Prestigious American political scientist and linguist Noam Chomsky said in Havana that it is easy to fall in love with Cuba. Speaking on a nationwide TV program, Chomsky, a professor at MIT, said that his knowledge of the country had been "second hand." Chomsky took part in last week's 25th Assembly of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO), and said that he had the opportunity to visit several Havana neighborhoods and appreciate the achievements which he called surprising "because I have seen nothing like this anywhere else."

"We visited a community and saw a professor teaching young students the values of good nutrition, something that seems simple but is truly surprising because it takes place at a very difficult moment," he said. "These are extraordinary achievements because no other country has been submitted to such a criminal attack by a superpower for such a long period," he added. Chomsky said he was amazed by the system of community participation carried out in Cuba--mainly in the field of education and health care--but in general "of the capacity of the country to guarantee a decent and respectable life to its citizens." According to Chomsky, all he has seen made him understand what some friends who had visited Cuba and loved it had told him: "It is really easy to fall in love with Cuba." --Thomas W. Warner Secretary Seattle/Cuba Friendship Committee, a Task Force of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, (206) 523-1720 www.seattlecuba.org

In news unfit for the US press, the United Nations General Assembly, on November 4, voted nearly unanimously to condemn the US sanctions and restrictions against Cuba as an act of "Genocide." According to La Jornada, 179 countries voted for the resolution calling on the US to change its Cuba policy, six more than voted for the resolution last year. Three countries, the US, Israel, and the Marshall Islands opposed the measure, while Micronesia and Morocco abstained.

Displaying the great diplomatic sensitivity which is the Bush administration's hallmark, the US delegate to the UN finished his argument against the vote by saying, "The best day in Cuba will be when the Cuban people have finished with the evil and dictatorial communist regime of Castro and tell him, 'Hasta la vista, baby.'" (quote cross translated from Spanish) The Cuban delegate responded, "Never has this assembly heard such disrespectful words... It's the Cuban people, with the support of the international community that say 'Hasta la vista sanctions, hasta la vista genocide.'"

Meanwhile, in the 21st Havana Trade Fair, the Cuban government was expecting to conclude contracts for more than 100 million dollars with foreign companies--the majority of them with US corporations like Cargill.--Troy Skeels

Spain, a valuable partner in the White House's "international coalition," in Iraq, demonstrated its confidence in the progress of the occupation, and undercut efforts by guerrillas to blow up its embassy by announcing on November 4 that it was recalling its diplomatic personnel. In doing so it gained the distinction of being, according to La Jornada, "the first country to abandon" Iraq.

Spanish president Jose Aznar denied that the embassy staff was being "evacuated," but rather that all but the skeleton staff of five necessary to hoist the flag every morning were being "recalled for consultations."

The Foreign Minister, Ana Palacio, however, described the move as a "temporary relocation" to Jordan for "security reasons" in light of the "complicated moment" that Iraq is going through right now. The next day she clarified her comments by describing the move as "only a normal rearrangement," of personnel. President Aznar added later that, "not only is Spain not retreating from Iraq, but to the contrary, we are trying to be more efficient and arrange better conditions to work."

Dismissing any sense of contradiction in his government's varying statements, Aznar explained that "recalling someone for consultations is a 19th Century expression that covers multiple situations and that can be applied in this case. The motive is a normal rearrangement in order to coordinate all the security systems." Meanwhile, Spain's contingent of 300 soldiers will remain in Iraq performing their duties as a key component of the international coalition.--TS