On Facebook, the Canadian association announced Saturday afternoon the arrival of syringes, gloves, medicines, face masks, bandages, gauze and disposable gowns, among other necessary medical supplies, at Holguín´s ‘Frank País’ International Airport.

Dr. Rebeca Robles, official of Holguin’s Provincial Direction of Public Health, recognized the Canadian association´s altruistic donation worth over $65,000. This medical donation will be sent to Holguín Children´s Hospital.

‘This is an example of the ¨Bridge of Love¨ program among brotherly nations, as the US blockade against Cuba is tightened and damages the purchasing of pivotal resources to cover medical and hospital assistance for over one million inhabitants.’

(Taken from Prensa Latina)

Extensive scientific evidence regarding alleged “sonic attacks” on U.S. diplomats in Havana refutes theories put forward by the government of this country to explain the incidents, used to fabricate false accusations against Cuba.

During a scientific event in Havana, organized by the Cuban Academy of Sciences and the country’s Neurosciences Center (CNEURO) – entitled, “Does the Havana Syndrome exist? – experts in attendance confirmed that the initial explanations were not founded on any scientific evidence.

The main objective of the international forum on the alleged health incidents that occurred in 2019 was “to arrive at the truth with a frank scientific discussion,” according to Dr. Mitchell Valdés-Sosa, CNEURO director.

Valdés-Sosa highlighted the critical and respectful nature with which the evidence was discussed “in order to reach the best conclusions” and the depth of analyses carried out.

The search for scientific truth has been obstructed the U.S. government, which has never allowed direct contact with diplomatic personnel reporting heath problems. Cuban specialists have only seen studies conducted by the universities of Pennsylvania and Miami.

During the conference, which included the participation of researchers from the United States, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Cuba, specialists agreed that the term Havana Syndrome “is a media fabrication,” that “There is no evidence to indicate he existence of a new disease,” and that the accusations “do not stand up to serious scientific analysis.”

(Source: Granma)

Also addressed were issues of mutual interest on the international and regional agendas.

President Díaz-Canel thanked the minister for Canada’s traditional support for Cuba´s resolution against the blockade in the United Nations General Assembly, and the position taken by the country against the implementation of the Helms-Burton Act by the United States.

He reiterated Cuba´s solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and our concerns regarding the damage caused to the nation and its population by the economic sanctions and hostile policies to which it has been subjected. The President also stated that U.S. attempts to impose the Monroe Doctrine are a danger to the entire hemisphere.

The distinguished visitor was accompanied by Canadian ambassador to Cuba Perry John Calderwood, and policy advisor Trevor Harrison.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, and the general director for Bilateral Affairs at the Foreign Ministry also participated.

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Cuban residents will be able to obtain fingerprints and photos necessary for applications at the embassy, ​​as well as leave passports and collect visas at the building.

The report indicated that this new announcement does not restore the full list of services cut, but Canada’s Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship services stated that the restoration of these services should make procedures faster, easier, and less expensive for applicants.

Despite the return of some services, all active applications were transferred from Havana to Mexico City for processing. Applicants for permanent residence must travel outside of Cuba for any medical exam or interview that is required.

Cuba’s ambassador to Canada, Josefina Vidal, reported that Cuba submitted an official protest to authorities in that country regarding the elimination of immigration services.

During an interview, the diplomat said that the Cuban government did not understand the reason for the closure or the substantial reduction in staff at the Canadian embassy in Havana.

Canadian authorities stated that the measure was adopted as a result of mysterious ailments reported by several Canadian diplomats stationed in Cuba in 2017 and initially attributed to “sonic attacks.”

She added that Canada is following the U.S. model assumed by the Donald Trump administration, forcing Cubans seeking a U.S. visa to travel to an embassy in a third country, such as Colombia.

The government of Canada has decided to designate its Embassy in Havana an ‘unaccompanied post,’ following unusual health symptoms reported in 2017 by some diplomatic staff and dependants posted to Havana, according to a statement.

Cuba reaffirms that, after rigorous investigations by a group of highly-qualified experts, not even the smallest shred of evidence has been found to explain what may have caused the health issues reported by Canadian diplomatic staff, or any indication that some kind of attack or incident took place in Cuban territory; or that the reported symptoms could be linked to an acoustic or any other kind of action perpetrated by a person, or group of persons, against others.

According to the statement by the Canadian government, there have been no new reports of incidents in over six months, investigations into the potential causes of the unusual health symptoms continue, the results of an environmental assessment did not indicate anything that could point to a cause, and there is no evidence to suggest that Canadian travelers to Cuba are at risk, all of which correspond with observations by Cuban experts.

The government of Cuba respects the decision taken by the government of Canada, but considers it to be unjustified. The Cuban government reaffirms that Cuba is a safe, stable and healthy country for its inhabitants and the almost five million international travelers who visit the island every year, including over one million Canadians, and where the safety of diplomatic personnel from all countries is guaranteed.

Cuba will continue to work constructively with the government of Canada, as it has done thus far, maintaining close communication through diplomatic channels and cooperation between relevant bodies linked to the application of the law, as well as the support of experts at the highest level in efforts to find a conclusive explication as to the cause of the reported health issues. In order to do so, Cuba has reiterated its offer for Cuban and Canadian medical experts to share the available information and work together with the utmost respect for the personal privacy of those affected.

Havana, April 18, 2018

According to the source, the meeting took place on March 22 and 23, and it culminated with the signing of a document that reflects the agreements adopted in the working sessions.

The Canadian part was presided over by the Vice President of the Border Services Agency, Jacques Cloutier, while the host delegation was headed by the Director of Consular Affairs and of Cuban Residents Abroad (DACCRE), Ernesto Soberón.

According to the Foreign Ministry of the Caribbean country, the round of talks served to analyze migratory problems of mutual interest and continue to develop mechanisms that contribute to the achievement of a regular, safe and orderly migration.

Also this week, the ambassador of Cuba in Canada, Josefina Vidal, presented her credentials in Ottawa.

Before coming to the capital of the northern nation, Vidal played important roles in Cuban diplomacy, including as Director General of the United States of the Foreign Ministry, a position from which he participated in the process of rapprochement Havana-Washington.

(Prensa Latina)

The two leaders reviewed the positive state of bilateral relations and reiterated the willingness of their respective governments to strengthen political, economic-commercial, financial, investment, cooperation, and tourism ties between the two nations.

The meeting also served as a good opportunity to discuss regional and international issues.

The Cuban president emphasized the historic and uninterrupted ties between the two peoples, an example of respectful and mutually beneficial relations.

The distinguished visitor was accompanied by the honorable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of International Trade; Patrick Parisot, Canadian ambassador to Cuba; John Hannaford, foreign and defense policy advisor, and assistant secretary to the cabinet of the Prime Minister; as well as other members of the official delegation.

Participating on the Cuban side were Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, first vice president of the Councils of State and Ministers; Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, a Council of Ministers vice president and Minister of Economy and Planning; Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla and Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz, ministers of Foreign Relations, and Foreign Trade and Investment, respectively, as well as officials from both ministries.

(Granma)

According to the ONEI the figure only includes revenue from institutions affiliated with the Ministry of tourism, that is to say, excluding private businesses.

The report notes that 2,147,912 international visitors traveled to the island from January through June 2016, an 11.8% increased from the same period in 2015.

Revenue from the tourist industry, calculated by the ONEI, includes accommodation, recreational activities, transport, food and retail services.

Canada continues to be Cuba’s top emissary market of tourists, with 77,678 travelers from that nation visiting the island during the first half of the year.

In second place is the Cuban community living abroad (187,073) and third, U.S. citizens (136,913), although people from that nation are prohibited from traveling to the island for tourist purposes given blockade restrictions maintained by the government of President Barack Obama.

Other important markets include Germany, France, Italy, the UK, Mexico, Argentina and Spain, according to the report.
In geographic terms the majority of visitors to the island come from the Americas, although travelers from Europe, the Middle East and Pacific also constitute an important number, according to ONEI figures.

The majority of visitors travel to Cuba for leisure, recreation and vacation purposes, according to the report, which also highlighted other motives such as businesses, personal reasons, events and health.

(Prensa Latina)

“Canada’s diversity and vibrant culture will be exhibited for all to enjoy, while participants will also have the opportunity to explore the country’s diversity and heritage, as well as celebrate the long-standing friendship between Cuba and Canada,” reads a message posted on the event Facebook page.

Some of the country’s most famous authors include Emily Carr (1871-1945), whose work focuses on the indigenous cultures of that land, and feminist issues; as well as Margaret Laurence (1926-1987), on of the country’s top novelists.

Meanwhile, the generation that broke onto the nation’s literary scene in the 1960s is one of the most significant, with names such as Michael Ondaatje, Leonard Cohen, Eli Mandel, Margaret Avison, and Margaret Atwood, whose works have been published in Cuba.

Last year’s 25th International Book Fair was dedicated to the Republic of Uruguay, and saw the participation of some of the country’s most important literary figures.

(Greanma)

During the second half of the twentieth century, I had the privilege of living through years of intensive erudition and I realized that Canadians, located in the northernmost region of this hemisphere, were always respectful towards our country. They invested in areas of their interest and traded with Cuba, but they did not interfere in the internal affairs of our State.

The revolutionary process that began on January 1st, 1959, did not introduce any measure that affected their interests, which were taken into account by the Revolution in maintaining normal and constructive relations with the authorities of that country where a significant effort was being made in the interest of its own development. Thus, they were not accomplices of the economic blockade, the war and the mercenary invasion that the United States launched against Cuba.

In May of 1948, the year that witnessed the foundation of the OAS, an institution with a shameful history which did away with what little was left from the dreams of the Liberators of the Americas, Canada was from belonging to it. It kept that same status for more than 40 years, until 1990. Some of its leaders visited us. One of them was Pierre Elliott Trudeau, a brilliant and courageous politician who died prematurely. We attended his burial on behalf of Cuba.

The OAS is supposed to be a regional organization made up by the sovereign States of this hemisphere. Such an assertion, like many others which are made everyday, involves a great number of lies. The least we can do is to be aware of them, if we are to preserve the spirit of struggle and our confidence on a more decent world.

The OAS is supposed to be a pan-American organization. Any country in Europe, Africa, Asia or Oceania could not belong to the OAS just because it has a colony, as it is the case of France in Guadeloupe; or the Netherlands in Curaçao. But the British colonialism could not define the status of Canada and explain whether it was a colony, a republic or a kingdom.

The Head of State of Canada is Queen Elizabeth II, although she vests her powers upon a Governor-General appointed by her. Therefore, we could ask whether the United Kingdom is also part of the OAS.

Likewise, the Honorable Foreign Minister of Canada does not dare to say whether or not he supports Argentina in the thorny issue of the Malvinas Islands. He has only expressed beatific wishes for peace to prevail between the two countries. But Great Britain has there its biggest military base outside its territory in violation of Argentina’s sovereignty. It did not apologize for having sunk the ‘General Belgrano’ cruiser which was sailing outside the jurisdictional waters that they themselves established which led to the futile sacrifice of hundreds of youths who were doing their military service. We should ask Obama and Harper what stand they will take in the face of the fairest claim by Argentina to be given back the sovereignty over the islands so that it is no longer deprived of the energy and fishing resources it so much needs to develop the country.

I was really amazed after I made a much deeper analysis of the activities carried out by Canadian transnationals in Latin America. I knew about the damage caused by the Yankees to the people of Canada. They forced the country to look for oil by extracting it from huge extensions of sand that are impregnated with that

fluid, thus causing an irreparable damage to the environment of that beautiful and extensive country.

The incredible damage was the one caused to millions of persons by the Canadian companies specialized in the mining of gold, precious metals and radioactive materials.

An article published by the website Alainet a week ago, signed by an Engineer on Environmental Quality, which provides further details about an issue that has been identified innumerable times as one of the main scourges that affect millions of persons, stated that mining companies, 60 per cent of which are financed with Canadian capital, worked following the logic of maximum yield at a low cost and in a short time; and that these conditions turn out to be all the more advantageous if in the places where they are stationed, tax revenues are minimal and there are very few environmental and social commitments…

According to the article, the mining laws in our countries […] do not include any obligation or methodology to control environmental or social impacts; the tax revenues that mining companies pay to the countries of the region are, as an average, no more than 1.5 per cent of the revenues received.

The article adds that the social struggle against mining, particularly metal mining, has been growing as long as entire generations are becoming aware of the environmental and social impacts it causes.

It states that Guatemala has put up an admirable resistance against mining projects, thanks to the indigenous populations’ awareness of the value of their territories and their natural resources, which they consider a priceless ancestral heritage. However, in the last 10 years, the consequences of that struggle have been felt in the assassination of 120 human rights’ activists and advocators.

This article also describes the current situation in El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, with figures that make us meditate very deeply about the seriousness and harshness of the ruthless pillaging that is being carried out against the natural resources of our countries, thus mortgaging the future of Latin Americans.

The presence of Dilma Rousseff, who made a stopover in Washington while traveling back to her country, will serve to persuade Obama that although there are some who take great delight in making slushy speeches, Latin America is far from being a choir of countries begging for alms.

The guayabera shirts to be worn by Obama in Cartagena has become one of the main issues covered by the news agencies: “Edgar Gómez […] has designed one for the US President, Barack Obama, who will be wearing it during the Summit of the Americas”, said the daughter of the designer, who added: “It is a white, sober guayabera, with a handiwork that is more striking that usual…”

Immediately after that, the news agency added that the Caribbean shirt was first made by the banks of the Yayabo River in Cuba; that is why they were originally called yayaberas.

The curious thing about this, dear readers, is that Cuba has been forbidden to attend that meeting, but not the guayaberas. Who could hold back from laughing? We must hurry up and tell Harper.

Fidel Castro Ruz
April 8, 2012
8:24 p.m.