Diaz-Canel congratulates Mexican president-elect and members of new executive
Havana, September 23 (RHC)– Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel today congratulated Luisa Alcalde on her election as president of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) Party of Mexico.
The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba also greeted the members of the new executive, elected during the Extraordinary National Congress of the political party.
“We wish you much success and reiterate our willingness to continue consolidating the ties between our Parties and sister peoples,” Díaz-Canel wrote in X.
Luisa María Alcalde currently serves as Secretary of the Interior in the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who will end his term as President on October 1, when Claudia Sheinbaum takes office.
On the same date, Alcalde, 37 years of age, will assume her new responsibility. (Source: ACN
The program is an alliance between the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment; the Ministry of Energy and Mines; the Electrical Union; and the United Nations Program for the support of the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security of Italy
Havana, September 21 (RHC) In the context of the 3rd Renewable Energy Fair this Friday in Cuba, the island promoted a project aimed at transitioning towards clean sources in the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud.
The six-year-and six-month project will support the design of the Program for the Energy Transition in the Isla de la Juventud Special Municipality, as a way to promote the substitution of fossil fuels in the generation of electricity.
In addition, it will accompany the municipality in the appropriation of tools to measure the contribution of the Program to the mitigation of climate change, and help it in the design of a Local Incentives Strategy that facilitates the mobilization of financial resources for long-term implementation.
The program includes the creation of enabling capacities for its implementation through the development of technical, economic, environmental and social feasibility studies.
This is an alliance between the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment; the Ministry of Energy and Mines; the Electrical Union; and the United Nations Program for the support of the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security of Italy. (Source: Prensa Latina)
The contest stimulates the career of university graduate researchers and technologists up to 35 years of age
Havana, Sep 23 (RHC) The Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA) announces the Annual Award for Student Researcher, Young Researcher and Young Technologist 2024, with the purpose of recognizing their high teaching performance from the curricular dimension in Higher Career Education and Short Cycle Programs.
The contest rules, announced by the organization, also stimulate the career of university graduate researchers and technologists up to 35 years of age, who are distinguished by their link with science, technology and innovation activities.
The competition can be held in the categories of Pedagogical, Social and Humanistic, Medical, Physical Culture and Sports, Technical, Computing and Informatics, Agricultural, and Natural and Exact Sciences. In each one a prize and up to two mentions will be awarded.
The deadline for submitting proposals will be December 22 through the institutions responsible for promoting their best exponents.
The Prize is awarded in celebration of the anniversaries of the Union of Young Communists and the José Martí Pioneers Organization, and an Awards Committee is established for the analysis, selection and delivery, chaired by CITMA. (Source: ACN)
United Nations, September 22 (RHC)– The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez, called on Sunday before the UN General Assembly (UNGA) for greater political will to address the structural and moral failures of the international system that prevent progress towards a fair future.
Speaking at the Summit of the Future, Cuba’s foreign minister reviewed the challenges facing developing nations and the need for truly profound reforms to eliminate them.
“People need less interference and more solidarity; less unequal exchange and more equity; “Less politicization and double standards and more dialogue, cooperation and respect for their inalienable right to choose their political, economic, social and cultural system,” he demanded.
Rodríguez recalled the challenges posed for his country by the hostile policy imposed by the US government, including the inclusion in the arbitrary and unilateral list of States that supposedly sponsor terrorism.
He insisted that this is the main obstacle to the well-being and development of the Caribbean nation.
At the same time, the planet suffers the effects of climate change without opulent societies putting a stop to the consumerism that generates it and without sufficient political will to channel the necessary funds for the Sustainable Development Goals or real debt relief.
The foreign minister insisted that for millions of people in the Global South, the possibility of a dignified future is and will continue to be a utopia.
“It will be difficult to believe in this promised future while developed countries oppose the profound reform of the international financial architecture, whose discussions should focus on the United Nations,” he said.
The head of Cuban diplomacy questioned: “If these claims have been diluted in the Pact of the Future, should we believe in the promises of greater access to the resources essential for our development?”
The foreign minister of the largest island of the Antilles spoke on the opening day of the Summit, which opened its doors on Sunday morning with the approval of the Pact of the Future, an ambitious UN project for a reform of global governance.
Despite the optimism surrounding the text, the main voices of the organization assure that true change will come with the actions and political will of the States, particularly the most powerful ones. (Source: Prensa Latina)
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (R) meets with his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodriguez, in New York on September 21, 2024. (Photo by the Iranian Foreign Ministry)
United Nations, September 22 (RHC)– Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has expressed Iran’s solidarity with Cuba in the face of illegal sanctions imposed by the United States on the Caribbean island nation.
Araghchi made the remarks during a meeting with his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez in New York on Saturday. The top Iranian diplomat condemned the U.S. Congress’s unilateral and political move to put Cuba on a list of the so-called state sponsors of terrorism, saying the measure is the continuation of Washington’s hostile policies.
“As one of the victims of U.S. sanctions, Iran fully understands the conditions of the Cuban people and supports the country against U.S. bans,” he added.
Also in his remarks, Araghchi said that the crimes that Israel is committing in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon are acts of desperation caused by the regime’s failure in its genocidal war on the besieged Gaza. He further renewed an invitation by Iran’s former President Ebrahim Raeisi for his Cuban counterpart to visit Iran and voiced Tehran’s readiness to expand relations with Havana in all fields.
Rodriguez welcomed the development of Iran-Cuba ties in the economic, academic and scientific areas, and the holding of a joint economic commission in the near future. He also emphasized that Cuba backs the Islamic Republic against hostile US policies.
Iran and Cuba, which are both subject to unjust sanctions imposed by Washington, have historically maintained close relations and stood by each other in challenges posed by U.S. unilateralism.
The meeting between the Iranian and Cuban foreign ministers took place in New York on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Speaking to reporters, Araghchi said that he had “constructive discussions” with his Kuwaiti and Bahraini counterparts, as well as the secretary general of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), regarding stability and security in the region.
He also referred to his meetings with UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Mirjana Spoljaric and United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen.
All sides in the meetings believed that Israel – despite all its crimes- has not achieved its declared objectives in Gaza, including defeating the Hamas resistance group and freeing captives, and simultaneously failed to garner international support for itself, he added.
The Iranian foreign minister also said that the support provided by the US and Western countries for the occupying regime is the main obstacle to a Gaza ceasefire.
During his meeting with Pedersen, Araghchi announced Iran’s support for UN efforts in Syria and underlined the need for the withdrawal of foreign forces and the start of the reconstruction process as soon as possible.
“Although the Zionist regime’s crimes in Lebanon are being committed out of desperation, they will not go unanswered,” he asserted.
Havana, September 21 (RHC) — An open letter to U.S. President Joe Biden is receiving wide coverage around the world.
The Sri Lankan Guardian newspaper published the letter to U.S. President Joe Biden from nearly 600 international parliamentarians demanding the removal of Cuba from the list of States suspected of sponsoring terrorism.
The newspaper stressed in a review that the letter, signed by legislators from 73 countries and coordinated by the Progressive International (PI), denounces the designation as “cynical, cruel and a clear violation of international law.”
It recalled that Washington initially removed Cuba from the list in 2015 during the Barack Obama administration after a thorough review, but former President Donald Trump reinstated the unfair categorization on the island in 2021.
The Sri Lankan newspaper pointed out the devastating impact on the Caribbean nation of extreme economic measures such as restricted access to essential goods such as food and medicine.
It emphasized that despite previous campaign promises to reverse the decision, President Joe Biden has not acted to remove Cuba from the list.
The signatories of the letter, which include prominent political figures such as former UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, Podemos leader of Spain Ione Belarra and the president of the Peoples’ Democratic Party of Turkey Ertuğrul Kürkcü, maintain that the US measures are designed to maximize the suffering of the Cuban people, it said.
According to the lawmakers’ letter, the designation undermines fundamental human rights, including the right to food, health and education, and violates the principles of international law.
Echoing the appeal, the newspaper underlines Cuba’s long-standing role as a mediator for peace in the region and highlights the broader geopolitical impact of its inclusion on the list.
It stressed that, in this regard, the lawmakers call on their respective governments for a greater claim in favor of the Caribbean island and for its complete removal from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The open letter to Biden affirms that Washington’s coercive measures harm the Cuban population and violate international norms, Sri Lanka Guardian noted.
The letter follows a similar call made earlier by 35 former heads of state, urging President Biden to act before his term ends, the newspaper recalled. (Source: Prensa Latina)
Havana, September 22 (RHC) — The head of the General Directorate of Consular Affairs and Assistance to Cubans Residing Abroad (DACCRE) of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, Ana Teresita González, assured in New York that Cuba is deepening dialogue with its compatriots outside of the country and also recognizes their support.
During the V Meeting of Cuban Residents in the United States, and in statements to the Prensa Latina agency, the official described the meeting held at the Cuban diplomatic headquarters in the United States as “excellent.”
“It is very important to know that our fellow citizens in the United States continue to support their country, defending it, fighting against the blockade and for Cuba to be removed from the spurious list of countries sponsoring terrorism,” said the official.
As part of the dialogue, the diplomat presented the changes proposed by the new regulations on migration, nationality and foreigners, recently approved by the Cuban Parliament.
The objective, she said, is to further strengthen the nation’s ties with migration. As a result of the new provisions, Cubans will be able to enter and leave the country without a time limit established to remain abroad and keep their properties without any difficulty.
Also, the concept of effective residence is introduced, through which Cubans will be able to choose to settle in their native country or abroad.
“This is very important when planning public and social policies, as it allows us to evaluate, within society, what are the real needs of the population in the country,” explained González.
She also insisted on the new opportunities for the insertion of Cubans abroad in the economic dynamics of their country of origin, an aspect in which “much remains to be done,” according to the representative.
After the recent updates, Cubans in the diaspora can connect with the island through foreign investment, trade, or international cooperation.
“There are already examples of cooperation, trade and investment projects that have been positive and that are developing today without any difficulty,” said the head of DACCRE. (Source: Prensa Latina)
Havana, September 21 (RHC)– Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez today called the blockade against his country “a policy motivated to do harm,” denouncing its impact in a meeting with Cubans living in the United States.
“I come to the UN to give living testimony that this set of measures is a massive and flagrant violation of human rights,” said the head of diplomacy during the Fifth Meeting of Cubans Living in the northern nation.
Before more than one hundred fellow citizens, the Minister of Foreign Affairs thanked the efforts of the community abroad in a particularly complex context for his country.
“This extraordinary moment of the struggle of Cuba and Cubans everywhere coincides with this important meeting in which they have been able to take stock for the future,” he said.
The meeting, held at the Cuban diplomatic headquarters in New York, coincided with the day before the start of the UN General Assembly in which the head of the Havana diplomacy will participate.
The meeting allowed for the analysis of core issues in Cuba’s relationship with its citizens, particularly after the approval by parliament of the new laws on migration, citizenship and foreigners.
More than 150 Cubans living in the United States heard first-hand the details of the regulations in a frank dialogue, valued as positive by the foreign minister himself.
According to official figures, more than two million Cubans and their children reside in this nation, the main recipient of migration from the island. (Source: Prensa Latina)
The next BRICS summit will be held on October 22 and 24 in the Russian city of Kazan. Source: EFE
Havana, September 19 (RHC)– Havana’s ambassador in Moscow, Julio Garmendía Peña, announced this Thursday that the president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, has been invited to the next BRICS summit, which will be held in the Russian city of Kazan from October 22 to 24.
Garmendía said that so far the Cuban head of state has not confirmed his participation in the event. At the Kazan summit, member countries will seek, as usual, to expand multilateral cooperation.
Last March, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that a new category of “partner country” is being prepared, and that some 30 nations have already signed up to participate in the event in that capacity.
Currently, the BRICS are made up of: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Iran, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.
At the next summit in 2024, the BRICS will make important decisions on de-dollarization and the promotion of local currencies. One of the main goals of the BRICS is to remove the US dollar from the world reserve and replace it with regional currencies.
Currently, the group represents almost half of the world’s population, more than 40 percent of global crude oil production and about 25 percent of global exports.
Havana, September 20 (RHC)– Nearly 600 parliamentarians from 73 countries demanded this Friday that Cuba be excluded from the spurious list of countries sponsoring terrorism, drawn up by the United States Department of State.
Through a joint letter coordinated and published by the Progressive International (PI), the legislators called on their respective governments to take immediate measures to advocate for the elimination of Cuba from that list.
Cuba was removed from the list in 2015 during the administration of former President Barack Obama and was included again in 2021, during the last days of Donald Trump’s presidency. In addition to the Caribbean nation, Syria, since 1979, Iran, since 1984, and North Korea, since 2017, are also part of the illegitimate list.
The parliamentarians assure that Cuba must be removed from the list in the name of dignity, decency and the integrity of the Charter of the United Nations (UN).
According to UN experts, the inclusion of Cuba has weakened “fundamental human rights, including the right to food, the right to health, the right to education, economic and social rights, the right to life and the right to development.”
The inclusion of Cuba in the list of sponsors of terrorism brings with it atrocious consequences in spheres such as humanitarian aid, business, investment and trade, which severely harms Cuba and Cuban citizens.
Fearful of being accused of instigating terror and the high fines that come with having relations with Cuba, banks, financial institutions and international vendors have stopped facilitating trade.
It also hinders research, since in the United States the use of public funds for travel to or from countries that are included in the list of state sponsors of terrorism is prohibited, preventing research and support for Cuban academics.
Here is the full text of the letter We, the undersigned parliamentarians from around the world, condemn the designation of Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism” and call on our respective governments to take immediate steps to advocate for its removal.
The designation of Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism” by the United States is cynical, cruel, and a clear violation of international law.
The designation, withdrawn in 2015 following a thorough assessment by the Obama administration, was reapplied to Cuba in the final days of the Trump presidency as the final act of his economic warfare campaign against the island.
As a candidate, Joe Biden promised to restore the diplomatic relationship fostered by his Democratic predecessor. But as president, Biden reneged—even after the Colombian government dropped extradition charges against members of its National Liberation Army (ELN)—on the original justification for Trump reapplying the “state sponsor” designation.
The designation is therefore cynical, because Cuba, far from sponsoring terrorism, has served as a key intermediary in peace talks between the Colombian government, the ELN and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The current talks mark a decade since Cuba called on CELAC member states to declare the region a Zone of Peace, “based on respect for the principles and norms of International Law.”
The designation is cruel because it is designed to maximize the suffering of the people of Cuba, stifling their economy, displacing their families and even restricting the flow of humanitarian aid. According to UN experts, the designation has weakened “fundamental human rights, including the right to food, the right to health, the right to education, economic and social rights, the right to life and the right to development.”
Finally, the designation is illegal because it weakens “the principle of sovereign equality of States, the prohibition of intervention in the internal affairs of States and the principle of peaceful settlement of international disputes,” according to experts.
