Díaz-Canel meets with a delegation of compatriots working in Mexico

Photo: Estudios Revolución

By Demetrio Villaurrutia Zulueta

Mexico City, September 30 (RHC)– The Cuban Embassy in Mexico hosted a meeting on Sunday between President Miguel Díaz-Canel and representatives of the state collaboration of our country, businesspeople and doctors and medical specialists who provide services to the population in more than twenty states.

The meeting took place a few hours after the arrival of the Head of State to the Mexican capital to participate this Tuesday, October 1st, in the inauguration ceremony of the new president-elect, Claudia Shienbaum Pardo.

On a cool Sunday night in Mexico City, the president began his speech by acknowledging the attitude maintained by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador towards our country during his six-year term in office, whom he once again described as a brother and a sincere friend of Cuba.

“It was a necessity for us to go to Mexico now (he said in reference to the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected President).  Andrés Manuel López Obrador asked us to be at a meeting before handing over the Presidency,” he said.

He added that AMLO, as he is known in the sister Aztec nation, “is one of the presidents who has done the most for Cuba, and has behaved as a true brother and friend of Cuba in the midst of the most difficult conditions.”

As usual when he makes a visit abroad, Díaz-Canel updated our compatriots on the complex situation that the country is experiencing, and the strategies that the Party and the Government are implementing to reverse the situation, despite the intensified blockade of the US administration that impacts areas such as food production, infrastructure, national electro-energy system and macroeconomic balances.

He considered that Mexico is a strategic nation for Cuba, with deep roots that mark the link between the two countries, milestones that unite us from history and culture.

He especially spoke of our doctors, who are distinguished by the passion with which they work “our doctors have given a lesson in altruism and professionalism, we know that many are in difficult conditions.  There is a population that had never received medical services like you have done, that loves and recognizes you,” he commented.

Far from the Homeland, Cuban doctors today form part of a contingent that integrates some 35 specialties.  That is why they speak with pride of the work they do, as expressed by Alfredo González Lorenzo, the Head and national coordinator of the medical Brigade that works in the Mexican country.

After two years and two months of the arrival of the first group of specialists to Mexican soil, today there has been an important growth in the presence of doctors in this nation, by decision of the government of the sister country to complete 3,482 specialists who are present in basic community hospitals and also in health centers of 562 municipalities.

Compatriots who work in different missions in the sister Mexican nation, ties that consolidate the friendship and brotherhood between two peoples, to make Martí’s thought that Homeland is Humanity a reality.

At the meeting of the Cuban President with a representation of our compatriots in Mexico, his first activity since his arrival this Sunday, several members of the Cuban delegation to the inauguration of the new president-elect of Mexico, Lis Cuesta, were present; the Head of the Department of International Relations of the Central Committee of the Party, Emilio Losada; Eugenio Martínez, Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Foreign Ministry and the ambassador of our country in the Aztec country, Marcos Rodríguez.

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Brazilian doctors launch solidarity campaign with Cuba

Medicine class at ELAM – ADALBERTO ROQUE / AFP

Brazilian doctors who studied in Cuba launch solidarity campaign against blockade

Gabriel Vera Lopes

Brasil de Fato | Havana (Cuba) |

 27 de setembro de 2024 

Brazilian doctors who graduated from the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) in Havana have launched a solidarity campaign to collect medicine donations for Cuba. 

This initiative comes in the context of the 25th anniversary of ELAM, a medical school based in Havana that has helped thousands of people from different regions of the world, especially from the most disadvantaged places, study medicine to help their communities. 

In an interview with Brasil de Fato, Carmen Diniz, a jurist and coordinator of the Comitê Carioca de Solidariedade a Cuba e às Causas Justas (Carioca Committee for Solidarity with Cuba and Just Causes in a rough translation) says that the campaign is motivated by a “feeling of gratitude to Cuba” because the vast majority of young Brazilians who went to study medicine at ELAM “could not have studied medicine here in Brazil, because it is an elitist and expensive career.” 

“ELAM is very important, especially in poor places with no access to health care. The medical course in Cuba teaches, above all, humanism. It’s different from other courses in capitalist countries. Fidel Castro used to say: ‘Let’s train men of science with a conscience.’ I think that defines ELAM well,” she adds. 

The school opened its doors for the first time in 1999 after hurricanes George and Mitch caused a catastrophe in the Caribbean region that resulted in the loss of more than 10,000 lives. Cuba’s initial aim with the creation of ELAM was to help train doctors in the countries hit by hurricanes. Over time, the project spread to different regions of the world, and students came from other parts of Latin America, expanding to Africa—an area in which Cuba has historically forged ties—and even from the United States. 

ELAM has trained around 31,000 doctors from almost 120 countries, including more than a thousand Brazilians. 

“Righteous action supporting the country that has always supported everyone” 

From 2007 to 2013, Leandro Nascimento studied medicine at ELAM. Prior to this, he had never left Brazil. Just as he was about to finish high school, he received a scholarship to study in Cuba. Thanks to a grassroots movement that recommended him, Leandro was given the opportunity, and currently, he is one of the doctors coordinating the solidarity initiative for ELAM’s 25th anniversary. 

In an interview with Brasil de Fato, Nascimento recalls the period in Cuba as “very enriching years” during which he had the opportunity to “experience the Cuban revolution with all its social proposals that we don’t see in our capitalist countries.” 

“Cuba has always had a proposal of collaboration and solidarity for the world, which has always made it a reference point. So, living this experience of solidarity, communion, and collaboration from the inside was very enriching. I think it was an experience that filled our dreams that a better world is possible.” 

“Cuba needs support” Leandro Nascimento affirms due to the island’s current economic crisis. 

“After the Covid-19 pandemic took away the country’s main economic income, which is tourism, and in a context where the blockade continues to suffocate the island, with the measures that Trump has implemented, there is a scenario of scarcity. I believe that after everything Cuba has done for so many people worldwide, today, it’s our turn to take righteous action, supporting the country that has always supported everyone,” he adds. 

The Cuba solidarity campaign collects donations to send medicines and medical supplies to the country. The donations will be delivered during Havana’s 1st International Congress of Graduates of the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM), held between November 11 and 15, 2024. 

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Guyana and Dominica reaffirm support for Cuba at the UN

Guyana and Dominica reaffirm support for Cuba at the UN

Havana, September 26 (RHC) Guyana and Dominica renewed before the UN their condemnation and the demand that the US economic, financial and commercial blockade against Cuba be immediately ended.

In his speech at the 79th General Assembly of the United Nations, the Guyanese president, Irfaan Ali, denounced that the island sees the right to development diminished by the coercive measure, after reaffirming the call for the lifting of the system of sanctions and also for remove Cuba from the list of states that allegedly sponsor terrorism.

Meanwhile, the president of Dominica, Sylvanie Burton, advocated continuing the fight to end the long-standing siege because “it harms the people of Cuba and also damages the image of its sponsors.”

“The trade embargo (…) continues to be a cause of great concern for us in the Caribbean. Its uprising is increasingly urgent. Therefore, the Commonwealth of Dominica once again adds its voice to the overwhelming majority of members of this global organization to call for the immediate withdrawal of trade restrictions and export bans,” she stated, and added that these are unjustified and unjustifiable measures, outdated and belonging to a bygone era.

The representatives of Suriname, Dominica, Brazil, Namibia, Honduras, Angola, Guinea Bissau and Colombia also spoke against the North American blockade and the demand for the elimination of Cuba from the State Department’s list of countries who allegedly sponsor terrorism. (Source: Prensa Latina)

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Cuban leader Raúl Castro meets with visiting Vietnamese president To Lam

Havana, September 27 (RHC)– The leader of the Cuban Revolution, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, held a meeting this Friday with the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (PCV) and president of that nation, To Lam, who is in Cuba on a state visit.

During the dialogue, Raúl — in visibly good health, despite reports from Miami that he passed away last week — highlighted the importance of Vietnam’s participation in the National Economic and Social Development Plan of the Caribbean nation until 2030.

One political observer jokingly quipped that Raul looked really good for someone who was reported to be dead just a few days ago.  

Both Raul and To Lam referred to the historic ties of friendship and the excellent state of relations between their peoples, Parties and governments.  In addition, they ratified the common will to strengthen them.

Lam was accompanied by Nguyen Hoa Binh, member of the Political Bureau and first vice prime minister; Le Hoai Trung, member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the CPV and head of the Foreign Relations Commission, and Bui Thanh Son, member of the Central Committee of the CPV and vice prime minister and minister of foreign affairs.

Present on the Cuban side were members of the Political Bureau, Army Corps General Álvaro López Miera, Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, and Division General Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas, Minister of the Interior, as well as Gerardo Peñalver Portal, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

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Cuban officials will exchange with Colombian university students

September 25, 2024  Radio Habana Cuba

Cuban officials and intellectuals will hold meetings with Colombian university students starting today in Bogotá, with the purpose of strengthening the historical and academic ties between both nations.

The meetings are part of the activities prior to the celebration of the 33rd National Meeting of the Colombian Solidarity Movement with Cuba to be held in the coming days, and will extend until September 30.

Today includes a discussion at the Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, in which Elier Ramírez, deputy director of the Fidel Castro Center and deputy to the Assembly of People’s Power of Cuba and Yara Valero, official of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with Peoples (ICAP), will participate.

Meanwhile, the conversation Latin America and US imperialism, a historical perspective will take place tomorrow, in which Ramírez and the Colombian intellectual Renán Vega will participate, at the Francisco José de Caldas District University.

Next Monday, September 30, Fernando González, president of ICAP and Hero of the Republic of Cuba, will deliver the conference The economic blockade and its impact on Cuban education, at the La Macarena headquarters of the Francisco José de Caldas District University.

González, Ramírez and Valero will also participate in the sessions of the National Meeting of the Colombian Movement of Solidarity with Cuba, which will take place from the 27th to the 29th at the Gabriel García Márquez Cultural Center.

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Cuba rejects unilateral tax measures and foreign interference

Havana, September 26 (RHC)– The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, ratified today at the United Nations the rejection of tax measures and interventionist campaigns against Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Speaking at the XXIV Political Council of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), the Cuban Foreign Minister reiterated the firmest support for the Government of President Nicolás Maduro, of Venezuela, and for the civil-military union of his people.

As reported in X ALBA-TCP, Rodríguez Parrilla stated that it is only up to Venezuelans to settle their own affairs, free from external interference.

At the meeting taking place today in New York, within the framework of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Foreign Minister stressed that, like the aforementioned South American nation, Nicaragua is the target of unjust, unilateral tax measures and fierce interventionist campaigns by the Washington government.

He also assured that the Caribbean community has and will always have a sister in Cuba who accompanies them in their right to receive fair and special treatment. (Source: ACN)

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Vietnamese president pays tribute to Ho Chi Minh in Cuba

Photo: Estudios Revolución

Havana, September 27 (RHC) –The General Secretary of the Communist Party and President of Vietnam, To Lam, will pays tribute Friday to the independence hero of that Asian nation, Ho Chi Minh, as part of the agenda of his state visit to Cuba.

The day before, on Thursday, the First Secretary of the Communist Party and President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz Canel, officially welcomed To Lam at the Palace of the Revolution, where both leaders held official talks.

Earlier, the leaders spoke at the Hotel Nacional in the capital, shortly before beginning a tour of the Mariel Special Development Zone (45 kilometers west of Havana) where Vietnam is the second country in number of investment projects, including the ViMariel Industrial Park.

On Thursday, the Vietnamese president was also received at the National Capitol by the president of the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP, Parliament), Esteban Lazo.

During their meeting, both authorities ratified the will to continue developing interparliamentary relations and collaboration between the two peoples.

To Lam also met with Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, who expressed Cuba’s solidarity and permanent support for the Vietnamese people after the devastating passage of Typhoon Yagi, the worst and most destructive meteorological phenomenon that has hit that nation in the last six decades.

The Indochinese leader concludes his state visit to the island on Friday, the second one made abroad since he assumed the highest Party responsibility, after having visited China in August. (Source: Prensa Latina)

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Bolivia ratifies support for Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua

Celinda Sosa, Bolivian Foreign Minister, Sept 25, 2024 Photo: UN

United Nations, September 26 (RHC)– Bolivian Foreign Minister Celinda Sosa, on behalf of the Bolivian government, reaffirmed on Wednesday at the UN General Assembly her country’s support for countries sanctioned with “unilateral” measures such as Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, and also expressed “full support” for the self-determination of Palestine.

Sosa maintained that Bolivia recognizes the international community “as a space of solidarity and cooperation under the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations,” and therefore rejects “unilateral coercive measures which violate the most basic human rights and delay the development of many peoples.”

“We express our solidarity with Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and all the countries of the world that unjustly suffer these unilateral sanctions,” she said.  The Bolivian foreign minister also expressed the “most emphatic rejection of the economic, financial and commercial blockade by the United States” against Cuba, an “injustice” that “is aggravated when the United States unilaterally” incorporates the island “on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism”.

Sosa lamented that the “occupation, forced displacements and genocide” have led Palestine to “devastation and destruction, creating an open-air prison for thousands and thousands of people, mainly children and women.”

For the Bolivian foreign minister, peace and security in Palestine “will not be achieved without a real commitment to respect for human rights and an end to genocide.”

For this reason, she reaffirmed Bolivia’s “full support” for the “self-determination and independence of Palestine” and expressed her wish that it “should soon be established as a full state in the United Nations Assembly.”

The top diplomat also referred to Bolivia’s centenary maritime claim against Chile, which was brought in 2013 by the Andean country before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague.

Bolivia was looking for a ruling that would force Chile to negotiate firm sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean, which it lost in a war in 1879, but in 2018 the UN court ruled that the Chilean state has no legal obligation to do so.

Sosa pointed out that the court urged in its ruling that both nations engage in dialogue and assured that her country “is ready to enter into dialogue when its counterpart agrees.

“We are sure that with the support and accompaniment of all of you, we will maintain and strengthen our democracy and the institutionality of our country,” added Sosa, who earlier denounced to the G20 the “destabilization attempts” against the Bolivian government.

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Vietnamese president begins visit to Cuba

Havana, September 26 (RHC) — The General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President, To Lam arrived in Cuba this Wednesday to begin a state visit until Friday, September 27th.

Upon his arrival at the José Martí International Airport in Havana, the dignitary was received by the Secretary of Organization of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), Roberto Morales Ojeda.

During his stay on the island, the distinguished visitor will hold official talks with the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel.

As part of his work agenda on the Caribbean island, To Lam will meet with other authorities and carry out various activities related to strengthening ties between both nations.   (Source: Prensa Latina)

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Guyana and Dominica reaffirm support for Cuba at the UN

Havana, September 26 (RHC) Guyana and Dominica renewed before the UN their condemnation and the demand that the US economic, financial and commercial blockade against Cuba be immediately ended.

In his speech at the 79th General Assembly of the United Nations, the Guyanese president, Irfaan Ali, denounced that the island sees the right to development diminished by the coercive measure, after reaffirming the call for the lifting of the system of sanctions and also for remove Cuba from the list of states that allegedly sponsor terrorism.

Meanwhile, the president of Dominica, Sylvanie Burton, advocated continuing the fight to end the long-standing siege because “it harms the people of Cuba and also damages the image of its sponsors.”

“The trade embargo (…) continues to be a cause of great concern for us in the Caribbean. Its uprising is increasingly urgent. Therefore, the Commonwealth of Dominica once again adds its voice to the overwhelming majority of members of this global organization to call for the immediate withdrawal of trade restrictions and export bans,” she stated, and added that these are unjustified and unjustifiable measures, outdated and belonging to a bygone era.

The representatives of Suriname, Dominica, Brazil, Namibia, Honduras, Angola, Guinea Bissau and Colombia also spoke against the North American blockade and the demand for the elimination of Cuba from the State Department’s list of countries who allegedly sponsor terrorism. (Source: Prensa Latina)

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