President Díaz-Canel conveyed to representatives of the solidarity movement with Cuba, a strong hug from Army General Raúl Castro Ruz
Author: Yaima Puig Meneses | internet@granma.cu
Author: René Tamayo León | internet@granma.cu
September 16, 2021 11:09:21 PM
“It was unforgivable to come to Mexico and not meet with you,” confessed the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, to the representatives of the Mexican movement of solidarity with Cuba, with whom He spoke for almost two hours during the afternoon of this Thursday at the headquarters of our Embassy.
It was a meeting of diverse emotions, commitment, gratitude, encouragement and hope. A meeting in which everyone wanted to thank, tell, contribute … and in which Díaz-Canel conveyed to everyone a big hug from Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, who had said farewell him at the José Martí International Airport.
They were about a hundred friends from Cuba. In the front rows, as a symbol, was El Cuate, the man who put the Granma in Fidel’s hands.
For us it is very significant, acknowledged the Head of State, to be able to tell you “directly the feelings we have towards everything you do in support of Cuba.” You are one of the beautiful people that can be counted on to build a better world, that it is possible, and that it has to be without antagonisms and without wars, he told them. «It cannot be a world of walls, it has to be a world of solidarity, of cooperation; a world of surrender, of sharing what we have and not what we have left over ».
The President thanked his friends for the support and courage with which they assume to be at the side of the Greater Antilles, regardless of the complexity of the scenarios. To them he also entrusted the honor represented by the gesture of the Mexican Government, and in particular of President López Obrador, to invite Cuba in a special, heartfelt, unusual way, to a commemoration such as the Grito de Dolores and also allow, make a speech on such an important date for Mexico and for Latin America.
Díaz-Canel evoked the relationships that have defined the essences of both peoples, closely linked by history, which collects endearing anecdotes that unite and distinguish us.
The President spoke of thanks, “because there are many reasons to do so.” Feel that what you do is not in vain, he asserted, that greatly strengthens the Cuban people and the Cuban people recognize all your efforts. I do not have the words that are necessary – he confessed – to “convey to you all the respect, admiration and affection that we have for what you have contributed to Cuba, and for the strength that you give us with your solidarity.”
WITH CUBA, UP TO THE LAST CONSEQUENCES
“We have received a lot from Cuba: the example of solidarity, of justice, of all that is good, and that ratifies us that a better world is possible.”
Still shaken by the emotions of the morning session in El Zócalo, with those words the former senator of the Congress of the Union of Mexico, Yeidckol Polevnsky, defined her way of seeing and feeling the Caribbean Island.
More than a dozen friends wanted to share their emotions and feelings with the president, and as one of them was heard to say, “the solidarity of the peoples is not just diplomacy”, to which Irina Layeska added that it is the commitment of give the heart.
In the voice of Senator Gloria Sánchez, the dialogue also took the path of anti-imperialism and the “unquestionable support of the Senate of the Republic will always be with Cuba, supporting its self-determination and sovereignty.”
Dr. Luis Raúl Cartagena Rivero, a graduate of the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM), expressed his pride in having the Cuban President here and requested to reactivate the granting of scholarships so that young people from his country can study Medicine in Cuba. Rest assured, he assured, that “we are with the Cuban Revolution until the last consequences.”
Díaz-Canel assured them that “Cuba is not going to disappoint them, that the Revolution will continue to overcome obstacles and will continue to reap victories; The current generations that have assumed fundamental responsibilities in the State, in the Party and in the Government, are generations of continuity.
“We are committed to the historical generation and we are also convinced, because that generation taught us, that we must continue working to continue perfecting our Revolution, to continue to improve our society and to continue to perfect our socialism.”
This has been a meeting, he maintained, that we are going to preserve in the revolutionary memory, in the sentimental memory and in the historical memory of each one of us, “because this has been a meeting of sincerity, friendship, love, conviction. and commitment ».
Among so many emotions, President Díaz-Canel thanked them for everything they do for Cuba and, although everything is important, he said, the most significant is the love they give to Cuba and the support they give to Cuba. Now when we have summoned to put hearts in Cuba, he reflected, we are convinced that you here, in Mexico, have also put hearts in it.
After concluding the meeting with the members of the solidarity groups who accessed the Embassy, where physical distancing was scrupulously respected, Díaz-Canel went outside the diplomatic headquarters to greet another large group of friends who were on the outskirts to welcome him.
Summoned by organizations of the left, and despite a torrential rain that sealed the afternoon of Mexico City, the demonstrators chanted iconic phrases of the Revolution, including the reappropriation of one of the most famous and beloved ones dedicated to Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz and now they say, with the typical Mexican rhythm and accent: “Canel, Canel, what does Canel have that the imperialists can’t with him.”
CUBA IN MEXICO
On his first day of work in Aztec land, the Cuban Head of State also held a meeting with representatives of the island state mission here – diplomats and other workers from the Embassy, commercial representatives of Cuban companies and other officials -, whom he described as a collective of commitment that has deployed intense work to strengthen the ties between the two nations.
He recalled that the main reason for his visit was to participate in the commemorations for the 211st anniversary of the start of the Mexican independence feats and in the 6th CELAC Summit, which will be tomorrow Saturday, and is also a recognition of the close friendship between our countries, strengthened with the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
In a very familiar exchange with the Cuban workers, he reviewed the intense exchange that he had with the Mexican President, of whom he praised his convictions and courage, and his commitment to Cuba.
In the midst of the current circumstances that have been imposed on Cuba, with the intensification of the economic, commercial and financial blockade and the maintenance by President Joseph Biden of the 243 measures applied by the Trump administration – betraying what he promised during his election campaign, – that a Mexican president expresses himself in the way that López Obrador has done is highly commendable.
Díaz-Canel stressed the professional and human effort of the workers of the Cuban diplomatic headquarters and their families, most of whom have not been able to go to the homeland for about 24 months due to the inconveniences that the COVID pandemic has brought. 19, and some have even contracted the sars-cov-2 virus in the fulfillment of the mission.
“On behalf of the Cuban Party, State and Government, we recognize and appreciate the work you have done,” said the President, with the sincerity and emotion that characterize him, to the members of the state mission, whom he updated on the situation on the Island.
Regarding the pandemic, he highlighted the “magnificent attention” of the Embassy to the medical brigades that arrived in the Mesoamerican nation to help in the fight against COVID-19, a collaboration – he said – that has been highly appreciated by the people and the Mexican Government.
He also highlighted the support they dedicated to facilitating the arrival in Cuba of the donations of medicines and medical supplies sent by the solidarity movements in this country, and for the supply to the Island of medical oxygen concentrators and other materials after the breakdown in the Cotorro industrial gases plant, which produces 95% of the oxygen consumed in our country.
Díaz-Canel once again conveyed to the diplomats and other Cuban workers in Mexico, the feeling of gratitude and admiration for what they have contributed to, together with what our people are doing, to overcome the present adversities.
The Head of State was accompanied by the members of the official delegation, made up of the members of the Political Bureau of the Party’s Central Committee, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Relations, and Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, advisor to the president; and Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz, head of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment. The moderator was the Cuban ambassador to Mexico, Pedro Núñez Mosquera.
