles are over and formulate a new socialist mindset. Better late than never!!
Philip A Farruggio is regular columnist on It’s the Empire… stupid website. He is also frequently posted on Nation of Change, Countercurrents., Smirking Chimp and Independent Australia sites. He is the son and grandson of Brooklyn NYC longshoremen and a graduate of Brooklyn College, class of 1974. Since the 2000 election debacle Philip has written over 400 columns on the Military Industrial Empire and other facets of life in an upside down America. He is also host of the ‘ It’s the Empire… Stupid ‘ radio show, co produced by Chuck Gregory. Philip can be reached at paf1222@bellsouth.net
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.