San José, Apr 6 (Prensa Latina) If the United States blockade had no repercussion on Cuba’s development, why insist on it when Washington’s intention to overthrow the Cuban government is obvious, Costa Rican political scientist Alberto Solom reflected.

In an article published in the newspaper La República, the academic and former rector of the National University analyzed how the Helms-Burton Act tightened the economic and political blockade against Cuba.

Its enforcement implied the decision of the United States to put into effect Title III of that law, which had been pending, in the face of certain objections by the European Union and Canada, because their investors would be implicated in the sanctions if they invest in Cuba.

The repercussions of the law have extended until today, since, during the Donald Trump administration, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the government would fully implement it since it had been suspended, as of May 2, 2019, Solom said.

In his article, he also reviewed the history of this policy, since its enforcement in 1962.

In this regard, he emphasized that today the companies owned by European investors or other non-US nationalities that have not invested in assets nationalized by the Cuban Revolution six decades ago have been exempted from the sanctions.

The former Costa Rican congressman claimed that the discussion of this issue cannot be an ideological matter, as the United States has tried to make it seem.

If it were so, how is it that the majority of US politicians who have promoted the blockade against Cuba do not repudiate the acts by the Israeli Government of Benjamin Netanyahu, which are based on the use of force and which are clearly a violation of the most elementary human rights of the civilian population of Palestine.

Why are they silent in the face of Joe Biden’s own government, which has maintained an attitude of underhanded or covert support for Israel’s atrocious actions?” Solom wonders.

More recently, the US administration vetoed a United Nations resolution calling for humanitarian pauses in the Israeli Government’s rampant actions in order to deliver aid to Gaza.

The scholar recalled that under the administration of President George Bush, the United States took it upon itself to invade Iraq, claiming the existence of weapons of mass destruction that were never found, leaving in its wake destruction and deaths of thousands of Iraqis.

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Havana, Apr 6 (Prensa Latina) Members of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) received a delegation from the United States headed by Democratic State Senator Gordon Johnson, it was reported here on Saturday.

The artists and writers welcomed the visitors on Friday and explained to them how the economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed by Washington for decades affects Cuban culture and its creators and the rich cultural tradition that unites both peoples, UNEAC published on its Facebook profile.

The members of the delegation were interested in Cuba’s history, the fight against racism and discrimination, and artistic and university education programs.

They also learned about the obstacles caused by Cuba’s inclusion (by the United States) on the State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT) list.

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Havana, Apr 4 (Prensa Latina) The president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, today predicted better prospects in the distribution of the regulated family food basket for the months of April and May, when appearing in the information space From the Presidency.

The president shared that certainty with the audiences from the arrival of volumes of rice in Cuban ports, until the month of June, and the existence of the wheat necessary to ensure flour for the population’s bread in the following quarter.

According to the Minister of Internal Trade, Betsy Díaz, and the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Oscar Pérez-Oliva, there are signed contracts that guarantee the continuity of the marketing of these in-demand inputs.

The head of the Domestic Trade portfolio explained that in the month of April, coffee, oil, chicken were also available, and the volumes of rice were favored by a donation from China and three other countries, which will allow for increased deliveries to consumers.

The head of state explained the enormous efforts made by the government to deliver the basic food basket without fragmentation and without interruption and recalled the enormous pressures exerted by the United States blockade against the island.

This unilateral policy by Washington prevents access to essential financing to pay for products, applies sanctions to international suppliers and banks, which harms the well-being of the Cuban population.

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Havana, Apr 4 (Prensa Latina) The 12th Congress of the Cuban Young Communist League (UJC, in Spanish) concludes on Thursday after three days of intense debates to improve the organization’s work and its support to the new generations.

On Wednesday, the delegates approved changes to the UJC’s statutes to revitalize the organization’s life, consolidate it as a true vanguard, expand its reach and influence, and improve its political-ideological work.

Those changes resulted in a broad grassroots debate in which 21 of 5,106 proposals were modified.

The delegates and guests to the forum also analyzed in commissions the organic functioning of the UJC, political-ideological work, the participation of the new generations in the economic struggle, the defense of the homeland, and the attention to the youth in the social sphere.

The 12th Congress of the UJC, in addition to being a space for reflection, became a platform this Wednesday to denounce the effects of the US blockade and Cuba’s inclusion in the unilateral list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

Representatives of different Cuban sectors explained how the unilateral siege limits the possibilities of growth in their field, despite this nation’s efforts to overcome those obstacles.

The UJC, which celebrates its 62nd anniversary this Thursday, is the vanguard political organization of Cuban youth, the continuation of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), and the leading source for joining its ranks.

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