Problems mobilizing resources limit Unicef’s reach in Cuba

Havana, July 8 (Prensa Latina) The representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) here, Alejandra Trossero, considered the difficulties in mobilizing resources, today limit the scope and impact of that agency’s work in Cuba.

Unlike other countries, Cuba has a small group of donors due to the problems we know about and the sanctions imposed on it.

There are many difficulties in articulating donations and cooperation, she assured in statements to Prensa Latina.

These circumstances, she said, “put the country at a disadvantage, especially with respect to financing for development, because there are very big limitations to obtaining the specific funds it needs.”

Despite this, she is “very satisfied with Unicef’s results in the nation during 2023, “mainly because it maintains very positive working ties” with state agencies and institutions.

We did, she commented, intense work in the maternal and child area, with emphasis on “strengthening the capabilities of health professionals to care for newborns with low weight or other complications.”

We reinforced neonatology services in 19 centers, bringing necessary supplies to save lives, and at the same time we trained nearly 5 thousand professionals in that area alone, said Trossero, Unicef ​​representative in Cuba since January 2022.

“We also bring vaccines. Cuba has great capacity to produce them, but one in particular, for children under one year old, cannot be produced. We are committed to bringing them every year,” she explained.

It is, she pointed out, the so-called triple vaccine (it can prevent measles, mumps and rubella) and last year we brought 93 thousand doses.

In 2023, as she reported, “cold chains were also strengthened to transport and protect vaccines,” in addition to “incorporating high-performance ambulances to assist pregnant women in critical condition, which will allow them to reach more than 30,000 pregnant women.” All this work, she stressed, was possible due to the coordination and joint efforts with the Pan American Health Organization and the World Food Program, among other agencies.

I want to highlight the support for the nutrition of pregnant women and newborns. We promote breastfeeding as the best food and, with the Government, we work to ensure dietary diversity for the mother and thus guarantee good nutrition for the child, he highlighted.

Obviously, he declared, we want to do much more, because we know the difficult situation in the country…, and the truth is, sometimes we feel a little frustration for not being able to, although we do everything within our power.

“One of the biggest concerns is the lack of pediatric medications. It is a priority to obtain financing to be able to bring them. I know the reality of the country and that is a strong personal commitment, not only from Unicef,” he stated.

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Cuban president receives credentials of new ambassadors

Havana, Jul 8 (Prensa Latina) Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel today received the credentials of three new ambassadors who will represent their respective countries in Cuba.

Accompanied by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, the head of State welcomed the diplomats at the Palace of the Revolution, the Presidency of the Republic reported on X.

As part of the event, the ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Sherif Reda Ahmed Shehata; of the Republic of India, Thongkhomang Armstrong Changsan; and of the People’s Republic of China, Hua Xin, presented their credentials.

The president expressed his gratitude for the historic support to Cuba by these nations, which he described as sisters.

Díaz-Canel affirmed that the ambassadors will be able to count on all the help of the Government and the Foreign Ministry to carry out their work.

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Cuba highlights the liberating spirit of the Venezuelan people

Havana, Jul 5 (Prensa Latina) The Venezuelan ambassador to Cuba, Orlando Maneiro, highlighted here today the liberating feeling and spirit of the Venezuelan people, on the occasion of the 213th anniversary of the independence of this South American nation.

While laying a wreath at the Simon Bolivar Monument located on Presidents’ Avenue in this capital, the diplomat stressed that it is a day of glory, when Venezuelans also celebrate the creation of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces.

The commemoration was also attended by ambassadors and representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Cuba, as well as the Foreign Affairs Ministry and political and mass organizations of the Caribbean nation.

As part of the actions to commemorate the anniversary, a wreath was also laid in Havana’s José Martí Central Park and a political-cultural event was planned.

Cuba and Venezuela maintain solid political, economic and cultural relations, in addition to coinciding in governmental positions and practices on important issues of bilateral, regional and global interest.

The Venezuelan government and people celebrate their National Day today, on the occasion of the signing, on July 5, 1811, of the act of independence from the former Spanish colony.

With the declaration of independence, a new state and nation with a republican form of government was also formed.

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Cuba dismantles terrorist plan organized from the U.S.

Havana, Jul 7 (Prensa Latina) Forces of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) dismantled a terrorist plan against Cuba, organized and financed from the United States, that institution informed through a note published in the Granma newspaper.

The text details that as a result of the investigation carried out by the specialized bodies of the MININT, the citizen Ardenys García Álvarez was arrested. He illegally penetrated and entered Cuba with firearms and ammunition by sea, as well as other implicated persons residing in the national territory.

García Álvarez had immigrated to that northern country, illegally, in 2014.

According to the MININt’s note, the action was part of a new recruitment plan to carry out violent actions. The ministry recalled that in December 2023 the Cuban government published in the Official Gazette of the Republic the list of persons and entities who sponsor terrorism against Cuba.

Two days later, preliminary information was released on the neutralization of a new recruitment plan to carry out violent actions in our country, which was intended to be carried out by a Cuban citizen living in the United States, the text pointed out.

The Ministry of the Interior prevented the realization of the plans designed, directed, and financed, once again, by the United States. This has generated an investigative process focused on the facts and the persons involved.

This Monday, July 8, at the end of the Cuban Television National News Broadcast, a special program will be offered with the evidence that proves the terrorist plans and actions, as well as those principally involved.

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Belarus and Cuba to strengthen collaboration in defense

Minsk, Jul 5 (Prensa Latina) The Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba, Alvaro López Miera, met with the Minister of Defense of Belarus, Victor Jrenin, in Minsk, where they agreed to strengthen military cooperation, the BelTA news agency reported.

The ministers noted the importance of continuing the practical vector of interaction to strengthen cooperation in the military field, according to a statement released on Friday.

The Ministry of Defense of Belarus pointed out that López and Jrenin also summarized the provisional results of the joint work of the defense organizations in the first half of the year.

The Cuban minister arrived in Minsk on Monday to participate in the celebrations on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from German fascism.

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Quimi-Vio, Cuba’s new vaccine for children

Havana, Jul 5 (Prensa Latina) The Cuban anti-pneumococcal vaccine Quimi-Vio was officially certified today by the Center of Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices of the Republic of Cuba, after a rigorous evaluation process.

After concluding all the required clinical trials, which show sufficient evidence of quality, safety and efficacy, the regulatory Center granted the registration to the injectable vaccine, developed and produced by the Finlay Vaccine Institute (IFV), a project it began in 2012.

“It is a very complex vaccine, which, when introduced in the countries that have already used it, has led to a significant improvement in children’s health indicators in terms of respiratory disease morbidity and infant mortality due to infections,” Dagmar García, director of Research at the IFV, recently said.

The first study with Quimi-Vio was carried out in the central province of Cienfuegos in 2023 “and on that occasion more than 90 percent of all children between one and five years of age were vaccinated. It was approximately 11,600 children, the specialist recalled.

Garcia further said that, in Cienfuegos, in 2018 and 2019, community clinical trial was carried out, in which 93 percent of all children between one and five years of age was injected.

“One year after immunizing them, a 63 percent reduction in hospitalization rates for respiratory disease was observed; and a 73 percent reduction in invasive pneumococcal disease, for the serotypes contained in the vaccine,” he added.

In June this year, it was announced that an intervention study against pneumococcal disease in infants under one year of age (two, four and 11 months old) will be carried out with Quimi-Vio also in Cienfuegos. According to the main researcher of the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK) of Cuba, María Eugenia Toledo, Quimi-Vio will protect infants under one year of age from 11 serotypes that produce pneumococcal disease.

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Ethiopia and Cuba strengthen cooperation in water sector

Addis Ababa, Jul 6 (Prensa Latina) The delegation of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INRH) of Cuba concluded today the working visit to Ethiopia, during which an inter-institutional memorandum of understanding was signed to strengthen cooperation in the sector.

The document signed between the Ethiopian Ministry of Water and Energy and the INRH will implement the agreement established in 2014 between the two governments, the Havana embassy in Addis Ababa revealed.

The Cuban experts led by the vice president of the Institute, Javier Toledo Tapanes, arrived last July 1 in this capital with the aim of exploring collaboration areas.

Their presence follows a visit by the Minister of State for Water and Energy Asfaw Dingamo to the Caribbean island last year, which resulted in water assistance projects.

During their stay they toured water projects in the city of Adama and had a meeting with the director of the Ethiopian Meteorological Institute and president for the African continent of the World Meteorological Organization, Fiten Teshome.

Both parties agreed to work on capacity building in the meteorological sector.

They also visited the Ethiopian Institute of Water Technology where they talked with its directors, the source said.

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Continental Solidarity Network demands Cuba’s exclusion from terrorist list

Havana, Jul 5 (Radio Havana Cuba) The Latin American and Caribbean Continental Network of Solidarity with Cuba and Just Causes demanded in Buenos Aires the exclusion of the island from a list of alleged sponsors of terrorism, drawn up by the United States.

In a statement, the organization urged the deployment of a campaign in support of the largest of the Antilles and against the criminal blockade imposed by Washington on that nation, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

“We accept the challenge of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to build a great world movement against the economic, commercial and financial siege against Cuba. The Network is attentive to the call for this important creation,” the text states.

On the other hand, it urges to spread the transparency and security of Venezuela’s electoral system, to support President Nicolás Maduro and to defend the economic and social advances of the Bolivarian Revolution.

“We join the struggle for the independence of Puerto Rico and the peoples of the Caribbean,” the document adds.

The Network also repudiated the attempted coup d’état in Bolivia and denounced the provocations and messages of hate and xenophobia of the Argentine president, Javier Milei.

“Their actions put the region at risk. We dispose ourselves as militants to make the 2014 Declaration of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States a reality, which establishes that we are a Zone of Peace based on respect for the principles and norms of International Law,” the statement notes.” (Source: Prensa Latina)

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Cuban president: national tours allow learning

Havana, Jul 5 (Prensa Latina) Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel underscored the practical usefulness of the tours of municipalities that he does along with political and government teams, which generate learning about the realities of each place.

The visits are, in the first instance, an example of support for local authorities in the implementation of decisions indicated by higher authorities, the president explained in his podcast “From the Presidency,” published on Thursday.

Díaz-Canel confirmed that the country’s top leadership “is in the fight alongside its people” and in these contacts they can appreciate the problems beyond what the reports contain, which allows them to investigate the real situation by themselves, make decisions, contribute with solutions that in some cases have favored the exploitation of idle agricultural areas, the Cuban president noted.

The tours also address various social problems in the communities, in the health and education sectors, and stimulate the search for answers to labor demands, especially among young people.

The Cuban head of State also mentioned the territorial analysis of the budget deficit, price control, the fight against illegalities, as well as the strengthening of the socialist state company and its link with new economic players.

The president defended the method of constant dialogue with the people, a legacy from Fidel Castro that acquires high relevance for political work.

“The government’s agenda cannot be distanced from the people, and the visits are designed to analyze the problems and energize their solutions, which demands greater effort and work capacity from local authorities,” Díaz-Canel said.

“Direct dialogue with the people is teaching and learning, it allows for socializing experiences, systematizing criteria and gathering consensus,” said the president, who highlighted the commitment, responsibility and dedication of the country’s leadership at all levels.

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Argentine intellectuals demand end of US aggression against Cuba

Buenos Aires, Jul 5 (Prensa Latina) Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and several intellectuals and human rights defenders in Argentina on Friday supported the international demand to remove Cuba from a United States list of alleged state sponsors of terrorism.

Gathered at the Espacio para la Memoria Institute (IEM), Pérez Esquivel, writer Stella Calloni, the survivors of the last civil-military dictatorship (1976-1983) Ana María Careaga and Irma Medina, director and screenwriter Lita Stantic, the member of the American Association of Jurists Claudia Rocca, and photographer Adriana Lestido expressed their solidarity with Cuba and demanded an end to Washington’s aggression.

In a statement signed by them, the IEM demanded that the United States Government immediately and completely remove Cuba from that ominous and arbitrary list.

This unjust and unilateral decision violates the United Nations Charter and the resolutions of the General Assembly. What is even more serious, it adds to the damage of a criminal economic, commercial and financial blockade, whose extension over time subjects the Cuban people to suffering and inhuman conditions, and which fail to comply with international standards and human rights, the text states.

From the IEM we reiterate the urgent need to remove Cuba from that list and end the unjust blockade and all types of unilateral coercive measures against a worthy people, who do not submit to the pressures of the US Government, the message concludes.

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