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Desagua douro de pensa mentos.
Dias atrás, o secretário de Defesa dos
Estados Unidos, Pete Hegseth, mostrou-se satisfeito por ser inquirido sobre
Cuba. Era, finalmente, uma ocasião de ostentar musculatura fácil, mudar o foco
da desconcertante humilhação que vem sofrendo há seis meses com a exasperante guerra
sem heróis contra o Irã.
— Todas as opções estão na mesa, o que inclui
opções militares, e seria sensato por parte de Cuba prestar atenção às
declarações do presidente Trump sobre as prerrogativas estratégicas dos
americanos — respondeu. — Com certeza [Cuba] não é páreo para os Estados
Unidos... Estou animado com as muitas opções que temos.
Vestia uma camiseta verde-oliva que deixava à
mostra o “We the People” da Constituição tatuado em letras garrafais no
antebraço direito.
Imagem, para Hegseth, é crucial. Apesar de estar
no comando do Pentágono e rebatizá-lo de Departamento de Guerra, ele conta com
pouco mais do que sua estampa para sobreviver no cargo até o fim do mandato de
Trump, em 2028. A audácia do rapto e substituição de Nicolás Maduro na calada
da noite, na Venezuela, lhe rendeu bons louros graças à indiferença do mundo
diante de violação tão gritante da ordem internacional. Mas, de resto, nada
mais parece funcionar para Hegseth — nem no Irã, nem no Oriente Médio, nem com
seus éditos sobre o baixo nível de testosterona nas casernas. Até o presidente
Trump vem dando mostra de exasperação com seu protegido.
É nesse panorama que Cuba se apresenta de
forma tentadora também para Hegseth. O “também”, no caso, importa, pois tem
gente mais graúda de olho nesse troféu. Antes de tudo, Cuba é a tentação
fundamental para todo ocupante da Casa Branca desde que os barbudos de Fidel
Castro tomaram o poder na ilha em 1959. Já são 13 os presidentes americanos
consecutivos, de Dwight Eisenhower a Donald Trump (seis democratas e sete
republicanos), que tentaram remover, isolar ou mudar estruturalmente o regime
cubano. Alternaram-se apenas as abordagens táticas — de tentativas de
assassinato e operações clandestinas a décadas de asfixiamento econômico e
alguma diplomacia na era Barack Obama. Trump, que já prometeu acabar com duas
guerras em 24 horas e está atolado em três, deposita no almejado retorno de
Cuba à esfera de influência dos Estados Unidos a chance de conseguir o que a
História certamente lhe negará — ser chamado de estadista.
O secretário de Estado, Marco Rubio, tem
interesses mais terrenos: se conseguir colocar as mãos em Cuba em tempo hábil,
suas chances como presidenciável republicano em 2028 dão um salto de catapulta.
A ponto de empalidecer seu concorrente mais imediato, o atual vice-presidente
J.D. Vance, cuja esfera de poder passa ao largo do Hemisfério Ocidental
idealizado por Trump.
Com esse pano de fundo, merece atenção um
relatório divulgado duas semanas atrás pelo Departamento de Estado de Rubio.
“Cuba, a Capital Comunista do Século XXI”, diz o título. O preâmbulo não é
menos alarmado:
— O ataque de Cuba aos Estados Unidos nunca
foi, em sua essência, uma disputa sobre política econômica, soberania ou mesmo
posse de um determinado território. Foi uma revolução contra a própria
civilização ocidental — travada, em parte, pelo método inédito e insidioso de
persuadir os filhos do Ocidente a se voltar contra sua própria herança. Essa é
a campanha que Castro lançou em 1959, e é a campanha que seus herdeiros estão
travando.
Ao longo de 99 páginas, o relatório afirma
que “mesmo com sua economia à beira do colapso, o objetivo fundamental do
regime cubano permanece sendo a revolução marxista hemisférica capaz de apagar
os Estados Unidos da face da Terra”. Não fica muito claro como ela se daria.
Isso porque, “um dos maiores, mais sofisticados e perigosos vetores de influência
estrangeira hostil na História moderna americana” são, segundo o documento, as
ONGs, organizações ativistas, redes ideológicas e grupos de fachada cubanos.
Dos tumultos antirracistas decorrentes do assassinato a frio de George Floyd à
explosão do ativismo pró-Palestina nos campi universitários, tudo tem ligação
“de alguma forma, à influência cubana” e sua “revolução existencial contra os
Estados Unidos”. Caramba!
Philip Agee foi agente da CIA por nove anos
na década de 1960. Nascido na Flórida de Rubio (cujos pais cubanos emigraram
antes da revolução), morreu na Havana de Fidel Castro em 2008, execrado pela
agência por ter publicado um catatau autobiográfico de quase 700 páginas
narrando sua vida de espião. “Dentro da ‘Companhia’: Diário da CIA”, publicado
no Brasil pelo Círculo do Livro em 1974, tornou-se um clássico. A avaliação de
Agee dos motivos que levam os Estados Unidos a precisar estrangular Cuba foi
feita em entrevista ao programa de TV “Alternative View” e data dos anos 1970:
— Se Cuba, um país pobre, conseguisse
demonstrar que é capaz de oferecer cuidados de saúde melhores e outros avanços
sociais, isso representaria uma ameaça à narrativa dos Estados Unidos sobre a
superioridade de seu modelo. Muitos americanos poderiam olhar para Cuba e pensar:
“Se eles conseguem fazer isso com uma renda per capita de US$ 2.000/US$ 2.500,
enquanto a nossa é de US$ 22.500, que problemas existem em nosso próprio
sistema?
Glória Menezes, atriz que mudou a interpretação televisiva
"Figura fundadora da teledramaturgia brasileira e nome determinante na modernização da interpretação audiovisual no país, não foi apenas com mocinhas e vilãs de 40 títulos televisivos que a artista montou a extensa galeria de personagens que fez dela um dos rostos mais conhecidos do país.
Marcada pela introdução do naturalismo psicológico na TV aberta, ao lado do marido, o ator Tarcísio Meira, fez uma aliança artística e afetiva que virou patrimônio nacional.
A televisão foi um porto mais frquente. Mas houve também, em sua trajetória, dedicações pontuais ao teatro e pelo menos um grande papel no cinema, a sofrida Rosa, do filme "O Pagador de Promessas", de 1962, de Anselmo Duarte."
Mesmo se Flávio perder, direita Master deve ganhar todo o resto,
"Infelizmente, a democracia brasileira não tem sistema imunológico para lidar com esses fatos. Direitistas específicos podem ser denunciados e presos, mas ninguém com poder, inclusive na mídia, está disposto a denunciar a direita quando isso de fato ameaça a hegemonia conservadora no sistema político brasileiro.
E se a imprensa não fizer, quem fará? O Congresso, que é dominado pela direita porque fizemos nossa transição democrática com a classe política herdada da ditadura? O Judiciário, que tem gente grande envolvida com o Master e sabe que sua melhor chance de sobreviver é ajudar a direita a matar a investigação? Desde o impeachment de Dilma Rousseff sabemos que a direita tem mais poder para abafar escândalos do que a esquerda.
A direita não vai pagar preço nenhum por ter causado a maior fraude do sistema financeiro brasileiro. Os direitistas que perderem seus cargos por seu envolvimento com o Master devem ser substituídos por outros candidatos dos partidos que bancaram o Master.
"O raciocínio é simples: mesmo com uma taxa de ocupação elevada - tanto entre os formais e os MEIs, quanto nos sem carteira que complementam com bicos os benefícios governamentais - e com a contenção da pressão altista dos preços nos supermercados, as pessoas estão estranguladas com os boletos em atraso e os pagamentos de juros, que vêm sendo reduzidos em doses homeopáticas pelo Copom."
Come out, come out, whereever you are! The game is up, you wanna be a star Now you've gotta learn to take your time When it smells like lemon and it tastes like wine
Art Spiegelman: ‘The US needs a counter-revolution’
"Spiegelman’s mood is sombre as he discusses how Trump has “very effectively dismantled” the country’s democratic ideals: “Whatever the ideals were, we never lived up to them, but at least we had them. Now it’s all so cynical and sordid and stupid.” The president “is cutting off civil liberties and using his powers to squelch dissent and enrich himself in such thoroughly illegal ways, it’s kind of mindblowing”, Spiegelman says, and he finds himself watching in alarm as the “plutocrat in chief” and his “few dozen toadies” get ever richer while ordinary Americans struggle and suffer a “new indignity every day”. He has no hesitation in describing the Trump administration as fascist. “It’s fascism,” he says. “It’s not nazism, per se, but it has a template that it’s following. And it does have to do with othering, which is the basis of what Maus is about, it’s: ‘OK, you guys are mice, we’re cats.’” Maus is among the many books to be banned by various Republican school boards in recent years, but Spiegelman says he has a “predilection” for producing the kind of art people will seek to ban. Sales of Maus spiked in response to the bans.
“I tend to be pessimistic, but this is worse than most things I know,” he says of American politics. “I just don’t see how we get out of this.” "
read interview with Art Spiegelman conducted by Sophie McBain
Como um desconhecido espalhou uma acusação de estupro contra Alfredo Gaspar, hoje o vice de Flávio Bolsonaro, depois recuou no que disse, e agora mudou de ideia de novo
leia reportagem de Alessandra Medina e João Batista Jr.
" Na hora combinada, Lopes apareceu ao lado de um casal, que apresentou
como sendo Jailma, a vítima do estupro, e seu namorado, Lucas. Jailma é
uma mulher magra, com cabelos lisos e escuros que chegam quase à altura
da cintura. Lucas, um rapaz alto, que vestia bermuda e chinelo. Pediram
que a conversa se desse em off,
de forma preliminar, sem gravação. Sentada na praça de alimentação do
shopping, Jailma contou então sua história. Disse que tinha 8 anos
quando sua mãe começou a trabalhar como empregada doméstica na casa de
Alfredo Gaspar, em Maceió. Contou que ajudava a mãe nas tarefas – e, às
vezes, recebia presentes do dono da casa, como bonecas e um celular.
Jailma afirmou que, quando tinha 13 anos de idade, teve relação sexual
com Gaspar mais de uma vez. Na conversa com a piauí,
não tratou os episódios como estupro, mas como “agrados”. Disse que
foram relações consensuais. Ainda assim, seu relato é grave porque a lei
brasileira entende que não existe consentimento num ato sexual com uma
criança de até 14 anos. É, necessariamente, um crime."
When the men under the charge of the brave Odysseus arrive at Circe’s home in Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,”
the film shifts from seafaring epic to body horror. Circe, played with
rawness and mystery by Samantha Morton, is a witch who turns the men
into swine, but fear not — she’ll soon be outsmarted by Matt Damon’s
late-arriving Odysseus, like all the other monsters he’s encountered on
his way back home. She is just another obstacle to be vanquished on the
hero’s journey.
That’s not exactly
how things unfold in the original text. When Homer introduces Circe,
she’s described as a beautiful, enchanting woman singing and weaving at a
loom — drawing a parallel to Penelope, the faithful wife of Odysseus
who is forever weaving as she waits for her husband to return home.
Circe’s domicile is a kind of palace where she reigns supreme. In Emily Wilson’s 2017 translation — the first into English by a woman
— it is a place of “polished stones, on high foundations,” where nymphs
carry fancy cloths, gold cups and silver bowls for guests and where
wild animals fawn around her like house pets. She was a memorable
presence in the most enduring of tales, a character as wily as the hero,
and more knowledgeable. This latest portrayal feels like a particularly
disheartening disservice to one of the earliest examples of a powerful,
sexually autonomous woman in literature.
Many
translations refer to Circe as a goddess who executes her
transformations with a potion and the flick of a wand; that’s a far cry
from the gruesome, torturous process onscreen now. As the men gorge
themselves on the food she serves, she stretches and molds their heads
like putty, sticking her hands into their mouths and shaping their faces
into pig snouts. It’s horrific, and the movie seems to cast it as
unwarranted, as though it’s so unlikely that a woman living alone,
accosted by a group of soldiers we’ve seen loot and kill in another
city, would feel threatened.
This
Circe seems cruel and crazed. In Homer’s telling, Odysseus becomes so
enamored of her that she becomes a kind of substitute wife. In the
story, when Odysseus goes to Circe’s home to save his men, he uses an
antidote given to him by the gods, threatens her with his sword and then
sleeps with her. When she changes Odysseus’ soldiers back, Homer notes
that they’re even more handsome than before, and are bathed in oil and
dressed in nice clothes. Odysseus and his men spend a year living
happily with Circe and her nymph servant girls, as Wilson writes in her
translation: “Then every day / for a whole year we feasted there on meat
/ and sweet strong wine.” In fact, after that year of leisure it’s
Odysseus’ men who bring up that they should probably get back on the
road to Ithaca; only then does it seem to occur to Odysseus that they
should leave their cozy vacation spot and now welcoming host.
Of
course every adaptation offers its own twist on her. This has been true
dating back millenniums, to early classics writers like Ovid and
Hesiod. In some versions, Circe bears Odysseus’ children; in others she
is an obsessive, vengeful predator. Contemporary authors like Madeline Miller
reclaim the character as more than a brief detour in Odysseus’ journey
and offer a more sympathetic, well-rounded version of her.
Over
the years Circe’s transformations of Odysseus’ men have been read in
various ways depending on the cultural context and sexual politics of
the time: as a commentary on etiquette and social behavior, as a
philosophical critique on the inherently beastly nature of men, as a
misogynist cautionary tale against a sexually liberated woman. One can
often determine the politics and perspectives of an “Odyssey” adaptation
by how Circe is depicted.
So what
does that say about Nolan’s dark, succinct telling? In this film of
majesty and scope, of star power and visual appeal, Circe helps show how
Nolan’s “Odyssey” ultimately takes the epic at face value, reducing it
to terms the director is most comfortable with: Odysseus is a man
burdened by the weight of his brilliance. Circe is an obstacle he must
overcome, just like the other women in the film have very specific ways
to round out the hero’s tale of triumph. Calypso’s role is to trap
Odysseus. Athena’s to act as his (mostly silent) conscience. Helen and
Clytemnestra are simply disloyal women at the periphery of Odysseus’
journey. And Odysseus’ faithful wife, Penelope, isn’t shown doing much
of anything, but gets an adamant speech about her queenly autonomy to
telegraph her as a more modern, empowered hero-wife. None are
fulfilling, but none feel as dismissive as the evil witch treatment of
Circe.
At the end of the day, this is
a man’s story of greatness. Even in Odysseus’ questionable moments,
there’s never any question that he is still the noble warrior, the
honorable leader. As for the women — the lovers, the betrayers, the
goddess and, of course, the witch — they’re no more than the trimmings
on our hero’s armor.
Oil, Hunters and Dr. Phil: How a Long-Shot Project Is Shaking Up Greenland
A U.S. oil company says it could be on the verge of a major discovery in
Greenland. The proposal comes at a tricky time for the Arctic island,
and locals are lining up against it.
In one of the most remote towns on earth, on the frozen crust of Greenland’s east coast, the American oilman made his pitch.
Near
to the very room where they were all sitting, he told a crowd of
Greenlanders, could be as much as 13 billion barrels of oil. His company
planned to drill two exploratory wells, and if it struck oil, it could
be a major worldwide discovery bringing much-needed jobs, loads of tax
money and relief to world energy markets.
The people who attended the meeting, which was held in June in an isolated town called Ittoqqortoormiit, had some questions.
Why would Greenland get only 15 percent of the profit?
What kind of chemicals would be used?
And what about the musk ox?
(Musk ox hunting is a big deal up there.)
Image
A
store selling items made with sealskin and musk ox furs in Nuuk,
Greenland’s capital. The area believed to have vast oil reserves, known
as Jameson Land, is a protected environmental zone home to musk ox,
foxes and migrating birds.Credit...Ivor Prickett for The New York Times
The
meeting wrapped up with a lot of unhappy people filing out, according
to a video of it that was shared with The New York Times, and a showdown
over oil exploration has now joined the cloud of issues swirling over
Greenland.
The wildcat oil project is
being pumped up by Dr. Phil McGraw, the TV personality known as Dr.
Phil, and Gov. Jeff Landry of Louisiana, both powerful allies of
President Trump. It’s the latest push by the MAGA camp to close in on
this gigantic Arctic island that Mr. Trump threatened to annex and
remains a fixation of his.
If the
discovery is anything close to what the company says, and if it makes
economic sense for major production — and those are two enormous ifs —
this project could thrust Greenland into a radically different future,
possibly as an Arctic petrostate.
But
it’s off to a bumpy start. After a wave of negative publicity, protests
by Greenlanders and a slip-up by the project’s organizers who have a
drilling license, Greenland’s authorities tapped the brakes. This week
the government pushed back the timeline for granting final approvals,
saying that it’s unlikely any drilling would be authorized before 2028.
The
Texas-based firm leading the project, Greenland Energy Company, now
says it will focus on drilling only one well, not two. And the delays
are expected to cost millions. As a result, Greenland Energy’s share price has plummeted, trading at little more than a dollar, half its value from just days ago.
Want to stay updated on what’s happening in Greenland? , and we’ll send our latest coverage to your inbox.
A few years ago, Greenland declared it was suspending oil exploration.
The Arctic is among the fastest-warming regions in the world, and the
Greenlandic government felt it was wrong to contribute more fossil fuel
pollution.
Image
The
landscape near Ittoqqortoormiit in 2024. Warming temperatures mean less
ice on Greenland’s coast, making any oil discovered cheaper to export
than it would have been decades ago, an executive said.Credit...Olivier Morin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
But
the oil prospectors in this case are operating with a valid license
granted before the policy changed, according to documents reviewed by
The New York Times. So Greenlandic officials, who have been trying to
navigate the intense pressure Mr. Trump has put on them, find themselves
in a tight spot.
They are more than
aware that if they reflexively block Americans from drilling, especially
at a time when world events have squeezed the global oil supply, that
could give Mr. Trump the pretext he needs to return to his threats to
“get” Greenland, “one way or the other.” At the same time, there’s
obvious resistance from ordinary Greenlanders and government officials
to the project.
“In
a world where Donald Trump has pursued such a confrontational policy
toward Greenland, you can’t help but be a little concerned,” said Mikkel
Runge Olesen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for
International Studies. “If you suddenly throw a major oil discovery into the mix, who knows what might happen.”
For
months, the United States, Greenland and Denmark — the island’s former
colonial master that still controls many of its affairs — have been locked in sticky negotiations over the island’s future. One key issue has been American access to Greenland’s natural resources.
Ever
since Mr. Trump set his sights on the island, Greenland has become a
magnet for investors and allies chasing Arctic resource dreams. But oil
has never been easy.
Chevron and
Shell prospected decades ago with no success. It’s incredibly expensive
to build an oil industry from scratch in one of the most remote and
inhospitable places on the planet. Most of Greenland is covered in ice.
One major U.S. company, ARCO, decades ago sank today’s equivalent of
$250 million — far more than the $80 million the current players have
raised — into seismic studies in the same area, only to abandon the
project in 1990.
“There are so many
red flags here,” said Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s former minister of
natural resources and now a representative in Denmark’s Parliament. She
says she hasn’t seen any hard data supporting the project’s tantalizing
claims, adding, “I think they are selling hot air.”
Not so, say the backers of the project, a joint venture between Greenland Energy, the small, publicly traded U.S. company that raised the money, and 80 Mile Plc, a British outfit that acquired the drilling licenses several years ago.
Roderick
McIllree, 80 Mile’s executive director and a board member of Greenland
Energy, said this stretch of Greenland had the same geology as the North
Sea oil fields, where European countries have extracted billions of
barrels. And climate change is working in their favor, he said.
Warming
temperatures mean less ice clogging Greenland’s coast, making any oil
discovered cheaper to export than it would have been decades ago, he
said.
“Greenland
could be exporting two million barrels of oil a day,” said Governor
Landry, Mr. Trump’s special envoy to Greenland, in a Fox News interview in May. He added, “Think about what kind of pressure that would relieve in the Straits of Hormuz.”
Image
Gov. Jeff Landry of Louisiana was appointed by Mr. Trump to be the special envoy to Greenland.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Before
the project is allowed to start, its plans, including a detailed
environmental assessment, must be approved. But the organizers have been
moving ahead anyway and recently carried out two disputed equipment
transfers.
First, they brought in a
barge of equipment from another part of Greenland on what authorities
said was an expired permit. Jorgen Hammeken-Holm, the head of
Greenland’s mineral resources department, called the move “naughty,
naughty.”
Then, a few days later, they unloaded another piece of heavy equipment without proper notification, the authorities said.
“We
have the police and the military,” Mr. Hammeken-Holm warned. “They can
assist in dealing with unlawful activities if necessary.”
Mr. McIllree, the 80 Mile executive, admitted, “We kind of fell down.” He said the company apologized to Greenlandic officials.
The
potentially oil-rich area, known as Jameson Land, is a highly protected
environmental zone, an Arctic swampland of sorts, home to tenacious
shrubs and musk ox, foxes and migrating birds like the pink-footed
goose. The musk ox is prized for its meat and its fur, which is turned
into a luxurious yarn.
All this has attracted Dr. Phil, who did a recent 44-minute podcast
on the project. He titled the episode “Frozen Gold,” and according to
documents on Greenland Energy’s website, the company has established “a
wide-ranging partnership” with him to make a six-episode series on “this
modern-day treasure hunt.”
Image
Dr.
Phil McGraw, the television personality known as Dr. Phil and an ally
of President Trump, dedicated a recent episode of his podcast to talking
up the oil project in Greenland. It was titled “Frozen Gold.” Credit...Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press
His
company did not respond to requests for comment about his involvement
in the project. But on his podcast, Dr. Phil said he would soon head to
the Arctic.
“I’m going to have to mug a kitten and get some mittens because I’m going to go up there and see this firsthand,” he said.
Ittoqqortoormiit
(It-tok-kor-TOR-meet), population 329, is trying to make sense of
what’s happening. This spring, members of the local council seemed ready
to negotiate and drafted a list of things they wanted from the oil
company: a heated community pool, new hunting cabins and funding for
residents to fly over Jameson Land in helicopters one last time before
their hunting grounds were turned into an industrial site.
But the public meeting in June changed the mood.
Mr. McIllree conceded that the team that led the meeting didn’t show enough respect.
“They forgot whose house they were in,” he said.
Still, some residents support the project.
Aage Uugi Pike Barselajsen, a construction worker, said in a telephone interview that Ittoqqortoormiit desperately needed jobs.
“You have to think about the future and the money,” he explained. “Maybe Greenland could become like Dubai. That’s my dream.”
Since
a band of rebels led by Fidel Castro pushed out Cuba’s dictator in
1959, the island’s government has largely been defined by its defiance
of its far larger neighbor to the north — and its ability to survive the
intense pressure that friction has provoked.
But the current U.S. campaign, led by an effective oil blockade, is the most intense in a half-century. And it is pushing the Cuban government to the brink.
Tourism
has cratered. The energy grid collapsed three times over nine days this
month. And other than a single Russian oil tanker in March, Cuba’s
allies have not been willing to test President Trump’s order that no
fuel be delivered to the island.
Yet, more than six months later, the government is still intact, and Cubans are finding ways to get by.
This
month, we visited Cuba on the first journalism visa granted to The New
York Times in nearly eight years. In Havana, I interviewed Cuba’s deputy
foreign minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, one of the Communist
government’s interlocutors with the United States.
He
said Cuba’s main strategy to escape the Trump administration’s ire was
to enact a series of economic policy changes, including opening the
country to foreign investment. Mr. Trump could even invest himself, Mr.
Fernández de Cossío said.
White House
and State Department spokespeople called Cuba a national security
threat and accused it of harboring terrorists, which Cuba denies. They
blamed Cuba for the energy crisis, saying it sold off fuel to enrich
elites and failed to maintain its electric grid. And they said Cuba’s
political and economic system are broken and must change, though U.S.
officials have not clarified what would be required to lift the
blockade.
The two sides acknowledge
that their talks have made little progress. Many people, especially
Cubans, are now watching closely for signs of what is next.
The
Trump administration seems to be demanding changes to Cuba’s political
system. Your government has said that is not on the table. What is?
I
can be sure that the government of the United States would not
negotiate its Constitution and political system with another government.
So there should be no surprise that Cuba is not ready to discuss its
internal political issues with the United States.
So what is the Cuban strategy then?
We introduced some changes in our economy a few weeks back. We believe they can allow us to cope.
Yet,
if the United States is trying to provoke humanitarian difficulties in
Cuba, unfortunately it has the power to. There’s nothing Cuba can do.
And
if they lead to military action against Cuba, we will suffer thousands
of deaths. Probably there will be a blood bath in Cuba. There will also
be deaths of young Americans.
But
after all this damage is caused, what is the goal gained by the United
States? That is where we believe there should be some common sense
within the American people.
Image
A Russian-flagged oil tanker arriving in Matanzas Bay, off the coast of Cuba, in March.Credit...Norlys Perez/Reuters
Russia
delivered a single tanker of fuel in March, but no other country has
challenged Trump’s threats to not ship fuel to Cuba. Where are your
allies?
The coercive arm of
the United States has proved to be very successful. To tell a European, a
Latin American, an Asian company that you cannot export your national
resources to Cuba, it’s a new world order.
Do you expect more oil coming from Russia, Mexico or Brazil?
We
do expect some oil to come from some part of the world. We believe that
the capacity of the United States to isolate Cuba and deprive countries
of their right to export their own products cannot be forever.
Trump has discussed “taking Cuba.” Is Cuba preparing militarily?
It’s
absurd. What excuse can there be to carry out a military action that
will cause death and destruction against a peaceful country?
Now,
regardless of how irrational it is, we would be naïve if we did not
prepare ourselves, if we did not update our military strategy, which is
based on the involvement of the population as a whole. We understand the
asymmetric reality in terms of technology and firepower, but our people
will defend our country. We have weekly preparations for that.
Image
Young members of the Cuban military during a May Day celebration this year.Credit...Lisette Poole González for The New York Times
There have been reports
that an Emirati developer is building a luxury resort on a Cuban island
and wants to pitch it to the Trump Organization as Trump Island. Is the
Cuban government entertaining a Trump Organization project on Cuban
soil?
We’re
not entertaining specifically, I would say, anything like that. But we
are trying to attract foreign investment from any country. And that does
not exclude the United States.
Does it exclude President Trump?
If he wants to do it peacefully, we see no specific reason to exclude.
Have you heard of this Trump Island proposal on this part of Cuba?
I
saw the news. There are many developments there already in place and
some projected, and we’ve presented this to business people in several
parts of the world. If somebody comes and says they have connections
with important business people in the United States, we’re ready to
engage. If it’s with the Trump administration, in principle, there’s no
reason for us to say no.
What
prohibits Donald Trump from investing in Cuba are U.S. laws. We don’t
exclude him or his organization from doing business in Cuba, if it does
it respecting Cuban laws.
The
police in Brazil recovered eight stolen works by Henri Matisse on
Thursday, officials said, months after armed men made off with them from
a library in São Paulo.
The police
tracked the pieces, which belong to the French master’s 1947 series
called “Jazz,” to an apartment in the suburb of São Bernardo do Campo,
the São Paulo city government and the police said.
One person was arrested at the apartment on suspicion of receiving stolen goods, according to the police.
The
pieces were stolen in December from the Mário de Andrade Library, São
Paulo’s largest, during public viewing hours. Along with the eight
Matisses, the thieves also took five works by the Brazilian modernist
painter Candido Portinari, the authorities said.
In
the heist, the men overpowered a security guard and two bystanders,
according to an emailed statement from Rodrigo Bezerra, a police
spokesman. Soon after, they were seen carrying the pieces around on the
street in security camera footage
released by the authorities. At one point in the video, a man places a
stack of frames next to a pile of garbage on a sidewalk, then returns to
pick it up.
The authorities in Brazil alerted Interpol after the heist because they were concerned that the pieces might be smuggled out of the country.
The
police said that they had arrested one suspect in the robbery the day
after it took place. It said that two other suspects in the library
heist had been arrested in April in a separate art-theft case: a woman
and a man described as the organizer of the crime.
Totó Parente, an official in the São Paulo government, said
on Thursday that recovering the Matisse works was of “enormous
importance” to the city. The police said that they had yet to locate the
Portinari pieces.
Matisse’s works are coveted by galleries, museums and collectors around the world. And by art thieves.
His “Odalisque on the Terrace” was one of three paintings stolen
from a private art museum in Italy in March. The thieves broke into the
Magnani-Rocca Foundation and made off with the three artworks in just
three minutes, the police said.
And “Odalisque in Red Pants,” taken from a museum in Venezuela, was recovered in 2012 by F.B.I. agents in Miami, who arrested two people and said they were trying to sell the painting.
It was not clear when “Odalisque in Red Pants” was stolen from the Contemporary Art Museum of Caracas because a fake version of it was placed after the theft.
The
eight pieces recovered in Brazil on Thursday were “The Clown”; “The
Circus”; “Monsieur Loyal”; “The Nightmare of the White Elephant”; “The
Codomas”; “The Swimmer in the Aquarium”; “The Sword Swallower”; and “The
Cowboy.”
