Cuba gets new leader as last Castro retires

Yahoo – AFP, Leticia PINEDA, April 19, 2021 

Raul Castro, 89, is stepping down, ending a six-decade family hold on
power that started in 1959

Cuba marked the end of an era Monday with the transfer of power from the Castro clan, in charge for six decades, to the communist country's first-ever civilian leader, Miguel Diaz-Canel. 

As Raul Castro, 89, enters retirement, he handed the all-powerful position of first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba to Diaz-Canel, 60, already Cuba's president since 2018. 

"April 19, an historic day," tweeted the new leader, lauding the all-powerful PCC's "founding and guiding" generation for handing over the reins. 

Diaz-Canel's election at a party congress, though pre-determined, marks a watershed for the country of 11.2 million people, many of whom have known no leader other than a Castro. 

Fidel Castro, still revered as the country's father and savior, led the country from 1959 to 2006, when he fell ill and his brother Raul took over. Fidel Castro died in 2016. 

Diaz-Canel and some other members of the new PCC executive were born after the revolution led by the Castro siblings in the 1950s, leading in 1959 to the overthrow of dictator Fulgencio Batista. 

Cuba is Battling its worst economic crisis in 30 years, sky-high inflation, biting
food shortages, long lines for basic necessities and growing

The PCC congress was held 60 years after Fidel Castro declared Cuba a socialist state, setting up decades of conflict with the United States, which has had sanctions against the country since 1962. 

It also marked six decades since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion by anti-revolutionary Cuban exiles, backed by the CIA. 

'Irrevocable' socialism 

The change at the top is not expected to yield any major policy shifts. 

Diaz-Canel, a suit-and-tie wearing, tech-savvy Beatles fan, remains a staunch party disciple.

And a new constitution passed in May 2019 made it clear that the country's commitment to socialism was "irrevocable." 

In his final address to the party last Friday, Castro affirmed a "willingness to conduct a respectful dialogue and build a new kind of relationship with the United States." 

Miguel Diaz-Canel, a suit-and-tie wearing, tech-savvy Beatles fan, is a
staunch party disciple

But he stressed the country would not renounced "the principles of the revolution and socialism" as he urged the new generation to "zealously protect" the one-party dogma. 

"There are limits that cannot be crossed," warned Castro, who wore a military uniform. 

The leadership change comes as Cuba battles its worst economic crisis in 30 years, sky-high inflation, biting food shortages, long lines for basic necessities and growing disgruntlement over limited freedoms. 

Cuba, one of just five communist countries along with China, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea, faces constant shortages and imports 80 percent of what it consumes for lack of sufficient local production. 

"Since I was born, I have only known one party," said Miguel Gainza, a 58-year-old in Havana. 

"And no one dies of hunger, it's true," he adds. But today, "we are a little stuck, and it's a shame that Fidel is dead because he solved all our problems". 

Ten key dates Cuba's Castros

Internet drives change

The Internet, which arrived on mobile phones the island in 2018, has been an engine of social change, even used to organize protest, previously unheard of in the country. 

Young Cubans, many of whom go overseas each year for lack of opportunities at home, are increasingly venting their frustrations on social media. 

Slamming social networks for "subversion" and what he called fake news, Castro said the platforms spread "a virtual image of Cuba as a dying society with no future, on the point of collapse, giving out under a social explosion."

 The PCC had pledged to tackle the issue of online "political and ideological subversion" at its congress. 

Ties with the United States, after a historic but temporary easing of tensions under president Barack Obama between 2014 and 2016, worsened under Donald Trump, who reinforced sanctions. 

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Friday the United States was not planning any immediate change in its policy toward Cuba. 

"Support for democracy and human rights will be at the core of our efforts," she said.

Cubans use new found social media heft to challenge leaders

Yahoo – AFP, Moises AVILA, March 19, 2019

Cubans like this woman pictured in Havana on March 17, 2019, have seen an
explosion of mobile internet usage (AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

Havana (AFP) - Cubans are using new found social media muscle to challenge their leaders in ways hitherto unseen on the communist-run island.

Using Twitter to snipe at once-untouchable ministers over government failures is catching on in a country whose leadership once demanded, and got, total unity.

"This confluence of people entering the social networks -- with the leaders within reach of their keyboards and being able to tell them what they think -- has changed the dynamics of Cuban society," says Cuban Twitter influencer Camilo Condis.

It's all down to an explosion of mobile internet users since Cuba became one of the last countries in the world to roll out a 3G mobile internet service in December.

It suddenly put the internet within reach of anyone with a mobile phone.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on his election in April that dragging Cuba into the modern online age was a top priority.

Cubans are increasingly using Twitter to snipe at once-untouchable ministers 

over government failures (AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

Analysts say he is now experiencing the other side of the coin -- rolling criticism of his government.

Social media muscle

Cuban citizens first saw the power of social media in January as they picked up the pieces after a powerful tornado devastated large parts of Havana.

Residents mobilized on WhatsApp to help thousands of disaster victims, for once without waiting for the state to react.

"Nobody knew each other before but we contacted each other through the social networks," says 29-year-old Aida Duarte, who coordinated donations of food and material.

"We started to get out there and we created a WhatsApp group to get organized."

The strength and efficiency of the public reaction took the authorities by surprise in a country where the state has sole authority to coordinate labor.

Cuban citizens first saw the power of social media after a powerful tornado devastated 

large parts of Havana in January 2019 (AFP Photo/ADALBERTO ROQUE)

"The social networks put a bit of pressure" on the state, Duarte says.

"I think that this civil society was already there, but it did not have the means to organize and communicate. Now it gets the message out there thanks to mobile internet," says Condis.

Diaz-Canel, 58, became the first Cuban leader to use Twitter when he opened an account in August. He made his embattled Socialist counterpart in Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, and Bolivian ally Evo Morales, his first follows.

The president instructed his government ministers to make themselves more visible on the social networks. They did, but increasingly, Cuba's 11 million people can tweet back, often with a bit of bite to boot.

Cubans' embrace of the internet has led to sharper criticism of the socialist government as many social media users challenge ministers over day to day problems.

Cubans' embrace of the internet has led to sharper criticism of the socialist government 

as many social media users challenge government ministers over day to day problems 

(AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

One user slammed Canel-Diaz for still riding the wave of Fidel Castro's revolution -- talk of 1959 simply won't do in modern Cuba, was his message. Another thanked him for steering the country towards a "prosperous socialism".

Before the roll-out of 3G technology in December -- opening up the online world to the country's 5.3 million smartphone users -- the internet was available to the general public only via wifi hotspots, payable by the hour.

Small-business owner Condis has built a following in Cuba by constantly questioning ministers and authorities on everyday problems facing Cubans.

"I'm pretty critical but I do it with respect and a modicum of common sense," says Condis, who claims several ministers -- including Communications Minister Jorge Luis Perdomo -- have blocked him on Twitter.

A source close to the government acknowledged that ministers still have a lot to learn about communicating on the social networks.

President Miguel Diaz Canel has made dragging Cuba into the modern online 

age a top priority (AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

'The new Cuba'

Cuba has been long accustomed to political unanimity -- more than 97 percent voted for the current constitution in 1976, 99 percent in a later referendum.

However, Cuba's embrace of social media is now shaping a different kind of civil society, one more inclined to express itself.

Last year, new restrictions on the emerging small business sector sparked an outcry on social media, and were later modified.

"Now people have the opportunity to send a tweet to a minister or the president," said political scientist Carlos Alzugaray, "and they've managed to force the government to rectify its policies."

"That's the new Cuba. But it's not counter-revolutionary. The majority of the Cuban population want things to improve," he added.

Internet usage by region, 1990-2016, according to World Bank. (AFP Photo/

Simon MALFATTO)

Cubans are not considering overthrowing the government, Alzugaray says, but are enthusiastically taking the opportunity to speak out if they think the government isn't doing its job.

"There's a civil society there that the government does not recognize as such, but it's there regardless," he told AFP.

"It's a challenge for the Cuban state apparatus which has never been confronted by that."

VIDEO: Restricted internet access doesn't stop young YouTubers in Cuba... even if it means working from outdoor public areas - the only place where they can access Wi-Fi - to passing their content across the island through a USB stick

VIDEO: Restricted internet access doesn't stop young YouTubers in Cuba... even if it means working from outdoor public areas - the only place where they can access Wi-Fi - to passing their content across the island through a USB stick pic.twitter.com/CtStDNkCrf

— AFP news agency (@AFP) March 13, 2018

Cuban town hooked on pirate social network

Yahoo – AFP, Alexandre GROSBOIS, May 9, 2017

The small Cuban town of Gaspar is one of the most connected spots in one
of the least wired countries on Earth (AFP Photo/ADALBERTO ROQUE)

Gaspar (Cuba) (AFP) - On a traffic island in a country town, young Cubans are doing what most of their compatriots cannot: surfing an online social network.

In one of the least wired countries on Earth, Gaspar, population 7,500, is one of the most connected towns of all.

Illegally, but with the grudging tolerance of the authorities, four local techies have launched "Gaspar Social" -- rural Cuba's answer to Facebook.

"I think it's wonderful what these lads here in Gaspar have done. It was a healthy change for a town that had rather lost its spark," says Arletty Guerra, 22, one of the locals thumbing her smartphone.

More than that, Gaspar Social's promoters hope it will lead the rest of the communist island to greater connectivity.

Social networking

Most Cubans must pay a $1.50 an hour to connect via state telecom firm Etecsa's wifi points. Users of Gaspar Social do not.

Though they cannot access the world wide web via Gaspar Social, they can share photos and videos with other users in the town.

The four creators of the Gaspar Social network in Cuba hope that it will lead 

the rest of the communist island to greater connectivity (AFP Photo/

ADALBERTO ROQUE)

It opened to the general public in October -- two months before Etecsa installed the town's first official wifi hotspot.

"In the beginning it was a network just for playing video games," says one of its creators, municipal computer technician Osmani Montero, 23.

"Then we opened it to all the people in Gaspar and the number of users grew hugely in just a month."

Extra capacity

Yoandi Alvarez, 30, a medical student, raised money to buy the first aerial and server for the network.

"The antenna was near my house," he recalls. "There were users at two or three o'clock in the morning sitting in the doorway to get online, covered in quilts and blankets."

Some 500 of the town's 7,500 inhabitants have started using Gaspar Social.

The team had to buy four extra relay antennas to handle the large number of users.

To the chat and file-sharing functions it has added a news page -- with state-authorized stories only.

Cuba's Gaspar Social started as a network for playing video games and has 

developed into a local version of Facebook (AFP Photo/ADALBERTO ROQUE)

Not-so-wide web

Cuba's government has been gradually opening up the economy over the past decade. It has said it aims to provide internet access to all Cubans by 2020.

But the online revolution has been slow in coming.

In a country of 11 million people, there are just 317 public wifi hotspots.

Only selected groups such as scientists, journalists and doctors are allowed to have internet access in their homes.

Small-scale local projects like Gaspar's "offer an alternative given Cuba's infrastructure problems," which prevent many homes from getting online, says Yudivian Almeida, a computing specialist at Havana University.

If just one home has an internet cable, using wireless technology "a whole network can be generated" for neighboring homes to get online, he says.

Got a permit?

Gaspar Social is one of about 30 local networks launched by young amateurs in Cuba in recent years.

In a small Cuban town some 500 people from a population of 7,500 use 

"Gaspar Social," an illegal but tolerated answer to Facebook (AFP Photo/

ADALBERTO ROQUE)

They are unlicensed but the communist authorities tolerate them as long as they do not venture into politics or pornography.

Gaspar Social's founders were called in last month after the network's success came to the attention of the ruling Communist Party.

They thought they were going to get shut down -- but the officials gave them instructions on applying for a permit, raising hopes that the state may authorize projects like theirs.

"They made it clear our network was illegal," Alvarez says. "But they said they wouldn't be taking our antennas down."

Venezuela to remove the 100-bolivar note from circulation

The 100-bolivar bank note will be removed from circulation in Venezuela on Wednesday. The Venezuelan government promised six much larger notes in coming days.

Deutsche Welle, 12 December 2016

Stuck in an economic crisis and facing rampant inflation, the Venezuelan government announced Sunday it would pull its largest bill from circulation on Wednesday.

The 100-bolivar note, which is worth approximately two cents, will be replaced by much larger bank notes. Venezuelans will have 10 days after the 100-bolivar bill is removed from circulation to exchange the notes at the central bank. In the wake of the 100-bolivar note's demise, six bank notes worth between 500 and 20,000 bolivars will be made available, and three new coins. One US dollar can buy up to 4,400 bolivars on the black market.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the move was necessary as international mafias kept the notes in Colombian and Brazilian cities. Maduro demanded "all land, air and sea possibilities closed immediately so that they do not return those notes that were taken," on his television show "Contact with Maduro."

Critics were quick to denounce the decision, saying Maduro should fight against the use of contraband bills on the Colombia-Venezuela border, and that there was no realistic way for Venezuelans to exchange 100-bolivar bills currently in circulation within the allotted time. Data from the central bank showed there were more than six billion 100-bolivar notes in circulation in November, which is about 48 percent of all bills and coins in use.

"When ineptitude governs! Who would possibly think of doing something like this in December amid all our problems?" said two-time opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles on Twitter.

Cuando la ineptitud gobierna!A quién se le ocurre hacer algo así en Dic y con las dificultades que hay?Maduro y su cúpula! https://t.co/oaNqDMwlD9

— Henrique Capriles R. (@hcapriles) December 11, 2016

Unprecedented inflation

No official data exists for inflation in Venezuela in 2016, but economic consultants Ecoanalitica estimates annual inflation in 2016 is more than 500 percent. The Venezuelan currency has fallen 55 percent against the US dollar on the black market in November.

Paying for simple items in the oil-rich company - often after waiting in lines that can last for hours - requires a large sack of bills in order to pay for whatever may be needed. But getting cash has proven difficult in recent months and credit card machines have suffered many problems, forcing many businesses to ask customers to pay by bank transfer.

kbd/kl (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Related Article:

India pulls 500, 1,000 rupee notes to fight graft

Mexican army makes rare apology over woman's torture

Yahoo – AFP, April 16, 2016

Mexican Defense Secretary Salvador Cienfuegos reads out a public apology before
 26,000 soldiers assembled at a military base in Mexico City on April 16, 2016
(AFP Photo/Ronaldo Schemidt)

Mexico City (AFP) - The Mexican army made a rare public apology on Saturday over a scandal in which two soldiers and a policewoman tortured a terrified woman in a video that went viral.

It is just the latest allegation of abuse committed by security forces in Mexico, who are often accused of violent acts against civilians, including murder.

General Salvador Cienfuegos, the defense minister, read out the apology before 26,000 soldiers assembled at a military base in Mexico City.

"In the name of all of us who make up this great national institution, I offer my heartfelt apology to all in society wronged by this impermissible event," Cienfuegos said.

In the video, which went viral on social media this week, a barefoot woman is seen crying and screaming on the floor as a female soldier puts the muzzle of an assault rifle to her head.

A federal policewoman is then seen handcuffing the woman and proceeding to tightly wrap a plastic bag around her head while one of the officials demands threateningly: "Are you going to talk?"

This screengrab of a video posted on several youtube sites on April 14, 2016 shows 

two soldiers standing over a woman with her head covered in an unknown location in 

Mexico. The two Mexican soldiers face military charges after this video surfaced of

 them helping a federal police officer torture a female suspect. It's unclear if the police

 officer faces charges. Mexico's Defense Department says the events occurred 

Feb. 4, 2015 in a small mountain town in southern Guerrero state. (via AP)

The incident is reported to have taken place in February 2015 in the town of Ajuchitlan del Progreso, in the southern state of Guerrero.

The defense ministry says it only learned of the video in December.

The male army captain and the female soldier seen in the video were arrested in January and charged with disobeying orders.

Mexican authorities are investigating a policewoman to determine if she was the one in the footage.

"It's necessary to publicly express our outrage over the regrettable events that occurred nearly 14 months ago," Cienfuegos said.

"Bad members of our institution besmirch the honorable behavior of thousands of women and men in military uniform."

"Although isolated, (such incidents) damage in a major way our image and the prestige we have worthily earned." he added.

Messi sends autographed jerseys to his little Afghan fan

Yahoo – AFP, 25 February 2016

Afghan boy Murtaza Ahmadi proudly wears one of the jerseys sent by his idol

Lionel Messi (AFP Photo/Mahdy Mehraeen)

Kabul (AFP) - Argentine football star Lionel Messi has sent not one, but two jerseys to the five-year-old Afghan boy who became an Internet sensation last month when he was pictured wearing a plastic bag with "Messi" scrawled on it in marker pen.

Murtaza Ahmadi travelled with his family from eastern Ghazni province to Kabul to receive the gifts sent by Messi through UNICEF, where he is a goodwill ambassador.

Afghan boy Murtaza Ahmadi is

hoping to meet his idol Lionel

Messi (AFP Photo/Shah Marai)

"Murtaza couldn't stop smiling. He kept repeating: I love Messi," UNICEF Afghanistan spokesman Denise Shepherd-Johnson told AFP.

Messi autographed the jerseys, writing "With much love" in Spanish on them, and added a football to the treasure trove, UNICEF said.

Purchasing a Messi jersey was beyond the means of Murtaza's poor family, members of the persecuted ethnic Hazara minority living in volatile Ghazni, near Kabul.

His elder brother Homayoun, 15, improvised the blue-and-white-striped plastic shirt with Messi's name scrawled in black marker, and posted the photos of Murtaza wearing it on Facebook in mid-January.

The image touched a chord with football fans around the world, and earned Murtaza the sobriquet "little Messi" on social media.

The Afghan Football Federation had said Messi was in contact with them to arrange a meeting with Murtaza as soon as possible, with the Spanish embassy in Kabul telling AFP it would do whatever possible to facilitate.

Afghan boy Murtaza Ahmadi earned the nickname "little Messi" 

after pictures went viral of him wearing an improvised shirt made out

of a plastic bag (AFP Photo)

But a source close to Messi's entourage said earlier this month they could neither confirm nor deny the speculation regarding a possible meeting.

Setting up a meeting in Afghanistan, in the grip of a fierce Taliban insurgency, is fraught with security challenges.

Football and cricket are the two most popular sports in the war-ravaged country -- but sports were rarely played under Taliban rule, and the football stadium in Kabul was a notorious venue for executions, stonings and mutilations.

Chile president meets 14-year-old girl asking for permission to die

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has met with 14-year-old Valentina Maureira who has pleaded to let doctors euthanize her. The teenager was suffering from cystic fibrosis.

Deutsche Welle, 1 March 2015

Chilean president Michelle Bachelet visiting Valentina Maureira, a 14-year girl who
suffers cystic fibrosis and asked the Government for permission to die through a
YouTube video

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet went to a hospital on Saturday to visit 14-year-old Valentina Maureira who became a national sensation after she asked to be euthanized by her doctors.

The teenager, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, released a recorded plea on Youtube earlier this week, which went viral. The Chile government denied her the request soon after the video was released.

A visit from the president

The government tweeted about Bachelet's visit and her hour-long conversation with Valentina and her father at the Catholic University hospital in the capital, Santiago.

Valentina came to public attention on Thursday when she posted a video on Youtube, begging the president to allow doctors to take her life.

"I urgently request to speak to the president because I am tired of living with this illness…She can authorize an injection to put me to sleep forever," the teenager said in her video, which went viral on social media sites.

Pdta. Bachelet visitó a Valentina Maureira durante esta mañana. Fue acompañada por la Min. de Salud, Carmen Castillo pic.twitter.com/F59pWrINP0
— Gobierno de Chile (@GobiernodeChile) February 28, 2015

Valentina suffers from cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that attacks the lungs and vital organs, making it difficult to breathe and causing recurrent infections. The 14-year-old said she was tired of lack of options for treatment and her low quality of life.

Government refuses plea

Valentina's video triggered a debate on legalizing euthanasia in Chile and although the government expressed sympathy with her plight, officials refused to give in to her request.

"It is impossible to not be overcome by emotion with the girl's request," presidential spokesman Alvaro Elizade said, but he said it was "impossible to grant her wish."

Valentina's father said he was very sad after he heard of his daughter's wish to die, but he understood she was going through a tough time.

"It's very tough. I don't want to be going through this, but I have to respect my daughter's decision. She wants to be at rest," Fredy Maureira said.

mg/bk (AP, AFP)

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"Current" Events –  Apr 10, 2005 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"... The Ethics of Life

You, as a Human Being, are designed to appreciate and love life. But you put it in a box. You think you live once. You say, life is precious; make it count; keep it going at all costs; make it work. And the underlying thought is that because you only go around one time, all the purpose is wrapped up in one lifetime. Well, I'm going to give you something to think about, something that happened just recently that tens of millions of people all over earth who have the western news media know of.

It was all about one woman's life, and you know who I'm talking about. I'm talking about Terri [Terri Schiavo]. And I'm going to talk about Terri because, you know, she's here [speaking of the real Terri]! And I'm going to give you a perspective about Terri that perhaps you hadn't thought about before, and as I do it, she's going to watch.

It's very metaphysical, you know? This perspective is one from my side of the veil. Terri leaned into the wind of birth many years ago, just as you did. I was there, too. There were potentials laying in front of her - a track that she could take if she wished. There was no predestination, only predispositions of energy that laid before her: the parents she would have (which she had selected), the man she might meet or marry, the accident waiting to happen. All of these things were in her "potential track," and she could have chosen not to go there.

But like so many of you, she looked at it and examined it. These were the times we spoke to her and said, "Dear one, you're going into another Human lifetime that has a potential that's awesome - grander than most Humans on the planet will ever experience. You'll get to present something to tens of millions of people. You'll make them think about life. You'll change the legal system of your country. You'll awaken peoples' awareness to situations that need to be addressed with respect to morality, integrity, and even intuition. Will you do it?"

And I remember what she said. The grand angel who stood before me, who you now call Terri, smiled broadly and said, "I'm ready for that." And some of you cry in your sorrow and say "Why is this Human dead? How could such a thing be tolerated? Why would such a thing happen? Life is so precious." And I ask you this, as Terri looks on in her joy, would you take this away from her? Would you take that away from humanity, what she showed and did that resulted directly in her passing?

Start thinking of these things, perhaps differently. We've told you before that there are even those Human Beings who come in with a predisposition of suicide! What a horrible thought, you might say. "Kryon, could that even be appropriate?" And we say this: More than appropriate, it's by design! "But why should that be?" You might say. "What a horrible dishonorable death." And if that's your reaction, you're placing the whole grand picture in your own little Human box.

When you start examining it spiritually, without Human bias, you start to see that around a suicide there's this energy that develops. It's all about the family. Is there shame? Is there drama? Does it kick the family in the pants so that perhaps they might study things they never did - or perhaps they might they even look within themselves for spirituality? Blessed is the one that comes in with these tasks [like suicide]. There are so many of them who do. For these are the grease of personal change within families, and provide a gift that is grand!

You see, Spirit looks at these things differently. The curtain goes up, it goes down. You come and you go and there are profound lessons, some of which are taught harshly, by those who teach them through their own deaths.

"Well, what is it Kryon? Don't dodge the question with a diversion to suicide, for this isn't what Terri did. Is it proper or is it improper to have somebody in this vegetative state put to death by others around her?" Our answer: Exactly which Human are you talking about? You want a blanket answer, don't you? For six and half billion souls and paths, you want one answer for all. Well, you won't get one. For Terri, the answer is a solid yes. It was as it should have been. She came in with this grand opportunity to change the world, and she did it while everyone watched.

There is appropriateness in all things and sometimes you create for yourselves what seems to be inappropriate. Yet later you understand what the gift was within the challenge. Celebrate Terri, and don't think of this as a shameful thing that Humans did to her. Think of it instead as a book that was written for you to look at, one which pushes you to a place to ask, "What should we do about this now, personally? What should our legislatures do about this, if anything? How can we approach these things more humanely and with more honor? Is our culture addressing this issue? Are we addressing this issue personally?" Let's put these questions where they belong. It's not about "right to life"; it's about the appropriateness of "this life." Each case is individual, and some are profoundly given for the planet and for those around the individual.

Oh, as all of you came into this planet and leaned into the wind of birth separately, each was unique. Each of you has a different story, a different goal, but all have the same purpose: the elevation of the vibration of the planet. Sometimes it happens to many of you at the same time. We'll get to that before we finish. ..."

"THE THREE WINDS" – Feb 23-24, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Humanity, Home - other side of the veil, Wind of Birth - Birth, Wind of Existence - Life, Wind of Transition - Death) - (Text version)

Oscar winner Inarritu presses for change in native Mexico

Yahoo – AFP, February 24, 2015

Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, winner for the Best Picture award for
"Birdman" poses in the press room during the 87th Oscars on February 22,
2015, in Hollywood, California (AFP Photo/Frederic J. Brown)

Mexico City (AFP) - Film director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, fresh from his Oscars triumph for "Birdman," spoke out again Tuesday against corruption and impunity in his native Mexico, saying they had reached "intolerable levels."

Public reaction here has been intense since Inarritu accepted the Oscar for best picture on Sunday with an anguished plea that Mexicans "find and build the government that we deserve."

It was widely interpreted as a knock against President Enrique Pena Nieto, who quickly responded with a defense of his government's efforts to help individuals find a path to success.

"The government that we deserve" is a trending topic on Twitter in Mexico, and a forum for criticism of Pena Nieto's government.

Inarritu didn't let up Tuesday, expanding on his Oscars remarks in an interview with MVS Radio.

"I think the level of dissatisfaction, of injustice, of corruption, of impunity have reached intolerable levels," he said.

"I don't know what the solution is. I wouldn't dare to say because I am not a political expert. But I do have desires and feel that all Mexicans feel the same despair over the distressing situation we're living through now," he said.

Mexico is still reeling from the disappearance and presumed massacre of 43 students from a teacher's college in the southern state of Guerrero last September, a case blamed on corrupt police and drug traffickers but still unresolved.

"We all agree on the things that must change once and for all," said Inarritu, adding that Mexicans should fight together for "a life that is more worthy (...) more secure, with more guarantees and with more rights."

Besides the best picture award for "Birdman", Inarritu himself also took home Oscars for best director and best screenplay. The film also won the Oscar for best cinematography, which went to fellow Mexican Emmanuel Lubezki.