Accompanied by Vice Prime Minister Roberto Morales Ojeda, and by Dr. José Ángel Portal Miranda, minister of Public Health, he explained that to successfully deal with this situation, the country is counting, first of all, on our health professionals who are known for their passion and altruism, noting that once again their professional capacity will be tested, while insisting that this battle will be won with the efforts of all.

Our people is hardworking, disciplined, and indomitable, evident everyday in our resistance to the great challenges and criminal aggression of the U.S. government.

Marrero reviewed actions undertaken thus far to increase vigilance and prepare to confront the new coronavirus, in compliance with instructions given by Army General Raul Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Party Central Committee.

He reiterated that Cuba is standing beside the Chinese government and people, mentioning our modest contribution in providing Interferon Alpha 2b, with proven results.

He reported that, at this time, the disease has not been introduced in Cuba, no cases have been identified, but given the characteristics of the virus, it represents a very real danger.

The possibility exists, despite being an organized nation, which has taken precautions and has a strong health system, complying with recommendations of the World Health Organization and implementing all components of the National Plan with discipline, actively linking all agencies, organizations and the people in general.

Marrerro concluded, “We will continue working and adopting all necessary measures, checking the approved Plan daily, supervising implementation, keeping the population informed, and making necessary decisions in each case. Our people can rest assured, as in other battles, we face this new struggle with the certainty of victory.”

(Source: Granma)

The event was officially inaugurated in the capital city’s Derrama Magisterial auditorium and will continue through the 14th, with an extensive agenda of workshops on the region’s principal problems.

Gerónimo López, secretary general of the Peruvian General Federation of Workers, one of the Summit’s organizers, assured the Cuban press that U.S. President Trump’s decision to cancel his trip to Peru will not stop the planned anti-imperialist mobilizations.

A massive march to protest the United States’ interventionist policy is scheduled for the 12th, to demonstrate Latin American unity and solidarity with peoples and progressive governments being attacked by Washington, López said.

The march will demand the removal of the 24 foreign military bases currently operating in Peru, as well as freedom for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the unjustly imprisoned former President of Brazil who is facing political persecution from the right.

The trade union leader pointed out that the People’s Summit is open to all who oppose neoliberal policies and U.S. intervention in our region, and the response has been great, he said.

Another of the central themes of the gathering is solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, unilaterally excluded from the 8th Summit of the Americas, which will meet April 13-14 in Lima.

Jacobo Torres de León, national coordinator of the Bolivarian Socialist Federation of Venezuelan Workers and a member of the Constituent Assembly, is one of the country’s 70 representatives who traveled to attend the Summit of the Peoples.

“We came to demand respect for our country and an end to the blockade and sanctions,” he said, “It makes no sense that those who come to Lima to talk about democracy deny the process underway in Venezuela, with 24 elections held over the last period.”

A Cuban expert from the World Economy Research Center, Gladys Hernández, is attending the Summit, and rejects the idea that progressive governments in Our America have failed.

“We are in a new moment for neoliberalism, in which we could say that they have had some victories, but what is today a step back, could tomorrow be two steps forward,” she told Granma.

“If we are here,” Hernández continued, “it is to defend a small country, that doesn’t have great economic resources, but has been able to guarantee its people a dignified life.”

Scheduled for the 14th, when the Summit of the Peoples concludes, is a grand Cultural-Political Festival on the University of San Marcos esplanade, with performances by Cuban artists, including the popular dance band Elito Revé y su Charangón.

“The group is well known in Lima and there has been lots of interest in our performance,” Elito Revé told Granma, “We are going hold up our country and our flag’s colors high.”

Likewise, Fermín Quiñones, president of the Cuban United Nations Association, told the Cuban press that the official Civil Society Forum initiated its activities on Tuesday the 10th, and that 14 of its 28 theme-based coalitions met the first day.

The remainder will meet today, he said, including number 15, with the central theme of “For an inclusive, more respectful world,” and in which the majority of Cuba’s delegation is participating.

The Civil Society Forum, scheduled as part of the 8th Summit of the Americas, as was the case in the 2015 event in Panama, has facilitated the participation of mercenaries and groups with terrorist links, that have no legitimacy whatsoever to represent Cuban society, which has been denounced well in advance of the gathering.

Expected today is the opening of the Youth Forum and a meeting of legislators from the region.

(Granma)

Cuban youngsters who will participate in the Youth and in the Civil Society Forum, have planned an encounter with Peruvian students and scholars of the University of San Marcos to talk through the current situation of the continent and its nations.

After the delegation’s arrival in Lima marked by strong emotions, joys and pronouncements of support for Cuba and Venezuela, the Caribbean group laid a wreath at the monument to the heroes and precursors of Peruvian independence.

Likewise, the first day of stay in these South American lands closed with a political-cultural event in which the Cuban ambassador here, Sergio Gonzalez, exhorted them to raise the name of their country and to advocate for the causes to which the Revolution has been defending since 1959.

Gonzalez assured Cuban delegation, representative of all strata of society, that ‘like the triumph over the Bay of Pigs’ mercenary invasion in April 1961), here we will have another victory for Cuba.’

Around 170 members of Cuban organizations and associations traveled to this capital with the purpose of conveying the message to their peers from the rest of the American countries.

Among the delegates that will arrive, there are about 70 that will take part in the sessions of the Civil Society Forum, as well as 10 for the Youth Forum, five for the Entrepreneurs Forum and the same number for Parliamentarians (ParlAmericas).

Cuban sources told Prensa Latina that 23 representatives are also coming to attend the Peoples Summit, an event that will begin on April 10th and conclude on the 14th, the last of the two days of the Summit of Heads of State and Government.

The delegation includes students, workers, scientists, athletes, religious people, women, peasants, communicators, artists, intellectuals, economists, lawyers, health professionals and others.

The civil society and the Cuban social actors integrate over 2,000 organizations and associations that are involved in different aspects of human activity, authorized sources explained.

(Prensa Latina) 

Some 170 members of Cuban organizations and associations traveled to this capital city seeking to bring the message of the Cuban people to their counterparts from the rest of the countries in the Americas.

The large delegation includes some 70 representatives that will take part in the sessions of the Civil Society Forum, as well as 10 delegates for the Youth Forum, five delegates for the Business Forum and five more for Parliamentarians’ Forum (ParlAmericas).

Cuban sources told the Prensa Latina news agency that 23 representatives are also arriving in Peru to attend the Peoples Summit, an event that will begin on April 10th and close on the 14th, the last day of the two-day Summit of Heads of State and Government.

According to an invitation addressed to the Peruvian and foreign media registered here, the Cuban delegates will place a wreath today at the monument to Heroes of Independence, in a central area in Lima.

The Cuban delegation is varied, made up of students, workers, scientists, athletes, religious people, women, farmers, communication workers, artists, intellectuals, economists, lawyers, health professionals and others.

Delegates told the Prensa Latina news agency that the biggest challenge of Cuba’s participation in the side activities to the Summit of the Americas is to show the varied nature and large representation of Cuban civil society.

Cuba also seeks to reiterate the commitment to build prosperous and sustainable socialism, while expressing its solidarity with the Bolivarian people of Venezuela, the Government of which was excluded from the high-level sessions of the summit.

The Cuban civil society and its activists make up more than 2000 organizations and associations that involve different fields of human activities, said specialized sources.

Given the motto of the Summit of the Americas, ‘Democratic Governance against Corruption’, Cuban delegates will denounce this scourge expressions in the economic, political and social fields, which damage objective of sustainable development.

(Prensa Latina) 

Speaking on behalf of the National Association of Economists and Accountants (ANEC), its Vice President Ramón Labañino, decorated Hero of the Republic of Cuba, stated that the blockade has caused severe harm to the country’s economy, preventing the island from purchasing basic resources such as medicines.

Labañino described the blockade as a declaration of war and recalled that U.S. President Barack Obama has recognized the failure of the openly hostile policy.

Meanwhile, Osvaldo Hidalgo, vice president of the Cuban Association of Persons with Physical and Motor Disabilities (Aclifim) stated that the criminal blockade, which stands in violation of the United Nations Charter, makes obtaining means of transport suitable for disabled persons difficult, limiting their full inclusion in Cuban society.

Aníbal Barredo, a member of the Federation of University Students’ National Secretariat, warned that the blockade policy seeks to strangle the Cuban people, while figures can’t fully illustrate the damage that it has caused the island for over 50 years.

Participating institutions expressed their opposition to the economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed by the U.S. on the island, and support for the Cuban government’s demand for an unconditional end to the policy, in the Final Declaration of the event.

Cuba will present the report entitled: The need to put an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America on Cuba; on October 26, before the United Nations General Assembly.

(ACN)