Caravans against US blockade against Cuba in Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo, Feb 25 (Prensa Latina) Two caravans against the United States blockade against Cuba took place on Sunday simultaneously in this capital and Santiago de los Caballeros, in the north of the Dominican Republic.

Dozens of vehicles with Cuban and national flags, photos of Cuban National Hero José Martí, and signs that read “No to the Blockade against Cuba,” “Cuba Yes, Blockade No,” accompanied the caravans, organized by the members of the Solidarity Campaign with Cuba in the two territories.

Also present were representation of the Máximo Gómez Association of Cuban Residents in the Dominican Republic, headed by its president, Nelson Valdés.

From the exit of the Heroes Center, on the capital’s Enrique Jiménez Moya Avenue, to Parque de la Independencia, a historic site in the colonial zone, the voices of local people who spontaneously demanded an end to the US blockade against Cuba from the sidewalks were heard. On the occasion, Roberto Payano, National Coordinator of the Campaign, asked the Government of President Luis Abinader to intercede with the Joe Biden administration to change its policy on Cuba, another country that is friendly to the Dominican Republic, and to which we are united by historic relations.

Payano urged the US charge d’affaires in the Dominican Republic to notify his government that solidarity with Cuba here is attentive to the mistreatment of that friendly people who have resisted Washington’s hostile policy for more than six decades.

Keeping Cuba in an economic, commercial and financial blockade, which even prohibits third countries from selling food and medicine to the island, is a crime that affects Cuban families, he pointed out.

The friends of Cuba also called on President Joe Biden to exclude Havana from the spurious State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT) list, made by the Government of the United States, and recalled that the US president has the power to delete the Caribbean nation from that list.

Nelson Valdés, in turn, referred to the effects of the blockade, and among them he mentioned the impossibility of making money transfers to Cuba because US provisions prevent banks from doing so.

It was another day of support for Cuba, for the lifting of the blockade and supporting for the Cuban family.

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Díaz-Canel praises development of cochlear implant program in Cuba

Havana, Feb 25 (Prensa Latina) President Miguel Díaz-Canel pointed out on Sunday that the cochlear implant program in Cuba remains a priority in the healthcare system, despite the shortcomings caused by the United States blockade.

Regarding the celebration of International Cochlear Implant Day on Sunday, the president highlighted on his X profile that this program in Cuba is one of the most sensitive and humane of the Revolution.

On this date in 1957, the first cochlear implant in the world was performed by French Doctors André Djourno and Charles Eyries, who made history by making a totally deaf person hear.

Among the specialized services provided by the Cuban healthcare system is the National Cochlear Implant Program, which has been developed for 25 years, with priority for children with multiple disabilities, including deafness and blindness.

Cuba performed the first single-channel extracochlear implant in 1987 and ten years later multichannel intracochlear implants began at the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital in Havana.

The cochlear implant program in Cuba is supported by the Government and the Ministry of Public Health, and is accessible to the entire country and completely free of charge, including technological updates.

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Cuban parliamentary leader attends Hage Geingob’s funeral in Namibia

Windhoek, Feb 25 (Prensa Latina) The president of the National People’s Power Assembly (Parliament) of Cuba, Esteban Lazo, participated in the burial ceremony of former Namibian President Hage G. Geingob, in the Acre of Heroes on Sunday.

In this context, the president of the Council of State met with the presidents of Ethiopia, Sahle-Work Zewde, and of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa.

Lazo attended Geingob’s state funeral on Saturday, where he highlighted the former Namibian president’s role as “an undisputed African leader” since the insertion of independent Namibia in 1990.

He stressed that Geingob passionately defended not only his people’s right to forge themselves as a sovereign nation, but also contributed to cementing Namibia’s international projection, putting the country at the forefront in the fight for the development of the peoples of the Third World and Africa in particularly, for equality and justice. We will never forget our friend, the Cuban parliamentary leader emphasized on the occasion.

A Baobab has fallen but his example will be multiplied in the young people who embody the future and who will make Namibia a better country, as he dreamed, Lazo noted.

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We will continue to support Cuba, Argentine activists say

Buenos Aires, Feb 25 (Prensa Latina) The leader of Argentina’s MasCuba Solidarity Movement, Alberto Mas, assured on Sunday that they will continue to support that irreverent and blessed nation, because it is the first trench against imperialism nowadays.

After receiving the Friendship Medal, awarded by Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, at the proposal of the Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), Mas reaffirmed his commitment to Cuba, and highlighted its example.

“It is a great honor to receive such an acknowledgement that belongs to all of us who work in MasCuba, demonstrating that collective effort always pays off, the leader noted.

“Supporting Cuba is to show the Argentinian people that unity and the construction of a popular front that allows us to confront the Nazi-liberalism that threatens the continent is necessary,” he added.

Mas said that despite the current situation in his country, they will continue to defend Cuba, because it is the proof “that a better world is possible.”

“Long live Cuba! For us, Homeland or Death is not a slogan, but a reality,” he affirmed.

Cuban ad interim Chargé d’Affaires Dagmara Calzada pointed out that Mas made innumerable contributions to solidarity over the years as part of the Argentinian Club of Journalists Friends of Cuba and the movement.

His contribution was decisive in the struggle for the return of the Cuban Five Heroes (Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez), she underscored.

Mas is an example of unfailing loyalty to Cuba. With this tribute we show our gratitude to MasCuba and to all the comrades who defend our country. Thanks to you the Revolution is unbeatable and will continue to move forward, she granted.

Members of the Union of Cuban Residents in Argentina participated in the event, at which participants recalled the restart of the independence struggles, led by Jose Marti (1853-1895) on February 24, 1895.

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Cuba and the US dialogue on global health and biomedical research

Cuba and the US dialogue on global health and biomedical research

Havana, Feb 23 (RHC) Scientists from Cuba and the United States exchanged in Havana about preparation for pandemic situations and advances in health and biomedical technologies.

At the Second Joint Scientific Meeting between both countries, national and foreign experts shared experiences also related to research on arbovirus diseases, cancer and neurological disorders, data science, chronic conditions, and risk factors throughout life.

According to a statement from the Cuban Ministry of Public Health, the meeting took place from February 14 to 16 and also served as a space to recognize the work and contribution to Science of doctors Christopher Manuel Gómez and Stephen Whitehead, prominent American scientists and researchers who were granted the category of Corresponding Academic of the Cuban Academy of Sciences.

The event was organized by the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK), in Havana, authorities of Cuba’s Ministry of Public Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the United States. (Source: PL)

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US state agriculture leaders looks to Cuba’s private farming sector for possible cooperation

Ted McKinney, CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), listens to a Cuban farmer during a visit by NASDA members to a farm cooperative on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba, on Feb. 21, 2024.  (REUTERS/Norlys Perez)

Cuba has opened its agricultural sector to foreign investment

Reuters – Published February 22, 2024

The leader of an association of top U.S. state agriculture officials on Wednesday said his country might want to take advantage of reforms underway in Cuba, possibly through investments.

“There seems to be a new Cuba that is emerging and it may represent a pathway toward greater collaboration,” Ted McKinney, chief executive of the Association of State Departments of Agriculture told Reuters at a farm cooperative on the outskirts of Havana.

Cuba is mired in its worst economic crisis in decades, resulting in shortages and soaring prices for food, medicine, fuel and other basics.

The Communist-run country is slowly implementing market reforms in response.

The cooperative was the last stop of a five-day visit by top farm officials from seven states, who met with President Miguel Diaz-Canel and others and visited various sites.

The United States has maintained comprehensive sanctions on Cuba since Fidel Castro’s 1959 Revolution.

However, Congress in 2000 authorized agricultural sales to Cuba for cash which to date have amounted to more than $7 billion.

Commissioners from Louisiana, Indiana, South Carolina, Michigan and Montana all told Reuters at the cooperative they sensed Cuba was changing. They cited the emergence of more than 10,000 non-farm small and medium-sized businesses over the last two years, some linked to farm supply and food processing.

“The trend is a positive one,” Hugh Weathers of South Carolina’s Department of Agriculture, said.

Indiana’s Don Lamb said he viewed Cuba’s emerging private sector as “interesting and exciting.”

Cuba has also opened its agricultural sector, which for decades has included some 200,000 private farms and thousands of cooperatives, to foreign investment.

No U.S. investment has been authorized to date, but some has begun to come in from other countries.

McKinney said it was not the states’ role to pass bills but that the commissioners would report back to legislators and federal agencies about the market’s potential.

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Cuban ambassador’s work recognized at Unesco

Paris, Feb 23 (Prensa Latina) Cuba’s ambassador to UNESCO, Yahima Esquivel, received today the Simon Bolivar medal, awarded by the Group of Latin American and Caribbean countries (Grulac) in the multilateral organization, in recognition of her work.

In the context of a Grulac-Unesco meeting at the organization’s headquarters in this capital, his colleagues highlighted the work carried out during the last four years at the head of the Permanent Mission of the island, a post from which she promoted regional unity and promoted education, science, culture and information as pillars of sustainable and inclusive development.

Venezuelan Ambassador Rodulfo Pérez presented Esquivel with the special distinction, named after the independence hero Bolívar (1783-1830), an emblematic figure of the struggles in South America for its emancipation from Spanish rule.

Cuban First Secretary Lluraldi Cabas, Esquivel’s husband, also received the Grulac Award for his work at UNESCO.

The ambassador of the Antillean nation thanked the Group for the tribute and the joint work in her period of management.

“Thank you for the cooperation and the opportunity to work together in building a common agenda in UNESCO favoring our peoples and governments. Long live the Latin American and Caribbean unity,” he stressed here.

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Cuba and US debate on global health and biomedical research

Havana, Feb 23 (Prensa Latina) Scientists from Cuba and the United States met in this capital to debate on the preparation for pandemic situations and breakthroughs in health and biomedical technologies, the Cuban Ministry of Public Health reported on Friday.

At the 2nd Joint Scientific Meeting between the two countries to “Address Global Health Challenges, through Scientific Innovation and Biomedical Research,” Cuban and US experts shared experiences related to research on arbovirus diseases, cancer and neurological disorders, data science, and chronic conditions and risk factors throughout life.

According to a statement from the Cuban Ministry, the meeting took place from February 14 to 16 and served as a forum to acknowledge the work and contribution to Science by Doctors Christopher Manuel Gómez and Stephen Whitehead, prominent US scientists and researchers who were granted the category of Corresponding Academic of the Cuban Academy of Sciences.

The event was organized by the “Pedro Kourí” Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK) in Havana, authorities from Cuba’s Ministry of Public Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the United States.

Cuba was represented by officials from the BioCubaFarma business group, the Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The US delegation was headed by NIAID Acting Director Hugh Auchincloss, and representatives from 23 health institutions in that country, including experts and officials from the National Institutes of Health.

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US solidarity donation of powdered milk goes to Cuban hospitals

Washington, Feb 23 (Prensa Latina) Three thousand pounds of powdered milk donated by emigrants and friends in the United States who oppose the blockade against Cuba arrived in central Camagüey and Ciego de Avila provinces on Friday.

At Miami International Airport, activist Carlos Lazo, coordinator of the Bridges of Love movement, told Prensa Latina that the shipment of vital food “will account for 50,000 glasses of milk for children in pediatric hospitals in both provinces.”

The group is made up, among others, of Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the pacifist organization CodePink, and Mayte Sosa, a member of Acere, a group that promotes a change in Washington’s policy on Cuba, the Cuban-American professor, who resides in Seattle, noted.

“We will visit medical centers, orphan children’s homes, and nursing homes. It is a modest contribution,” he noted.

On January 27, Bridges of Love, CodePink and Acere were in Havana, where they took 1,000 pounds of powdered milk for the William Soler pediatric hospital and delivered some 71,000 pancreatin tablets for patients suffering from cystic fibrosis.

“We will continue to support the family and the Cuban people. We will continue to open holes in the blockade,” Lazo said from the plane that took them to the Caribbean island at the time.

Bridges of Love, along with CodePink and other organizations, is one of the most active groups within the United States in the fight against the economic, commercial and financial blockade, which has survived 11 administrations, both Democratic and Republican.

Until the blockade falls, “let’s make a lot of holes in that wall,” Lazo stressed in another brief message to Prensa Latina when he arrived in Cuba in the morning of February 23.

“Authorities of the Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) in Camagüey have given us a nice welcome,” he said.

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Cuban artists reaffirm solidarity with Palestinian people

Havana, Feb 22 (Prensa Latina) Writers and intellectuals reaffirmed their solidarity with the people of Palestine at an event held on Thursday within the framework of the 32nd Havana International Book Fair.

The event took place at the Abelardo Estorino Theater, the headquarters of Cuba’s Ministry of Culture, where guests made their position against the genocide committed by the Israeli army in Gaza and the West Bank clear.

The event was chaired by Abdel Nasser, former Palestinian Ambassador to Ecuador and advisor to the Palestinian National Council; Murat Al-Sudanni, general secretary of the Palestinian Writers Union; and Akram Samhan, Palestinian ambassador to Cuba.

Also present were the ambassadors from Algeria, Egypt, Syria and Yemen to Cuba, who expressed their support for the cause of the attacked Gaza.

As part of the cultural event, actors Simon Carlos and Irasema Cruz recited the poems “El pasaporte” (The Passport), “Carnet de identidad” (ID) and “Nosotros amamos la vida” (We Love Life”) by Mahmud Darwish, who is considered the Palestinian national poet.

During the meeting, Nasser reflected on the 1948 incidents in Palestine that led to the creation of the State of Israel and the role played by the United Kingdom and the United States; the latter he described as “the world’s police.”

Why do the Israelis have the right to come to the West Bank and steal my land? Where is justice in this world? Palestinians love peace; they have been fighting for 77 years to live in peace in a free and independent State, he declared.

It is time for the bloodshed to stop; Palestine is the beacon of security in the world and Jerusalem is the gateway to peace; the war in Palestine dates back 70 years and not to October last year, Al-Sudanni noted.

He denounced how Israel’s army is holding even deaths and strongly reaffirmed that “despite this act of savagery, Palestine and its citizens will continue to resist until the establishment of an independent State and the return of the refugees to our beloved land.”

During the meeting, intellectuals Alex Pausides, Basilia Papastamatiu, Jorge Fuentes and Fidel Antonio Orta Perez recited their poems on the situation in Gaza, which they described as “appalling.”

“One cannot renounce to be heard, so that the whole world knows and is on the side of the good, which is the Palestinian side, highlighted Cuban editor and poet Alex Pausides, who presented his poem “Minute of Silence.”

Papastamatiu, in turn, recited “With their Souls Still Undiscovered,” and confessed that she cannot conceive how a people who lived through something as terrible as the Holocaust can repeat the same thing years later against another people.

I find this forgetfulness of history and the total lack of humanity terrible; we will also live with the guilt if we do not manage to unite, peoples and governments, to find a solution and stop this slaughter, the Argentine writer added.

Jorge Fuentes, author of “Gaza,” acknowledged that for Cuban writers and artists it is difficult not to be able to go and help in Palestine and only collaborate with a poem, an action that he described as “a very humble gesture compared to the great tragedy that people are currently living.”

The writers’ presentation ended up with the declamation of the poem “Arde la Franja de Gaza” (The Gaza Strip is Burning), by Fidel Antonio Orta, director of the Jesus Orta Ruiz Research Center.

The event concluded with the interpretation of the song “Palestine” by singer songwriter Ariel Diaz, who noted that one cannot stop singing when there is injustice, and even after the victory one must sing more.

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