The Cuban Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Bárbara Elena Montalvo Álvarez, participated in the virtual Panel Discussion to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Augusto César Sandino's birth, which was held under the theme "Anti-imperialism and Solidarity in Times of COVID 19".
Participants in the event included Valdrack Jaentschke, Minister Advisor of the President of the Republic of Nicaragua for International Relations and the Greater Caribbean; Dan Kovalik, professor at the University of Pittsburgh; Aaron Kelly, professor at the University of Edinburgh, and Louise Richards, from the solidarity movement with Nicaragua.Christine Blower, House of Lords Labour member, acted as moderator. The ambassadors of Venezuela and Cuba each delivered a message for the occasion.
Montalvo remarked that Sandino is a symbol of resistance to imperialist rule and welcomed the initiative to commemorate this event due to the validity of his anti-imperialist thought. The Ambassador said that Cuba, like Nicaragua and Venezuela, faces a policy of permanent sanctions and hostility by the United States, because it does not accept interference in its internal affairs nor submission to its wishes. Montalvo mentioned Cuba's contribution to the fight against COVID 19, in the spirit of solidarity that characterizes the country, despite the tightening of the economic, commercial and financial blockade and the growing hostility that Cuba is subjected to. The Ambassador denounced how, despite numerous calls to end the blockade to Cuba, or even relax it during the pandemic, the current Administration reacts by preventing humanitarian aid from reaching the island.
She emphasized that denigrating her country's health system and medical collaboration has become one of the priorities of U.S. foreign policy and warned of the dangerous escalation that is taking place. Montalvo stated that the recent terrorist attack on the Cuban Embassy in Washington last April 30 cannot be dissociated from the incitement to violence and hatred stimulated by politicians and extremist groups in that country.
Montalvo said that the magnitude of this crisis imposes cooperation and solidarity beyond political differences. She reiterated that Cuba will continue to collaborate to overcome the pandemic and will resist any imperial challenge. "Those who today think they can break us will be defeated as they were one day in Nicaragua by the leader who was denigrated and today is respectfully remembered as the General of the Free Men, Augusto César Sandino," she concluded.
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