Best known so far about Afghanistan is the presence of U.S.military and the International Security Assistance Force to the UN Security, under the command of the Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Although it is also known that Islamic rebel forces defending the independence and national sovereignty and whose main objective, according to its leaders, is to annihilate the foreign occupiers, who invaded this Central Asian territory in October 2001.

For more than 11 years, only talks and reports about operations, offensives, fighting, suicide car bombs, suicide attacks and bombings against civilians, especially in rural areas of production, are the order of the day.

This makes sense, but the international media agencies are not interested in disclosing information about the existence of a large item or fourth segment inhabiting the country, which is under threat of disappearing due to lack of minimal resources for combat the local daily hunger.

Hence, the UN Undersecretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, alerts on the vast needs facing the people and urged the international community to contribute a greater financial commitment to address the needs of Afghanis.

We must continue to mobilize resources to help those who are in dire need, said Mrs. Amos at a press conference, who returned to New York after a 3-week diplomatic round-up by the Central Asian Islamic nation, saying there are millions of people affected by the conflict and natural disasters.

Most of these refugees, some 5 million, settled down in the neighboring Islamic nations of Iran and Pakistan, but others tried to rebuild their lives in reception camps spread across the Afghan territory without official support; with great difficulty and little help from the international community.

Amos brought up the situation faced by women in general in the Asian country, a place with high mortality rates --one of the largest on the planet--, as well as extreme poverty and great difficulties in accessing health and education.

She mentioned the necessity of the investment in human development and delivery of vital services such as housing, primary education and health by the international community.

The UN estimates that $437 million is urgently needed this year to provide humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, but the official said that only 27% of these funds have been raised so far.

This helplessness prevails despite the billions of dollars of international economic aid received by Afghan authorities since 2002, a nation which remains with one of the world lowest development indicators.

This is facilitated by the escalation of the conflict spread to various parts of the country previously considered relatively peaceful, where 3 thousand and 21 civilians were killed last year compared to 2 thousand 790 in 2010, according to statistics from the UN mission in Afghanistan.

A large percentage of these deaths is due to indiscriminate aerial bombardment, night operations and massacres perpetrated by the U.S.and NATO.

This serious crisis is exacerbated by the continuation of more than 130,000 soldiers from 40 states grouped in the International Security Assistance Force Security, sent by the UN under the command of NATO.

For this reason, Afghanistan remains as the 5^th poorest country in the world, according to UNDP, with widespread corruption as a spearhead that chokes this nation’s social development.

Added to this is that access to clean water, electricity and medical care is an illusion by which half of its 30 million population lives badly below the poverty line.

Only 10% of those living in big cities have electricity and 5% of the rural population only reaches a life expectancy of 46 years old.

Moreover, the rate of economic growth forecast is 4% for this year, from which more than half comes from drug trafficking and the rest comes from international aid provided to the administration of Kabul.

By María Josefina Arce.

 Year after year since 1982, the United States has maintained Cuba on the list of countries that, in their arbitrary and unilateral understanding, sponsor terrorism; a list only trying to silence the excesses and outrages that the northern empire commits on a whim around the world.

The international demand that Cuba be removed from that hypocritical list is growing. This is how academics from both countries, meeting in Washington, recently called for the immediate exclusion of Cuba from the annual report, with which the State Department intends to certify the nations regarding their alleged support of extremist groups or activities.

A reflection of the hostile and sickening North American policy towards Cuba in its inclusion in this enumeration, when for many, it is clear that Cuba does not pose any danger to the United States’ national security.

As important officials see, and as it is read in the report on Terrorism of 2008, the White House does not have evidence of money-laundering activities related to terrorism or of the financing of activities in Cuba.  

Even Rear Admiral John Adams recently requested that Washington remove Cuba from the list of terrorism-sponsoring countries because he considers that this designation responds to a “counterproductive and hypocritical” policy.

And really speaking of terrorism, it is the United States who should be at the top of the list. The economic, commercial and financial blockade that has been imposed on the Cuban people for over half a century is no more than state terrorism and can also be qualified as an act of genocide against the people.

Washington also supports and protects known criminals who have organized terrorist actions against Cuba. That is the case of Luis Posada Carriles, who walks freely on the streets of Miami, in spite of being the perpetrator of sabotaging a Cuban commercial air plane in flight in 1976 and of other actions that have caused deep grieve to families of the Caribbean country.

In addition, in the name of its own interests and security, Washington starts wars, invades countries, and fills the World with secret prisons where they practice torture, criminal actions that violate International Rights.

Cuba on the other hand, shares life and hope with other countries. There are the thousands of Cuban doctors who offer their help to those who need it most in many nations of the World, and the more than five million people from about thirty countries who have become literate thanks to the Cuban literacy method “Yo sí puedo,” or “Yes, I Can.”

Cuba has won the respect and admiration of many people in the World, not only for its solidarity and selfless help, but also because the revolutionary government has been able to guarantee the most elemental human rights to its people; this is proved by the quality health and educational ratings.