Speech of Ambassador Mrs Beatriz Parra González in SKP Festival in Helsinki:
Dear Tina and Maite, dear members of SKP, dear Friends all,
First of all, I would like to thank the invitation made by the Communist Party of Finland to this Festival, proof of the irrefutable role of the press in the service of the people and their noble ideals. This was a principle defended by the apostle of Cuban independence, José Martí, when he founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party and the newspaper “Patria”, an informative organ of the Revolution that restart against Spanish colonialism in 1895 and triumphed in 1959, after neocolonialism that we were subjected from the United States.
And I appreciate the opportunity even more, because the press used to silence relevant issues about my country, and almost never it is to highlight the values and efforts of each Cuban to continue a fair and equitable social Project, such as the Cuban Revolution, but to defame their transcendence and success.
Despite the results obtained by Cuba in education, medicine, biotechnology and sports, just to mention a few examples, it is hardly talked about in the so called International Press, because it highlights the performance of a small socialist nation from the Caribbean that has obtained by dedication and strengthen its international prestige.
In the recent Olympics held in Paris, our country was in 32nd place in the medal table, considered our most difficult performance in the last 6 decades, and yet we obtained 9 medals in total, when we know that first world nations did not manage to put their name in this Olympic event. Also a Cuban champion, Mijaín López, won his Olympic gold in Greco-Roman wrestling for the fifth consecutive time, and was ranked among the greatest in Olympic history. It is just proof of what the Revolution sowed and has reaped since 1959.
But, to talk about Cuba, the international media try to erase the country's results and highlight the difficulties that may exist, without mentioning the causes before highlighting the effects.
A recent example of this occurred just a few hours ago. Our country's energy system showed the cracks that the United States' economic sanctions have caused over six decades. The established global press refers to the blackout and judges our government, while the information silences the fact that the real cause of this is the United States blockade against our country.
The Cuba´s Report entitled “Under United Nations General Assembly resolution 78/7 entitled “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba” recented presented mentions that:
“From March 2023 to February 2024, the effects on the energy and mining sector were also noteworthy and amounted to USD 388,239,830. One of the most reprehensible actions, because of its cruelty and violation of international law, has been the prevention of fuel shipments to Cuba since 2019. That year alone, 53 vessels and 27 companies were penalized by the US government. This is a new form of blockade, not previously applied, but directly in line with the efforts to threaten, coerce, instill fear and sanction anyone involved in the supply of fuel to Cuba, from shipping companies, to insurance companies, reinsurance companies, banks, individuals and governments. The damages resulting from this persecution are considerable. The economic blockade has also exacerbated the financial and credit access constraints to repair the country’s thermoelectric plants and to acquire the technologies and fuel required to guarantee a stable power supply to the population and to the strategic sectors of the national economy. As a result, there have been constant interruptions in power supply generating stress, emotional exhaustion and anguish in the population; jeopardizing the cooling and cooking system in homes, while having a cross-cutting impact on productivity and hindering the proper functioning of the country.”
As our Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parilla denounced at the recent opening of the UN General Assembly, and I quote “The US has clearly continued to engage in the pernicious and unrealizable attempt to determine and control Cuba’s destiny. It is an old ambition anchored in the Monroe Doctrine, which defines the imperialist and hegemonic nature of the US policy towards Cuba and the region of Our America. The economic, commercial and financial blockade is also a political, technological and communication blockade. It has been conceived to destroy the Cuban economy, this being one of its main aggressive weapons. It seeks to cut off the country’s financial revenues; bring about the collapse of the economy and create a situation of political and social instability. The damage it causes is visible and undeniable. It has an impact on the life of all Cubans. It is accompanied by the most ferocious disinformation and slanderous campaign, perennial attempts to interfere in Cuba’s internal affairs and the complicit tolerance of groups which, from the US territory, perpetrate violent and terrorist acts against Cuba…The siege so conceived has been reinforced with Cuba’s inclusion in the US State Department arbitrary list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism. It is a fraudulent designation, void of any international authority or mandate. However, by virtue of this, reprisals of an extraterritorial character, exceeding the sovereign jurisdiction of the United States, are taken against Cuba and are manifested in and against any country. In May this year, the US State Department itself recognized that Cuba was fully cooperative with the US anti-terror efforts. This mere recognition of a universally established truth has not led to a relaxation of the blockade coercive measures, but it does make the presence of Cuba in that illegitimate list to be ever more inconsistent, confusing and unjustifiable” end of the quote.
While Cuba remains on this spurious list of states that supposedly sponsor terrorism, we have faced very serious events, which have been appropriately denounced and ignored by the United States Government.
We have denounced a week ago that the US judicial authorities have decided to release Alexander Alazo, the individual who, on April 30, 2020, stood in the middle of the street and shot 32 rounds with a machine gun against the Cuban embassy in that country, at the moment when 7 persons stayed inside the building. The authorities of the justice system of that country would rather ignore the evidence on the links and contacts Alazo kept with groups and individuals based in South Florida which have a background of aggressive actions against Cuba, including the instigation of violence and terrorism.
Cuba is a country victim of the terrorist acts that are organized, financed and perpetrated from the US territory. It already endured the heartrending experience of 3 478 deadly casualties and 2099 persons who have been injured and suffer from physical disabilities. The country has maintained a firm and categorical stand against that scourge, including State terrorism, and has the duty to demand from the US government a serious, responsible and honest behavior when such an action is committed against the Cuban embassy and the Cuban designated staff in this Country.
It is this spurious list that prevents our country from accessing banks to acquire medicines, food, oil, equipment, to trade with the rest of the world on equal terms, like any other nation. However, we do not expect the international press to talk about it and call out the person responsible by its name, because we know who controls and directs the so-called international press, the transnational capital.
That is why I reiterate the importance of events like these, where ideas are discussed, presented and exchanged that contribute to revealing the truth about our people, whether to recognize their Olympic victories or the causes that provoke difficulties in the national electrical energy system, the main role of the media, which is to inform, instead of distorting or silencing information.
However, we know that this does not only happen with Cuba, but also in other cases that represent a horror for humanity, such as the genocide in Gaza, still justified by those who agree with the idea of exterminating an entire civilization. From here, our reiterated solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Before concluding, I would like to thank the SKP and all the friends of Cuba who from Finland are constantly supporting and denouncing the effects of the cruel blockade on Cuba. On behalf of my people, thank you very much for your continued solidarity.