Havana, Dec 28 (Prensa Latina) Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Tuesday highlighted the international support and solidarity in rejection of the hostile policy of the United States against his country.
On his official Twitter account, the head of Cuban diplomacy noted that 2021 has been a difficult year due to the tensions resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and the additional tightening of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by Washington on Havana.
The foreign minister assured that the panorama became more complex due to the destabilization operations instigated from the United States to damage the internal process and citizens’ peace in Cuba.
However, “Cuba is not alone,” the foreign minister tweeted.
Bogota, Dec 27 (Prensa Latina) Thousands of people danced to the rhythm of the emblematic Cuban band Los Van Van until the early hours of Monday at the Great Timba Festival, within the context of the Cali Fair.
With well-known and more recent songs, Cali residents not only danced to the rhythm of the peculiar sonority of “El tren de Cuba” (The train of Cuba), as the band, founded by Juan Formell, is also known, but also sang every one of their songs as it usually happens with Cuban music in this city.
Those who attended the great concert also enjoyed the improvisations of its singers, who resort to the use of picaresque, irony and “costumbrismo”, and let themselves be carried away by the choruses, clapping and steps.
They also enjoyed the powerful voice of the singer, who also showed her talent in the chorus and dance.
The concert took place within the context of the Verbena Salsera del Oriente (Salsa Open-Air Dance of the East), during the second day of the Cali Fair and was broadcast live by the local channel Telepacifico.
The line-up of the Gran Festival de Timba (Great Timba Festival) also included Real Black, Son 21, La 16 Orquesta, Mauro Castillo, as well as Cuban singers Pedrito Calvo and Mayito Rivera, who also left their imprint on Los Van Van.
The Cali Fair, the most attractive artistic show of this city, returned to performing abroad in 2021 with cultural activities in traditional spaces, in neighborhoods and even in towns surrounding the city, the capital of the department of Valle del Cauca, and will run until Thursday.
The Cuban president also described 2021 as a difficult year of learning and regrettable deaths.
However, he added, it has been a time where resistance, creativity and convictions have allowed us to overcome US attacks, the Cuban leader said.
The meeting also became a tribute and recognition to the efforts by the central Committee of the Communist Party.
In April 2021, during the 8th Congress of the Communist Party, the body debated on core issues including legislative development from proclamation of the new Constitution, cadre politics, ideological work and confrontation with subversion.
Previously, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves announced that Cuba had donated 300 Abdala doses to his country, which would be used immediately on teachers and other workers who are on the front lines of the fight against the pandemic.
“God and the Cuban vaccine will save us from COVID-19,” said Gonsalves during his speech at the 20th Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of America Peoples’ Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) held on Dec. 14.
SVG Health Ministry informed that vaccines from Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Sputnik V are also available at vaccination sites across the country.
Cuba’s Center for Control of Medicines and Medical Devices (CECMED) authorized Abdala for emergency use on July 9. This happened after the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology presented a study conducted on over 48,000 participants demonstrating that this vaccine had a 92.28 percent efficacy rate in preventing COVID-19.
“Protein-based Abdala, Soberana, 02 and Soberana Plus shots give upwards of 90 percent protection against symptomatic COVID-19 when offered in three-dose schemes,” Reuters reported, adding that the Cuban vaccines, “which can be produced affordably and do not require deep-freezing, are seen by international health officials as a potential source for much needed doses in low-income countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
So far, 30 percent of the population of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have received a dose of some COVID-19 vaccine and only 23 percent of citizens have completed the immunization schedule.
Rome, Dec 23 (Prensa Latina) Cubans and Italians joined their voices today in a simultaneous transmission from both shores of the Atlantic Ocean, to demand the end of the United States blockade of the Caribbean island.
The oratory of Saint Francis Xavier, a baroque-style Catholic place of worship built in the 17th century at the direction of the Jesuit priest Piero Caravita, was the venue for the concluding assembly of the “Bridges of Love” initiative, sponsored by various organizations.
Among them, the president of the Agency for Cultural and Economic Exchange with Cuba, Michele Curto, who led the evening and made a positive assessment of the demonstration, also aimed at promoting peace in the Americas and the rest of the world.
Carlos Lazo, coordinator of the Puentes de Amor project and representatives of other organizing groups of the event, such as the Coordinator of Cuban Residents in Italy, the San Egidio Christian community, the Sano, Justo y Solidario network and the Student Missionary League spoke in the same venue.
A pilgrimage of a hundred kilometers, in four stages, along the Saint Francis route from Assisi to this capital, was the central activity of the initiative in which Cubans residing in the United States and in this European country, Italians and a Bolivian participated. .
The walkers braved the low temperatures of this time of year in central Italy and overcame the rigour of grueling days on steep, rocky trails, through valleys and mountains, to reach the finish line.
In thanking the gesture of solidarity, the island’s ambassador to Italy, José Carlos Rodríguez, stressed that both Cubans residing in the United States and in Italy, together defend their country in a world that faces so many challenges, problems, differences and widespread injustice.
The provincial vice-governor, Luis Carlos Góngora, and Joel Suárez, from the Martin Luther King Center, as well as young students from different universities and professionals from the biopharmaceutical sector, spoke from Havana.
In all cases, they thanked the Italian people for showing solidarity with the Caribbean nation and the Cubans residing in the United States grouped around Puentes de Amor and its coordinator, Carlos Lazo.
The binational meeting concluded with the interpretation of the song Oraré, by the Cuban duo Buena Fe.
Aicec with the Puentes de Amor, Carlos Lazo and Conaci walked over one hundred kilometers from Assisi to Rome, in the footsteps of St. Francis, to ask for an end to the Bloqueo against Cuba, in compliance with the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly, reconciliation between all Cubans and peace between the peoples of the Americas and the world.
Cuba faced the pandemic through cooperation and solidarity: according to the concept that Patria Es Humanidad.
It is now clear that only through collaboration and solidarity between peoples will it be possible to defeat the pandemic, guaranteeing social justice and respect for the planet.
With Profesor Carlos Lazo, together with the Cuban Community residing in Italy and the network of Sano Giusto Solidale, we traveled a symbolic march from Assisi to Rome, to promote dialogue and peace among peoples.
From 6.30 pm at the Oratorio San Francesco Saverio Caravita we will be in direct connection with the “Teatro America” in Havana.
Rome, Dec 22 (Prensa Latina) The pilgrimage along the route of St. Francis to demand the end of the US blockade against Cuba and in favor of world peace concluded today in Poggio Moiano, a small town near this capital.
In the fourth and last stage of the route, which began in Poggio San Lorenzo, the participants in the march covered another tiring route through woods, valleys and mountains.
The walk was part of a larger program of activities organized by the Bridges of Love project, the Agency for Cultural and Economic Exchange with Cuba (Aicec) and the Coordination of Cubans living in Italy (Conaci).
“A Path of Love” is the name of the initiative sponsored also by AsiCuba Umbria, the Sano Justo y Solidario network and the Student Missionary League together with the Christian community San Egidio, with which the pilgrims will participate today in a prayer for peace in the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere.
The journey began five days ago with a public assembly in Assisi, birthplace of St. Francis, prior to the departure of the pilgrimage, led by Carlos Lazo, Cuban-American professor and coordinator of Bridges of Love; Michele Curto, president of Aicec; and Ada Galano, head of Conaci.
Cubans living in Italy and the United States, Italian friends of the island and Guadalupe Aguilar, a Bolivian who has lived in this European country for three decades, made up the group of walkers who reached the end of the journey after living an unforgettable experience, according to some of them.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel called for an urgent review of foreign investment strategy on the island.
Cuba’s Parliament debated the economic priorities planned for 2022, highlighting the search for macroeconomic stabilization and the fight against speculative price increases.
With the presence of President Miguel Díaz-Canel, legislators met at the Havana Convention Palace, as part of the activities before the Eighth Regular Session of the National Assembly of People’s Power in its ninth legislature.
This Sunday, the Parliament carried out an exhaustive analysis on the estimated behavior of the economy during 2021 and projections for 2022, the draft State Budget Law for the following calendar, the situation of passenger transportation in the country and the maternal-infant program.
National Assembly lawmakers advocated for greater agility in foreign direct investment and international collaboration processes.
The Minister of Agriculture, Ydael Jesús Pérez, called attention to the relevance of stimulating investments with foreign capital in the municipalities, due to the immediate contribution it makes to the welfare of the people, as in the case of the agricultural sector.
“The Economy Plan and the State Budget for 2022 are aimed at improving the situation of our country; this does not mean that we are going to solve all the problems at once, but we can move forward in a more effective way. #CubaLives”
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel insisted on Monday on encouraging foreign investment (FDI) in the country with the integration of specialists in negotiating teams and a more significant impact on productive entities.
“It is necessary to integrate more jurists and experts in international law to the working groups, made up mostly of executives,” he said in connection with the analysis of this activity in the National Assembly.
The leader acknowledged the need to speed up the pace to concretize projects once negotiations have begun.
“Sometimes we are waiting for the pace to be set by the other party, when we must understand that both collaboration and foreign investment projects need to be followed up on,” he said.