The Vice President of Cuba, VP Salvador Valdés Mesa, has said that Cuba practices an international policy based on friendship, in close collaboration with the majority of the countries in the world, under the principles of internationalism, of which a central axis is the indestructible relationship with the people of Africa.
Salvador Valdés Mesa made the remarks at the Uganda Christian University (UCU) in Mukono while presiding over the close of the National Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba as Chief Guest.
Salvador Valdés Mesa plants a tree in recognition of the Cuba-Uganda friendship.
Earlier, he jetted into the country within the framework of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and Uganda. He also presided over the Cuban delegation to the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Southern Summit. Cuba is the founder of both groups of developing countries.
He was happy that his visit to Uganda “coincides with the National Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba.”
During the Conference, Cuba awarded Friendship Medal (awarded by the President of the Republic of Cuba) to the Pan-African-Movement Uganda Chapter.
Likewise, the 60th Anniversary Seal of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, ICAP, was delivered to Professor Celestino Obúa, Alex Maseréka, Fatoumata Touré, the Association of Ugandan Graduates in Cuba and the Pan-African Women’s Organization.
In you, Salvador Valdés Mesa, said: Cuba recognizes all the companions who support us and help us resist with your encouragement to overcome all obstacles.
“At the recent period of sitting of the National Assembly of People’s Power last December, President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez referred to the distortions and structural deformations typical of underdevelopment, which mark the economic performance of Cuba, affected in particular by the worsening blockade and the effects of the serious international economic crisis. Cuba is carrying out a process to correct these deviations and re-boost its economy. It will not be an easy task and will require the joint action of our people. However, as our President expressed and I quote: “(…) we will do so with determination, firmness, with intelligence, optimism and confidence, sharing efforts and contributions among all, in the midst of an adverse context, but sure that we shall overcome the challenges with talent and creative resistance.” End of quote,” said Salvador Valdés Mesa.
During the Conference, activities leading up to the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Cuba and Uganda were launched. In May 2024, the two nations celebrate 50 years of friendship.
He, however, said that “2024 will therefore be another year of great challenges for Cuba.”
Salvador Valdés Mesa explained: Our economy will continue to recover in a scenario of maximum suffocation designed by the United States, in the face of our country’s determination to maintain its independence and sovereignty.
According to Salvador Valdés Mesa, it is confirmed that the blockade constitutes the main obstacle to our economic development.
“This economic war against Cuba, which has lasted six decades, has had terrible effects on the Cuban family. It is the most prolonged, comprehensive and cruel system of unilateral coercive measures ever imposed against any nation, designed to subdue an entire people through hunger and desperation.”
In these circumstances, Salvador Valdés Mesa explains that “where the blockade reaches unprecedented aggressiveness.”
“We appreciate more than ever before firm rejection of this policy by the international community,” said Salvador Valdés Mesa.
Salvador Valdés Mesa says that the historical solidarity of the African peoples towards Cuba, and that of Uganda in particular, remains as a stimulus and necessary complement to the resistance of our people.
“Cuba thanks you and urges you to continue working in the most diverse ways, because the sooner these sanctions on Cuba are eased and eliminated, the faster and better we will be able to implement our cooperation actions with Uganda. Their donations, letters to influential personalities in the United States, including the Black Caucus, and the public denunciations of the aggression and the unjustified inclusion of Cuba in the spurious list of State sponsors of terrorism, complement the sacrifice of our people to survive and develop in such adverse circumstances. The digital era has brought us benefits, but it also shows us another aspect that affects our people, and above all the truth. In the case of Cuba, our enemies insist on distorting our reality. You have been active in using social media to present an objective and real image of our nation. We know that your friendship towards Cuba is a feeling born from the deepest sense of duty and justice, just as our country fought for Africa without seeking anything beyond the satisfaction of a duty fulfilled. We practice an international policy based on friendship, in close collaboration with the majority of the countries in the world, under the principles of internationalism, of which a central axis is the indestructible relationship with the people of Africa,” Salvador Valdés Mesa said adding that Africans contributed to “creating our nationality, and then thousands of our best sons wrote pages of heroism alongside their fellow African fighters, to achieve and consolidate the independence of several nations on this continent and achieve the end of Apartheid.”
He added: Thousands of Cuban aid workers have contributed to improving the quality of life of its inhabitants. More than 30 thousand young Africans have been trained in Cuba, despite our economic limitations.
“This beautiful history that unites us has suffered attempts to undermine it or cause its disappearance from the new generations. The permanent rejuvenation of this people-to-people relationship, so that our children and grandchildren may know why their parents and grandparents were proud of the solidarity between our countries, must be a purpose of the Friendship Associations.”
He assured the nation that much can still be done to support Government initiatives.
He said: “We have just signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Countertrade with Uganda with the aim of promoting relations in that sector. That is a concrete example of how to adopt a proactive stance, as Cuba faces strong financial restrictions.”
According to Salvador Valdés Mesa, Initiatives like that and others help Cuba break the economic siege against Cuba, that has impinged on its relations with other countries.
“On January 17, the VII African Continental Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba concluded in South Africa, which validated this approach and denounced the siege against Cuba, and was attended by several colleagues, some of whom are with us today. You have shown us that solidarity cannot be blockaded, that it will remain as a symbol of struggle against injustice and the attempts of powerful forces to silence the truth,” Salvador Valdés Mesa concluded.
