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By Lázaro Barredo Medina AFTER two days of activity in Venezuela, President Raúl Castro Ruz leaves early in the morning for the airport in Maiquetía, where President Chávez comes to say good-bye. They both look content and jocular as they greet Venezuelan authorities and the Cuban delegation. Each president has a sentence or word of thanks for each individual. It is moving to listen to the young cadets lined up as an honor guard singing the lyrics of the national anthems of Venezuela and Cuba, while an artillery battery fires a 21-gun salute for Raúl as he bids farewell to Caracas. The plane leaves after 9 a.m., and flies for close to five hours before arriving in Salvador de Bahía, Brazil, where the MERCOSUR and Rio Group Summits are to take place, along with the first summit bringing together the heads of state and government of all the Latin American and Caribbean nations. At about 3:30 p.m. Brazil time, the plane lands at Luis Eduardo Magallaes Airport, where Raúl is welcomed by George Monteiro Pratta, chief of Protocol at the Foreign Ministry; Bernardo Pericas, the Brazilian ambassador in Cuba; and, Pedro Núñez Mosquera, Cuba’s ambassador in Brazil. Salvador de Bahía is similar to Cuba in many ways. Located on a peninsula on the Atlantic coast, the city is a Brazilian political, economic and cultural center, located 1,500 kilometers from the capital, Brasilia. It was founded in 1549 and quickly became the largest port, as well as the colony’s first capital and a center of the sugar industry and the African slave trade. Likewise, it was a base for the independence movement of the late 18th-early 19th centuries. Before boarding the car that will take him to the Costa de Sauípe hotel complex 75 km from the city, the venue of the summits, Raúl answers questions from journalists. He says he hopes that it will be a good meeting that leads to more pro-integration intentions. It was the same point raised by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro in this same city 15 years earlier, in 1993, on the occasion of the 3rd Ibero-American Summit. The questions asked reflect expectations that have been created. More than a few Brazilian and foreign media agencies have featured reports and commentaries in recent hours, saying that Raúl is the political attraction of the summit and the most-awaited head of state. About one hour later, he arrives at the hotel and is welcomed by a local woman wearing traditional attire. She wishes him much health and for a few minutes they have a friendly conversation that reflects the similarities between the cultures and customs of Cuba and Salvador de Bahía, based on their African roots. As the Cuban president goes into the hotel, he is accosted by several journalists, including Lucía Newman, a former CNN correspondent in Havana. What most impacts everyone, including the other Cubans present, is the force with which Raúl responds to the reporter on Cuba’s disposition to dialogue with the United States: "We have publicly affirmed that disposition on three occasions," he says, immediately emphasizing that any negotiations must be based on a total absence of carrot-and-stick tactics, equality of conditions and without the slightest shadow cast over Cuba’s sovereignty. "We will not make concessions," he adds solemnly. The Cuban president follows with an emphatic statement: "The times of unilateral gestures are over. Gesture for gesture or nothing. Cuba has not attacked the United States; "it is our people who have suffered aggressions of all kinds." It is an argument that cannot be disputed; his interlocutors fall silent. For a large part of Cuba’s revolutionary history, many U.S. political figures — as an expression of the double standards of their conduct — have constantly placed conditions on or demanded actions by Cuba, in order to discuss the possibility of providing "gauged answers" which, ironically, escalate in terms of demand. TUESDAY 16TH, A MARATHON DAY It begins early in the morning, with President Lula Inácio da Silva welcoming the heads of state who are part of MERCOSUR and others, such as Guyana, Suriname, Mexico and Cuba, attending as guests. Lula greets Raúl pleasantly, looks content in his presence. That is confirmed in his opening speech, when he begins by warmly welcoming him on his first visit to Brazil and particularly to Bahía, which is very like Cuba, he says. All of the delegation heads, members and guests, speak at the session, and everyone’s words, with different nuances and assessments, contain a common idea that is very clear and specific: the need to strengthen ties of regional coordination as an indispensable condition for facing the difficult conjuncture provoked by the international economic system. Raúl is one of the last to speak. His words are well received, and some faces reflect pleasure at his reference to a message of greetings from Fidel and Cuba’s recognition of MERCOSUR’s pro-integration efforts. It is now almost noon, and Lula calls for a recess, which gives way to an extraordinary meeting of UNASUR, and the Cuban president converses with Bharrat Jagdeo, president of Guyana. Argentine President Cristina Fernández comes to greet him and they chat for a few minutes; the same occurs with Panamanian President Martín Torrijos and Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis. As he heads for the exit, he is greeted affectionately by Brazilian ministers and governors attending the event, as well as other social leaders and Latin American officials. Raúl goes to one of the protocol rooms adjoining the main meeting room. There, he converses in a friendly, easy environment with Mexican President Felipe Calderón. Later, he attends a lunch offered by President Lula in honor of his Latin American and Caribbean colleagues, and then poses for the official photo, where he happily talks with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. In the afternoon, the summit of Latin American and Caribbean heads of state begins. It has stirred great expectations, because undoubtedly, the current problems of the world require a large doses of determination and political will to adequately meet the objectives of the event. After opening remarks by President Lula, several heads of state speak, including Raúl. As he expresses Cuba’s opinions and positions encouraging integration and action, we can appreciate not just the attention of the delegates and officials present, but also the nodding of their heads in approval. From then on, his persuasive call for the summit to go beyond words to action is registered, as is his affirmation that it is essential to follow up on agreements reached at the summit, so that it will not remain a meeting for making speeches and appearances. That is important, because as a number of analysts have said, there are conflicting opinions at this meeting, something that could be seen in the speeches of several heads of state. For some, trade should be the dynamic axis of all projects and, for others it should be oriented toward solidarity, cooperation and complementariness before competition, which is the case in the majority of current concepts. In the evening, the meeting recesses to give way to an extraordinary Rio Group Summit, chaired by Mexican President Felipe Calderón, at which Cuba is officially made a member of the group. The meeting was a beautiful and unforgettable day of friendship, illustrated by the speeches of many friends, and the emotional and resounding historic speech that Raúl pronounced will go down in history. It merits more than one reading because of the enormous truths that it contains and because of its sentiment, which all Cuban people share, and the only unfortunate aspect is that Fidel is not present here for this moment. All of us who were here feel very proud, because the vast majority of heads of state came up to congratulate and embrace him, and that is the recognition of the role that our country and our people have won with their efforts, generosity and revolutionary ethics. In the evening, Raúl had a fraternal meeting with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. It was a satisfactory and comforting day, despite the intense work that characterized it. Translated by Granma International (Cubaminrexd- Granma Internacional)
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