Fidel Speaks: The Obscene English Submarine
by Fidel Castro
âWith such an amount of money, 75 thousand doctors could
be trained to care for 150 million people.â
This article originally appeared in Granma.
The press dispatches bring the news; it belongs to the Astute Class, the first of its kind to be constructed
in Great Britain in more than two decades.
"A nuclear reactor will allow it to navigate without refuelling during its 25 year of service. Since it
makes its own oxigen and drinking water, it can
circumnavigate the globe without needing to surface," was the statement to the BBC by Nigel Ward, head of the shipyards.
"It's a mean looking beast," says another.
"Looming above us is a construction shed 12 storeys high. Within it are 3 nuclear-powered submarines at
different stages of construction," assures yet another.
Someone says that "it can observe the movements of
cruisers in New York Harbor right from the English
Channel, drawing close to the coast without being
detected and listen to conversations on cell phones." In addition, it can transport special troops in mini-
subs that, at the same time, will be able to fire
lethal Tomahawk missiles for distances of 1,400 miles,"
a fourth person declares.
El Mercurio, the Chilean newspaper, emphatically spreads the news.
The UK Royal Navy declares that it will be one of the most advanced in the world. The first of them will be
launched on June 8 and will go into service in January
of 2009.
It can transport up to 38 Tomahawk cruise missiles and Spearfish torpedoes, capable of destroying a large
warship. It will possess a permanent crew of 98 sailors
who will even be able to watch movies on giant plasma screens.
âThe submarines can transport up to 38
Tomahawk cruise missiles and Spearfish torpedoes.â
The new Astute will carry the latest generation of Block 4 Tomahawk torpedoes which can be reprogrammed in
flight. It will be the first one not having a system of conventional periscopes and, instead, will be using
fiber optics, infrared waves and thermal imaging.
"BAE Systems, the armaments manufacturer, will build
two other submarines of the same class," AP reported.
The total cost of the three submarines, according to calculations that will certainly be below the mark, is
7.5 billion dollars.
What a feat for the British! The intelligent and tenacious people of that nation will surely not feel
any sense of pride. What is most amazing is that with
such an amount of money, 75 thousand doctors could be trained to care for 150 million people, assuming that
the cost of training a doctor would be one-third of
what it costs in the United States. You could build 3 thousand polyclinics, outfitted with sophisticated
equipment, ten times what our country possesses.
Cuba is currently training thousands of young people
from other countries as medical doctors.
In any remote African village, a Cuban doctor can impart medical knowledge to any youth from the village
or from the surrounding municipality who has the
equivalent of a grade twelve education, using videos and computers energized by a small solar panel; the
youth does not even have to leave his hometown, nor
does he need to be contaminated with the consumer habits of a large city.
âCuba has more Comprehensive General Medicine
specialists than all the doctors in sub-Saharan Africa
where the population exceeds 700 million people.â
The important thing is the patients who are suffering from malaria or any other of the typical and
unmistakable diseases that the student will be seeing
together with the doctor.
The method has been tested with surprising results. The knowledge and practical experience accumulated for
years have no possible comparison.
The non-lucrative practice of medicine is capable of
winning over all noble hearts.
Since the beginning of the Revolution, Cuba has been engaged in training doctors, teachers and other
professionals; with a population of less than 12
million inhabitants, today we have more Comprehensive General Medicine specialists than all the doctors in
sub-Saharan Africa where the population exceeds 700
million people.
We must bow our heads in awe after reading the news about the English submarine. It teaches us, among other
things, about the sophisticated weapons that are needed States imperial system.
We cannot forget that for centuries, and until recently, England was called the Queen of the Seas.
Today, what remains of that privileged position is
merely a fraction of the hegemonic power of her ally and leader, the United States.
Churchill said: Sink the Bismarck! Today Blair says:
Sink whatever remains of Great Britain's prestige!
For that purpose, or for the holocaust of the species, is what his "marvelous submarine" will be good for.
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