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Alfredo Fernandez: A balance scale in a state of equilibrium is an illusion, because such harmony in a universe where stillness is unknown is doubtful. This is why I believe that justice is nothing other than a mental circumstance that is attained by humanity only on occasion. The words that my writings present here convey what there is of equilibrium within me, along with my more natural state – that of perennial restlessness. My imprudent fingers strike a keyboard anchored here on an island, so that when hitting each key — indistinctly — they leave or make permanent what I love and hate. The truth one might find in my writings is that which is somehow snatched from my fears, although to search for the truth on an island can wind up being as an illusory adventure as balancing a scale. The island I have within me does not know serenity either.

Tiananmen II

October 5, 2012 | | Print Print |

Alfredo Fernandez

Bo Xilai.  Photo:wikipedia.org

HAVANA TIMES — These days the official Cuban press is “delighted,” since it is successfully carrying out one of its usual disinformation actions.

It turns out that one of the biggest scandals in China since “the Tiananmen Square protest” of June 1989 has been in the news for several months, yet from the ineffable Cuban press — just like when Tiananmen happened — not a word.

I found this out by chance through a copy of the Spanish newspaper El Pais that was given to me. It turned out that the wife of Bo Xilai (the secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in the municipality Chongqing), premeditatedly poisoned an English entrepreneur who was living in that city, and with whom the couple apparently had shady business dealings.

If we add to this the fact that Bo Xilai was a favored candidate to obtain a position on that nation’s Politburo (historically composed of nine men), then we have a real political thriller that will have a lot of weight on the decisions in the upcoming Chinese Communist Party congress set to be held this November.

No matter what the truth really is, I feel just like when the events of Tiananmen Square occurred: uninformed. As much as I search, I can’t find any news about it.

To what extent is this dismissal of Bo Xilai benefiting or hurting the Cuban government?

Bo Xilai was known as a neo-Maoist, and it follows then that the Chinese Communist Party had many people interested in him not reaching the Politburo, in that the methods of Chongqing (torture and execution, including of one’s enemies) does not extend to the rest of China.

How much about this murder is simply fiction? How much of this story will change China as it approaches a restructuring of its party? Where are things actually going in China?

Cubans today have once again been left out of a debate that is generating rivers of ink in newspapers around the world. Is misinformation our karma?

In any case, as singer Silvio Rodriguez would say: if anyone knows anything, I beg them for more information.


What's your opinion?

  • Lawrence W

    Alfredo,

    To put in perspective what was reported here about the Bo Xilai affair, corporate media, controlled primarily by a handful of corporate entities that the vast majority of Canadians get their news from, reported the sensational aspects of the story. None of the political significance you are interested in was emphasised or even dealt with.

    More could be learned using the internet but it would not be an easy search. The internet is increasingly getting overwhelmed with corporate media content. I see little difference between what you get with Cuban media, controlled by government agendas, and what I get with Canadian media, controlled by corporate agendas – either to ‘entertain’ for boosting sales or to support elite interests, including government. Independent reporting is mostly missing, appearing occasionally to give the impression of objectivity – not enough to matter.

    The internet, at least for now, is the best way for getting information on subjects that these agendas omit. Yes, it is imperative that Cubans gain easier access to the net for as long as it remains a useful tool for information-gathering. But there will always be ways around what those with agendas prefer not to give you.

    You write that “Cubans today have once again been left out of a debate that is generating rivers of ink in newspapers around the world.” But what is in this ink? El Pais gave you the sensational details. I suspect that is all you got from the paper.

    So don’t feel left out. Misinformation is common to Canadians’ karma as well.

  • john sparre

    it is better not to pull the tiger´s tail especially as china provides a lot of foreign aid amd credit. useful foreign aid without strings attached. the biggest mistake that deng shao ping made was not using water cannons in tienanmen square. as for Bo Xieli, what does neo-maoist mean if anything? it was a road to power but there is a movement in china towards central control again, a command economy, after the disasters of the europeans and americans caused by laissez-faire capitalism. china is at a crossroads with their economy. the top leadership is looking for the best economic plan for the next leap forward. the basic question is more or less control from the top. cuba is moving slowly towards less control from the top.