In a detailed analysis, the President noted opinions expressed on social networks urging Cuban authorities to sit down with the United States and put an end to differences. He went on to say: “This is a totally unilateral relationship. It is the U.S. government that has taken measures against Cuba. We have not applied any measure whatsoever against that country. If one thing is clear, it is that we will always defend sovereignty, self-determination and independence, these are not on any negotiating table.

“Who needs to take a step forward is the government of the United States, which unilaterally imposed the blockade and has internationalized it, with financial persecution and economic asphyxiation,” he said.

At another point, he commented that monetary re-ordering is being blamed for things that were going to happen with or without this reorganization, and that shortages are a result of the blockade, more than anything else, and shortages bring inflation.

Prices were going to go up anyway, he stated, because supply is below demand, while criticizing abusive and speculative prices, saying “We must confront them effectively at the local level, in provinces, in municipalities, independently of measures that can be taken at the national level.”

Previously, Carlos Luis Garrido Pérez, Party Central Committee member and first secretary in Ciego de Avila, presented details regarding progress on actions taken in the province, associated with the ideas, concepts and directives approved at the 8th Congress.

Lianet Pazo Cedeño, first secretary of the Young Communist League in the territory, reported that members are strengthening political-ideological work, and noted the role of young people in the sugar harvest, in the fight against COVID-19 and food production.

In Camagüey, as in the other seven provinces visited thus far by members of the Secretariat in this round, evaluated was work being done in the territory to strengthen the role of the party in leading transformations taking place in the economic, political and social framework of the country.
In this regard, Daniel Fuentes Milanés, first secretary of the Party Municipal Committee in Camagüey, explained how the preparation of local unit leaders is conceived here.

Provincial coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, Iska Torres Creach, and Yodelkis Fajardo Orihuela, general secretary of the Federation of Cuban Women, described creative efforts being undertaken to revitalize the work of the two organizations.
Dr. Roberto Morales Ojeda, Party Political Bureau member and secretary for Organization and Cadre Policy, commented on experiences in Camagüey and reiterated the call for mass organizations to assume leadership of community activities, conscious that things can no longer be done in the same way to consolidate an atmosphere of unity and collective contributions to the solution of problems.

A similar spirit must prevail when facing the multiple challenges in the economic sphere, as outlined by Ariel Santana Santiesteban, first secretary of the Party Provincial Committee.

Among the main Party objectives in the territory are increasing agricultural production, the recovery of livestock ranching and sugar cane cultivation, tourist development on the northern keys, completing plans for housing construction, timely completion of investment projects and promotion of new exportable items.

“Nothing is alien to the Revolution and its Party,” Díaz-Canel repeated, summarizing the discussion, and reiterated that only with the unity and will of all revolutionaries and patriots, can we meet the challenges and emerge victorious in the midst of such complex circumstances.

(Taken from Granma)

The 40th edition of the Festival of the Caribbean, scheduled July 3-9 in Santiago de Cuba, will feature the cultural resistance displayed by peoples of the region who are facing a neocolonizing onslaught in the midst of the economic crisis produced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In announcing the Fiesta del Fuego’s schedule, Orlando Vergés, director of the Casa del Caribe, thanked bearers and promoters of popular traditions for their commitment to the event, as well as Cuba’s artistic and intellectual movement and numerous friends in countries of the area and other parts of the world.

Nothing can extinguish the living flame of popular culture and, consequently, he explained, attentive to the evolution of the epidemiological situation in the province and in strict compliance with preventive measures, we are looking to combine activities involving physical presence and media events.

One of the Festival’s spaces, Vergés indicated, will be dedicated to bringing to our days, 60 years later, Fidel’s landmark “Words to Intellectuals” and their influence in the protection, promotion and development of popular cultures.

Given the complexity of the times we are living and the impact on the movement of persons within the Caribbean basin, several academic sessions and exchanges of experiences will be held in May and June, via digital platforms.

But we have not renounced events involving physical presence in July, he stated, with reduced public participation and the necessary physical distancing, including tributes to Belize, guest country of honor, and Egrem’s Siboney Studios, established on the initiative of the Comandante de la Revolución Juan Almeida Bosque, as well as concerts, dance performances, ritual presentations, exhibitions and tributes to personalities and institutions linked to the history of the Fiesta del Fuego.

Also included on the Festival’s agenda are recognitions of the role of Visual and Performing Arts institutions and presentation of the 2021 International Award to researcher and librarian Tomás Fernández Robaina.

(Take from Granma)

Upon his arrival to participate in the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the this sister country’s founding, Valdés was greeted by Ri Su Yong, vice president of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, at Sunan International Airport with a state ceremony reserved for distinguished visitors, according to a Prensa Latina report.

This is the Vice President’s second trip to the DPRK, which he first visited June 28, 2016 as special envoy of Army General Raúl Castro, to inform top Party leaders here of decisions made at the Seventh Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba. On that occasion he was received by President Kim Jong Un.The Cuban delegation attending the events included Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marcelino Medina; Foreign Ministry director for Asia and Oceania, Alberto Blanco; and the Cuban ambassador in Pyongyang, Jesús Aise Sotolongo.

(Granma)