Cuban Embassy in Ethiopia honored late Namibian Sam Nujoma
Havana, Feb 11 (Radio Havana Cuba) Representatives of the Cuban Embassy in Ethiopia signed the book of condolences at the diplomatic headquarters of Namibia in memory of Sam Nujoma, the country’s founding father and first president, who died on Sunday at the age of 95.
In their messages, they emphasized the strong bond of friendship between Nujoma and Cuba, which was forged in the shared fight against colonialism and apartheid.
They also underlined his pivotal role in the collaboration between Cuba and Namibia, which was boosted by the Caribbean island’s backing for the African nation’s independence and the education of young Namibians in Cuban universities.
In 1960, Sam Nujoma became one of the founders of the South African People’s Organization and the national liberation movement that brought about Namibia’s independence from South Africa in 1990.
He served as president from 1990 to 2005.
His role in strengthening Namibian sovereignty and fostering cooperation between African nations continues to serve as a model for the continent and the global community. (Source: Prensa Latina)
Cuba and Vietnam assess collaboration in the publishing sector
Hanoi, Feb 11 (Radio Havana Cuba) The Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam, Rogelio Polanco, met at the Cuban embassy in Hanoi with Nguyen Nguyen, the head of the Publications, Printing, and Distribution Department of Vietnam, with whom he discussed the opportunities for enhancing bilateral collaboration in the publishing sector.
Nguyen was accompanied by a Vietnamese delegation that will participate in the upcoming 33th edition of the Havana International Book Fair, to be held from February 13 to 23.
Polanco stressed that 2025 marks the Year of Vietnam-Cuba Friendship, commemorating the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. In this context, he emphasized the need for both nations to have editorial projects that celebrate the anniversary.
With regard to the Book Fair, he pointed out that it is a significant cultural event in Cuba, due to the massive domestic and international participation.
The Cuban diplomat commended the editorial capabilities of Vietnam and expressed optimism about the Vietnamese delegation’s participation in the fair, which will further strengthen ties in this field.
Nguyen, for his part, reflected on his experience at the 29th edition 2020, which was dedicated to Vietnam. He was not only amazed by the scale of the event, but also by the deep affection the Cuban people have for the Vietnamese.
He concurred with Polanco that the arrival of a delegation from his nation this year would be a favorable occasion to foster collaboration, not only with the Cuban Book Institute but also with various publishing houses.
Furthermore, he expressed his willingness to work with the Cuban side to promote copyright.
He also proposed that, on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations, a small exhibition of books showcasing the evolution of these ties be held at the Cuban state mission’s headquarters. (Source: Prensa Latina)
Washington, Feb 9 (Prensa Latina) Countless Cuban families will be affected by the suspension of remittances to Cuba as a result of the U.S. government’s change of course in its irrational hardline policy toward the island.
A Western Union statement, cited in digital media, emphasized that “due to a change in U.S. sanctions regulations,” the financial services company is forced to indefinitely suspend its money transfer service to Cuba, “with immediate effect.”
The decision is not surprising, it was coming, because Orbit SA, in charge of processing remittances, was included in Cuba’s List of Restricted Entities with the return of Republican Donald Trump to the White House.
On January 20, when he took office, Trump overturned the last-minute measures of his predecessor Joe Biden, and reinstated, among others, that list.
This was followed by statements by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who on January 31 announced that in addition to reinstating the entities that were “on the list until the last week of the previous administration, we are adding Orbit, S.A.,” which, according to him, “acts for or on behalf of the Cuban military forces.”
On Wednesday, the State Department published the update to the list and, in effect, Orbit SA was added to the existing ones, according to the text that can be read on the Federal Register page.
The warning is that direct financial transactions in general are prohibited for the entities included in accordance with the Regulations for the Control of Cuban Assets.
Rubio -who during his time as a senator was one of the main architects of the policy against Cuba in the United States Congress- recalled that on his first day, Trump returned Cuba to the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism and reactivated Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, also known as the Liberty Act.
Western Union resumed its money transfer service to Cuba in May of last year after stopping it in 2020, during Trump’s first administration (2017-2021).
At that time, the Fincimex Cuban financial institution was sanctioned as part of the arbitrary measures that, as now, intensify the blockade, thus making it impossible for residents on this side of the strait to financially help their relatives on the island.
Two years later, in 2022, the service was restored with limitations and was again cut off due to technical problems. Cuba’s Restricted Entities List was rescinded on January 16, following the issuance of National Security Memorandum 29 (NSM-29) on the 14th of the same month. On the 20th, Trump issued an Executive Order that invalidated NSM-29.
In his first administration, Trump imposed at least 243 restrictive measures that reinforced the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on the Cuban people more than six decades ago.
The Republican is returning to his steps of maximum pressure. Four years ago, eight days after leaving the executive mansion, Trump included Cuba in the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, which it had not been part of since 2015, a position that Biden maintained until the very end of his term.
Washington, February 8 (Radio Havana Cuba) — A first shipment of medical supplies valued at almost 200 thousand dollars and more than 500 thousand painkillers collected by solidarity efforts in the United States are being donated to the Cuban health care system.
This was confirmed by the Los Angeles Committee Hands Off Cuba, which coordinated the aid together with Global Health Partners, Not Just Tourists and a doctor graduated from the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana, Uriel Ramírez.
“Puentes de Amor” also joined the campaign of painkillers for Cuba, indicated a statement from the Los Angeles committee sent to Prensa Latina, which anticipated that the initiative will continue as part of the actions against the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on the Caribbean country more than six decades ago.
The collection of the solidarity contribution was combined with information meetings and the establishment of new Hands Off Cuba committees in San Antonio, Texas, and New Orleans, Louisiana. These committees – the note emphasized – will also be represented in the delegation of Labor and Youth Activists that will travel to Cuba for the celebrations of International Workers’ Day on May 1st.
On January 20th, in one of his first measures after taking office, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, reversed the order that only six days earlier had been issued by the then outgoing president, Joe Biden, who at the end of his term decided to remove Cuba from the arbitrary list of countries sponsoring terrorism.
Trump also revoked other provisions – late, but in the right direction – of the Democrat regarding Cuba. Donald Trump returned to the extremist hardline policy that characterized his first administration (2017-2021), when he reinforced the blockade with 243 additional measures.
Havana, February 9 (Radio Havana Cuba) — The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and national coordinator for the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Anayansi Rodríguez, spoke at the opening segment of the XI Meeting of National Coordinators of the mechanism.
According to the Cuban Foreign Ministry on its website, Rodríguez highlighted the vital importance of CELAC and the principle of unity in diversity in the face of the challenges facing the region.
She also referred to the need to preserve and protect the historical heritage of the Community and not to backtrack on the consensus reached.
She encouraged the next Summit to focus its attention on issues of vital importance for the region such as the commitment to the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace; the rejection of unilateral coercive measures; South-South cooperation and the relationship between CELAC and extra-regional partners.
In a context of marked aggressiveness by the current United States government against Cuba, the deputy minister of foreign affairs thanked the numerous expressions of support and solidarity with the Island, received from governments, parliaments, political, religious and social organizations and political figures from Latin America and the Caribbean.
Colombo, Feb 10 (Prensa Latina) The Frontline Socialist PartY (FSP) of Sri Lanka condemned the decision of the United States to use the illegal naval base in Guantanamo, Cuba, for the reception of Trump[s deported immigrants, so stated the national newspaper THE ISLAND.
The Sri Lankan party demanded, in a statement, the immediate withdrawal of the United States from the US naval base in Guantanamo and the return of that illegal occupied territory in Cuba.
In addition to condemning US President Donald Trump’s decision, this party reaffirmed that this territory rightfully belongs to the Cuban people, and described Washington’s measure of imprisoning deported migrants in the enclave as cruel and unjust and violates human rights and Cuban territory.
The text stated that it also expresses the oppressive and exploitative nature of the foreign and immigration policies of the United States, which are contrary to humanity.
The FSP of Sri Lanka also demanded the US Government their immediate withdrawal and to implement a humane and just immigration policy respecting the dignity and rights of all individuals.
It also urged Washington to end its exploitative economic and foreign policies which have paved the way to forced migration.
It also called on the international community, human rights organizations, and all progressive forces to stand in solidarity with the affected migrants and defeat US imperialism.
Mexico City, February 5 (Radio Havana Cuba)– Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reiterated on Wednesday her rejection of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States government on Cuba and said that these sieges harm the people.
“They know our position regarding Cuba. Economic blockades do not harm governments, they harm the people, and dialogue must always be put above all else,” said the president during her usual press conference, this time from the state of Querétaro.
“It is in our constitution, in the definition of the principles of foreign policy, but it is something that is important to develop in all senses. Closing the door and not dialoguing, I believe, is never the option. The construction of peace requires permanent dialogue,” he stressed.
The day before, the president of the island, Miguel Díaz-Canel, rejected the statements of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who called Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela “enemies of humanity.”
During a visit to Costa Rica, as part of a tour of Central America, the U.S. secretary of state accused those three countries of being the cause of the current migration crisis.
“The shamelessness once again taking hold of the cynical politicians of the United States,” stated the Cuban dignitary in X, where he affirmed that it is proven that the migratory exodus on the island is proportional to the hardening of the blockade policy of that northern power.
He pointed out that the siege deprives the Cuban people of essential goods, and warned about the danger for humanity of neo-fascism promoted by Washington.
Enemies of humanity are those who resist blockades without abandoning solidarity with other peoples or those who apply the blockade trampling on international laws? The empire, with its expansionist appetite and its futile pretension of governing the world, is the enemy of humanity, he stressed.
Havana, Feb 4 (Prensa Latina) Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Tuesday that the Cuban Government, with the support of the people, will continue to defend the Revolution, independence and national sovereignty.
The head of Cuban diplomacy wrote so on his X account, a platform in which he denounced that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wants to visit Havana, “but first change our government. He will be left wanting.”
“He will not be able to visit Cuba, a country about which he knows absolutely nothing. He was not invited,” Rodríguez said.
In his message on X, the foreign minister ratified Cuba’s willingness to defend its sovereignty, and recalled that 13 US presidents and secretaries of state have assumed power since the revolutionary triumph in 1959.
On January 30, the Donald Trump administration approved Cuba’s reinclusion on the List of Restricted Entities, which prohibits financial transactions with Cuban state companies, in addition to denying them resources.
Ten days earlier, the new US administration revoked the decision by President Joe Biden to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT) list, a step criticized by a large part of the international community.
In this regard, Cuban leaders affirmed that they will act with firmness and dignity in the face of the outrage that these new measures represent.
Cuba also sought support from the international community “to stop, denounce and accompany our people in the face of the new and dangerous onslaught of aggression” by the United States “that has only just begun.”
According to the Foreign Ministry, the announcement may also be the prelude to other measures that the team in charge of the Cuba issue in this government has designed since 2017 to further tighten, gratuitously and irresponsibly, the blockade against Cuba in search of new and avoidable scenarios of deterioration and bilateral confrontation.
Mexico City, Feb 4 (Prensa Latina) Cuban specialists in Ophthalmology contribute today in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur to the training of health personnel and to the recovery of vision in low-income patients.
In an interview with Prensa Latina, Teresa de los Angeles Casanova, head surgeon of this team at the Juan Maria de Salvatierra Hospital in the city of La Paz, comments on the characteristics of their work and the results obtained as part of the collaboration between the two countries.
According to the member of the island’s medical brigade in this nation, the center considered a reference, receives patients with ocular traumas from all over the entity, and three professionals from the largest of the Antilles attend patients ranging from newborns to long-lived adults.
We carry out weekly surgical activities, including pterygium, cataract, and other types of ocular diseases,” said the doctor, who highlighted that in 2023 and 2024, surgery campaigns related to the second ailment will be carried out.
Likewise, the Caribbean nation’s professionals have participated ‘in the process of ablation, multi-organ transplants, in turn with surgeons at the kidney and cornea level, precisely by procuring organs for patients in need,’ she points out.
We have remained very directly linked with all the hospital’s services,” he says, “such as pediatrics, oncohematology in children, precisely the interaction and follow-up of these children, as well as the gynecology and internal medicine services,” and others.
Referring to the purpose of their work in these lands, to prevent blindness, the specialist with 33 years of experience expressed her satisfaction in affirming that they made it possible for many people to recover their sight and achieve a better quality of life.
A few days ago, President Claudia Sheinbaum acknowledged the performance of the island’s specialists in Mexico, who currently number more than three thousand, and assured that she will continue to hire them and those from other countries.
Concerning visits to health centers, during her tours throughout the country, Sheinbaum mentioned that she had seen Cuban doctors working in the most remote places ‘with conviction and integration with all the health personnel which is very important for the population’.
Geneva, Feb 4 (Prensa Latina) Swiss political and social organizations on Monday condemned the US economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba and the Caribbean island’s re-inclusion on the unilateral list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism.
In the vicinity of the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, participants in the event displayed banners and waved Cuban flags as signs of solidarity with the Caribbean nation, which has faced hostility from the United States for more than six decades.
Participants in the rally included members of the Swiss Cuba Association, Cuban and Latin American residents, and representatives of MediCuba-Switzerland, the Communist Party of Switzerland and other organizations.
During the event, they recognized the Cuban people’s resistance and their decision to defend their sovereignty against a blockade that they described as criminal. They also demanded that Cuba be removed from the list of countries that the United States considers sponsors of terrorism, a mechanism without international support that was described here as unjust and unjustified.
At the rally, which was attended by diplomats headed by Cuban Ambassador to the UN-Geneva Rodolfo Benítez, the Swiss-Cuban Association released a statement in which it denounced the impact of Washington’s aggressiveness on Cuban population, particularly on its well-being and economic development.
“We make a clear and urgent call to the Government of the United States to immediately and unconditionally end the illegal blockade imposed on the island and remove Cuba from an illegal list on which it should have never appeared,” the statement said.
