Voice of the Waterlily- Our Stories

With the ongoing genocide in Gaza, I often think about Che Guevara. What would he be saying? today we answer that question. We will be examine the lessons about imperialism we can learn from Che Guevara's 1964 UN speech. Peaceful coexistence, the crisis of the Congo, Vietnam, nuclear weapons and much more is discussed.

We are often told that Cuba is an authoritarian, repressive dictatorship. But did anyone ever take a second to ask who really made Cuba a dictatorship?  Some will immediately say “Fidel Castro made Cuba a dictatorship”. Let us consider for a moment that Cuba actually I ts a dictatorship. Now let us ask ourselves WHO made it a dictatorship. Was it Fidel? Was it Batista? Was it the United States interventions and interference? The bay of pigs invasion? The 600 assassination attempts against Fidel? Was it the threat of military invasion? Was it the constant attempts by the CIA to overthrow the government? Was it the world’s lack of solidarity with the Cuban people? Was it the blockade? Was it the murder of Revolutionary heroes and Cuban citizens? Was it terrorist attacks from the US against the Cuban people? The designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism?

Llego

Romping

Ok, this may sound silly. This is something you don’t know about me, but I love Narnia, C.S. Lewis’ “the chronicles of Narnia”, while I will be the first to say there is some problematic language in some of the books, I love those books. The really do communicate something very deep, something bigger than a story of children stumbling into another world. I saw a quote earlier from Mahmoud Darwish that said “if the olive trees knew the hands that planted them their oil would become tears”. I thought about that…amidst so much human suffering, nature also suffers, all parts of nature. And then this passage from “the Last Battle”, the last book in the series came into my mind, so much so I actually got up and ran to find the book and when I opened the book, I came exactly to the page I was looking for. That’s when I knew I needed talk about this! This is going to be a show of a lot of unexpected connections!

cover image: The Last Battle (full-color collectors edition) by C.S Lewis

A lot has happened this week. As usual I update you on everything happening in Gaza before we get into this show about Uruguayan Nueva Canción artist, Daniel Viglietti.

link to playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1KSkDenNDXFKwzuyB5Wi53?si=e6bab2ff62e44d6c

[Español abajo]

Journalist Mansour Shouman is missing since Sunday.

POST on social media about this.

WRITE to the Canadian government (he is a Canadian citizen) and demand they look into this)

CONTACT publications and media networks to demand they cover this story.

Keep him in your prayers, affirmations and thoughts.

https://www.instagram.com/mansourshouman7/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet (note. his team continues to post on this account, Mansour himself is not posting)

(En Español)

El periodista Mansour Shouman está desaparecido desde el domingo. 
PUBLICA en las redes sociales sobre esto. 
ESCRIBE al gobierno canadiense (él es un ciudadano canadiense) y exige que lo investiguen) 
CONTACTA publicaciones y redes de medios para exigir que cubran esta historia. 
MANTENERLO en sus oraciones, afirmaciones y pensamientos.

Today’s show is a message for and a tribute to the survivors, the dead and us, we the people, humanity! It’s also a message for the politicians, the criminals committing these atrocities.  

Songs:

Somos Cinco Mil - Ángel and Isabel Parra

Estadio Chile - Pete Seeger

Preguntas por Puerto Montt - Víctor Jara

Luchin - Víctor Jara

Aunque Los Pasos Toquen - Illapu

Tres Versos Para Una Historia - Illapu

El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido - Inti Illimani

La Era Esta Pariendo un Corazón - Silvio Rodriguez

El Derecho de Vivir en Paz - Rodrigo Gallardo

Join me today as I continue a series debunking myths and malicious propaganda that seeks to defame the legacy of revolutionary hero, Che Guevara. In this age where fake news can disseminate at lightning speed, and there is a war against education, knowing the truth of our history is essential.

The most often repeated claims about Che Guevara are certainly along the lines of, “he was a mass murderer”, “he killed for sport”, “he was known as el Carnicero of la Cabaña (the Butcher of the Cabaña)”, “a sadistic torturer” among many, many others. Wherever you look, by simply searching his name, mentioning the 4 syllables of his name or invoking his universally recognized image, you will find no scarcity of articles, books, interviews, documentaries, and social media posts announcing that all of this is true, based on the experiences of real Cuban exiles (or their family members in Cuba), and if anyone disagrees they are characterized as insane, uplifting a murderer, how that PragerU video about Che put it; “into sadistic thug worship”, or simply a commie, 17-year-old-socialist or a stupid college kid. The many claims can become overwhelming. Then there’s people on the other side, the left with often the best of intentions, defending Che from all of this. Unfortunately these arguments can be riddled with fallacies, and sometimes entirely miss the point. The response “but it was a revolution, people die” is not an acceptable response to the claims that Guevara was a murderer. So today, we ask where the truth is in all of this. 

A look at the artists keeping the work and memory of Víctor Jara alive today and always. From those who knew and loved him to those born after his death, all share a deep love for him and commitment to keeping his legacy alive!

Songs:

Canción a Víctor - Inti-Illimani

Manifiesto - Quilapayún

Preguntas por Puerto Montt - Los Olimareños 

No Puedes Volver Atras - Patricio Manns 

Cuando Voy al Trabajo - Mercedes Sosa

Luchin - Roberto Bravo 

Plegaria a un Labrador - León Greco

Te Recuerdo Amanda - Nano Stern

Poema 15 - Francesca Ancarola

A Luis Emilio Recabarren - Inti-Illimani

Angelita Huenuman - Silvia Baducci, Osvaldo Torres, Patricio Castillo 

Manifiesto - Víctor Heredia 

Canción para Víctor Jara - Quilapayún 

El Arado - Manuel Garcia, Guillamino

El Derecho de Vivir en Paz - Banda Conmoción, Roberto Marquez 

La Partida - Illapu

Canto Libre - Isabel Parra 

Vientos del Pueblo - Ángel Parra 

Vamos por Ancho Camino - Los Jaivas

Canción de Muerte y Esperanza por Víctor Jara - Osvaldo Rodriguez 

El Derecho de Vivir en Paz (live) - Quilapayún, Inti-Illimani 

There is so much to talk about this week: an update to the Víctor Jara case, the genocide In Gaza continues and war criminal Henry Kissinger is finally dead!

We'll be taking a closer look at Kissinger's role in genocides around the world, the death, pain and suffering of millions and how his foreign policy continues to cause suffering today.

Songs:

El Derecho de Vivir en Paz - Víctor Jara

Knee Deep in the Big Muddy - Pete Seeger

Sobreviviendo - Víctor Heredia

Allende Presidente - Ángel Parra

Tres Versos Para Una Historia (live) - Illapu

El Derecho de Vivir en Paz - Musicx de Chile (et. al).

Illapu has a song called Sobreviviendo, it's an anti-war song and it has a line that says "no puedo olvidarme de Hiroshima" and recently they changed that line to "no puedo olvidarme de Palestina". Illapu has always remained consistent in the content and quality of their music. Over the past 52 years, Illapu has documented the horrors of dictatorship, the desaparecidos, they have sung for memory, or simply a better future, Illapu is a voice of the people and they are true revolutionary artists.

Aunque los pasos toquen video: https://youtu.be/5mpgFbC1j5Y?feature=shared

Tres versos en una historia video: https://youtu.be/N71GFUoavWE?feature=shared

link to playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Jltxf3vMtcX0Zuo9FYYka?si=9e11d18ad2554154