Havana, Aug 11 (Prensa Latina) Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel today received Vietnamese Justice Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh and described his visit to Cuba as very important, where he signed a Technical Assistance agreement with his counterpart.
At the meeting held at the Palace of the Revolution, the headquarters of the executive branch, the president highlighted the historic ties that unite the communist parties, governments, and peoples of both nations, forged over 65 years of diplomatic relations, which will be celebrated in December.
According to a statement released by the Cuban Presidency website, the head of state highlighted the Technical Assistance agreement signed by the justice ministers of Vietnam, Nguyen Hai Ninh, and Cuba, Oscar Silveira, which consolidates the excellent relationship that exists in this area.
Díaz-Canel emphasized that both Ministries of Justice have ample opportunities to exchange experiences regarding regulatory processes and the application of laws in societies building socialism.
The Vietnamese minister thanked the Cuban president for his kindness in receiving him and praised the achievement of the objectives of his visit, which focused on the exchange of experiences and the signing of the aforementioned agreement.
Havana, Aug 10 (Prensa Latina) Cuba congratulated Ecuador on the beginning of the popular uprising that, more than two centuries ago, launched its independence.
“#Cuba extends its congratulations to the people and government of #Ecuador, on the occasion of the 216th anniversary of the First Cry for Independence,” the island’s Foreign Ministry stated on the social network X.
August 10, 1809, marked the beginning of Ecuador’s independence process. That day, a group of Creoles, dissatisfied with Spanish rule, established a sovereign governing junta that removed the president of the Royal Audience of Quito and declared autonomy.
This Revolution was part of the Latin American liberation movements that finally achieved the end of colonialism, a pioneering event in world history.
The path was laid out, and independence was sealed with the Creole victory over the Spanish forces at the Battle of Pichincha, fought on May 24, 1822, under the leadership of Antonio Jose de Sucre.
Havana, Aug 10 (Prensa Latina) Cuba commemorates the anniversary of the victory at Cangamba, one of the glorious days of Cuban internationalism on African soil.
The Secretary of Organization of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Roberto Morales, described it as an example of heroism and resilience.
“The best virtues of our people flourished in this battle thousands of miles from the homeland,” he wrote on the social network X.
The battle is considered a military milestone that set a benchmark in the war waged for Angola.
During the fighting, the defended positions were besieged by enemy forces.
In those days, Cubans and Angolans managed to defeat the invaders and break out of the siege, with the essential support of combat pilots and special-destination troops.
Days earlier, on August 7, 1983, Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro sent a letter to the island’s combatants in which he expressed: “May Cangamba be an everlasting symbol of the valor of Cubans and Angolans; may it be an example that the blood of Angolans and Cubans shed for the freedom and dignity of Africa has not been in vain.”
Cangamba was inscribed in the pages of glory alongside Cuito Cuanavale, Quifangondo, Cabinda, Ebo, and Sumbe.
The best baseball players from Cuba are preparing for the Pan American Games in Puerto Rico. The team that emerges from this training session will fight to secure a spot that will elevate them to compete in the World Cup. Spectacular National Baseball Championship for the under-23s. Children, adolescents, and young people train and compete, their dreams of international competitions. The Yankees shatter those dreams by denying visas to the girls’ softball leadership team.
This won’t happen to Margarita Mayeta’s girls: the host city is Venezuela, a free country, and not the Puerto Rican neo-colony, that partner in an enslaved society that has plunged its sister nation into bitterness. It shouldn’t be surprising. What can be expected from a system capable of creating people who committed the crime in Barbados? Later, one of its organizers, a worm and instrument of the gringo movement, justified the action and commented: “Anyway, they were just some black girls who practiced fencing.”
I continue with the current performance of the athletes from Cuba despite the Trump attacks. The lifters are promising, especially the weightlifters. Our triple jumpers are on fire. The volleyball team continues struggling in a tough men’s competition. Archers, good achievements. A distinguished delegation from Cuba will be present at the continental youth event in Asunción, Paraguay. We rescued land, swimming pools, courts… The youth takeovers recall the Street Plans of the wonderful era, the massive Ready to Win events, the workplace gymnastics, the inter-school competitions. Physical education classes as they should be.
It’s urgent to revive that phase without dogmatism, taking into account the current situation in the country and the planet, without ceasing to dream, but with our feet on the ground and our wings ready for the flight that the sector itself must make possible with its resilient and forging work. The National Institute of Sport, Physical Education, and Recreation (Inder) is seeking new paths. Cuban sport is moving forward, despite the crisis in the country. The main culprit is the increasingly intensified blockade.
As with the entire population, the greatest suffering comes from there, although we must not deny our imperfections. The best of this small archipelago resists and fights, lacking the great support received from the socialist bloc, which has disappeared for many years. As for athletics, without it we would not have become a global power. We must overcome obstacles with our own efforts, based on intelligence, courage, and unity, with the democratic vision of listening to everyone and the participation of all patriots.
Amidst so much work in a society fighting for the longed-for social justice for which so many noble human beings have fallen, the magnate president of our savage neighbor attacks. Physical culture is not left unscathed. He begins by tearing at one’s own diet and health, lacerations that are worse for the agonist, which requires greater attention due to its greater physical and mental strain. On November 3, 1984, Fidel pointed out these deficiencies existing under capitalism here, now used as a weapon of combat against Cuba since the siege: “The supposed (sporting) inferiority of our people is not genetic or racial, but nutritional, educational, health, economic, and technical…”
With the people in power, we can have overcome a significant part of these historical wounds, without them being fully resolved, especially when the enemy does not abandon its daily terrorism in one way or another. Now, regarding sporting events, they have returned to denying visas to athletes and coaches, similar to how they obstructed the attendance of the delegation from Martí’s homeland to the 1966 San Juan Central and Caribbean Games, defeated by the strategy and tactics of the Commander in Chief, led from the ship Cerro Pelado by José Llanusa, the head of the heroic delegation.
As stated in the approved declaration regarding the motorboat in Puerto Rican waters: “…Cuban athletes know how to act, not only to defend our own right, but also the right of all peoples, and for the prestige of sport, which must exist as a bond between peoples. And “I SWEAR: In the name of the martyrs of Cerro Pelado and in the name of all those who have made our dedication to sport possible, to defend it with my life if necessary.”
Sadistic, for its refined cruelty, which it executes with pleasure; sarcastic, because it mocks and offends with biting irony; and criminal, as it curtails the noble aspirations of the early years of life.
Any adjective would fall short of the United States government’s latest felony against Cuba, against its sports movement. In addition to the 82 people—athletes, coaches, or managers—who, so far in 2025, have been prevented from representing their country, the most ruthless denial is made to allow girls between nine and ten years old, national champions, to participate in the Little League Softball World Series qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico.
These little girls have had their dreams stolen, their innocence even toyed with; because this government, whose embassy in Havana has not granted any of the visas requested by Cuban sports this year, has granted them their visas. But it did not do the same with their teachers.
Does the US administration believe that Cuba would leave those 14 infantas alone? Perhaps in its hysteria or anti-Cuban paranoia it believed that the Cuban Government would send them, as in that farce of 1960, when the United States manipulated the feelings of parents and children, and forced a child migration, under the lie a, which has always been their main weapon, known as Peter Pan Operation.
How can children’s feelings be played with like this? What great cruelty lies within those who decide on such an aberration?
“How can we explain to nine- and ten-year-old girls from La Palma, Pinar del Río, that, after so much effort, the petty politics of the United States robbed them of their dream of playing in the Little League World Series?” questioned Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Party Central Committee and President of the Republic, on X. He added that “it’s not just a blow to sports, it’s robbing them of their dreams.”
The White House’s decision reveals, once again, that the hostile policy of the United States government is directed against the Cuban people, including its children.
Although alienating, this stance is not surprising. Of all the UN member nations, only one has not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which, in November 1989, was the first treaty recognizing that children and adolescents have their own rights. The United States is the only country that has not signed that agreement, which, with 196 adherents, is the most widely ratified human rights commitment in history.
The Cuban girls whose rights are being violated today are from the same province as a giant like Mijaín López. Perhaps even this frightens the fearful empire, because an example like that of the five-time Olympic champion, on their uniforms and bearing the name of Cuba, is a measure of dignity so great that it’s impossible to hide.
They will continue to develop in sports, they will become champions, as they are today for Cuba in their category, and they will continue to grow under the preaching of the Commander in Chief that in Cuba “nothing is more important than a child.”
Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSi Translation Staff
Havana, Aug 8 (Prensa Latina) Cuba condemned the reward announced by the United States for information leading to the arrest of Venezuela’s legitimate president, Nicolas Maduro, describing it as another act of aggression against the South American nation.
Through the social media platform X, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez called the reward, which Washington doubled from $25 million to $50 million, “fraudulent” due to the Bolivarian leader’s alleged ties to drug trafficking.
We condemn the fraudulent reward announced by the #US government against the legitimate President of #Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, which constitutes a new act of aggression against that sister nation. The US government lacks the legal and moral authority to take such a measure, Rodriguez wrote.
From the Venezuelan government, Foreign Minister Yvan Gil described the reward offered by US Attorney General Pamela Bondi as “pathetic,” calling it “the most ridiculous smokescreen” he had ever seen.
In a Telegram post, Minister Gil emphasized that Bondi only created “a media circus” to please the Venezuelan opposition, following the revelation of the new attempt to destabilize the country.
“It doesn’t surprise us, given who it’s coming from,” Gil added.
Havana, Aug 7 (Prensa Latina) The International Solar Alliance (ISA) today granted the University of Havana’s Photovoltaic Laboratory the status of Resource Center for Solar Technology Applications in Cuba (STAR Center), the first in Latin America.
During the award ceremony and inauguration of the STAR Center at the University of Havana, ISA’s general director, Ashish Khanna, emphasized that this status will open more doors to research and development, training, and the search for proprietary solutions, whether for public heating, solar fuel, solar pumps, or solar storage.
Khanna emphasized that the needs are quite unique for each country, although some problems may be similar, and added that he is excited to see what the future society will be able to achieve.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Higher Education, Walter Baluja, thanked the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem) for trusting the University of Havana’s significant historical foundation to develop the STAR Center, reflecting its prestige, tradition, and results, both at the laboratory and the professionals involved in this service.
For his part, First Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Argelio Abad, highlighted ISA’s initiative to promote research and the implementation of technology related to renewable energy, especially solar energy.
According to Abad, the STAR Center came to Cuba to strengthen the existing alliance between the academic and productive sectors in a context where the island is committed to rapidly advancing the energy transition, including the use of photovoltaic energy.
Facilities like the laboratory, he continued, are a true strength for the country in ensuring the massive deployment of solar technology in compliance with international standards, and in creating a quality infrastructure around it that allows for its efficient and safe exploitation.
He also thanked ISA for its support and continued willingness to work with Cuba, as well as for its commitment to regional integration and strategic development.
He also recognized the University of Havana for all its knowledge in the service of the country’s energy development.
Immediately afterward, the Rector of the University of Havana, Miriam Nicado, highlighted the leadership and scientific commitment of the Photovoltaic Laboratory, which had been awarded the STAR Center status, and described it as a school of knowledge and a space for research, innovation, and capacity building.
Nicado stated that the Laboratory will consciously assume its mission as a knowledge-building and reference center to raise professional standards in the field of solar energy, with the goal of improving capacities, access to knowledge, technologies, and process management for better implementation of solar energy in Cuba and the Caribbean.
The university we have today is more internationally integrated, rural, multidisciplinary, committed to sustainable development, and always willing to contribute to a better future for our people, the Rector emphasized.
Meanwhile, the head of the Photovoltaic Laboratory and STAR Center at the University of Havana, Lídice Vaillant, addressed the importance of the meeting, which also brought together the Latin American Energy Organization (LAE) in the workshop on Energy Transitions in Central America and the Caribbean, which concluded today.
It’s a momentous event, he said, because the energy transition has many facets and requires many alliances, and both organizations work systematically and effectively.
Vaillant reiterated the Center’s commitment to continuing its daily, sustained, and systematic work. This is how excellent science is built, innovation is managed, and social impact is achieved, he emphasized.
He thanked the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM) for its strategic vision of developing tools to enable scientific leaders to transcend university walls. One of the most difficult barriers to overcome is bringing the knowledge generated and condensed in many scientific spaces to the place where it truly has an impact.
Pinar del Río, Cuba, August 7 (Prensa Latina) The Tele Pinar Gallery, located in this western Cuban province, will host tomorrow the opening of the exhibition “The Street Where We All Live,” the fruit of the talent of a group of American artists from the state of Ohio.
The group exhibition, which was part of the 15th Havana Biennial, was born from the project “Letters from Ohio/Cartas desde Cuba,” a mail art project developed by Michael Reese’s Artway Foundation.
She participated in exchanges with nearly 200 artists from both nations in the provinces of Cienfuegos, Matanzas, Camagüey, and Havana.
They presented themselves on that occasion as “The Street We All Live,” with a catalog of important visual artists from Cuba and the United States.
They exhibited their works in various locations, including the Behind the Wall project.
Painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, installation, weaving, and other formats can be appreciated in this artistic proposal.
With this opening, the exhibition begins a touring cycle through several provinces throughout the country this year and next. The next destinations will be Matanzas and Villa Clara, in October and December, respectively.
Basseterre, Aug 7 (Prensa Latina) Hollis Prentice, president of the Association of Cuban Graduates in Saint Kitts and Nevis, today highlighted the human impact of training in Cuba for the development of his country.
Prentice’s statement came at the Cuban Embassy during the ceremony awarding scholarships by the Cuban government to a group of young Vincentians to study at Cuban universities.
The fellows, who include future doctors, engineers, and a dentist, signed the code of ethics before the national symbols of both countries and the image of the late leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, who promoted the educational cooperation program that benefited thousands of young people around the world.
The Cuban ambassador to the island nation, David Rivero, congratulated the students and urged them to make the most of this opportunity, despite the challenges they may face.
“Beyond the economic difficulties, Cuba maintains its commitment to solidarity with its sister nations,” he stated.
For her part, Daveen Wilkin, chief of medical staff at St. Kitts and Nevis General Hospital and a graduate of an anesthesiology program in Cuba, suggested young people focus on their studies. “Take advantage of this gift; it will be the foundation of your future,” she said.
Another graduate, Erick Browne, an agricultural engineer, also expressed his gratitude to Cuba and encouraged the fellows to learn from both the academic excellence and the human values instilled in the Cuban educational system.
Fernando Bretos has a unique claim to fame. He may be the only Cuban American whose parents both came to the United States as unaccompanied minors during Operation Peter Pan, the CIA-fueled exodus of more than ten thousand Cuban children in the early 1960s.
Bretos grew up in Miami Beach and years later visited the island for the first time as a marine biologist. He has led conservation efforts of Cuba’s coral reefs, which play a big role in maintaining marine biodiversity throughout the Caribbean, including in Florida.
In a recent Op-Ed on our website, Bretos writes about how the embargo affects scientific collaboration and threatens Florida’s ecosystem. According to Bretos, U.S. sanctions have “only hurt people – both in Cuba and in the United States.”
