New York, March 15 (Prensa Latina) The U.S. blockade of Cuba continues to be a cruel, unjust, immoral, and anachronistic reality that attempts to subdue the will of a people who have chosen to be free, said Noemí Rabaza, first vice president of ICAP, today.

Rabaza, who is attending the International Conference for the Normalization of U.S.-Cuba Relations here representing the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), expressed his gratitude for the energy and drive of the movement supporting the island, especially in Cuba.

“You have been a beacon of light in the darkest moments, voices rising against injustice, and arms reaching out to build bridges of friendship,” the official said at the in-person and virtual meeting, held at the iconic Malcolm X Center in New York.

Rabaza said that ICAP turns 65 in 2025, and the institution’s history “is intertwined with the solidarity activism of movements like the one you represent,” and more than six decades later, it remains “a bridge between Cuba and the world.”

Looking back on the time that has passed, “we cannot help but recall the figures of two giants whose struggles and legacies inspire us: Fidel Castro and Malcolm X. Both, from different positions but with a shared purpose, dedicated their lives to the fight for social justice, equality, and human dignity,” he emphasized.

On his social media profile, Cuba’s alternate permanent ambassador to the UN, Yuri Gala, described the event as an “important event organized by solidarity groups with the Cuban nation. #CubaIsNotAlone.”

The forum, which concludes tomorrow and was first held in 2017, features diverse participation and the collaboration of solidarity networks in the United States, Canada (Quebec), and the Latin American and Caribbean Continental Network of Solidarity with Cuba and Just Causes.

A final statement outlining the solidarity movement’s work objectives is expected in the immediate future, taking into account—as a brochure from the National Network on Cuba points out—that there is a two-way U.S. blockade that dramatically affects the lives of tens of millions of Cuban and U.S. residents.

Many point out that if the unilateral siege that has survived 12 administrations in the executive mansion did not exist, collaboration could be achieved in fields such as medical advances.

Figures highlighted by solidarity indicate that the embargo prevents, for example, some 80,000 American diabetics who undergo amputations each year and 550,000 lung cancer victims from accessing unique Cuban treatments for their condition.

They also point out that there are nearly 50 million adults in this country who are illiterate and cannot benefit from Cuba’s global literacy campaign “Yes, I Can,” which has helped 11 million people in 30 countries around the world learn to read and write.

They also emphasize that, due to the embargo, U.S. citizens have fewer opportunities to visit a beautiful Caribbean island and share experiences with its wonderful people.

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Havana, March 12 (Prensa Latina) Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez today recalled the signing by the United States government of the Helms-Burton Act 29 years ago, with the stated objective of overthrowing the Revolution.

In his profile on the social network X, the Cuban foreign minister stated that nothing similar exists in the world, and described this provision as a flagrant violation of the norms that govern international trade and the most basic rights of peoples.

The Helms-Burton Act, signed in 1996 by then-US President William Clinton, contemplates the internationalization of the blockade; the denial of credit and financial aid to countries and organizations that favor or promote cooperation with Cuba; and hindering foreign investment on the island.

Its enactment eliminated the unilateral possibility of lifting the siege on the island and established that it would remain in effect until there is what Washington calls a transitional government certified by the White House in Cuba.

Sections three and four of the Helms-Burton Act remained inactive until 2019, when President Donald Trump authorized their implementation, in order to prevent normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States.

According to experts, the Helms-Burton Act, along with the Torricelli Act (signed in 1992), constitutes a huge obstacle to bilateral relations and a violation of the principles of sovereign equality and non-intervention in the internal affairs of a State, as enshrined in international law.

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Guatemala City, March 12 (Prensa Latina) Guatemalan anthropologist Sandra Xinico expressed solidarity with the hostile policy of the United States government that is causing so much harm to Cuba today, and urged the people of the Antilles to maintain their strength.

This North American practice tends or intends to impose itself on free territories and will surely continue to seek to complicate the situation through an unjust economic blockade against the Caribbean island, the Kaqchikel Mayan researcher emphasized.

In statements to Prensa Latina, he acknowledged the historic struggle of Cubans and all their work to maintain themselves as an independent and sovereign nation, a reference for the various peoples pursuing their liberation, he emphasized.

He ruled out the possibility that all this violence on the part of the United States is solely the result of Donald Trump’s administration, but rather the continuation of imperialist policies of invasion and colonization to subjugate those unwilling to align themselves with their plundering objectives.

What’s happening with the current US president isn’t accidental; “it’s been part of a plan to maintain dependency, as in the case of Guatemala, to make countries like what we’re experiencing here,” the writer asserted.

This subordination to a model that has led to the destruction of our communities, genocide, that has plundered our lands, that has seized the nation’s greatest treasures, said the young woman, originally from the municipality of Patzún, department of Chimaltenango.

And that dynamic is what the United States seeks to impose on Cuba, at the forefront of liberation, which insists that its people have another way of life, he reflected.

Unfortunately, a lot of information reaches us here that is already mediated by the northern country and doesn’t always correspond to the reality that the people live in, the former community leader considered.

Here we receive news as if the United States were a country that wanted to liberate others, that fought for democracy; however, we know that’s not the case, he added.

What they are seeking is to intervene, to penetrate deep into our territories in order to control us and then continue to benefit, Xinico warned.

He also expressed concern about all the anti-immigrant measures and the use of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, in Cuba, to send people deported from the United States, which he described as a racist practice.

We know that the United States was built on a territory stolen from Native peoples; however, we live in a difficult situation regarding memory and our history, the anthropologist argued.

He denounced the policy of returning nationals to their countries through migration, a result of the structural problems we have in countries like Guatemala and the same evil caused by colonial practices.

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United Nations, March 11 (Prensa Latina) The Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter today condemned the unjustified re-inclusion of Cuba on the arbitrary list of states that allegedly sponsor terrorism, drawn up by the United States.

“This unacceptable action confirms the discredit and opaque nature of this list and demonstrates the intention to intensify the criminal economic siege against Cuba to hinder its financial and commercial operations and cause greater hardship for the Cuban people,” the group said in a statement.

He stressed that Cuba’s unfair inclusion reinforces the negative impact of the criminal economic, commercial, and financial blockade on the realization of the Cuban people’s human rights.

“The Group recalls the repeated calls made to the United States government by several special procedures mandate holders, numerous States, international organizations, civil society, and other actors to remove Cuba from the list and lift the embargo,” it states.

Likewise, it strongly rejects the political manipulation of the fight against terrorism and reaffirms its unwavering solidarity with the Cuban people and government, and urges the United States government to immediately and unconditionally end the blockade.

Furthermore, to comply with the 32 resolutions adopted in this regard by the UN General Assembly and to exclude Cuba from the list of states that allegedly sponsor terrorism.

Following this declaration, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez thanked the member countries of the Group of Friends of the UN Charter for their powerful statement delivered today before the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter is an initiative of a group of Member States whose main objective is to protect and promote the fundamental principles set forth in the UN Charter.

It is made up of Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Cuba, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Laos, Mali, Nicaragua, Palestine, Russia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Syria, Uganda, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

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