Managua, Feb 27 (Prensa Latina) Co-President of Nicaragua Daniel Ortega stressed that the blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba will be defeated.
Ortega called the Cuban people heroic and stressed: “More than 60 years of blockade, but we have faith, we are sure that the day will come when that policy will be defeated and those chains with which they have tried to paralyze the people of Cuba will disappear,” he said.
The blockade against Cuba has intensified in recent years and constitutes the main obstacle to the economic and social development of the country, according to Cuban authorities. Among the measures, the activation of the section of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act stands out, which allows for the suing of Cubans who were property owners in Cuba before 1959.
It also highlights the restriction and suspension of visas for people linked to Cuban international cooperation programs, particularly those associated with health.
Another element is related to the suspension of visas for cultural, sports, academic and scientific exchanges, among others.
In addition, the United States Government re-included Cuba in the list of States that allegedly sponsor terrorism, and suspended humanitarian parole and family reunification processes for those who were admitted to the United States.
According to Cuban authorities, as a permanent policy, Washington, since 2019, has punished ships or shipping companies that supply oil to Cuba, which prevents the normal development of the country in several sectors.
Washington, Feb 26 (Prensa Latina) Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío held a meeting here today with a diverse group of African Americans.
At the meeting, held at the Cuban embassy in this capital, in the context of African-American History Month, Fernández de Cossío gave a political and social overview of the Caribbean country, especially its struggle to achieve justice for all and equality.
“The struggle we have been involved in over the last few decades has basically been a quest to achieve maximum social justice based on equity, based on inclusion, and based on equality for all,” he said.
The deputy minister commented on the Revolution’s connections from its beginnings with “Africa and the people of Africa, to the point that we became physically involved in the liberation struggles of Africa, joining our comrades in arms in the trenches. Living with them, suffering with them,” he stressed.
He also refuted the slanders by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Cuba is an enemy of humanity, as well as the most recent coercive measures that seek to harm the island’s international cooperation, particularly in the health sector.
Cuba has offered services around the world that perhaps no other country can match historically, in terms of medical services, in terms of education, Fernández de Cossío said.
He said that Cuba currently has medical services in about 70 countries. “Most of them are in Africa,” he said, mentioning that there are also medical services in the Caribbean, Central America, European nations and places like Haiti, where Cuban professionals are still working even in very difficult and dangerous conditions.
Attendees showed great interest in learning about different topics, as evidenced by a question and answer segment.
“Since 2019, the United States has been punishing ships and shipping companies that supply oil to Cuba as a permanent policy,” the deputy foreign minister emphasized, referring to the strengthening of the blockade and the sanctions policy.
A professor and activist made it clear that most Americans “I talk to disagree with government policies and African Americans in general are in solidarity with the Cuban Revolution.”
Mexico City, Feb 26 (Prensa Latina) The José Martí Association of Cuban Residents in Mexico today condemned the decision of the United States government to suspend visas associated with international medical cooperation agreements with the Caribbean nation.
This is “part of a defamatory campaign that seeks to damage the prestige of medical brigades, under the argument of ‘labor exploitation’, ‘modern slavery’ or ‘human trafficking’ to justify new sanctions against our people,” the group said in a statement.
The organization noted that this measure is the seventh in a month of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, “demonstrating the visceral hatred of his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, towards Cuba and his desire to create greater hardship” for its citizens.
He said that the US is restricting the issuance of visas to Cuban officials and those of third countries that it describes as “accomplices,” once again applying extraterritoriality that violates international law, to prevent nations from signing agreements with the island.
“This is once again the unhealthy pursuit of any possibility of income for the Cuban economy,” he denounced.
According to the organization, it is “important to refute this campaign and clarify that the medical missions are voluntary, that is, doctors and health personnel who wish to take part in them register, at no time is it forced labor or exploitation.”
The text recalls that Cuba’s humanitarian and internationalist character with its medical brigades has been proven in its participation in natural disasters, the fight against Ebola and Covid-19, recognized on several occasions by the World Health Organization.
“The places where these brigades work are the most remote and forgotten corners of the countries that hire them, where their inhabitants are often treated by a doctor for the first time,” the Association stressed.
He explained that the income is reinvested first in the island’s health system, which is universal and free, and in guaranteeing other social rights that all Cubans have, “despite the restrictions resulting from the criminal blockade” imposed by the United States.
New York, USA, Feb 26 (Prensa Latina) Cuba’s collaboration in health is today a feat and a bastion of hope for many people around the world, said Samira Addrey, member of the board of directors of the American organization IFCO-Pastors for Peace.
In this time of aggression against Cuba, we must highlight the work of that country in terms of health and international collaboration, said Addrey, also a graduate of the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) during an interview with Prensa Latina.
“I believe that the example of ELAM, which after 25 years continues to produce doctors for the world, is clear proof that Cuba has exported health, love and friendship to the world while the United States continues to export violence,” he said.
Unfortunately, we are living in a country with a broken health structure, where people with low economic resources do not count, where the country does not focus on the human being, explained Dr. Addrey.
Our task as ELAM graduates, as Cuba has trained us, is to return and focus here, being an example that another world is possible, he added.
He acknowledged the training received on the island “as doctors of science and conscience” and stressed that “in Cuba, a type of doctor is trained who is humanistic and supportive.”
Samira, who heads the ELAM program at IFCO (Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization) highlighted the group’s decades of experience in the solidarity movement with Cuba “and we want to take advantage of that history,” she emphasized.
In 1967, Lucius Walker founded IFCO and in 1988 conceived the Pastors for Peace project that organized humanitarian aid caravans as a way to support victims of U.S. foreign policy in the region.
Walker led 21 Friendship Caravans from 1992 until his death in September 2010, to bring humanitarian aid and medicine to Cuba in yellow school buses, without seeking permission or a license from the authorities.
In the dialogue, Samira spoke about defending the legacy of Reverend Lucius and the trust in their communities with the training they receive in the Caribbean nation.
For Addrey, “Fidel Castro’s dream lives on, we have seen 25 years and we will see 25 more years of a prosperous ELAM.”
Personally, for me, as a 2020 ELAM graduate, Cuba has reinforced many of the values I grew up with, confessed Addrey, who was born in Ghana.
Cuba embraced me and treated me like a daughter during the years I was there; in addition to the medical skills we learned in medical school, there is a level of family, of sense of being human that I have not experienced anywhere else, she confessed.
“In Cuba, everyone shows solidarity with you in whatever way they can and tries to support you in your difficulties,” said the doctor.
He said that Cuba is a part of his heart, “and I think it is important for me to pass that on to my daughter. She knows that there is a country far from Ghana where I was born, that we were raised there and that it has an immensely beautiful people.”
I believe – Addrey concluded – that the world should recognize Cuba beyond the things that are popular, one must be there, one must feel the people, live with them and feel their humanity.
Bogotá, Feb 25 (Prensa Latina) Members of the Cuban delegation that will participate in the Anato Tourism Showcase, the most important event in the leisure industry held in Colombia, spoke today with members of the diplomatic legation in this capital.
Deputy Minister of Tourism Yamily Aldama leads the delegation made up of 17 people representing Cuban companies and international hotel chains operating in the largest of the Antilles.
He told the members of the state mission in Colombia that the objective of participating in the meeting is to encourage an increase in the arrival of travelers from Latin America to the Caribbean country.
According to the official, one of the new initiatives that the delegation will present will focus on promoting academic tourism, since Cuba has the infrastructure to develop this product and has renowned trainers.
The Cuban ambassador to Colombia, Javier Caamaño, said that the New Granadan nation has vast potential to increase tourism to the island.
He praised the increase in flights between the capitals of both countries with the incorporation of the airline Avianca, which brought the number of weekly flights connecting Bogotá to Havana to 12.
He also highlighted the implementation of an electronic visa, thanks to which travellers no longer need to travel to complete the procedure, and which can be accessed through the services of the airline with which they will fly, through wholesale agencies and also through the consular service.
Caamaño also referred to the increase in dissemination actions in the Colombian press regarding Cuba as a destination and all the facilities available to access the Caribbean country.
The 44th edition of the Anato Tourism Showcase will open its doors tomorrow at the Corferias venue in this capital with the participation of more than 50,000 businesspeople from the sector from thirty countries.
Havana, Feb 25 (Prensa Latina) Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez today denounced the decision of the United States government to suspend visas associated with international medical cooperation agreements with the Caribbean nation.
In a message on the social network X, Rodríguez said that this measure represents another unjustified aggression against the Cuban people, in just a few days.
“Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State of the United States, once again puts his personal agenda ahead of interests. The suspension of visas associated with international medical cooperation agreements with Cuba represents the seventh measure of unjustified aggression against our population in one month,” wrote the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He also said that the decision was made on the “basis of falsehoods and coercion, and is intended to affect the health services of millions in Cuba and the world, to benefit special interest groups for which Rubio guarantees the squandering of U.S. taxpayer funds.”
On Tuesday, the United States expanded visa restrictions for people linked to the Caribbean island’s medical missions abroad.
According to an official statement from the State Department, this measure also affects the immediate family of these individuals.
Last week, the Cuban government condemned Washington’s suspension of “the application mechanism for a group of visa categories used by state officials and their agencies,” rejecting “dozens of passports.”
Havana, Feb 25 (Prensa Latina) Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel today urged his country’s youth to draw inspiration from the nation’s history and the sacrifice of its patriots to face current challenges and defend national sovereignty.
Speaking with more than a hundred members of the Union of Young Communists (UJC) who camped out at the Las Golondrinas campsite in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, the head of state highlighted the example of the heroes of independence.
According to the Presidency, on its website, during the meeting, the young people presented ideas, initiatives and concerns in a dialogue that lasted almost two hours.
The first secretary of the National Committee of the UJC, Meyvis Estévez, reported on the beginning, on February 24, of the Ruta Mambisa, a march led by pioneers, students, scientists and other young workers, and which departed from Mangos de Roque, Mantua, Pinar del Río.
This was the high point of the Invasion from East to West, led by Generalissimo Máximo Gómez and Lieutenant General Major General Antonio Maceo.
The participants will arrive on March 15 at Mangos de Baraguá, in the municipality of Mella, Santiago de Cuba, where the Mambí uprising began.
In the exchange of views with the youth, Díaz-Canel reflected on the essential principle of strengthening unity, and pointed out that this Revolution, which is unique, from 1868 to the present day, has shown the strength of unity.
He recalled that for the definitive triumph and consolidation of the Revolution, Fidel Castro brought together all the revolutionary forces, achieved unity, and one of the concepts for that unity was the creation of the Communist Party of Cuba.
The first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party also referred to the history of US aggression, as well as the more than 60 years of blockade, which has been intensified today, among other measures, with the activation of Chapter III of the Helms-Burton Act and the inclusion of the country in the list of countries that allegedly support terrorism.
He invited the young people to reflect on these circumstances and to think about “what else we can contribute to our unity.”
Geneva, Feb 24 (Prensa Latina) Cuba leads the list of nations with the highest proportion of female inventors, with 53 percent of them women associated with inventions, according to Statista GmbH, an online statistics portal with data on market, opinion and economic studies.
According to figures recorded on the German site, the World Intellectual Property Organization analyzes the international patent applications filed each year and shows that Cuba’s number (an average of 10 per year) in 2021 made the Latin American country number one in that ranking.
The Philippines is next with 38 percent, and Portugal with 34 percent, while four other Spanish-speaking countries are among the top eleven out of a total of 74: Costa Rica and Peru, Chile and Spain, according to the Satistica report.
However, she notes that in economies such as the United States, Germany and Japan, with a reputation for innovation, women are particularly underrepresented in patent applications: 16, 12 and 10 percent respectively; all below the world average.
According to the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), nearly 51,000 Cuban women are engaged in science and technology activities, which represents the highest number in recent years.
The Caribbean country is one of seven nations that have achieved gender parity in scientific research and a significant presence of women among the authors of relevant publications, innovations, invention patents and awards, according to the report of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
ONEI reported that by 2022, women made up 53.8 percent of the workforce engaged in this type of activity, a figure that reflects positive progress toward gender equality in a crucial sector for the country’s economic and social development.
They also represent 69.6 percent of the public health sector and of the ten Cuban inventions that have received the Gold Medal of the World Intellectual Property Organization, they are the main authors in six.
“Although the proportion of female inventors has grown steadily in recent decades worldwide, in 2021 they only accounted for 17 percent of persons designated as inventors in international patent applications,” says the Statista text.
She also points out that progress is very slow in terms of the gender gap in the scientific field, as men continue to represent a large majority of the names associated with patented inventions around the world.
Havana, Feb 24 (Prensa Latina) The official representation of Cuba in Mongolia presented the V International Convention Cuba Health 2025 in the capital of that nation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced today.
The XVI Health for All Trade Fair and the II Medical Tourism and Wellness Fair were also announced in a formal ceremony.
According to the Cuban Foreign Ministry’s statement, the three events will take place between April 21 and 25.
The meeting was attended by executives from public and private hospitals, directors of pharmaceutical companies and health professionals from the Asian country, who listened to the introductory speech by the Cuban ambassador, Jorge Ferrer.
“Cuba Salud 2025 includes congresses, symposiums, workshops and scientific meetings on health informatics, medical education in the 20th century, hygiene and epidemiology, primary care and nanosciences and nuclear technologies,” said Ferrer.
The diplomat added that they will also discuss issues related to “health and disasters, oral health, maternal and child health, rehabilitation, science and innovation in health,” among other topics.
He also highlighted that Cuba Salud 2025 is an opportunity to share Mongolia’s experiences and learn about those of other countries in different areas, “including the Cuban system with indicators similar to those of developed countries.”
On the other hand, he assured that the XVI Health for All Trade Fair is a window to learn about medicines and technologies from around the world and from Biocubafarma, the Cuban Group of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries.
Biocubafarma exports to more than 40 countries; it has more than two thousand patents granted in other countries, including more than 100 in the United States, and complies with the standards of Good Manufacturing Practices, he explained.
The company has around 15 companies of its own or joint ventures in other countries, he stressed, and highlighted that one of BioCubaFarma’s latest developments is NeuroEpo for the effective treatment of mild and moderate Alzheimer’s.
Geneva, Feb 24 (Prensa Latina) Foreign Minister Yván Gil today greeted his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodríguez, whom he described as a true friend of Venezuela and of all peoples fighting for self-determination, in the context of a meeting in Geneva.
We have extended our warmest regards to the people and Government of the island, “a fundamental ally in our struggle at the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, where we defend the truth and international law,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed on his Telegram account.
In the context of the 58th session of the Human Rights Council, which is being held in Geneva, Switzerland, Gil expressed “great pleasure” in greeting the Cuban foreign minister, “a true friend of Venezuela.”
He also met with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on the occasion of his meeting, in order to “reaffirm the deep friendship and alliance between our peoples, which we are building together towards a multipolar world.”
The head of Venezuelan diplomacy said he was pleased with the opportunity to speak with his Nigerian counterpart, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar.
During the conversation, they reviewed the progress of joint projects in the field of gas production, as well as “the deep friendship that unites our peoples,” he said.
They also reaffirmed their commitment to the future of cooperative solidarity, for which they continue to work with enthusiasm, he said.
As part of his agenda to strengthen bilateral relations, Gil met on Monday with the head of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine, Versan Aghabekian.
At this meeting, both governments reaffirmed their friendship, solidarity and joint desire to strengthen cooperation.
He also met with Qatari Minister of International Cooperation Maryam Al-Musnad to strengthen multilateral partnerships and continue advancing bilateral cooperation in key areas such as tourism, trade and energy.
He also spoke with the Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Rebeca Grynspan, with whom he discussed opportunities for collaboration in financial and technological projects, which are aligned with the objectives of the Plan de la Patria 2025-2031.
