Havana, March 31 (Prensa Latina) Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel today received Laotian Attorney General Xaysana Khoutphoutone at the Palace of the Revolution, the seat of government, on a working visit to the island.
According to a television report, the meeting was also attended by the head of the Cuban Attorney General’s Office (FGR), Yamila Peña, and other officials from that institution and the Foreign Ministry.
Díaz-Canel highlighted the historic nature of bilateral relations, characterized by a broad exchange of high-level delegations.
The ties between Cuba and Laos are strong at the levels of political parties, governments, parliaments, and people, and are now also strengthening in the legal sphere, the president noted.
For his part, Xaysana Khoutphoutone conveyed to the head of state warm greetings from the Secretary General of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and President of the Asian nation, Thongloun Sisoulith. The visitor also praised the recent commemoration held in Havana of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the LPRP, a political organization that guided the struggle of the Lao people and spearheaded the construction of a socialist society.
The parties agreed that they will continue to expand mutual exchanges through visits by delegations from various sectors.
Mexico City, March 31 (Prensa Latina) Specialists from the Cuban medical brigade are helping to ensure coverage of essential health services in hospitals and other facilities in Mexico, without displacing local professionals.
The presence of the island’s more than three thousand doctors in these lands is part of a government and international cooperation agreement; their positions, salaries, and social security in Cuba are guaranteed, while their living, working, and subsistence conditions in Mexico are protected.
One of these specialists, ophthalmologist Magdevis Ruiz, arrived in July of last year and began working in the central state of Hidalgo, specifically at the Tulancingo Bravo General Hospital, about 112 kilometers from Mexico City.
“This specialty hadn’t been available at the hospital for about seven years, and patients had to travel to the state capital for care, with appointments taking very long, or else seek private care, and not everyone had the financial resources,” he says.
In an interview with Prensa Latina, the doctor explained that this is why they were experiencing many complications associated with the lack of care, especially diabetic patients with advanced stages of diabetic retinopathy.
With his presence at the health institution, he began treating children, pregnant women, and adults in general, as well as those arriving at the emergency room for purely ophthalmological conditions or other specialized needs.
Cuban pediatrician Marité Llerena arrived on September 9, 2022, in the southern state of Campeche, located more than a thousand kilometers from Mexico City, where she began courses to learn about protocols and other specifics.
We were then placed in different municipalities in the state, “the ones most lacking in specialized care,” says the doctor, who has since worked at the Pedro Lara y Lara Community Hospital of Hopelchén.
“It has always been the opinion of the hospital’s governing body that specialized medical care has recovered to almost 100 percent since we began operating, and they are very grateful for that,” Llerena adds, highlighting the saving of a large number of lives.
The doctor also mentions the integration with the Mexican staff and the resulting teamwork and highly satisfactory results, which are also appreciated by patients and their families, who express their gratitude for the quality and warmth of the care provided.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has repeatedly highlighted the work of Cuban doctors in Mexico.
“Now that I’ve been traveling around the country, visiting some health centers, I’ve seen the participation, how they’re working, and how grateful people are for their participation in providing coverage to some specialty,” the president said at a recent press conference.
Managua, March 30 (Prensa Latina) Cubans living in Nicaragua, solidarity groups, and members of the diplomatic mission here today raised their voices against the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States on the island.
During the celebration of the Bridges of Love initiative, commemorating the 63rd and 64th anniversaries of the Union of Young Communists (UJC) and the José Martí Pioneers Organization (OPJM), respectively, those present reaffirmed their support for Cuba and demanded an end to the regulations imposed on the island for more than six decades.
Speaking at the event, Camila Martínez denounced the direct impact of the siege on Cuban children, adolescents, and young people, and noted that Washington’s unilateral measure is a daily condemnation that limits access to medicines, school supplies, food, and a dignified future.
“The blockade is an invisible wall that stands between our children and young people and their right to grow up healthy. Cuba, through the efforts of its doctors and scientists, has made admirable progress, but how many more lives could we save and medicines we could provide to humanity if we weren’t suffocated by this cruel policy,” he emphasized.
In this regard, he stated that despite this measure, Cuban children continue to be educated, creative, and learn that true power lies in knowledge and solidarity.
Martínez recalled the creation of the OPJM and the UJC on April 4, 1961, and 1962, respectively, while expressing that Cuba’s future is being written with the same determination as those years.
“With the same conviction that a better world is possible, and with the certainty that as long as there is a dignified Cuban, the Revolution will remain alive. Let no one be mistaken, our generation will not give up; we will continue to defend our sovereignty, health, and education,” he emphasized.
For his part, the president of the Association of Cuban Residents in Nicaragua, Rafael Ruiz, denounced the United States government’s aggressiveness against countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
In this regard, he mentioned the recent trip to the Caribbean by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who attempted to pressure countries with Cuban medical brigades.
But once again, another failure, countries have acted bravely, Ruiz commented, while mentioning the actions against migrants by the Donald Trump administration.
“As Ernesto Che Guevara taught us, we cannot trust imperialism. The key in this moment of extreme aggression is the unity of all revolutionaries,” he emphasized.
Along these lines, Ernestina Navarro, in the name of solidarity, called for continued defense of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua from imperial policies and urged continued honoring of heroes and martyrs.
As part of the activity, the youngest members of the state mission laid white flowers before the bust of José Martí. Amira and Anngie recited the poem “Oh My Beloved Girl!” by Nicaraguan artist Rubén Darío, while singer-songwriter Alejandro Guillén performed “Quién Fuera” and “Playa Girón” by Silvio Rodríguez.
Havana, March 30 (Prensa Latina) Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez demanded an immediate end to the Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people and reaffirmed his solidarity with that cause, as Palestinian Land Day is commemorated today.
In his account on X, the Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs urged that this date, promulgated in 1976, constitute an urgent call for justice.
We demand an end to the genocide against this sister nation and reaffirm our solidarity and commitment to their just cause. Palestine must be independent and sovereign, within its pre-1967 borders, Rodríguez wrote on social media.
Today, the Caribbean island commemorates Palestinian Land Day, in remembrance of the murder of six young Palestinians during a demonstration against the dispossession of their lands by the Zionist regime.
The day before, residents of the capital commemorated the 49th anniversary of the first general strike of the Palestinian people demanding their rights and against the theft of their land by Israel, during an event held at the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP).
“The Palestinian war is not another territorial conflict, it’s a human rights crisis, where fear and mistrust have become part of everyday life,” said Mohammed Bheisi, a Palestinian medical student in Cuba.
Bheisi thanked the Cuban government and people for their expressions of solidarity.
For his part, ICAP President Fernando González stated that the Caribbean country will continue to demand an end to the Israeli genocide against Palestine and the recognition of that nation as a state by the UN.
The Palestinian people are deprived of human rights, including the right to life, González stated during the solidarity event attended by Teresa Amarelle, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party (PCC).
“We are here to denounce before history the crime committed against Palestine; the genocide of which its people are victims is an open wound on the conscience of humanity,” declared Fernando González, President of ICAP and Hero of the Republic of Cuba.
Caracas, March 29 (Prensa Latina) Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro today congratulated and thanked the governments and peoples of the Caribbean for their overwhelming response to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his tour of the region.
At the closing of the 25th Meeting of the Political Council of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), the president stated that the senior official “came to the Caribbean for wool and left shorn.”
Maduro said Rubio is lying and dismissed “all the garbage he tried to impose against Cuba and its Revolution, trying to tarnish the honor and morality of Cuban medicine.”
From our Bolivarian and Martian hearts, “we thank you for your courage and clarity,” he emphasized, and asserted, “You came out like a shaved cat.”
The dignitary described the Secretary of State’s tour of the region as “a failure and a botched job.”
He commented on how much there is to talk about Cuban medicine and noted that the Venezuelan people, deep in the countryside, hamlets, and neighborhoods, know of the “caring hand of a Cuban doctor, who has saved their lives and lovingly cared for their health.”
In this regard, he mentioned the Barrio Adentro Health Mission, founded in 2003 by Commanders Hugo Chávez (1954-2013) and Fidel Castro (1926-2016), and stated that 22 years later, Venezuela can say “it has learned what humanistic and healing medicine is.”
He recalled that the development of that Mission, when it began in the Bolivarian Republic, for years was also subject to the constant conspiracy of the fascist and coup-mongering right and a brutal campaign.
Maduro emphasized that the Venezuelan people saw the humility, simplicity, knowledge, ability, willingness, and determination of Cuban medicine on the ground, which he described as one of the great achievements of the Cuban Revolution and of Fidel Castro.
Speaking at the ALBA-TCP meeting, the island’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, asserted that the Caribbean nations “will always have a sister in Cuba who will stand by them,” despite any risk of a tightening of the blockade, in their right to receive fair, special, differentiated, and essential treatment.
In this regard, he mentioned their legitimate demand for reparations and compensation for the horrors of slavery and colonialism, and to address the growing challenges arising from the prevailing unjust international financial system and climate change.
The Cuban Foreign Minister reaffirmed Havana’s willingness to maintain the agreements reached with each country, protected by standards and practices, despite threats from proconsul ambassadors and the U.S. Secretary of State.
Caracas, March 29 (RHC)– Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs, participates this Saturday in the Political Council of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), which is taking place in Venezuela.
At the 10th meeting, the Cuban foreign minister announced that the event will discuss threats to regional peace, the security of migrants, and imperialist aggression against the peoples of Latin America.
Headquartered at the Antonio José de Sucre Yellow House, the 25th ALBA-TCP Political Council brings together foreign ministers and representatives of member states of the integration platform.
This meeting is the result of the 12th Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State of ALBA-TCP, held earlier this year, the Alliance highlighted in X. ( Source: ACN )
Havana, March 28 (Prensa Latina) The International Group of Tour Operators and Travel Agencies, Havanatur SA, today welcomed the first flight of the 2025 spring season from the Russian oil company Rosneft, with 285 visitors.
In a statement, Havanatur reported that two more arrivals are planned for spring, each carrying more than 370 passengers. Travelers will enjoy two-week stay programs designed to enhance the quality of life and develop corporate tourism programs.
Meanwhile, four arrivals and an increase in passenger volume compared to previous years are planned for the 2025 fall-winter season, according to the Havanatur report.
The tour operator adds that the new arrivals arrived in Matanzas via Juan Gualberto Gómez International Airport on Nordwind Airlines-6101 to Varadero, the country’s main sun and beach destination.
A hub that has established itself as the ideal place to develop programs aimed at workers and their families, with over 11 years of experience since the start of this type of operation under the Havanatur label.
Under the promise of Living More, the document continues, visitors enjoy outdoor physical activities, excursions to explore the Cuban tourist destination, and activities related to conservation and environmental care—pillars that emphasize health, well-being, and quality of life.
Havanatur, the only 100 percent Cuban tour operator, has extensive experience in corporate tourism and intends to consolidate and expand this specialty to other markets and destinations in Cuba with favorable conditions for its promotion as a unique feature, it asserts.
While taking into account corporate policies that seek to encourage their employees to foster pillars associated with improving health and seeking a higher quality of life.
Authorities and officials from the Ministry of Tourism delegation in Matanzas, along with executives and officials from Havanatur, attended the reception for the Russian oil company’s flight.
Havana, March 28 (Prensa Latina) The president of the Hostosiano National Independence Movement (MINH), Julio A. Muriente, stated today that “what defines the Palestinian people is not their status as victims, but their courage and perseverance, despite the genocide they suffer.”
Muriente is in this capital with a delegation from the organization, related to the Puerto Rican Mission in Cuba “Juan Mari Brás.”
During the conference “Puerto Rico and Our America in Troubled Times,” held at the capital’s headquarters of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), the Puerto Rican leader denounced the United States government’s position on the Palestinian conflict and its desire to colonize various regions of the world.
Likewise, he extended his expression of solidarity to other “sister countries that, like Puerto Rico, fight against colonialism,” such as the Sahrawi people.
“I think about this army that claims to be one of the most powerful on the planet, but in reality it’s dedicated to murdering defenseless and unarmed people,” he continued.
The politician also thanked the Cuban government and party, whom he called “uncompromising brothers,” for their support of the independence causes of these nations.
The MINH aspires to achieve Puerto Rico’s independence and the construction of a just society based on solidarity, freedom, social justice, participatory democracy, and respect for human rights and the natural environment.
Havana, March 27 (Prensa Latina) Cuban software development company Avangenio today presented SocIA, an artificial intelligence platform hailed as a step forward in the digital transformation of society, at the Meliá Cohíba hotel in Havana.
This solution is a step forward in the digital transformation of society, as we have a sovereign platform, generated in Cuba, to provide artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, so necessary for the country at this stage, highlighted Ariadne Plascencia, president of the Information Technology and Communications Business Group.
The project’s technical leader, Vicente Garófalo, explained to representatives of companies, ministries, and various institutions the benefits of SocIA, a new proposal for artificial intelligence tools, as it is an AI agent that enables multiple functionalities, according to Cubadebate.
He explained that SocIA allows simultaneous work with files in various formats, such as text, audio, or video, and integrates with other Avangenio solutions such as NosWork (a type of virtual office) and ERPNext, the digital business environment created there.
With it, users can perform a variety of tasks in real time on any type of device (mobile phones, tablets, or computers), adapting to these environments.
It also allows for generating programmable automated tasks, analyzing data, writing emails, and any other functions that are common today in this type of AI tools, with the unique feature that in SocIA they are integrated into customized agents.
The new software can also be used in any type of environment or business, whether dedicated to the pure or social sciences.
“SocIA is a platform of intelligent agents used for specific needs, synchronized with the organization that employs it, enabling greater synergy to achieve results,” said Alain Abel Garófalo, AI Strategy Leader at Avangenio.
Experts specified that the tool will be marketed with three types of plans: Basic, Team, and Enterprise.
Havana, March 27 (Prensa Latina) The 2025 National Film Award was granted today to prominent Cuban actress Mirta Ibarra, a prize that will be presented to her this Friday at the Charlie Chaplin movie theater during the closing ceremony of the International Meeting of Restored Films.
The jury, composed of prestigious figures from the country’s seventh art, awarded this prestigious prize to Ibarra in recognition of her ability to portray characters with depth and sensitivity, addressing essential social and cultural themes.
By a majority vote, the jury selected her for her legacy, continuity, integrity, and her long career in Cuban cinema, not only as an actress in iconic films from 1960 to the present, but also for her multiple roles in national cinema and culture over more than 50 years.
This also highlights the impact of her work on Cuban society and her work preserving the legacy of filmmaker Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (Titón), all of which make her one of the most prominent and recognized personalities, not only in the country but also internationally as a 2025 National Film Award winner.
In an interview broadcast on Cuban television, the award-winning actress confessed to feeling moved because this award is also due to Cuban viewers for the reception they give to her films, and because when she walks down the streets they tell her, “We admire you,” “We love you,” “Keep going,” and that fills her with pride, and she has to keep going,” she said.
Ibarra’s extensive filmography includes films such as Strawberry and Chocolate, Up to a Certain Point, It’s Swapped, and Guantanamera, among others.
Born in San José de las Lajas on February 28, 1946, she is a renowned Cuban theater, television, and film actress who has also worked as a screenwriter, playwright, and documentary filmmaker.
Among the major awards she has received for her extensive artistic career are the ACTUAR Lifetime Achievement Award, 2019; the Lucía de Honor Award, 2018; and the National Culture Distinction of 1996, among other equally important recognitions.
She is the widow of Cuban filmmaker Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (Titón, 1928-1996). She has served on the jury at several international film festivals and toured Spain in 2000 and 2001 with the play Obsesión habanera, of which she is the author and star.
In 2008, she made her directorial debut with the documentary Titón: de La Habana a Guantanamera, a posthumous tribute to her lost partner in life.
The actress, a graduate of Latin American Literature from the University of Havana, is also the author of the book Volver sobre mis pasos (Return on My Steps), a compilation of letters written by Titón.
