FAO Director Sends Congratulation Letter to Fidel Castro (eradicating hunger)

[Catherina]

FAO Director Sends Congratulation Letter to Fidel Castro



Havana, May 6 (Prensa Latina) FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva congratulated the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, because the country complies with the goals to eradicate hunger, national television reported.
The message sent by the director of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) states that Cuba complied in advance with the goal of halving the number of undernourished people in each country, adopted by 2015 during the World Food Summit in 1996.

...

On the other hand, Da Silva announced that the upcoming FAO Conference, which will take place in June in Rome, will set as a number one goal that of eradicating hunger totally.

He said that Cuba and other 15 countries will be recognized in that meeting for having complied in advance the 1996 goal.

Among the other nations are Chile, Guyana, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, for Latin America and the Caribbean.

http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1382631&Itemid=1

Here is the letter:

Dear Commander:

I have the honor to address you in my capacity as Director-General of the United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture (FAO), to sincerely congratulate you and all the Cuban people for having fulfilled the goal set in advance by the World Food Summit, held in Rome in November 1996, and that he proposed to halve the number of undernourished people in each country by the year 2015.

As you may recall, you honored us with his presence in that Summit and delivered a brief but powerful speech, which still lingers in the collective memory of our Organization. You concluded by saying: "the bells that toll today for those who die of hunger every day, will toll tomorrow for humanity if it refused, failed or could not be wise enough to save them." And they say that you said in the press conference that followed the Summit that even if the target were achieved we would not know what to say to the other half of humanity if it would not be freed from the scourge of hunger. They are concepts that until today still retain its meaning and value.

It's been 17 years since then and now I have the great pleasure to inform you that the decision of its members and for the first time in its history, the FAO Conference, to be held next June in Rome, take the total eradication hunger as the number one goal of our Organization.

At that time, we will pay a tribute to Cuba and 15 other countries that have been most successful in reducing hunger. To all of them we will give a certificate of recognition for having met the target of the Summit in advance. The countries that accompany Cuba are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Chile, Fiji, Georgia, Ghana, Guyana, Nicaragua, Peru, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Thailand, Uruguay, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Besides reiterating my congratulations on the significant success achieved by your country, I wish you well-being and success for you and all the Cuban people.

Yours with great esteem and appreciation,


José Graziano da Silva

http://www.cadenagramonte.cu/english/index.php/show/articles/14250:fao-sends-congratulatory-letter-to-fidel-castro

[Judi Lynn]

1. This is a very big deal! Tremendous. Look how far the people have really come since 1959. n/t

[dipsydoodle]

2. Dear Commander.........

[idwiyo]

4. They should have left it as Comandante instead of translating it to English :) Often too much is

either lost in translation or unintentionally misrepresented by unskilful translation.

[dipsydoodle]

6. Agreed

I'd missed that.

[idwiyo]

3. K&R that's damn good news! Cuba managed to do that DESPITE US imposed sanctions!

Congrats to Cubans and to Fidel Castro!

[Judi Lynn]

5. Great point by Idiwo, Cuba did this even though the target of the longest embargo in history.

The US economic war on Cuba has been horrendous, yet Cuba has made incredible gains by the people, in spite of it all.

By the way, that's a great more recent photo of El Comandante. He surely looks a lot stronger, more focused after his recuperation from surgeries.

[idwiyo]

7. I remember someone on DU making a comment how it must be horrible to live under a regime

where lots of everyday things Americans take for granted are not available. That person, and gawd only knows how many others, definitely were not capable of even remotely processing information they were getting freely from American press. As I understood their post, they were honestly thinking that shortages of basic stuff in Cuba were due to Cuban government oppression and mistreatment of Cuban people.



How much brain does one need to understand the consequences of relentless economic war against a tiny ISLAND BOUND nation with not enough land or natural resources to insure they can do it on their own?

This is why I will be always in awe when it comes to Cuba and Cubans. It's unbelievable what they managed to overcome and achieve despite all the odds being stuck against them!

[Judi Lynn]

8. That's right!I've seen it for ages, too!They think they can convince others who don't know

any better that Fidel Castro conducted the Revolution by himself and has been keeping all Cubans as his own personal slaves and prisoners since 1959.

They haven't lifted their pudgy Cheetos-stained fingers long enough to crack open any books, or do any research, and have only what the corporate media has told them to believe about Cuba, and don't have the brain power to ever question if they should try to learn more about it.

All islands which have been populated with large groups from outside, all have to depend upon imported food, clothing, equipment, etc., and it always costs a lot more than on the mainland.

Due to the embargo, Cuba has had to import most of Cuba's material goods from great distances, incurring fiendish costs simply due to extreme transportation costs. There are a lot of things almost impossible for them to find, and buy due to the narrowness of choices, since the U.S. also has control over what countries, and what companies there are allowed to trade with Cuba, due to the internationally illegal power of the Helms-Burton Act.

Other countries reacted as soon as it was enacted, pointing out Helms-Burton is illegal in international law, but apparently most countries don't want to make enemies with the U.S. over the embargo, so they are being quietly blackmailed into cooperation with the U.S.

Every time I hear yet another one of these clowns trying shriek about the shortages in Cuba I can only wonder if they realize how sleazy they sound, trying to keep the Cold War going. Jerks!