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It had come into being in 1943 as a means of
combating Nazi submarines and protecting
navigation routes during the Second World War.
It was decommissioned in 1950, when it became
superfluous. The South Command was designed to
meet the United States' hegemonic needs in our
region at the time. After 48 years, however, it
has recently been resurrected, and its
interventionist aims need not be proved: U.S.
military chiefs themselves divulge these in
their declarations in a natural, spontaneous, at
times discrete fashion. Overwhelmed by problems
with food prices, energy, unequal trade, the
economic recession which affects the most
important market their products have; inflation,
climate change and the investments required to
satisfy their consumer dreams, they mismanage
the time and energy of leaders and subordinates
alike.
Truth is the decision to reassemble the
Fourth Fleet was announced the first week of
April, almost a month after the Ecuadorian
territory was attacked with U.S. bombs and
technology and when, owing to U.S. pressures
citizens of different countries were killed or
wounded. This was vigorously condemned by Latin
American leaders at the Rio Group meeting held
in the Dominican Republic's capital.
But worst still is that this is taking
place at a time when the dismemberment of
Bolivia encouraged by the United States meets
with nearly unanimous condemnation. U.S.
military chiefs themselves have explained they
will be responsible for over 30 countries and
for covering 15.6 million square miles of
neighboring waters in both Central and South
America, the Caribbean Sea and its 12 islands,
Mexico and the European territories this side of
the Atlantic.
The United States has 10 Nimitz
aircraft carriers whose parameters, more or less
similar, are the following: maximum load
capacity of between 101 and 104 thousand tons;
999-feet-long and 230.4-feet-wide deck; 2
nuclear reactors; maximum speed of 35
miles/hour; capacity for 90 war planes. The last
to be commissioned bears the name of George
H.W. Bush, the current president's father.
It has already been baptized with a bottle of
champagne by the progenitor himself and should
be ready to join the other vessels in coming
months.
No other country in the world can boast
of a vessel like these, equipped with
sophisticated nuclear weapons, able to get
within a few miles of any of our countries. The
next aircraft carrier to be commissioned, the
USS Gerald Ford, will be a new type of
vessel which employs stealth technologies that
cannot be detected by radars and electromagnetic
weapons. The main manufacturer of the two types
of vessels is Northrop Grumman, whose current
president is also a member of the board of
directors of the U.S. oil company
Chevron-Texaco. The last Nimitz cost six
million dollars. This did not include the cost
of the planes, projectiles or operations, which
can reach figures in the billions. It sounds
like a science fiction story. With that money,
the lives of millions of children could have
been saved.
What is the declared objective of the 4th
Fleet? "To combat terrorism and illegal
activities such as drug trafficking", not to
mention sending a message to Venezuela and the
rest of the region. It has been announced that
it will begin operations next July 1st.
Head of the South Command U.S. Navy
Admiral James Stavrides has stated that the
United States needs to work harder in “the
market of ideas, to win over the hearts and
minds” of the people in the region.
The United States has already deployed
the Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh
fleets in the Western Atlantic, Eastern Pacific,
Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Eastern Atlantic
and Western Pacific Oceans. The Fourth Fleet was
needed to patrol all the seas worldwide. The
United States has a total of nine Nimitz
aircraft carriers, active or nearly ready for
combat, such as the George H.W. Bush. It
has sufficient reserves to triple or quadruple
the power of any of its fleets in a given
theater of operations.
The aircraft carriers and nuclear bombs
our countries are threatened with serve to
spread terror and death, but not to combat
terrorism and illegal activities.
They should also serve to fill the
empire's lackeys with shame and strengthen
solidarity among the peoples.
Fidel
Castro Ruz
May 4,
2008
8:46 p.m.
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