Washington, Feb 26 (Prensa Latina) Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío held a meeting here today with a diverse group of African Americans.
At the meeting, held at the Cuban embassy in this capital, in the context of African-American History Month, Fernández de Cossío gave a political and social overview of the Caribbean country, especially its struggle to achieve justice for all and equality.
“The struggle we have been involved in over the last few decades has basically been a quest to achieve maximum social justice based on equity, based on inclusion, and based on equality for all,” he said.
The deputy minister commented on the Revolution’s connections from its beginnings with “Africa and the people of Africa, to the point that we became physically involved in the liberation struggles of Africa, joining our comrades in arms in the trenches. Living with them, suffering with them,” he stressed.
He also refuted the slanders by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Cuba is an enemy of humanity, as well as the most recent coercive measures that seek to harm the island’s international cooperation, particularly in the health sector.
Cuba has offered services around the world that perhaps no other country can match historically, in terms of medical services, in terms of education, Fernández de Cossío said.
He said that Cuba currently has medical services in about 70 countries. “Most of them are in Africa,” he said, mentioning that there are also medical services in the Caribbean, Central America, European nations and places like Haiti, where Cuban professionals are still working even in very difficult and dangerous conditions.
Attendees showed great interest in learning about different topics, as evidenced by a question and answer segment.
“Since 2019, the United States has been punishing ships and shipping companies that supply oil to Cuba as a permanent policy,” the deputy foreign minister emphasized, referring to the strengthening of the blockade and the sanctions policy.
A professor and activist made it clear that most Americans “I talk to disagree with government policies and African Americans in general are in solidarity with the Cuban Revolution.”
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