Fidel Castro Met with Intellectuals in Havana

The leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro reiterated the need to continue struggling and maintain the population informed, in a meeting with intellectuals of the Network in Defense of Humanity, released by local press on Saturday.

“We have to struggle,” said Fidel Castro in a meeting for over nine hours with several notables from 22 countries invited to the 21st International Book Fair, during which he commented latest world events.

“The least we can do is keeping the population informed,” he said while confirming, by reading latest news, the serious current situation for which they gathered.

He suggested making a book with all ideas and proposals made in the meeting, as he considered that “we cannot let pessimism beat us. It is our duty.”

Granma newspaper and CubaDebate website also post excerpts of reflections made by some participants in the meeting, like Zuleica Romay, Casa de las Americas Prize laureate and president of the Cuban Book Institute (ICL).

Romay recalled the warning raised by Fidel Castro 20 years ago at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, about the endangered humankind, which is worse now.

Spanish writer and journalist Ignacio Ramonet denounced practices by the global media system, with information functioning as rare free merchandise, and people sold to advertisement firms.

He also demanded actions from the intellectuals to prevent global catastrophe and oppose manipulation or silence.

Argentinian writer and journalist Stella Calloni urged to activate the Network in Defense of Humanity, as she lamented the terrifying silence with which the world has been witnessing successive wars, now aiming Syria and Iran.

Meanwhile, Brazilian intellectual Frei Betto urged to value “our social insertion” and generate projects, not only outrage, because it is not enough to address global injustice, he said.

Participants in the meeting with Fidel Castro included Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Sergio Pitol, Carlo Frabetti, Francois Houtart, Atilio Boron, Farruco Sesto, Miguel Bonasso, Carmen Bohorquez, Peter Phillps,Norma Girvan, Chiqui Vicioso, Kendel Hyppolite, Alejandro Carpio, Daniel Ferreira, Lenito Robinson, Barbara Chase, Carlos Roberto Gomez and Cynthia Abrahams.

Also attending were Lasana Sekou, Pedro Antonio Valdes and Johan Roozer, Kari Polanyi Levitt, among several Cuban laureates in Literature, History and Social Sciences, besides scientists of different specialties. (Taken from PL).