Havana, 22 August (Radio Habana Cuba) – Mexican senators and deputies on Wednesday asked their government to reiterate to the United States the demand for the removal of Cuba from the unilateral list of state sponsors of terrorism drawn up by Washington.

The legislators signed a declaration presented by the president of the Senate and the board of the Permanent Commission of the Congress of the Union, Ana Lilia Rivera.

The document denounces the background of this unjust decision, its harmful consequences for Cuba and that it constitutes a violation of the fundamental principles of international law.

They recalled that the Government of Mexico has categorically condemned the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by Washington on the largest island of the Antilles for more than six decades, as well as the decision to apply Title III of the Helms-Burton Act.

They emphasized that the inclusion in the list of state sponsors of terrorism has had incalculable negative consequences for the economic development of the Cuban people.

They emphasized that this measure is contrary to the fundamental principles of international law, including the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of States, the peaceful settlement of disputes, and the legal equality of States”.

The congressmen’s action was in response to an agreement approved by the Cuba-Mexico Parliamentary Friendship Group, which met in Mexico City last August 10. (Source: Prensa Latina)

By Carlos Serpa Maceira

Havana, August 23 (Radio Habana Cuba) — The Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) ratified their militant solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and President Nicolás Maduro Moros, democratically elected at the polls on July 28, 2024.

In a statement made public in Havana, the largest mass organization on the island highlights that the people defied the roadblocks, the riots, the economic sabotage and the international antennas, defeated with their votes the strategy of Imperialism and the oblivion and a position that has not hesitated to unleash the most brutal expressions of cruelty. The cynicism of all those who try to blame the government and the defenders of the people for the crimes committed is offensive.

The CDRs also denounce in their statement the launching of a well-coordinated international operation directed from Washington, with the support of the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, aimed at silencing the voice of the Venezuelan people, ignoring their will and imposing their surrender through attacks and economic sanctions.

The CDRs conclude: “The more than 8 million members of the CDR are with you. You are not alone. The Chavista Revolution will continue.  Cuba and its people are at your side.”

We reaffirm the commitment assumed in our statement to support the defense of Venezuela and the dignified, courageous and constructive position of President Nicolas Maduro.

The CDRs, founded in 1960 by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, will celebrate their 64th anniversary next September.

Havana, Aug. 20 (Radio Habana Cuba) Cuba received 1.4 million international visitors from January to July 2024, the National Statistics and Information Office (ONEI) reported Tuesday, at a time when several local hotels are winning new world awards.

 Among the main issuing markets were Canada, the Cuban diaspora, Russia, the United States, Germany, Mexico, Spain, France, Argentina and Italy.

The category of international visitors includes those who come to Cuba for leisure, recreation, business or other personal reasons, excluding those who travel here to carry out paid activities.

According to the report, the cumulative figure from January to July represented 98.2 percent of that recorded in the same period of 2023, which meant 26,230 fewer incoming travelers.

The total number, regardless of the reason or means of transport, amounted to 1,905,644 during the period under analysis, a 99.2 percent compared to the same term of the previous year, the ONEI referred.

During the same period, two Cuban hotels were recognized among the best in the world: the Iberostar Grand Packard in Havana and the Mystique Trinidad La Popa by Royalton in Trinidad.

The survey for the Best Hotels in the World in 2024 gave the award to those tourist establishments that beat other 25 similar establishments, as reported by the Tripadvisor website. (Source: PL)

Havana, August 20 (Radio Habana Cuba) — The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) issued a statement on Tuesday in which the island’s government denies any type of involvement in alleged actions of repression, espionage, persecution and torture in Venezuela.

According to the text, the desperation to hide the failure of coup plans in the South American nation led a representative of the U.S. oligarchies and geostrategic interests “to try to deceive public opinion with false and malicious accusations” against Cuba.

“Regarding the aforementioned promoter of lies, it has recently been revealed that she has received millions of dollars from a U.S. lobbying group, with the purpose of financing her campaign and generating destabilization in Venezuela,” the document adds.

The MINREX statement clarifies that “it is not Cuba that interferes – and will never do so – in the political and economic life of another country with sanctions, pressures and plans for regime change.”

And it is not Cuba, it reiterates, that launches a media campaign to undermine Venezuelan institutions, putting the lives of thousands of people at risk and ignoring the will of the majority.

“Once again, invention and delirium come to life in the construction of a matrix of lies against Cuba,” the communication points out.

The statement also specifies that the Foreign Ministry denounced on July 31, August 2 and August 10 that “those who try to impose slander on Cuba are the same ones who support and practice interference, manipulation and encouragement of violence.”

“The Venezuelan oligarchy knows full well that the Bolivarian Revolution put an end to decades of torture, forced disappearances and murders,” it points out.

The statement by Cuba’s Foreign Ministry indicates that the irresponsible falsifiers of reality “ignore the massive practices of interference and repression of their mentors, the United States of America.”   It also recalls that “the U.S. role in supporting Operation Condor in Latin America and the Caribbean and the training of mercenaries and coup-plotting military forces is well known.”

The MINREX text affirms that Washington “was responsible for the methods of torture and horror against detainees in Guantanamo, illegally occupied Cuban territory.”

“Even in that same country, repressive practice against its own people continue to be recorded, such as the one that occurred a few months ago against university students who were demonstrating against the genocide in Gaza.” 

It also “emphatically rejects the falsehoods that are fabricated to reinforce the harassment policy of various U.S. administrations, which includes the tightening of the economic blockade and the irrational inclusion of Cuba on a unilateral list of States that supposedly sponsor terrorism.”

“The indecorum and lies that the right uses as a banner will never be able to undermine the integrity of the Cuban Revolution, nor will they be able to overcome the will of the people.”     (Source: Prensa Latina)