Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, at the High Level Meeting of the UNGA to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations
On the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, multilateralism and International Law are threatened by the world's greatest power. The irresponsible conduct of the United States is the greatest danger to international peace and security. It promotes conflicts, unconventional and commercial wars and imposes severe unilateral coercive measures and squanders - in its arms race - essential resources for the sustainable development of our peoples, while refusing to cooperate in the confrontation with the multiple crises generated by the devastating COVID- 19.
The United States is unaware of important agreements on the environment, disarmament, and arms control and abandons international forums such as the World Health Organization, UNESCO, or the Human Rights Council. It would appear that it is at war with the planet, its vital resources and its inhabitants. It prevents a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which this Organization has historically demanded. It proposes the so-called “Deal of the Century”, which threatens the future of the State of Palestine, on the pre-1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital. Denies the people of Puerto Rico the right to self-determination and independence, when the Third International Decade for the Elimination of Colonialism is about to conclude.
It interferes in the internal affairs of dozens of UN member states and threatens those it accuses of influencing its corrupt electoral system. Fear and repeated lies are the new weapons in his dishonest media and disinformation strategy. It breaks the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, by reactivating the Monroe Doctrine.
Against Cuba, it raises its hostility to qualitatively higher levels. It systematically violates the human rights of the Cuban people, by intensifying the economic, commercial and financial blockade and its extraterritorial nature. It is the one that shamelessly attacks our medical cooperation and the governments that legitimately request it, thereby restricting the right to health of other nations; when it is the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, which due to irresponsibility and electoral opportunism has cost the lives of almost 200 thousand of its citizens.
Meeting with young Zimbabweans who were awarded scholarships for university studies in Cuba
The Cuban Ambassador, Carmelina Ramírez, and the Counsellor, Yoisy Ford, received in the Embassy the two young Zimbabweans, Tavonga Mukhachana and Mduduzi Keith Gumbo, who were selected to study in Cuba the careers of Civil Engineering and Medicine respectively. The moment was propitious to congratulate the students for being winners of the scholarships and update them on the events of the island.
Cuban Ambassador participates in videoconference chaired by the President of Zimbabwe
The Government of Zimbabwe invited the Ambassador of Cuba, Carmelina Ramírez, together with the group of African Ambassadors accredited in Harare, to participate in the virtual launch of the book of African memories and in the inauguration of the mobile museum of African liberation. At the meeting, President Emmerson Mnangagwa thanked the contribution and unconditional support of friendly countries in the African struggle to achieve its independence from colonialism and imperialism.
The African Memoir is the first publication that tells the more than 500-year history of this continent, from the African perspective and without global media manipulation. The Mobile Museum of African Liberation was also inaugurated which is equipped with high-tech equipment where visitors can interact to obtain information on the history of Africa and its victory against the oppressors.
Cuba's first vaccine candidate against COVID-19 will begin clinical trial on August 24
Note the date: this August 19, the 105th anniversary of the death of the great Carlos Juan Finlay, Dr Vicente Vérez Bencomo, director of the prestigious national vaccine institute named after the distinguished scientist, presented to President Miguel Díaz Canel Bermúdez and the National Group of Experts to confront the pandemic, the first specific vaccine candidate against COVID-19 from the small and besieged Cuba.
“The vaccine has been arrived at with prudence, with measure, without showing off, taking the steps that had to be taken. That is why it was first registered properly and the first information will be given in depth by its protagonists”. The study has the fundamental authorization of the Center for State Control of the Quality of Medicines (CEDMED), which is the regulatory authority.
Soberana, the first Cuban vaccine candidate against COVID-19 in the FR (Front Runner) category, and identified by the initials FINLAY-FR-1, will enter the clinical trials phase as of Monday, August 24, that is, in human beings: 20 of at least one age group from 19 to 59 years old. A week later, the test will be applied to an equal number of volunteers between 60 and 80 years old. The second phase of these clinical trials is scheduled for September 11, when all 676 volunteers will be completed, including the 40 from the first phase.
The Cuban Embassy in Zimbabwe pays Tribute to the Historical Leader of the Revolution on the 94th anniversary of his birth
On the morning of August 13, members of the Cuban diplomatic mission in Zimbabwe paid tribute to Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, on his birthday. The historical Leader, a man of world stature and recognized as one of the most outstanding strategists of all time, was much loved by the peoples of the world and especially in Africa. Robert Mugabe expressed to the Cubans " Fidel was not just your leader. He was our leader and the leader of all revolutionaries. We followed him, listened to him and tried to emulate him."