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WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30 2016 • T H I S D AY
INTERNATIONAL
email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com
Cuba: Leftist Allies Fly in to Pay Tribute to Castro Leaders of Cuba’s leftist allies and other developing countries arrive in Havana yesterday for a mass rally commemorating Fidel Castro. Castro, who ceded control to his younger brother Raul Castro a decade ago due to poor health, died on Friday at the age of 90. For many, especially in Latin America and Africa, he was a symbol of resistance to imperialism, having ousted a U.S.-backed dictator, and a champion of the poor. Others condemned him as a tyrant whose socialism ran the island’s economy to ruin. Cuba announced nine days of mourning, including the rally on Tuesday evening in Havana’s Revolution Square - the same massive space where Castro once delivered rousing, marathon speeches. On Tuesday morning, thousands lined up in the square for a second day to file past Castro’s favourite portrait of himself, dressed in military fatigues and carrying a rifle. “He has left us physically, but from now on will multiply in the millions, because we shall follow his ideas,” said customs worker Hipolito Rodriguez, 67, dressed in khaki military fatigues as he waited for his turn to pay homage.
“He was the father of the nation. It is like losing a beloved relative. He has left us a legacy we must continue.” Many leaders of Latin America’s left, including Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Bolivian President Evo Morales, flew in to attend the ceremony. Maduro, speaking on Monday night, paid tribute to Castro’s “immortal force.” Also expected are several African leaders such as Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and South Africa’s Jacob Zuma. Nelson Mandela, while he was still alive, repeatedly thanked Castro for his efforts in helping overturn apartheid in South Africa. China has sent Vice President Li Yuanchao, and on Tuesday in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Cuban embassy to pay his condolences, saying China had lost a “close comrade and real friend”, China’s foreign ministry said. Yet few leaders from the world’s major powers are heading to the Caribbean island, with many sending second tier officials instead to pay their respects to a man who built a Communist state on the doorstep of the United States. Russian President Valdimir
Putin has skipped the ceremony to focus on preparing a major speech. However the Kremlin stressed that Putin, who described Castro as a “true friend of Russia,” held a different viewon his legacy to that of Donald Trump. The u.S. president-elect has called the Cuban leader “a brutal dictator.” Raul Castro has undertaken some economic reforms in recent years, but the one-party system remains in place and his government has signalled clearly that the death of
Fidel Castro should not be taken as a sign that the revolution he launched is over. Cubans have been urged to sign condolence books and pledges of loyalty to Castro’s socialist ideology at 1,060 tribute sites throughout the country. “I signed because he was a good man, we loved him a lot, and I wanted to reaffirm my loyalty to him and his ideas,” said Arcide Ge, 56, a security guard. “He was good to everyone, he sent doctors abroad and helped the poor here.”
All schools and government offices will be closed on Tuesday so that Cubans can more easily join the rally and other activities to pay homage to Castro, authorities said. Tens of thousands of people paid tribute in the square on Monday, some in tears and others wrapped in the red, white and blue national flag. Many state employees and school children came together in groups.
Raul Castro, 85, and top government officials held a separate, private ceremony on Monday, laying white flowers in front of Fidel Castro’s portrait and a box containing his ashes. On Wednesday, a procession taking Castro’s ashes will begin a slow journey east to Santiago de Cuba, where he launched the revolution. They will be laid to rest on Sunday, Dec. 4, in the city’s Santa Ifigenia cemetery, also the resting place of independence hero Jose Marti.
Libyan Commander Visits Russia Libyan military commander, Khalifa Haftar, the dominant figure in the divided country’s east, met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday and said he was seeking Moscow’s help in his fight against Islamist militants at home. Haftar, on his second visit to Moscow since the summer, requested military support from the Kremlin in September, according to Russian media. It was unclear on Tuesday if such help would be forthcoming. “Our relations are crucial, our goal today is to give life to these relations,” the TASS news agency quoted Haftar as saying at the start of talks with Lavrov. “We hope we will eliminate terrorism with your help in the nearest future.” Libya splintered into rival political and armed groupings after the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and remains deeply divided between factions based in the east and west that back rival governments and parliaments. Haftar, who is aligned with the eastern parliament and government, has been fighting a two-year military campaign with his Libyan National Army against Islamists and other opponents in Benghazi and elsewhere in the east. Many suspect he seeks national power. Donning a Russian fur hat as he entered the snow-lashed foreign ministry, Haftar told Lavrov he had met Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Monday to tell him about his military needs. Haftar has received public backing from Egypt and the
United Arab Emirates, and France sent special forces to work alongside Haftar’s Libyan National Army earlier this year. Recent military advances by Haftar’s forces have boosted his popularity at home. A U.N. arms embargo in place since 2011 prohibits the transfer of weapons into Libya. Only the country’s U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, which Haftar opposes, can bring in weapons and related materiel with the approval of a U.N. Security Council committee. When asked, the Kremlin did not say whether it might offer Haftar any military support, describing the talks with him as business as usual. “Moscow is in touch with various Libyan representatives and contacts with Haftar take place as part of this process,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday. Haftar’s allies have previously cultivated ties with Russia, which printed banknotes for an eastern breakaway branch of Libya’s central bank. “We spoke in general,” Haftar told reporters after the talks with Lavrov. “We explained our position with regards to arms supplies. As a great country, Russia respects the arms embargo until it indicates it is an unjust verdict.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed the West for pursuing policies that he said led to civil wars in Libya and Syria. Russia launched a military operation to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last year.
OUR FLAG IS PRECIOUS
President-Elect, Donald Trump tweeted that burning United States flag should be a crime
Korea to Launch Rice Processing Centre in Bida, December Says annual trade volume exceeds $4.4bn Alex Enumah in Abuja As part of efforts at contributing its quota to the development of Nigeria’s agriculture and indeed the economic development of the country, the Republic of Korea is set to launch a rice processing centew in Bida to boost rice production in Nigeria. The gesture is among the numerous assistance Korea has been given to Nigeria, through her agency; Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). The Korean Ambassador to Nigeria Mr. Noh Kyu-duk, made the revelation during an interaction with journalists in Abuja, on the celebration of this year’s South Korea’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) day – the day the Republic of Korea transformed itself from an aid-recipient country to a donor country by joining the inter-governmental economic organisation – Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). He disclosed that the Korean Government has provided Nigeria with ODA since 1991,
mostly in the form of project aid in the areas of ICT, agriculture, education and vocational training. “To name a few large scale projects, my Embassy is building primary and junior secondary model school in Abuja and is implementing a project to strengthen the electronicgovernment system for the federal government. “The rice processing complex in Bida is almost completed awaiting official handover in coming December,” he said. The ambassador revealed further that his country will continue to make efforts to provide more grant aid to Nigeria in the years to come, especially to the Northeast region which has suffered by the terrorist insurgency. Speaking on development in Nigeria, Kyu-duk remarked that the most memorable moment for the country was the inauguration of President Buhari after the peaceful elections which resulted in the power transfer between different political parties last year.
He also commended the relentless efforts the administration has made in the fight against terrorism, restoration of transparency in governance and diversification of the economy. “I sincerely believe Nigeria will successfully achieve massive economic growth in the near future on the basis of its unlimited growth potentials. “For the development of a nation, I think the dedication and contribution of the people is the most important factor among everything. “You have the largest population in Africa and your population is young and full of potentials. And they have very resilient, perseverant and peace-loving character. With this very patriotic 170 million people, I believe, this country will become a great and prosperous nation,” the ambassador stated. While stating that there are several Korean big companies working in Nigeria’s key business sectors such as oil and gas, electricity, electronics and
automobiles and they are hiring thousands of Nigerians, he said, “Our annual trade volume exceeded $4.4 billion in 2014, making Nigeria Korea’s 26th biggest import market and the 52nd largest export market”. He disclosed that in the 1950s, Korean government’s budget depended heavily on foreign aid but with great determination the country was able to transform from aid recipient to donor and now wants to help Nigeria and other developing countries achieve similar feat. He said: “With the assistance from the international community, Korea was able to do the restoration works right after the Korean War. Korea wants to return this development assistance to our friends in the developing world. They say “If you want to go fast, you go alone. If you want to go far, you should go together.” “Korea wants to go together with Nigeria as a development cooperation partner in your journey towards national development.