State Duma Chairman Viacheslav Volodin noted that the number of Russian territorial subjects amounted to 89.

The politician commented on his Telegram channel that “the entry of the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhie and Kherson people’s republics into the Russian Federation is the only way to save the lives of millions of people from the criminal regime in kyiv. Stop the bombing of the civilian population, the elderly, women and children. Protect the right to one’s mother tongue, culture, history and one’s faith.”

Both chambers of the Russian parliament must ratify the accession of the new territories. The upper house, the Federation Council, will vote on the incorporation documents on Tuesday.

According to the ratified documents, two republics and two regions or oblasts will be formed, which will retain their current names and whose leaders will hold the rank of governors.

The Russian Constitutional Court confirmed on October 2, in four court rulings, that the incorporation documents meet the requirements of the constitution.

(With information from RT in Spanish)

In a message broadcast on Twitter, the Venezuelan president assured that this great step of brotherhood marked the union in Latin America.

It is the Bolivar-Marti Agreement, signed by commanders Hugo Chavez (1954-2013) and Fidel Castro (1926-2016), which represents ‘the ultimate demonstration that it is possible to build a better world,’ Maduro said on the digital platform.

On October 30, 2000, the Comprehensive Collaboration Agreement between Cuba and Venezuela was signed in Caracas, a rapprochement through which various agreements and exchange projects arose in areas such as health, education, sports, culture and production.

As part of this alliance, more than 1,400 exchange projects have been signed so far, with emphasis on health services, drug supplies, counseling and human resources training in educational, sports, cultural and productive programs.

(Granma)

The brotherhood shared by Cuba and Timor Leste is consolidated every day, the country’s ambassador here, Maubere Lorosae da Silva Horta, (Loro Horta), stated to Granma International, while expressing his gratitude for the preparation received by his young compatriots in Cuban universities.

He described bilateral relations between the nations as close, based on equality and mutual respect, exemplified by the more than 950 young Timorese trained in the Latin American School of Medicine, who already provide medical assistance to their people.

“The commitment made by the leader of the Revolution Fidel Castro to prepare more than a thousand doctors from our nation, will soon be fulfilled, since in Cuban classrooms right now there are about a hundred of them,” the diplomat said, noting that higher education institutions here have trained pedagogues, technicians, agronomists, and other specialists, who are playing a leading role in the economic development of the country.

Additionally, a Cuban medical brigade of more than 300 health professionals is assisting the population in remote areas, and its results are evident in better quality of life and improvement of health statistics.”Official relations between Cuba and Timor Leste began around May 20, 2002. Cuba was the second country after China to recognize our independence from Indonesia, but relations between our peoples were established many years before, during the national liberation struggle,” Horta said.He gave as a personal example his parents’ participation in the XI World Festival of Youth and Students held in Cuba in 1978. “Over the last 16 years, all our governments have consistently defended relations with Cuba and we have provided our support in the fight against the unjust U.S. blockade,” he added.He also highlighted that the Timorese people have genuine affection for Comandante Fidel Castro and upon his death, November 25, 2016, spontaneous activities took place in Timor Leste to honor his memory. Masses and commemorations were organized in the country’s 13 districts.”I think Fidel Castro impacted the independence struggles of many countries in the world. Our young people approach the thought and work of Ernesto Guevara and they look very happy wearing clothing that bears the image of that great Argentine-Cuban fighter or the Comandante en Jefe. The contribution of these leaders to the oppressed peoples of the world is well known,” the ambassador stated.On the occasion of the celebration in Havana of the 43rd anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Timor Leste. ending Portuguese colonialism on November 28, 1975, it was emphasized that the nation was defined as anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist, and pursued strategies for economic development that had as their first priority human beings. Thus the focus remains on the well-being of the people, with the right to education, health, and a full life, promoting culture through those social goals.In his speech, delivered at the headquarters of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, the ambassador affirmed that cooperation between the Cuba and Timorese governments and peoples will continue, recalling that his country’s infrastructure was devastated after the national liberation struggle, and Cuba has been able to provide important cooperation in efforts to rebuild.”We have achieved some important milestones in our history as an independent country, which gives us great pride. At the moment, we have one of the highest rates of doctors per resident in Asia, one for every 1300 inhabitants,” he said.Likewise, Timor Leste has one the lowest crime rates in Asia and economic development is advancing, though challenges exist, including providing more employment opportunities for young people, he added.The ambassador concluded his remarks affirming that both countries will continue to contribute to peace and sovereignty for the world’s peoples: “We hope that the friendship between Cuba and Timor Leste will remain very deep and close for many generations,” he said.

(Granma)

Talks between the Colombian government and ELN which began in Quito 2017, were moved to the Cuban capital after President Lenín Moreno pulled out as a guarantor to the process, following a security crisis on the border between Ecuador and Colombia.

“We recently received a joint request from both parties to resume the fifth round of Peace Talks between the Colombian government and ELN in Cuba,” stated head of the Cuban delegation, Iván Mora, on the first day of conversations.

“We do not hesitate to once again accept this responsibility,” added Mora.

“Achieving peace in Colombia has been a historic desire for the entire region,” he noted.

The Cuban diplomat went on explain that Cuba’s role as guarantor and host to the talks is consistent with the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, signed in Havana in January, 2014.

The two delegations thanked Cuba for hosting the talks and highlighted its commitment to the peace process in Colombia.

For four years Havana hosted peace talks between the government of Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-Peoples’ Army (FARC-EP), which ended with the signing of a peace deal currently being implemented in the country.

Head of the ELN delegation, Pablo Beltrán, described the process as “complex and difficult,” and called for the full, proper implementation of the agreement and an end to attacks on peace. “Despite various setbacks, we are aware that the only viable way for Colombia to achieve a political solution is if dialogue goes ahead,” he said.

Gustavo Bell, head of the government delegation, highlighted the need to take “concrete steps” to put an end to the armed conflict, noting that the focus of the fifth round of talks is to reach a ceasefire with the ELN, in the lead-up to the country’s elections on May 27.

The last ceasefire between the Colombian government and ELN lasted 101 days, from October 2017 through January 2018.

The ELN negotiating team meanwhile stated that this new round of talks will draw on the experiences from the last ceasefire deal, with the aim of supporting national dialogue in Colombia and fundamentally changing the conditions which led the guerillas to take up arms in the first place.

(Granma)

Becali expects both to train professional athletes here, and to expand cooperation in sports; thus he met with Le Khanh Hai, the vice minister that handles Sports within the portfolio also in charge of Tourism and Culture, with promising results.

As in other countries, we evaluate the sporting chances that our Olympic Games’ athletes come here to train; therefore, we reviewed Vietnamese potential in several disciplines, its infrastructure and other conditions, Becali told Prensa Latina.

The Vietnamese are also interested in Cuban boxing and volleyball coaches coming to work here and we also talk about exchanges of visits by national teams, he stressed.

During his Asian tour, the president of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER) made a first stop in Mongolia, where he was received by the highest sports’ authorities of that country.

Mongolia is very strong in combat sports such as wrestling, especially in the female branch, and we want to take advantage of its potential. Also, in sport shooting and archery, a specialty in which they have a very advanced technology, he referred.

So we talked about the convenience of training our teams of these sports there, Becali said, and as we will do tomorrow in the case of Vietnam, we visited numerous facilities to see if they comply with the conditions required for it.

In addition, we assessed the possibilities of training Mongolian trainers from other disciplines in Cuba.

From Hanoi, the Cuban sports leader will travel to Tokyo on Saturday.

Apart from being the headquarters of the Olympic Games, he pointed out, Japan is very interested that Cubans are going to prepare there because there are many sports in which we are coincidentally strong, such as boxing, athletics, wrestling and, of course, baseball, that returns to the Olympic program.

Of course, in the case of baseball, our attention will be focused on complying with a strategy that guarantees our qualification, but afterwards, he said, there is a good chance that we will do a correct preparation in Japan, where we have players who are having very positive results.

In the Land of the Rising Sun, Becali plans to meet with the presidents of the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games and of the federations of professional baseball, judo and gymnastics, as well as with the Minister of Sports.

There are four nations that are key in our training plans for the Olympic Games, the three already mentioned and China, but we will visit this one on a later occasion, he concluded.

(Prensa Latina)

COMPAÑERO Nguyen Phu Trong, Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam;

Distinguished members of the Vietnamese delegation;

Compañeras and compañeros:

The close friendship between Cuba and Vietnam has stood the test of time.

We have built a solid relationship, forged in the difficult years of the struggle for the liberation of Vietnam.

Our peoples, parties, and governments have remained united and share today mutual experiences in the construction of a socialist society that guarantees justice and well-being in both nations. And so it will continue in the future, preserved by the new generations of Cubans and Vietnamese.

As early as 1889, our National Hero José Martí characterized the Vietnamese as men and women with huge hearts, whose industriousness, courage, and selflessness transcend the centuries.

As chance would have it, May 19 became a shared anniversary. That day in 1895, José Martí fell in combat, and five years earlier, the legendary, exceptional revolutionary Ho Chi Minh was born in a humble village.

I remember the emotional encounter I had with him during my visit to his beloved country, in October of 1966; Ho Chi Minh’s heartfelt words of gratitude for the help of Cuba and Fidel; and on the solid foundations on which we forged the bonds that unite us: “… our countries are geographically antipodean, but there is complete identification in the moral sense,” he said.

By that time, we had already mobilized to support his struggle for national liberation and the reunification of the country.

Compañero Fidel often highlighted the colossal feat of the Vietnamese resistance, which should serve as an example; and summarized the internationalist commitment of Cuba in one sentence: For Vietnam we are ready to shed even our own blood!

In September of this year, we will commemorate the 45th anniversary of Fidel’s first trip to the liberated zone of Quang Tri. He was the only head of state to do so. His image, hoisting the flag of the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam, expressed his absolute faith in victory. He, like Ho Chi Minh, was convinced that once the enemy was defeated, they would build a homeland “ten times more beautiful.”

You were an example to those who in all parts of the world fought for their independence and against foreign intervention; you bequeathed the defense doctrine of “war of the entire people,” which guarantees victory over a numerically and technically superior enemy; you also represent constancy and effort in socialist construction.

On behalf of our heroic people, and the enduring friendship that unites us; with the memory of Fidel and Ho Chi Minh more alive than ever, I accept the honorable Gold Star Order.

To the people, the Communist Party and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, our eternal gratitude.

Thank you very much.

The inauguration of the diplomatic headquarters in this capital will be held next Friday, in the context of the official visit to the island of the Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, scheduled from Wednesday to Saturday.

Nairobi and Havana have expressed their willingness to expand the ties established in 1995, which have solidarity as their characteristic, according to the parties.

According to data published here, 60 Kenyans graduated in the Caribbean country until the 2015-2016 academic year, while five currently study at the Latin American School of Medicine.

Cuba has had the support of Kenya in forums of the African Union and the United Nations in its demand to lift the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States for more than half a century.

Regarding the visit of Kenyatta, spokesman Manoah Esipisu highlighted the ‘special historical relations of Cuba with Kenya and with Africa’.

Cuba began its ties with the African liberation movements in the 1960s, and the Cuban revolution was a great inspiration, particularly during the struggles on the continent against colonialism and apartheid, he warned in Nairobi.

Esipisu pointed out that the president’s trip will boost bilateral relations in areas of mutual benefit, among which he mentioned the public health.

According to the program of the visit, Kenyatta will pay homage in this capital to the national hero of Cuba, José Martí, and to the African heroes, and will hold official talks with high host authorities.

On Friday he will participate in the inauguration of the embassy and on Saturday he will complete his stay in the Caribbean nation.

(Prensa Latina)

The Cuban Ambassador in Serbia, Gustavo Tristá del Todo, made a courtesy visit to LjubiÅía Stojmirovic, president of the Friendship Group with Cuba in the National Assembly (parliament).

The interlocutors, stated the press release, agreed to soon organize a meeting with the Group, composed of about 40 deputies from various parties, to address ideas and initiatives of mutual interest.

They also highlighted the positive relations between the two States, which celebrate 75 years of existence in 2018, which they considered favorable to explore new initiatives in the fields of medicine, health and science.

In particular, the Serbian legislator expressed interest in stimulating the exchange of university students.

(Prensa Latina)

• Eliminate the “Habilitación” (authorization) of passports previously required of Cuban émigrés traveling to the country

• Authorize the entrance and departure, to and from Cuba, of Cuban citizens residing abroad on recreational vessels, via the international tourist marinas Hemingway and Gaviota-Varadero. Once conditions have been created, this option will be gradually expanded to other marinas.

• Permit entrance to the country of Cuban citizens who left illegally, with the exception of those who did so via the United States Naval Base in Guantánamo.

• Eliminate the requirement of “avecindamiento” (residence in Cuba for 90 days) for children of Cubans residing abroad, who were born outside the country, to obtain Cuban citizenship and identification documents.

With these decisions, continuity is given to regulations adopted in January of 2013, as part of an effort by the country to further strengthen relations with our émigré community, a process which was begun in 1978 by Comandante en Jefe de la Revolución Fidel Castro Ruz.

In the meantime, the U.S. government has decided to drastically reduce personnel at its embassy in Havana and suspend the granting of visas at its consulate. Cuban citizens must now travel to Colombia to apply for an immigrant visa, and to other countries for other types of U.S. visas, without any guarantee that they will be granted, thus making the process considerably more expensive and practically impossible. This will directly affect Cuban families, who, in the future, will not be able to obtain visas in Havana, thus facing greater obstacles to visiting relatives, as well as those who wish to emigrate.

The unjustified, arbitrary decision to expel from the United States 17 officials working at the Cuban embassy in Washington, including a significant portion of the staff at the consulate, will have a negative impact on consular services and make trips to our country by Cubans residing there difficult.

The Cuban government will continue to study new measures to update our migratory policy.

Shortly, various legal norms, which will allow for the implementation of these measures, will be published in the Official Gazette, and the population will be provided additional information on the procedures that will enter into effect.

This information will also be available at the Interior Ministry’s 189 processing centers, in all of the country’s municipalities; at the Public Attention Office of the Identification, Immigration, and Foreigners’ Affairs Directorate, via the telephone number 18808; as well as the website http://www.nacionyemigracion.cu; and on the web pages of Cuban embassies and consulates around the world.

(Granma)

In the context of this important event, the parties noted the excellent state of bilateral relations between the two countries and, in particular, the progress made in the last three years in the development of economic, commercial and financial ties, including important joint projects in the spheres of energy, transport – particularly the railway sector – industry – including the medical-pharmaceutical sector – agriculture, science and technology, and the promotion of Cuban exports in the Russian market.

Prospects for the future creation of further Cuban-Russian joint ventures were also examined, on the basis of the opportunities offered by Cuba’s Foreign Investment Law no. 118, and the Mariel Special Development Zone.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Dimitri Rogozi, expressed his condolences to the Cuban people and government for the human and material damages caused by Hurricane Irma, and reiterated that the government of the Russian Federation is preparing to send aid to the island to assist recovery efforts.

Meanwhile, Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, a vice president of the Council of Ministers and minister of Economy and Planning of the Republic of Cuba, outlined the damages caused by Hurricane Irma and progress in the recovery phase. He also provided a detailed explanation of the updating of the Cuban economic and social model, and the effective participation of the Russian Federation in the island’s National Economic and Social Development Plan through 2030.

To conclude the meeting, which was preceded by sessions of the eight working groups in the different spheres of relations, the two government officials signed the Final Act of the 15th Session and six other documents in the areas of energy, rail transport and the supply of Russian elevators for the Cuban capital’s tall buildings.

During his official visit to the Russian Federation, which began on Monday, September 18, Cabrisas held meetings with the Russian ministers of Agriculture, Transport, Trade and Industry and Finance, with the executives of important Russian companies undertaking projects with Cuba, such as Russian Railways, Rosneft, Autovaz, Kamaz, GAZ, and UAZ, and with the presidents of the Russian Export Center and International Investment Bank.

(Granma)