The President of the Republic reflected on the many challenges that the current international scenario has imposed on foreign policy this Saturday March, 27th , together with a representation of Cuban diplomats who evaluated the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2020 and outlined working principles for this year.
Author: Yaima Puig Meneses | internet@granma.cu
March 27, 2021
I am convinced, for all the reasons we have, for the answers we have given in these difficult times before the world, that we are going to be supported by the majority of the world in the fight against the blockade, reflected the President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, when exchanging this Saturday with a representation of Cuban diplomats in a working meeting where the work of our foreign policy in 2020 was analyzed.
“We are at a vital moment”, in the midst of which the main obstacle to the development of the country continues to be the brutal economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States Government, he valued.
We are a country that, before the pandemic, had already begun to feel the effects of a resurgence of the blockade and other measures that have affected us in many areas, he commented.
It is precisely from this resistance – he stressed – potentialities have also been born in our society to overcome us. It is vital to get experiences of what we have lived in recent times, he reflected.
Here the main issue is the blockade, yes there is the blockade; and people cannot ignore it, or forget it, that cannot be forgotten, reflected the Head of State. “They have wanted to crush a people, why? because we decided to be different, “he commented.
Precisely the battle against the blockade constitutes the first priority of Cuban foreign policy, stressed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, when presenting the main lines of work that characterized the diplomatic action in 2020 and defining actions that should give continuity to the performance of foreign policy this year.
Internal issues of the Agency’s performance during the period essentially centered the debate generated later. Added to this were analyzes related to the defense of Cuba’s image in the international arena; the implementation of the economic and social strategy; the impulse to science and innovation from the most dissimilar knowledge; the confrontation with the enemy subversion, which tries to discredit and divide us; and the leading participation of young people in every battle that Cuba fights, both inside and outside the country.
The work carried out by health personnel in the international arena during these difficult months of fighting the pandemic was also highlighted in several interventions. And, in terms of solidarity, the help offered by 57 Cuban medical brigades, belonging to the “Henry Reeve” Contingent, which have supported the confrontation with the new coronavirus in 40 countries, 22 of them in the Americas region, has been transcendental. .
A solidarity that is born from the very essences of the Cuban Revolution, and which, according to the President of the Republic, has been promoted by true feelings of a humanist vocation, from a small country that has filled the world with doctors facing COVID-19, and facing it successfully.
In the midst of the current international scenario and the dissimilar challenges that it has imposed on diplomacy, the Head of State ordered to address them with great intelligence and firmness. “We have intelligence and firmness in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they have shown it in the 60 years of the organization, under the vision that the paradigmatic thought of the Commander in Chief always had in the construction of the Revolution’s foreign policy” , valued.
During the exchange, which also had the participation of the Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, the president outlined important issues that currently define the performance of government management and in which diplomacy has also accompanied us from the most varied trenches.
The pandemic caused by COVID-19, he recalled, led us to search in ourselves and in our potential for the answers to face it. “This has marked an important learning, also a growth of our capacities,” he stressed.
We are independent and sovereign politically, as a conception of the country, he asserted, but we have to be more independent economically. “It’s a huge challenge, and we can do it,” he considered.
Among the various issues that characterize the national daily life, President Díaz-Canel highlighted the implementation of the Ordering Task; the commitment from the government management to promote science and innovation as a way to solve our problems; the strengthening of relations with the Cuban community abroad; and the permanent confrontation with enemy campaigns and subversion strategies that try to destroy the Revolution.
Complex challenges are also looming this year for Cuban diplomacy, whose commitment to defend the revolutionary foreign policy from any corner of the planet was ratified during the dialogue with the country’s leadership.
“We are counting on you so that Cuba lives,” the President of the Republic assured them at the conclusion of the meeting.
