Havana, September 13 (Radio Habana Cuba) — Despite the annual claims of the international community, the U.S. blockade continues today as the greatest obstacle to the development of Cuba and systematically violates the fundamental rights of the Cuban people.

According to Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, the Washington’s blockade constitutes the most ruthless, comprehensive and prolonged economic war policy ever imposed on any country.

This was denounced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs this Thursday when releasing the report The Need to End the Economic, Commercial and Financial Blockade Imposed by the United States of America Against Cuba, which will be presented in October for approval by the United Nations General Assembly.

The document states that, as a result of this policy, Cuba suffered losses of 5 billion 56.8 million dollars from March 1, 2023 to February 29, 2024, which represents an increase of almost 200 million compared to the previous report last year at this time.

In his address before media representatives accredited in Havana, Bruno Rodríguez asserted that the approximate impact is more than 421 million dollars per month, or 13.8 million dollars per day, and pointed out that in six decades, these losses rose to 1 trillion 499 billion dollars.

If such a policy did not exist, the island’s Gross Domestic Product could have grown by eight percent during 2023, he stressed.

The foreign minister specified that the arbitrary inclusion of Cuba on the State Department’s list of countries that supposedly sponsor terrorism deepens the difficulties and significantly affects Cuban families.  Cuba is a victim of terrorism that is organized and financed from United States territory, he denounced.

The minister praised the foreign support for Cuba, evident in the growing calls within American society to end coercive measures and the Caribbean country’s link to international terrorism.

Cuba is not alone in confronting this multidimensional siege, Rodríguez recalled, pointing out that since 1992, the international community has ratified the rejection of this policy, reinforced to unprecedented levels during the impact of COVID-19.   (Source: Prensa Latina)

Havana, September 12 (Radio Habana Cuba) — The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez, will present today to the national and foreign press accredited in Havana the most up-to-date report on the effects of the United States blockade against Cuba.

The document covers the effects caused by the economic, commercial and financial blockade from March 2023 to February 2024, while illustrating the consequences that the US policy has had on various sectors of Cuban society.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Rodríguez will appear live, starting at 11:30 (local time), on the channels Cubavisión, Canal Caribe, Cubavisión Internacional, Radio Havana Cuba, and via streaming on the YouTube channel and the Facebook account of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The National Assembly of People’s Power made available to the public the “Report of Cuba under resolution 78/7 of the United Nations General Assembly,” which details the serious effects that the blockade has had on the Cuban economy, affecting the well-being of the population and the development of key areas such as health, education and food.

It also details the impact of the policy on Cuba’s foreign trade and international financial relations, which have been severely limited by the sanctions imposed by the US government.

Since 1992, the international community has ratified its rejection of this policy, reinforced to unprecedented levels during the impact of Covid-19 with the stated purpose of strangling the country’s economy to bring about a change of regime.  (Source: Prensa Latina)

Havana, Sep 2 (Prensa Latina) More than 1.6 million general education students in Cuba will begin the 2024-2024 school year by receiving basic resources required for a quality education despite economic limitations.

According to statements by the head of the Ministry of Education (MINED), Naima Trujillo, essential methodological, technical and logistical assurances have been secured.

After touring the country and speaking with directors, teachers and local authorities, the minister explained that the course enrollment is similar to previous ones despite Cuba’s complex demographic dynamics. The sector has about 156 thousand teachers and professors to provide educational coverage.

Trujillo explained that the staff will gradually grow through strategies promoted for its total completion, including greater remuneration for the execution of teaching activities in other schools.

The minister also praised the appropriation of new digital skills by educators that will facilitate interaction with these communication platforms as a way to strengthen the quality of the teaching and learning process.

The determination to raise educational standards is the focus of what is known as the Third Improvement of Cuban Education which, among other priorities, addresses political-ideological work, the prevention of social problems, care for families in vulnerable situations and students comprehensive education, Trujillo noted.

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Havana, September 11 (Radio Habana Cuba) Lebanese solidarity today joined the international demand for the exclusion of Cuba from Washington’s terrorism list.

Presidents and directors of the Friendship Association, the José Martí Latin American Solidarity Group, and the Union of Palestinian Doctors and Pharmacists in Lebanon supported the call of Casa de las Américas to support the open letter from the writer and journalist Ignacio Ramonet to President Joe Biden.

The escalation of the blockade measures is aggravated by the permanence of Cuba on the State Department’s terrorism list. Such inclusion has serious economic consequences, since US regulatory agencies rigorously apply the coercive measures that make up the complex framework of the blockade.

In this sense, the Cuban representation in Beirut denounced the damage caused to the Cuban people as a result of contract closures, loss of relationships with banking entities, delays in the sending and receiving of funds, food, medicines, fuel, materials and parts.

However, Washington continues to ignore the position of the international community and the provisions of countless resolutions of the UN General Assembly demanding the lifting of the blockade, which was reinforced by the Trump administration and maintained by that of his successor’s.  (Source: Prensa Latina)

Havana, September 11 (Radio Habana Cuba) — The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel, received the Executive Director of the U.S. organization Pastors for Peace, Gail Walker, at the Palace of the Revolution on Tuesday.

Gail explained to the president that she is accompanying 12 young people from the United States who are beginning their studies at the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM).  During the meeting, the U.S. social activist highlighted that the graduates studying in Cuba from her country practice a deeply humanistic medicine.

According to the official account of the Presidency of the Republic on the social network X, to date, 234 American students of low economic resources have been trained at ELAM, since the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, offered the first scholarships in 2000.

The Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO)-Pastors for Peace was founded by Gail’s father, the Reverend Lucius Walker, Jr. which has maintained relations of solidarity with the Caribbean nation for over 30 years.

The United States-Cuba Friendship Caravan or, simply, the Caravan of Pastors for Peace, brought to the island in 1992, in its first caravan, 15 tons of aid destined for the health and education sectors, two of the hardest hit by the hostile policy of Washingotn’s blockade against the Caribbean island nation.  (Source: Prensa Latina)