Conscious that culture is a strength, the essence and basis of our identity, the President addressed an audience of Ministry authorities, leaders of cultural institutions and prominent intellectuals, including Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of the National Assembly of People’s Power and the Council of State; Roberto Morales Ojeda, deputy prime minister; Victor Gaute, member of the Party Central Committee Secretariat; Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, secretary general of Cuban Workers Federation, and Alpidio Alonso, minister of Culture.

He called for efforts to combat the philosophical war being waged against Cuba using our culture, our history and our values, “with intelligence, honesty and courage.”

After the debate prompted by the central report, which included a review of the Ministry’s work in 2019, Diaz-Canel noted that among the fundamental challenges to be faced is making greater progress in implementing agreements reached at the recent congress of the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists (UNEAC), stating, “We have set aside a regular time every month to follow up on issues raised at the congress, and have addressed culture in the media, cultural enterprises and cultural policy,” from which actions and projections are emerging.

In an aside, the President referred to the need to construct a revolutionary digital culture, which is challenging, but must be done, and stressed the need to continue insisting on efficiency in cultural enterprises; on how artists and creators are represented; and how cultural centers are managed and artists paid, in accordance with what they contribute.

Also emphasized by the President was the need to continue strengthening the role of cultural institutions, which is what will serve as the basis for solving the problems of cultural programming, noted in the annual review. This will help artistic education and efforts to develop appreciation of the arts throughout the population, he said, also referring to the importance of training a skilled workforce to provide supplies and logistical support for different art forms.

He insisted on building consensus through dialogue with artists and creators and emphasized the importance of revisiting all of Fidel’s conceptions, such as those related to art instructors, to have the greatest impact on making community cultural centers places where the population can find opportunities for spiritual development.

The President noted that, despite economic difficulties the country is experiencing, we have not suspended publishing efforts, which were seriously impacted in 2019, and insisted on the consistent implementation of cultural policy.

In conclusion, he recognized the Ministry’s contribution to two important government programs launched last year: one to combat racial discrimination, to which the experience of UNEAC’s Aponte Commission has contributed significantly, and the recreation program, which seeks to encourage more cultured ways for the population to enjoy our free time.

The Cuban President ended his remarks with a call for those charged with preserving our culture to think and act as a country.

(Source: Granma)

Given the little importance afforded individual Caribbean countries, economic coordination among nations in the region has found a sport on the agendas of states struggling for the sustainable development, on which their very existence depends. The sea, seen as our first unique resource, has served as a unifying force, both geographic and cultural, including our shared history of resistance.

The Caribbean’s economic structure is heterogeneous in terms of natural resources and degree of industrialization, thus the need to join forces. A population of 42 million lives in the region, 86% of which reside on the Greater Antilles, with the strongest economies being those of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, which account for 76% of the regional GDP.

Some data speaks well for the region and promises a better future, for example, the Caribbean Human Development Index is relatively high, including a life expectancy of 72 years. What Cuba has achieved in 60 years of an alternative, anti-capitalist model has a significant impact on these statistics.

Nevertheless, other indicators justify the priority given to the economy by our nations, especially those related to inequality, inherited from the colonial era.

The most important body that has generated models of governance and solid proposals for the sovereignty of Caribbean nations is the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), which has managed to join countries of some economic weight with those needing to enter the international market and diversify their economies. The entity also functions as an effective network for international relations, at the service of our peoples and identities.

The Association of Caribbean States (ACS/AEC) emerged with the signing of a founding agreement on July 24, 1994, in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. Its philosophy was to promote an economic environment of integration and prosperity in the region, a totally different alternative to the model advanced by hegemonic powers.

The ACS is an organization devoted to consultation, cooperation, and concerted action by its 25 member states and three associate members. Its focus areas are currently trade, transport, sustainable tourism, and natural disasters.

Special attention is afforded to the area’s ecological vulnerability in the face of climate change, a cause that does not have the approval of the world’s business lobbies or the Trump administration, and has been relegated on the agendas of many powerful nations.

The ACS works to ensure that the voices of countries, especially small island nations, are heard, demanding efforts to address rising sea levels and the increasing occurrence of devastating hurricanes and other extreme phenomena, due to the effects of global warming.

Protecting the very existence of these nations, a new model of non-invasive tourism is promoted, one that focuses on the vitality of communities and respect for original economic activities, which are the sustenance of many Caribbeans.

In short, the ACS is a model of integration that has remained firm on the Latin American stage, despite corporate and imperialist pressure, and various projects currently directed toward undermining the organization, on both the economic and political order.

Since 2008, the ACS has faced tremendous challenges as a result of the crisis of world capitalism. In this new scenario, countries are forced to seek a more regulated economies, based on common achievements and less subject to capitalism’s “invisible hand.”

Cuba’s search for an alternative world trade order favors the presence in the region of other economic actors and the diversification of development possibilities, avoiding the pitfall of being dependent a single trade partner.

The Petrocaribe program has been successful in promoting energy sovereignty for Caribbean nations, undoubtedly essential when the intentions of the United States are clear: to monopolize the region’s oil reserves and keep them under its exclusive management – the basic reason the U.S. has worked so hard to create a crisis in Venezuela.

Among the region’s most pressing issues are the tremendous weight of Puerto Rico and its dependence on Washington, which holds back a number of policies related to tourism and finance, and the U.S. blockade of Cuba.

So-called humanitarian crises, as in the case of Haiti, call for thinking about how to avoid the collapse of societies, looking for solutions within the Caribbean community that do not involve military or political intervention by world powers.

The ACS Summit held in Nicaragua likewise addressed the challenge of confronting the region’s militarization, which violates the Proclamation by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in this regard. This remains a key point of dialogue, to resist new imperial plans, which seek to deny the Caribbean respectful integration within diversity.

ASSOCIATION OF CARIBBEAN STATES

National Secretary: Her Excellency Dr. June Soomer

- Nicaragua hosted the VIII Summit of heads of state and government, March 29. Nicaragua was elected President of the Board, 2018-2019, and assumed the pro tempore Presidency in March of 2019.

STRUCTURE

Council of Ministers and General Secretariat

Five special committees

1. Development of trade and external economic relations

2. Sustainable tourism

3. Transport

4. Disaster risk reduction

5. Budget and administration

PRIORITIES

- The Caribbean as a sustainable tourism zone

- Facilitate language training

- The Caribbean Sea initiative

- Coordinate an annual Caribbean business forum

- Defend interests of small companies

- Update building codes

- Strengthen disaster agencies

(Council of State transcript / GI translation)

Compañero Comandante Daniel Ortega Saavedra, President of the sister Republic of Nicaragua and of the VIII Meeting of the Association of Caribbean States;

Compañera Rosario Murillo, Vice President of the Republic of Nicaragua;

Distinguished heads of state and government and heads of delegations;

Her Excellency Ambassador June Soomer, general secretary of the Association;

Dear delegates and guests:

Our national poet, Nicolás Guillén, a singular voice among the great voices of this region, dedicated a short poem to the sea that joins us, with which I would like to greet you. It is entitled “The Caribbean” and goes:

In the aquarium of the Great Zoo,

swims the Caribbean.

This enigmatic marine animal

has a crystal crest,

a blue back, a green tail,

a belly of compact coral,

gray hurricane fins.

In the aquarium, this inscription:

“Be careful: it bites.”

This verse of Guillen’s speaks of the crystal crest that makes our Caribbean fragile. And also of the fierce beast that lives here. Fragility and ferocity distinguish us. Fragility and ferocity unite us. And unity, we know well, makes us strong.

Born of this strength, sustained only by unity, is the very timely Managua Declaration adopted by this meeting, with the title: “Joining forces in the Caribbean to confront climate change,” an issue that has generated growing concern over the last few decades.

As the Comandante en Jefe of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, warned almost 30 years ago, during the Earth Summit held in Río de Janeiro, in 1992, “An important biological species is in danger of extinction as a result of the rapid and progressive elimination of its natural living conditions: man.”

The Caribbean knows this well since it often suffers the impact. Surely for this reason, since its Second Summit in Santo Domingo, in 1999, the Association of Caribbean States has included among its lines of work agreement and cooperation on climate change and disaster risk reduction.

The causes of climate change have been identified by the scientific community and recognized by practically all governments.

But neither efforts made or international commitments in environmental matters are sufficient to stop the alarming increase in global temperature and stabilize it in the area of 1.5ºC, as developing countries demand.

More developed nations, who are mainly responsible for today’s unsustainable situation, must honor the commitment to provide at least 100 billion USD a year to support the work of developing countries.

The global commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions must prevail based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, within a framework of international cooperation that ensures the resources and necessary transfer of technologies to developing countries.

Required is the modification of patterns of production and consumption that have been imposed on us, and the promotion of a fair, democratic, and equitable international economic order, to confront climate change and achieve sustainable development.

Mr. President:

Each of us understands what is being talked about. The intensity and persistence of natural phenomena of various kinds in the Greater Caribbean constantly punish us with the adverse effects of climate change, particularly developing small island states.

Living with hurricanes has conditioned our lives; modifying our geographies and affecting migration. And it has also educated us in the need to devote more study to these phenomena that plague us and work to reverse the damage they cause. The Cuban Revolution was obliged to learn this lesson very early on, the hard way, during Hurricane Flora in 1963, which left the former province of Oriente under water and took the lives of more than a thousand people.

More recent history has shown that, in the worst moments, working together has saved us. We firmly believe that only our unity and mutual cooperation will allow us to face the dangers and effects of meteorological events and assume the subsequent recovery.

Solidarity must be a fundamental principle for the members of the Association of Caribbean States

Along this very line of thought, today, I would like to reiterate the unwavering support of Cuba, under all circumstances, to the right of small island states and developing nations to receive special and differential treatment in access to trade and investment.

We also support the just and necessary demand to receive cooperation according to a nation’s real situation and needs, and not on the basis of per capita income statistics that classify them as middle income countries and exclude them from access to financial resources, indispensable for development.

We welcome the election of Barbados as President of the Board of Directors of the Association’s Council of Ministers. We express our fraternal congratulations for this and for the country’s willingness to contribute during this period.

Dear delegates:

The President of the United States, the Secretary of State, and the National Security Advisor declare that the Monroe Doctrine is as relevant today as the day it was written, and that it is the country’s formal policy, as in the time of expansion and intervention of the United States in our region, of military aggressions and impositions.

These statements and consequent actions challenge our Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, signed by heads of state and government, in January 2014, in Havana, on the occasion of the Second CELAC Summit.

We declared then our permanent commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes in order to banish forever the use of force, and threats to use force, in the region; to strictly comply with the obligation not to intervene, directly or indirectly, in the internal affairs of any other state; to foster relations of friendship and cooperation among ourselves and with other nations, regardless of differences in political, economic, and social systems or levels of development; to practice tolerance and coexist in peace as good neighbors; to the intention of Latin American and the Caribbean states to fully respect the inalienable right of all to choose their own political, economic, social, and cultural system, as an essential condition for ensuring peaceful coexistence among nations; to the promotion in the region of a culture of peace based, among others, on the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Culture of Peace.

The Proclamation also urges all member states of the international community to fully respect these purposes and principles in their relations with CELAC member states.

In this context, our nations must continue working together. It is our duty to protect peace, amongst us all, and preserve what has been achieved, confident that the current situation of confrontation and threats will be overcome.

Cuba, in particular, has been subject to an irrational and perverse tightening of the blockade by the United States, whose administration has unleashed, at the same time, a campaign of distortions, lies, and pretexts to sustain a policy of persecution and harassment that the international community openly rejects and condemns.

I would like to express our profound gratitude to all the countries of the region for their opposition to this irrational, illegal, and cruel policy against our people.

Beyond political or ideological differences, I call on all Caribbean governments to defend peace and oppose military aggression and the escalation of coercive economic measures against Venezuela that seriously damage its citizens and put the stability of the entire region at risk.

We also reiterate our solidarity and support for the government of Reconciliation and National Unity of the Republic of Nicaragua in the face of destabilization attempts, and we celebrate the negotiation process to ensure peace and preserve the social and economic gains achieved in this sister nation.

Faithful to our vision of defending unity within diversity, as on innumerable occasions the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, Army General Raul Castro Ruz, has asserted in forums like this one, we call on you to continue working together, concentrating on all that unites us, incomparably superior to the little that separates us, and to prioritize the fulfillment of agreements reached by the XXIII Council of Ministers regarding the strengthening and revitalization of the Association.

The Association of Caribbean States must continue to be the mainstay of Greater Caribbean unity, which is the only alternative given the enormous challenges we face.

Member states of this organization share the responsibility to avoid damaging the consensus that we have built together over the years, and to continue fostering solidarity, as an indispensable premise to develop actions on all the issues that are part of the organization’s mandate.

Cuba will continue working in favor of this unity and for the consolidation of our Association, and hope that this important meeting will contribute decisively to the effort.

Thank you very much!

Managua, Nicaragua.- Bearing greetings from the Cuban people, and especially Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, to the sister people of Nicaragua and the Sandinista government, President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez arrived in Managua, yesterday, to attend the VIII Summit if the Association of Caribbean States.

He was received on the tarmac of Augusto C. Sandino International Airport, by government leaders Sidartha Marín, Presidential advisor for international affairs, and Minister of Defense Martha Elena Ruiz Sevilla.

Díaz-Canel commented to the press that Cuba was attending the event “to confirm our support to the revitalization of the Association of Caribbean States, and of course continue defending the conviction that it is an important space for reaching political consensus, dialogue, and communication among peoples of the Caribbean.

“We are in a country of friends,” he emphasized.

The Cuban delegation additionally includes Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla; Ileana Núñez Mordoche, deputy minister of Foreign Trade and Investment; Cuba’s ambassador in Nicaragua, Juan Carlos Hernández Padrón; and Tania Diego Olite, Cuban ambassador in Trinidad and Tobago and the ACS.

The Summit has as its timely maxim on this occasion: “Joining forces in the Caribbean to confront the consequences of climate change.”