“I decided to resign from office so that Carlos Mesa and Luis Camacho would cease abusing and harming thousands of brothers … I have the obligation to seek peace and Bolivians fighting amongst ourselves hurts a great deal, for this reason I am submitting my letter of resignation to the Plurinational Assembly of Bolivia,” Morales stated.After serious waves of violent against members and leaders of the Movement to Socialism (MAS), intimidation of journalists, burning of residences, and betrayals by political allies and members of the National Police, the country is facing a political crisis.The nation’s armed forces (FF.AA.) issued a statement indicating that in order to restore stability, a change in the Presidency was necessary, “We suggest that the President resign from office allowing the pacification and maintenance of stability in Bolivia,” stated William Kaiman, commander in chief of the Armed Forces.

“We are resigning so that our humble brothers are no longer beaten, poor families humiliated, we do not want confrontations. We have decided to relinquish our victory to allow for elections, all for Bolivia, all for the homeland,” Morales said.

“This is not a betrayal of social movements; the struggle continues; we are the people. We have liberated Bolivia, we are leaving a liberated homeland, developing, with generations that very much have a future,” Morales concluded.

(From teleSUR)

The 701 members of the Cuban medical brigade in Bolivia are safe, with all necessary provisions, and are being kept informed of events in permanent communication with the mission’s leadership, stated Yoandra Muro, head of the brigade in that nation, speaking on Cuban television.On November 9, Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a declaration stating, “Disregarding electoral institutions and the people’s mandate expressed at the polls, sectors of the Bolivian opposition, with the support and leadership of the United States and regional oligarchies, have launched a coup with the aim of denying the Bolivian people the electoral result. The opposition coup strategy has led to severe violence across the country, which has cost lives, hundreds of wounded, and expressions of racism toward original peoples.”

The President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, announced on Sunday his resignation given increasing violence by opposition groups challenging the results of elections held October 20.

“I decided to resign from office so that Carlos Mesa and Luis Camacho would cease abusing and harming thousands of brothers … I have the obligation to seek peace and Bolivians fighting amongst ourselves hurts a great deal, for this reason I am submitting my letter of resignation to the Plurinational Assembly of Bolivia,” he stated.“This is not a betrayal of social movements; the struggle continues; we are the people. We have liberated Bolivia, we are leaving a liberated homeland, developing, with generations that very much have a future,” Morales concluded.

Voting against were the United States and Israel, along with Jair Bolsonaro – who incidentally represents Brazil, but is not Brazil. The abstentions of Colombia and Ukraine, completed the tiny percentage against Cuba’s resolution, a glimpse of the minimal support enjoyed by the failed policy of our malicious neighbor.

“Voting against Cuba is voting for the continuity of genocide. #SomosCuba, a victory for Cuba,” wrote President of the Republic of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, on his Twitter account, adding, “The blockade is real and we will defeat it with the support of the international community that, in its overwhelming majority, today voted with Cuba against the blockade. Lackey governments showed where their affinities lie. And they are alone along with the empire. A victory for Cuba.”

(Granma)

(Transcript from Presidency of the Republic)

Mr. President;

Your Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, permanent representatives;

Ladies and gentlemen delegates:

In recent months, the government of President Donald Trump has initiated an escalation in its aggression against Cuba, with the adoption of unconventional measures to prevent the supply of fuel to our country from various markets through sanctions and threats to vessels, shippers, and insurance companies. Its objective, in addition to affecting the economy, is to damage the living standard of Cuban families. The United States government is responsible.

In April of this year, the filing of lawsuits in U.S. courts against Cuban, U.S., and third-country entities was authorized, under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act.

The persecution of our banking-financial relations with the rest of the world has intensified.

Remittances to Cuban citizens were restricted; the granting of visas was reduced and consular services limited; an agreement between baseball federations was canceled; individual trips by U.S. citizens were canceled, along with cruise ship stops and direct flights to Cuban airports, except for Havana; the leasing of airplanes with more than 10% U.S. components and the acquisition of technologies and equipment with the same was prohibited; commercial promotional activities and cultural and educational exchanges ceased. The United States Government is responsible.

It has aggressively intensified the extraterritorial impact of the blockade of Cuba on third states, their companies, and citizens.

The goal of economically asphyxiating Cuba and increasing damage, shortages, and our people’s sufferings is not hidden.

The U.S. government has also proposed to sabotage the international cooperation that Cuba provides in the area of ​​health. With a slander campaign, U.S. politicians and officials directly attack a program based on genuine conceptions of South-South cooperation, which has been recognized by the international community.

Mr. President:

The United States Ambassador grossly manipulates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Article 3: Right to life.

The blockade causes incalculable humanitarian damage, constitutes a flagrant, massive, and systematic violation of human rights and qualifies as an act of genocide under subsections b) and c), of Article 2 of the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948. There is no Cuban family that does not suffer its consequences.

A Cuban child with severe heart failure cannot receive the most advanced system of circulatory assistance for pediatric use because it is of U.S. origin, and although its purchase has been requested repeatedly, no response has been forthcoming from the U.S. companies that sell it.

As a result of prohibitions imposed on Cuba, a person suffering from severe heart failure has no access to ventricular support equipment, which maintains the life of a patient in critical condition until it is possible to perform a transplant or, in other cases, until cardiovascular function is recovered.

As a result of the blockade, Bryan Gómez Santiesteban, 16, and Leydis Posada Cañizares, 19, of growth age, cannot receive expandable internal prostheses, but only fixed, and must therefore undergo frequent surgeries for replacement. Expandable prostheses are produced by the U.S. company Stryker. Yes, your government is responsible

The blockade also makes it impossible to access novel drugs for cancer treatment, only produced by U.S. pharmaceutical companies.

Mayra Lazus Roque, 57, is a renal cancer patient who could not be treated with the optimal drug, Sunitinib, only produced by the U.S. company Pfizer. Thanks to the treatment she has received with products from Cuba’s biotechnology industry, she is in good general health.

Eduardo Hernández Hernández, 49, suffers from metastatic melanoma. The optimal treatment for this type of cancer is Nivolumab, a drug only produced by the U.S. company Bristol Myers Squibb, which we cannot access. He is being treated with other alternatives. Your government is responsible.

Year after year, the United States delegation at this headquarters, as the Ambassador just did, has expressed, with a good dose of cynicism, that her government supports the Cuban people. Can anyone believe such a statement?

The government of the United States lies and falsifies data on alleged licenses for sales of medicines and food to Cuba, which are very difficult to obtain.

The United States delegation in those seats should explain to this Assembly the conditions it imposes on Cuban purchases: there is no access to credit, official or private; payment in cash is required when goods reach the port; banks that process our transactions are persecuted; Cuban vessels cannot be used for transport. Yes, it is responsible. Who in the world conducts trade under such conditions?

The successful, effective Cuban model has ensured and assures Cuban men and women equal opportunities, equity and social justice, despite hostility and coercion.

Mr. President:

The United States government does not have the least moral authority to criticize Cuba or anyone else in the area of ​​human rights. We reject the repeated manipulation of this issue for political purposes and the double standards that characterize its use.

The Ambassador said that her goal is to reveal the truth, but her guilty conscience betrayed her words, and she says that she has not come to confess.

Article 3: Right to Life, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The deaths of civilians caused by U.S. troops in various latitudes, and the use of torture merit condemnation; as well as the murder of African Americans by police and migrants by border patrols; the deaths of unaccompanied minors in immigration detention, and the abusive and racially disproportionate use of the death penalty, applicable to minors and the mentally handicapped.

Article 5: Freedom from torture.

The impunity of the gun lobby is responsible for the increase in homicides, including among teenagers. In the first eight months of 2019, there have been some 250 mass attacks with firearms, with almost 1,000 victims, of which about a quarter were fatal. In 2018, 100 U.S. residents died daily and 274 were injured by guns.

In the United States, there are 2.3 million individuals incarcerated, a quarter of the planet’s prison population, and in one year 10.5 million arrests are made. Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest.

Opioid overdoses kill 137 U.S. residents every day and, for lack of proper treatment, 251 die of heart disease and 231, prematurely, of cancer. 170 preventable daily amputations are performed, associated with diabetes.

Article 25: Right to health.

Repression and police surveillance of immigrants, the separation of families, the separation of parents and indefinite detention of more than 2,500 children, and the deportation of 21,000, and brutal measures that threaten the children of illegal immigrants who were raised and educated in the United States are abhorrent.

Article 1: Right to dignity and freedom.

Article 11: Due process.

This government holds prisoners indefinitely, in legal limbo, without defense, courts, or due process, in the Guantanamo naval base prison, on our territory usurped by the United States.

Article 25: Right to personal well-being.

In the richest country, 40 million U.S. residents live in poverty, 18.5 million of them in extreme poverty. 25.7% of those with disabilities lived in poverty at the end of last year. More than half a million of its citizens sleep on the streets.

Article 23: Right to work.

At the end of 2018, there were 6.6 million unemployed in the United States.

Article 25: Right to health.

There are 28.5 million citizens without medical insurance, and millions with low incomes will be deprived of coverage with the measures announced.

Article 26: Right to education.

Quality education is not accessible to the majority. Half of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth grade level. Equal opportunity in the United States is a chimera. Adolescents and youth rightly protest against their government for stripping them of environmental rights.

Article 2: Non-discrimination

Women earn approximately 85% of average male income in the United States, and must work 39 more days a year to match them. There are widespread complaints of sexual harassment

The average wealth of white families is seven times greater than that of Afro-descendant families. The death rate of children under one year of age and mothers in childbirth is twice that of whites.

There is a disproportionate racial pattern in the U.S. prison population and in the length of prison sentences.

Corruption prevails in the political system and the electoral model violates postulates of Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, referring to the right to participate in conducting public affairs. There is a growing gap between government decisions and the will of the people. Powerful, exclusive minorities, particularly corporate groups, decide the nature and composition of the government, Congress, and institutions meant to impart justice and enforce the law.

The United States is a country where human rights are systematically violated and often massively and flagrantly. It subscribes to only 30% of international human rights instruments and does not recognize as such the right to life, the right to peace, the right to development, to security, to food, nor does it recognize the rights of girls and boys.

Article 13: Freedom to travel

The blockade also violates the human rights and civil liberties of U.S. citizens, for whom the right to travel to Cuba is unjustly and arbitrarily restricted, the only prohibited destination in the world. The United States government is responsible.

Mr. President:

Over the last year, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and other U.S. agencies imposed fines on financial groups in third countries, such as the Italian Unicredit Group and the French Société Générale, for violating the sanctions system against Cuba. Dozens of foreign banks were intimidated, and limited or suspended their financial ties with our country.

Natural legal persons, that is, simply people, are also victims of the blockade. A German citizen who offers his services at the Cuban Embassy in Berlin received a notification of the closure of his Amazon account, allegedly on the basis of blockade regulations.

The illegal Helms-Burton Act guides the aggressive conduct of the United States against Cuba. Its essence is the open pretense of violating the right to self-determination and independence of the Cuban nation. It asserts U.S. legal authority over the commercial and financial relations of any country with Cuba, and establishes the supposed primacy of the law and the jurisdiction of the United States over third countries. The blockade, as a whole, is a serious violation of international law, the United Nations Charter, and the postulates of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.

Not everyone adheres to the illegal extraterritorial application of restrictions imposed by U.S. law. In June of 2019, a primary level judge of The Hague Court issued a ruling favorable to the company PAM International, based in Curacao, in its lawsuit against the Dutch company EXACT Software Delft, now a subsidiary of the U.S. firm KKR, for its application of provisions of the United States blockade against Cuba. The judge ruled that the latter must continue offering its services to PAM International, for the supply of software to Cuban companies and organizations.

Examples like this show that there are antidote laws, World Trade Organization bodies, and means and ways to confront the extraterritorial application of the blockade of Cuba.

Mr. President:

The accumulated damages caused by the blockade over almost six decades have reached 922 billion dollars, taking into account the depreciation of the dollar as compared to the value of gold. At current prices, quantifiable damages of more than 138 billion dollars have been incurred.

For years, the blockade has constituted an impediment to the aspirations for well-being and prosperity of several generations of Cubans and continues to be the fundamental obstacle to the country’s economic development. It serves as a brake on the updating of our Economic and Social Development Model and the implementation of the 2030 National Plan, for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals.

The effects of the blockade, particularly travel restrictions, affect the non-state sector of the economy with particular force.

With unearned revenue from exports of goods and services, and without expenses associated with the geographical relocation of trade, which imposes the need for extensive inventories, Cuba’s Gross Domestic Product would have grown, at current prices, some 10% as an annual average rate over the last decade.

The annual damages caused by the blockade far exceed the amount of direct foreign investment needed for national development.

For almost six decades, Cuba has been the victim of the most unjust, severe, prolonged system of sanctions that has been imposed on any country. The United States government is responsible.

Despite all the limitations and difficulties our people experience, Cuba has been able to counteract the manifest intentions of the blockade, its overwhelming effect for six decades, and unquestionable impact on the country’s potential.

It is the effectiveness of the Cuban socialist system, the state and the patriotism, revolutionary convictions, solidarity, consensus, and unity of our people that, despite the limitations, has allowed Cuba to overcome the serious challenges imposed.

One might ask whether even some industrialized, technologically advanced countries would be able to withstand such a prolonged and overwhelming attack, while ensuring modest but persistent growth of their economy, preserving development programs, moving toward a service and knowledge economy, and guaranteeing the exercise of all human rights, in conditions of equity, for all of their citizens, as occurs in Cuba.

Mr. President:

This Assembly has repeatedly confirmed its rejection of the application of unilateral coercive measures as contrary to international law and the United Nations Charter.

The United States applies systems of coercive measures against more than twenty countries and specific unilateral measures against dozens of nations, a trend that has been intensified by the current administration.

As the Comandante en jefe of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, expressed on the United Nations 50th anniversary, at this same podium, we should aspire to a world “without cruel blockades that kill men, women, and children, young and old, like silent atomic bombs.”

Mr. President:

The United States government presumes to exercise imperialist domination in Our America, again invokes the outdated, aggressive Monroe Doctrine and “gunship diplomacy,” deploying the Fourth Fleet and increasing the presence and power of its military bases in the region.

The blockade policy’s definition is best expressed in the infamous. memorandum written by Undersecretary of State Lester Mallory, in April of 1960, who I quote: “…There is no effective political opposition (…) The only possible way to make the government lose domestic support is by provoking disappointment and discouragement through economic dissatisfaction and hardships (…) Every possible means should be immediately used to weaken the economic life (…) denying Cuba funds and supplies to reduce nominal and real salaries with the objective of provoking hunger, desperation and the overthrow of the government.”

The United States representative offends this Assembly with unacceptable interventionist language, to refer to the heroic Venezuelan people, their civic-military union, and the Bolivarian Chavista government, headed by President Nicolás Maduro Moros, to whom we express unwavering solidarity.

The United States government uses falsehoods and slander as a pretext to intensify its aggression against Cuba. I reiterate that neither threats nor coercion will extract a single political concession. Nor do we renounce our will to achieve a civilized relationship with the country, based on mutual respect and recognition of our profound differences.

As Army General Raúl Castro pointed out on April 10, before the National Assembly of People’s Power, “Despite its immense power, imperialism does not have the capacity to break the dignity of a united people, proud of its history and the freedom conquered with so much sacrifice.”

Cuba recognizes the ethical and political chasm that exists between the U.S. people and their government, and will do everything possible to develop the Broad and deep ties that unite us with U.S. citizens.

Mr. President;

Distinguished Permanent Representatives; Ladies and gentlemen delegates:

We recognize with deep gratitude all those who have expressed their rejection of the blockade of our country and those who have always accompanied us in our incessant struggle for the end of this policy.

As the President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, affirmed on October 10, Cubans are awaiting “intense, challenging days, but no one is going to take away our confidence in the future, which we owe our children, in the homeland that our parents won for us by standing firm.”

On behalf of the heroic, selfless, solidary people of Cuba, I once again ask that you vote in favor of the proposed resolution contained in document A/74/L.6, the Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.

Thank you very much. (Applause)

12:05 pm The voting process begins.

Result: 187 in favor; 3 against; 2 abstentions

Against: Israel, the United States, Brazil

Abstaining: Colombia and Ukraine

———————————————————————-

Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez Parilla addressed the General Assembly, and refuted statements made by the United States representative, stating that the U.S. distorts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and has no authority to criticize Cuba, or anyone else.
Photo: MINREX

He noted that, over the last few months, the Trump administration has adopted measures to disrupt deliveries of fuel to Cuba, hurting the economy and the wellbeing of Cuban families, adding “The U.S. government is responsible.”

Remittances were restricted, the granting of visas was reduced, cruise ships and direct flights to Cuba were banned, sports contracts were canceled, commercial promotional activities ceased.

“The United States government is responsible,” Rodríguez said, explaining that no Cuban family is exempt from the consequences of the blockade. Sick children do not have access to medical equipment produced by U.S. companies. The blockade prevents access to novel drugs for the treatment of cancer produced by U.S. companies. “The U.S. government is responsible.”

With a slander campaign, U.S. politicians and officials defame Cuban medical programs that provide support in other countries, he noted.
Can anyone believe that the U.S. government wants to support Cuba, he asked.

The U.S. delegation should explain here the measures that it imposes on Cuban transactions with other nations.

The successful and effective Cuban model guarantees Cubans equal opportunity and social justice despite hostility and sanctions. The U.S. government has no moral authority to talk about human rights.

Rodríguez recalled that in the United States there are 2.3 million people imprisoned, and every year more than 10.5 million arrests are made.

Families are separated, parents and children detained at borders, and migrants deported. Prisoners are illegally and indefinitely held at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo. More than half a million U.S. citizens sleep on the streets and 28.5 million have no medical insurance.

Equal opportunity in the United States is a chimera. Women earn approximately 85 percent of what men earn, and there are widespread complaints of sexual harassment. Incarceration rates are racially disproportionate.

——————————————————————————————

Representatives from Zambia, Trinidad and Tobago, Finland, Costa Rica, and Argentina expressed support for Cuba’s resolution calling for an immediate end to the blockade.

——————————————————————————————-

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s representative took the floor, stating that measures like the blockade, by a single country against another, threaten the sovereignty of nations.

He cited the blockade’s inhumane impact and denounced the escalation seen this last year, adding that Iran, like Cuba, pays for the price of its resistance and independence, challenging the expansionist interests of the United States.

The U.S. says it is concerned about the country’s people, but it makes decisions that harm Iranians, he said.

The United States is not a trustworthy associate, he said, sanctions are illegal and the world must find solutions to deal with such aggressive unilateral measures, he concluded.

———————————————————————————————-

The representative of the Plurinational State of Bolivia stated: Weare not only voting against the economic, commercial, and financial blockade, we vote for hope, for the wonderful opportunity to make our world more just.”

Recalling the words of Nelson Mandela, the official stressed that Africa is indebted to the Cuban people for their support on that countries of that continent.

Cubans share what little it has, and does so selflessly, he said, concluding, “Bolivia joins the voice of the world, demanding that the blockade be lifted.”

Venezuelan Jorge Arreaza, People’s Power Minister of Foreign Relations, took the floor, and began by conveying the importance president Nicolas Maduro affords this vote against the criminal U.S. blockade of Cuba.

He said the current situation is a threat to multilateralism and international law, insisting that no sanction will prevent the two countries from working together, and with other nations present.

He emphasized that the Cuban people is determined to exercise its right to self-determination and no coercive measure will stop them.

The blockade, aggravated by the current administration, causes Cuba losses of millions of dollars. The extraterritorial impact of the arbitrary policy also affects countries that maintain bilateral relations with Cuba. The United States government has no authority over other sovereign states, he stressed.

Despite economic difficulties, Cuba has always provided solidarity cooperation to other countries in the world. The blockade is an obsolete policy intended to isolate Cuba, that has clearly failed, he said.

Arreaza stated that Venezuela demands that all UN organizations at all levels show greater courage and take concrete action to end this inhuman policy that constitute an aggression and an affront to the United Nations. He concluded reiterating that his country will vote in favor of the resolution.

———————————————————————————————

Neville Melvin, representative from Namibia, began his remarks reiterating that, as in years past, his country would vote against the blockade of Cuba.

Unfortunately, instead of advancing to put an end to the suffering of the Cuban people, we have seen a setback, he noted. New sanctions adopted by the U.S. concern us, he added

Melvin said that, for his country, the island’s people are family, never sparing any effort to contribute to the wellbeing of many other nations.

In defense of the United Nations Charter, our delegation will vote in favor of this resolution, he concluded.

—————————————————————————————–

10:00am: United Nations General Assembly session begins.

—————————————————————————————–

Today, November 7, for the 29th consecutive time, the draft resolution to end the U.S. blockade of Cuba will be considered by the United General Assembly

During the exchange, Díaz-Canel highlighted the Fair’s role in strengthening economic relations and particularly recognized the difficult context in which this event is being held, given the intensification of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade by the United States government, a situation that did not prevent representatives from more than 60 countries from attending the event, in an environment of optimism and confidence in the potential of our country.

The meeting also served as an opportunity to discuss Cuba’s development plans, and our intention to maintain them, no matter how difficult the conditions may be.

(Granma)

Arsenio Arocha Elias-Moisés, deputy director of Cubana de Aviacion, said that these measures are part of the tightening and new aggressiveness of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade, imposed on our country for almost 60 years.

He said that the measures have as a consequence “the aggravation of economic damages, and cause breaches of commercial contracts, leading to dissatisfaction among our passengers, with the consequent impact on the image of Cuban companies,” he said.

He reported that Cubana de Aviacion has been notified by leasing companies in third countries of the cessation of previously signed lease agreements, causing the cancellation of international flights to the destinations of Santo Domingo, Mexico, Cancun, Caracas, Port-au-Prince, Fort de France, and Point de Pitre.

The impact is also felt in domestic transportation, since some national routes must be readjusted, at the moment limited to Holguín and Santiago de Cuba.

The deputy director explained that studies have been conducted to determine how best to rearrange itineraries to minimize the impact, and that further information will be released in a timely manner.He conveyed an apology from the company for any inconvenience caused as a result of the new measures imposed by the U.S. government, and reiterated that despite the aggressive escalation, the airline will seek appropriate solutions to continue providing its services.

He added that passengers affected by the cancellation of flights will be reimbursed the full value of their tickets at commercial offices.The manager emphasized, “Through December 31, it is estimated that 40,000 potential passengers will not be transported, and income of ten million CUC will be lost, impacting the company economically.”

(Granma)

The floating structure was manufactured in 18 months, in the People’s Republic of China, and was transported to the island by the second largest submersible supercargo ship in the world, in a 52-day voyage through the Indian and Atlantic oceans, plus the Caribbean Sea.

Sources consulted by Granma International reported that by March 2020, maritime repairs will begin on the Floating Dock II, acquired by the country through a Chinese government loan. The structure will allow for work on ships of up to 65,000 tons displacement.

This is not the first floating dock of this type used in the country, but it is the most modern, since the last one with the capacity to repair Panamax ships was decommissioned in 2012, explained Alejandro García Corrales, general director of the Maritime Port Transport Enterprise Group (Gemar).Since then, he added, Cuba has had only smaller dry docks, while efforts continued to acquire one with these characteristics.Construction of the floating structure in China began in 2017 with the participation of Cuba’s Casablanca Shipyards, which provided technical specifications for the design based on experience gained with such docks in the past.

On October 27, the submersible supercargo vessel transporting the dock reached its maneuvering position on the city’s coastline to begin the process of floating the new dock, entering Havana Bay, and placing the structure at the shipyard.

“This maneuver normally involves the transport ship beginning an intentional sinking to allow for the release of the dock. The process was conducted as planned, beginning at noon and concluding at 1:00am in the midnight hours,” García explained.

The structure is not yet secured in its location, since planned technical works must be completed to ensure safety in its final position, located within the bay, alongside the Casablanca Shipyards’ facilities, the entity that will operate the floating dock.

The dock is designed to service Cuban ships and those of foreign fleets that sign contracts with Casablanca Shipyards, since the maritime repair market offers significant opportunities, García commented.He noted that situations arise with ships traveling in the area that break down, obliging them to seek a shipyard close at hand to make emergency repairs. Having this dock allows the shipyard to offer these services, he added.

Similarly, services can be provided if emergencies occur within the bay or at sites close to Cuba, which require immediate dry docking orcareening for repair.”This dock will be an important source of foreign exchange income for the country’s economy, and for the development of our fleet and the transportation system in general,” he stated.The economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States government on Cuba also impacts the shipyard’s work with the new floating dock, with shipping companies that have requested maintenance in Havana withdrawing contracts, since U.S. sanctions prohibit any vessel that has visited a Cuban port from entering the U.S. for a six-month period.

FLOATING DOCK II

Once the start-up begins, vessels will be able to request dry-docking for an 18-day period, or 22 for maintenance, although these figures vary depending on the number of operators available – about 130 daily in the stage initial – and on the job to be completed, said Johannes Milián, the shipyard’s general manager.”Estimates indicate that income generated from the work, beginning next year, will pay for the dock, and also contribute to the national economy,” he added.For work on the dock, Casablanca Shipyards is offering a maritime repair package, which includes plates for hull maintenance, degreasing supplies, electrical materials, cables, and pressurized water, Milián stated.In the case of painting, shippers can request this service with workers on the dock adhering to specifications established by suppliers for each type of vessel.It is expected that the new Cuban dock will have a useful life of at least 30 years. During the initial 10, few repairs will be required on the new structure, and from that moment on, a budget will be allocated for modifications or renovation, and replacement of machinery.

IN FIGURES

The floating dock has the following characteristics:

240 meters in length

48 m exterior.

36 m of useful beam (width)

1 crane on each band

20 tons lifting capacity of each crane

22,000 tons of lifting capacity

170 supports in the central line

80 supports on the lateral lines Source: Grupo Empresarial de Transporte Marítimo Portuario

(Granma)

In the city’s Convention Center, representatives of left-wing parties and social movements discussed developing common actions for solidarity, continental peace and other causes in the Latin American and Caribbean region, where reality demands the resistance of progressive forces and the leadership of young people in the struggle, as the Cuban President pointed out.

It is also necessary, said Díaz-Canel, to articulate strategies that allow us to confront the cultural and media war with which neoliberalism and imperialism intend to subdue our peoples, trying to destroy our identities. The aggressive escalation that the continent is experiencing today is part of an ideological and cultural battle, he insisted.In the particular case of Cuba, Machado Ventura had previously stated in the meeting, “The more radical the aggression, the greater our commitment to solidarity with just causes. We will not change any of our principles.”Mónica Valente, executive secretary of the FSP, called for analysis of the international context of regional struggles and thanked the Cuban people, and all organizations involved, for the collection of thousands of signatures here calling for the release of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, unjustly imprisoned in Brazil.

(Granma)

During a press conference at the UN, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla stated, “Far from heeding repeated appeals by the international community, which for more than two decades has almost unanimously adopted this resolution, the United States is orchestrating new maneuvers to hinder its adoption.”

He noted that the U.S. was targeting Latin American countries in particular, reporting that, “barely a week ago, the U.S. State Department summoned the embassy staff of four Latin American countries to Washington. The purpose of the meeting was to obtain their vote against the aforementioned Resolution.”

Along with this move, U.S. embassies in the capitals of six other Latin American nations are pressuring governments to change their votes.

“The Trump’s administration crude manner of imposing conditions and resorting to coercion to achieve its foreign policy goals is only too well known,” Rodríguez stated, recalling the State Department’s miserable failure in 2018, when it “attempted to amend and change the nature of the resolution that has been traditionally presented to the General Assembly.”

“Cuba knows it can count on the unanimous support of the peoples of Latin America and the entire planet, and expects that none of the governments of the region will give in to Washington’s anti-Cuban designs, which would mean turning a blind eye to the recognized will of their respective peoples, world public opinion, international law, and the most elemental standards of ethics and justice,” he concluded.

(Granma)

(Granma)