Ciego de Avila, Cuba, Apr 11 (Prensa Latina) The agro-industrial company Ceballos, in this central Cuban province, recovers the presence of its products in the international market, mainly habanero chili (hot bell pepper) and charcoal.

Located in the center of Ciego de Avila, the entity for the first time began exporting hot bell pepper puree to Europe and Canada, its traditional customers, the company’s director, Exnier Gonzalez, said.

He pointed out that with the new product, they close the production cycle since they can take advantage of up to 40% of the harvest because sometimes the fruit does not meet the essential requirements for sales abroad.

After four years of non-compliance with the exportable plan, the directors and workers of DCballos, the entity’s commercial firm, have the strong purpose of increasing the offers to its main markets and expect to exceed 20 million pesos at the end of the first semester, he said.

He explained that in addition to habanero chili and charcoal, DCballos also exports fresh fruits and industrialized products such as mango puree.

The Avila-based company will increase planting areas of the vegetable and will promote it as a strategic product, in the coming year, to meet the high demand for hot peppers in the markets of Canada, France, and the Netherlands, where prices range between 2,000 and 2,900 dollars per ton.

DCballos is well known in the foreign market for its exclusive chili bell pepper production, which had achieved remarkable growth levels before the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Havana, April 9 (Prensa Latina) The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez, today expressed his country’s condemnation of the assault on the Mexican embassy in Ecuador, during his intervention at the virtual meeting of foreign ministers of the CELAC.

Rodríguez denounced the event before the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which he described as an attack on Mexican sovereignty, which could set a very serious precedent and endanger international relations and cooperation between States.

The head of Cuban diplomacy stressed in his account on the social network “We defend the force of law”, he said.

He highlighted that Latin America and the Caribbean is and must continue to be a zone of peace, as Celac proclaimed in Havana 10 years ago.

The Foreign Minister reiterated the solidarity and support of his country to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to his counterpart Alicia Bárcena and to the Mexican people.

He asserted that the Mexican nation can count on Cuba’s willingness and will accompany them in the actions they undertake in the face of this serious transgression of International Law.

After the events, in which Ecuadorian forces entered the Mexican diplomatic headquarters to remove former vice president Jorge Glas, who was there as a political asylum, Mexico broke diplomatic ties with Ecuador.

Ecuador could be sanctioned by the International Court of Justice after the invasion of the Mexican embassy, a fact that continues to generate rejection today from several countries and organizations.

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Bogotá, Apr 10 (Prensa Latina) Interest in Cuba is growing in Latin America, not only as a vacation destination but also for other offers associated with health tourism and event and incentive programs, the tourism counselor at the Cuban embassy in Colombia, Ivis Fernández, told Prensa Latina.

The expert stated that Peru is one of the South American markets they work with, and although there has been progress regarding the growth of trips to Cuba, it still has many potentialities. She highlighted that Peru exhibits an advantage by having direct Lima-Havana flights, with an increase of up to five weekly flights on planes carrying more than 180 passengers.

The diplomat said that Cuba’s upcoming participation in the 6th International Tourism Fair of Colombia will make it easier for Cuba to continue positioning itself in that market and achieve greater growth. “This is a good opportunity because all the country’s tourism professionals meet there, and we are going to have a presentation of the destination to the entire wholesale tour operation, where there will also be the presence of the specialized and non-specialized press until April 12TH”, she highlighted.

Fernández pointed out that Brazil occupies the largest number of seats on the direct Lima-Havana flights. “We also have the challenge of connecting São Paulo via the Boa line, which is flying from Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia; and it has already been announced that the Gol airline will begin to fly from Brazil to Colombia, from where Avianca will begin to operate on daily flights to Cuba at the end of the first semester”, which will allow Brazilians to reach Cuba more easily thanks to Avianca’s daily flights, which are added to the Wingo company’s direct flights from Bogotá to Havana five times a week.

Fernández will participate in the largest tourism fair in Brazil, which will take place in São Paulo between April 15th and 17th. During the event, more than 12 nations have expressed interest in conducting business with Cuba, whose delegation will ease the promotion of these negotiations.

“In the context of this fair, we also have a presentation of the destination in one of its rooms, and the places, which are limited by the number of seats, are filled, and we continue to have demand. The level of demands towards Cuba has been growing from these markets,” the official emphasized.

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Havana, Apr 10 (Prensa Latina) Cuba believes in dialogue as a way to overcome the diplomatic crisis caused by the unacceptable assault on the Mexican Embassy in Ecuador, President Miguel Díaz-Canel stated on Wednesday.

On his X account, the head of State noted, “We believe in the force of Law and not in the right to force,” expressed by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez at the ministerial meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

On Tuesday, the head of Cuban diplomacy proposed to CELAC to issue an urgent statement to condemn the violation perpetrated by Ecuador against the Mexican Embassy in Quito and the aggression against its diplomatic staff.

Rodríguez called on the regional bloc to react with a firm and united voice in the face of these unacceptable events, which impact the entire community.

According to the Cuban foreign minister, the statement should urge the Government of Ecuador to comply strictly with its international obligations and act in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Rodríguez proposed to Honduras, in his capacity as president pro tempore of CELAC, that the document should call on the parties concerned to use dialogue or any other resource within International Law to resolve their differences.

The statement must also endorse the validity of the postulates of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace and the commitment by all the States of our region to its strict observance.

The foreign minister reiterated Cuba’s solidarity with and support for Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and all his people in the face of the unacceptable violation and abuse of Mexico’s Embassy in Quito.

“Mexico can and will always count on our willingness and will to accompany it in the actions it undertakes in the face of this serious transgression,” Rodríguez stressed.

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Havana, Apr 8 (Prensa Latina) Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said on Monday that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is the largest military emitter of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) in the planet.

On his official X account, he noted that the alliance’s goal of increasing military spending to two percent of its members’ GDP is a serious threat to global efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change.

Recently, the head of Cuban diplomacy stated on the same social network that NATO’s military carbon footprint went from 196 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (C02) in 2021 to 226 million in 2023.

Those numbers exceed the GHG emissions of 80 percent of the countries of the world, he pointed out.

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