Havana, May 31 (RHC). The use of face masks will no longer be mandatory in Cuba as of May 31, the Ministry of Public Health announced on social media networks.
The decision considers the new stage related to the control of COVID-19. The suspension of the masks applies to all social activities, except in medical consultations and hospitalization services and areas with restrictions during focus controls.
The use of masks will remain mandatory for people presenting respiratory symptoms.
It is also essential that vulnerable persons continue to use masks as a protective measure.
Workers should receive systematic training on individual and collective protection hygienic norms.
The Ministry recommended using masks in crowds, where it is not possible to maintain an adequate physical distance.
The measure of not allowing people with respiratory symptoms to enter work and student centers remains in place.
In addition, the necessary resources for handwashing and disinfection must be guaranteed in sanitary services and food processing and dispensing areas.
Havana, May 31 (Prensa Latina) The statements by then President of the United States, Barack Obama, on the possible rapprochements between his country and Cuba, filled the 5th Summit of the Americas with optimism.
The Heads of State and Government who attended Port-of-Spain, capital of Trinidad and Tobago, from April 17 to 19, 2009, were very clear that Cuba’s reintegration into the inter-American relations was an essential step for the Americas.
That weekend, 13 years ago, the presidents also showed that Obama’s projection was the beginning of a new era between Havana and Washington.
They also had high expectations regarding the announcements of changes in the US policies towards the continent, and particularly, the elimination of the economic, political and commercial blockade of that government against the Cubans.
“We look forward to the day when Cuba can take its rightful place among its colleagues in the hemisphere,” said Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Patrick Manning, who delivered the closing remarks at the meeting.
Cuba had not been invited to any of the Summits held since 1994, and for the Trinidad and Tobago meeting, it was not allowed to attend either.
Among those present, Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega expressed his shame for Cuba’s absence, “the brother country”, and refused to call that Pan-American meeting by its name.
The Cuban nation was sanctioned and punished for fighting for its independence, the sovereignty of the peoples, providing solidarity without conditions to the Latin America and Caribbean countries, “and for that reason, I do not feel comfortable in this Summit,” Ortega emphasized.
That year, Cuba was the only country excluded from the Summit, which detracted from the efforts to achieve regional solutions to regional problems such as human prosperity, energy security and environmental sustainability.
It became clear there that Cuba’s inclusion in the main hemispheric issues was a priority for the continent.
Although Cuba never demanded its presence at the hemispheric Summits, its participation was achieved in Panama in 2015, 28 years after the first of these meetings, held in the US city of Miami.
El Departamento de Estado ha indicado a sus oficinas de prensa en Florida promover una activa campaña mediática contra Cuba y @lopezobrador_
Cuenta para ello con una task force de internet para Cuba y estructura de redes sociales, bots y youtubers neoterroristas desde Miami 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/U9saJZ1WnM
Havana, May 17 (Prensa Latina) The US government’s announcement of new measures on Cuba “is a limited step in the right direction,” though they do not change the blockade, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez wrote in Twitter.
“The decision does not modify the blockade, nor the fraudulent inclusion of Cuba in the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, nor most of Trump’s coercive measures of maximum pressure that still damage the Cuban people,” Minister Rodríguez added.
On Friday afternoon, the US State Department announced several measures, “positive but very limited in scope, with respect to Cuba in the areas of visas, regular migration, flights to provinces, remittances and adjustments to regulations for transactions with the non-state sector”, the Cuban Foreign Ministry underlined in a statement.
Minister Rodríguez further said in Twitter that “the content of the announcement confirms that neither the objectives nor the main instruments of the failed US policy against #Cuba have changed.”
“To know the real scope of this announcement, it will be necessary to wait for the publication of the regulations that will determine its application,” the Foreign Minister concluded hits tweets.
US gov. announcement is a limited step in the right direction. This decision in no way modifies the blockade, #Cuba's fraudulent inclusion in the list of countries sponsors of terrorism or most of Trump's maximum pressure coercive measures that still affect the Cuban people.
Havana, May 11 (RHC)–Bolivian President Luis Arce announced Tuesday that he would not participate in the 9th Summit of the Americas, scheduled for Los Angeles June 6 through 10, if the exclusion of “brotherly peoples” continues to stand.
“Consistent with the principles and values of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, I reaffirm that a Summit of the Americas that excludes American countries will not be a full Summit of the Americas, and if the exclusion of brotherly peoples persists, I will not participate in it,” Arce posted on Twitter.
The United States excluded Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua from the summit alleging their governments are anti-democratic and do not respect the Democratic Charter of the Americas.
“Bolivia bases its international relations on the Diplomacy of the Peoples, with inclusion, solidarity, complementarity, respect for sovereignty, self-determination and collective construction of the Culture of Dialogue and Peace,” wrote the president in a second tweet.
Caracas, May 12 (Prensa Latina) The executive secretary of ALBA-TCP, Sacha Llorenti, today highlighted the failure of the United States Government in its call for a Summit of the Americas marked by a political decision to exclude several countries of the region.
Through his account on the social network Twitter, the head of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of America-People’s Trade Treaty, denounced Washington’s intentions to impose its hegemonic interests during the regional meeting, scheduled for June 6 to June 10 in the US city of Los Angeles.
“Neither summit nor of the Americas. The convening of the United States to an excluding meeting that does not seek to smooth the paths of American integration, but rather to instrumentalize all space in favor of its hegemonic interests, fails”, Llorenti said on the communication platform.
The project of the Joe Biden administration of not inviting Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to the next meeting in Los Angeles, caused several governments in the region to announce their absence from the meeting if the hosts insist on their claim.
Presidents Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Mexico), Xiomara Castro (Honduras) and Luis Arce (Bolivia), as well as the Caribbean Community (Caricom), have already spoken in this regard.
Given the attempts to avoid the island’s presence at the regional event, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez pointed out that “the host country of the Summit of the Americas has no right to impose arbitrary exclusions.”
“This is a politically motivated decision with no other support than false accusations and double standards to hide its true nature, linked to the internal and electoral politics of the United States,” he assured.
The minister asserted that Washington is promoting a so-called regional health plan for next June’s meeting, “which negotiates in an opaque manner” and lamented that with Cuba’s experience and international recognition in these matters, it has not been included in the negotiation.
He also accused the northern power of using the pandemic for its political interests as a tactical ally against Cuba, a country that can present in Los Angeles the recognized results of its medical collaboration with the world and its successes in the fight against Covid-19, including its own vaccinations.
Havana, May 12 (Prensa Latina) Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, today decreed official mourning “due to the deep pain of our people in the face of the unfortunate accident May 6 at the Saratoga Hotel”.
According to the official statement, this will be effective from 06:00 on May 13 until 12:00 at night on May 14.
The president decreed the official mourning once the rescue and salvage actions were completed in the vicinity of the damaged hotel.
Cuba has so far reported 45 deaths, including a Spanish citizen, and almost a hundred injured.
Rescuers and firefighters today found the lifeless body of the last person to be identified as missing after the explosion.
During the validity of the official duel, the Cuban flag must be raised at half-staff in public buildings and military institutions.
Beijing, May 10 (Prensa Latina) Top Chinese authorities expressed their permanent support to Cuba with the delivery of messages of condolences for the death of Ricardo Alarcón and the deadly accident at the Saratoga Hotel in Havana.
Cai Wei, director general of the Department of Latin America and the Caribbean of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, went to the island’s embassy here and signed the open book to pay tribute to the recently deceased jurist, diplomat and parliamentarian.
“The Chinese people will always remember Comrade Alarcon, whose memory will be immortal,” he wrote as special envoy of Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Cai took advantage of the occasion and delivered to Ambassador Carlos Miguel Pereira a missive with similar content from the president of the China-Cuba Parliamentary Friendship Group of the National People’s Congress (Legislative) of China.
Likewise, he presented the messages of condolences from the president of the Asian giant, Xi Jinping, to his Cuban counterpart, Miguel Díaz-Canel; and from the mayor of Beijing, Chen Jining, to the governor of Havana, Reinaldo García, for the explosion and subsequent collapse of the Saratoga Hotel on the 6th.
Xi said he was shocked after learning about the tragedy, while he extended his condolences on behalf of the Government and the people of China, and personally to the families of the 40 victims and almost a hundred injured.
Havana, May 10 (Prensa Latina) Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel today stressed the priority of finding the people reported missing after the gas explosion that severely Havana’s Saratoga Hotel.
With the hashtag #FuerzaCuba, the Cuban leader wrote on Twitter that since the fateful May 6, the government’s Temporary Working Group created for that purpose has been checking actions to be taken to deal with the consequences of the accident at that tourist facility.
Since the first minutes after the explosion that so far killed 40 people and injured about a hundred, firefighters and rescuers have been working tirelessly to find those who were trapped under the debris of the facility.
The search continues today for nearly five people who are presumed to remain in the basement area, reported Colonel Luis Carlos Guzman, head of the Cuban Fire Brigade.
Meanwhile, 18 injured people, including five children and 13 adults, out of the total of 94 who were assisted, continue to be treated in six hospitals.
About 80 citizens, whose homes are damaged, are being accommodated in tourism institutions, where the necessary living conditions are being created.
Havana, May 9 (Prensa Latina) Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday wound up his first official visit to Cuba, where he received the Jose Marti Order, the country’s highest distinction.
After an intense day of work, the Mexican president was bid farewell by his Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana.
During his stay, Lopez Obrador laid a wreath at the Jose Marti Memorial in the Revolution Square in Havana and held official talks with the Cuban head of State, who thanked the Mexican nation for its historic support against the blockade imposed by the United States on the Caribbean nation.
Both presidents also signed a bilateral agreement that represents the bonds of brotherhood between the two countries and will allow the intensification of labor exchanges in areas such as education, sports, culture and human resources training, among others.
They also ratified the two nations’ will to face the challenges imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic and other disasters or epidemics.
Regarding the Jose Marti Order, Lopez Obrador said he was proud to receive a recognition with the name of the most humane and sincere independence fighter of our America, he said.
Jose Marti belongs to Mexico and Cuba, he is a universal leader, the president said.
Lopez Obrador arrived in Cuba on Saturday after an official tour of Central America and the Caribbean, as part of the Government’s strategy aimed at deepening ties with the South.
The ties between Cuba and Mexico date from more than a century ago, and it is noteworthy that Mexico was the only Latin American nation that did not break off relations with the Caribbean country, after the United States pressured the governments of the region to isolate the young Cuban Revolution after the January 1, 1959 victory.
Havana, May 9 (Prensa Latina) Cuban rescue forces rescued the eve two pet animals alive from the rubble, victims of the explosion that occurred at the Saratoga hotel in this capital last Friday.
According to local media reports, these were puppies identified as Sultan and Chuza, who were saved in the middle of the ruins of a building adjoining the tourist facility.
Arnaldo Álvarez, a member of the Cuban Red Cross, explained the pets received first aid and have already coordinated with animal protection services to guarantee their attention.
“They are very upset and stressed; but physically they have no damage”, he specified.
Last Friday, apparently as the result of a gas leak, an explosion caused the partial collapse of the hotel and affected neighboring residential buildings, a primary school, a church and the Martí theater.
Since the explosion Friday morning, specialized forces, including the Fire Department, have opened their way to help find possible survivors or their bodies, in a mission that requires great care and security measures due to the danger of the structure collapsing, according to specialists.
All this, with the help of a canine brigade, whose members are the first to enter the rubble to detect if there is a body and then heavy load teams are used to move the ruins.
An emblematic case of rescue dogs in Cuba is Rocky, considered a star of the canine unit of the National Special Brigade, located in Havana.
The former participated in multiple operations and internationalist missions, thanks to his sense of smell capable of identifying a body that is trapped in the rubble or buried underground to a depth of between six and seven meters.
On this day, the canine brigade managed to enter the basement of the Saratoga, where it is believed there are people.
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