Managua, Feb 27 (Prensa Latina) Co-President of Nicaragua Daniel Ortega stressed that the blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba will be defeated.

Ortega called the Cuban people heroic and stressed: “More than 60 years of blockade, but we have faith, we are sure that the day will come when that policy will be defeated and those chains with which they have tried to paralyze the people of Cuba will disappear,” he said.

The blockade against Cuba has intensified in recent years and constitutes the main obstacle to the economic and social development of the country, according to Cuban authorities. Among the measures, the activation of the section of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act stands out, which allows for the suing of Cubans who were property owners in Cuba before 1959.

It also highlights the restriction and suspension of visas for people linked to Cuban international cooperation programs, particularly those associated with health.

Another element is related to the suspension of visas for cultural, sports, academic and scientific exchanges, among others.

In addition, the United States Government re-included Cuba in the list of States that allegedly sponsor terrorism, and suspended humanitarian parole and family reunification processes for those who were admitted to the United States.

According to Cuban authorities, as a permanent policy, Washington, since 2019, has punished ships or shipping companies that supply oil to Cuba, which prevents the normal development of the country in several sectors.

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Mexico City, Feb 26 (Prensa Latina) The José Martí Association of Cuban Residents in Mexico today condemned the decision of the United States government to suspend visas associated with international medical cooperation agreements with the Caribbean nation.

This is “part of a defamatory campaign that seeks to damage the prestige of medical brigades, under the argument of ‘labor exploitation’, ‘modern slavery’ or ‘human trafficking’ to justify new sanctions against our people,” the group said in a statement.

The organization noted that this measure is the seventh in a month of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, “demonstrating the visceral hatred of his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, towards Cuba and his desire to create greater hardship” for its citizens.

He said that the US is restricting the issuance of visas to Cuban officials and those of third countries that it describes as “accomplices,” once again applying extraterritoriality that violates international law, to prevent nations from signing agreements with the island.

“This is once again the unhealthy pursuit of any possibility of income for the Cuban economy,” he denounced.

According to the organization, it is “important to refute this campaign and clarify that the medical missions are voluntary, that is, doctors and health personnel who wish to take part in them register, at no time is it forced labor or exploitation.”

The text recalls that Cuba’s humanitarian and internationalist character with its medical brigades has been proven in its participation in natural disasters, the fight against Ebola and Covid-19, recognized on several occasions by the World Health Organization.

“The places where these brigades work are the most remote and forgotten corners of the countries that hire them, where their inhabitants are often treated by a doctor for the first time,” the Association stressed.

He explained that the income is reinvested first in the island’s health system, which is universal and free, and in guaranteeing other social rights that all Cubans have, “despite the restrictions resulting from the criminal blockade” imposed by the United States.

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New York, USA, Feb 26 (Prensa Latina) Cuba’s collaboration in health is today a feat and a bastion of hope for many people around the world, said Samira Addrey, member of the board of directors of the American organization IFCO-Pastors for Peace.

In this time of aggression against Cuba, we must highlight the work of that country in terms of health and international collaboration, said Addrey, also a graduate of the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) during an interview with Prensa Latina.

“I believe that the example of ELAM, which after 25 years continues to produce doctors for the world, is clear proof that Cuba has exported health, love and friendship to the world while the United States continues to export violence,” he said.

Unfortunately, we are living in a country with a broken health structure, where people with low economic resources do not count, where the country does not focus on the human being, explained Dr. Addrey.

Our task as ELAM graduates, as Cuba has trained us, is to return and focus here, being an example that another world is possible, he added.

He acknowledged the training received on the island “as doctors of science and conscience” and stressed that “in Cuba, a type of doctor is trained who is humanistic and supportive.”

Samira, who heads the ELAM program at IFCO (Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization) highlighted the group’s decades of experience in the solidarity movement with Cuba “and we want to take advantage of that history,” she emphasized.

In 1967, Lucius Walker founded IFCO and in 1988 conceived the Pastors for Peace project that organized humanitarian aid caravans as a way to support victims of U.S. foreign policy in the region.

Walker led 21 Friendship Caravans from 1992 until his death in September 2010, to bring humanitarian aid and medicine to Cuba in yellow school buses, without seeking permission or a license from the authorities.

In the dialogue, Samira spoke about defending the legacy of Reverend Lucius and the trust in their communities with the training they receive in the Caribbean nation.

For Addrey, “Fidel Castro’s dream lives on, we have seen 25 years and we will see 25 more years of a prosperous ELAM.”

Personally, for me, as a 2020 ELAM graduate, Cuba has reinforced many of the values ​​I grew up with, confessed Addrey, who was born in Ghana.

Cuba embraced me and treated me like a daughter during the years I was there; in addition to the medical skills we learned in medical school, there is a level of family, of sense of being human that I have not experienced anywhere else, she confessed.

“In Cuba, everyone shows solidarity with you in whatever way they can and tries to support you in your difficulties,” said the doctor.

He said that Cuba is a part of his heart, “and I think it is important for me to pass that on to my daughter. She knows that there is a country far from Ghana where I was born, that we were raised there and that it has an immensely beautiful people.”

I believe – Addrey concluded – that the world should recognize Cuba beyond the things that are popular, one must be there, one must feel the people, live with them and feel their humanity.

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