The Cuban Embassy in Mexico hosted the presentation of the book “Cuba: estampas de la resistencia” / Cuba: Snapshots of Resistance” — a look at daily life on the island amid the ongoing US blockade.
The book, by journalist Luis Hernández and photographer Jair Cabrera, both from the newspaper La Jornada, compiles work from their coverage of Cuba following the executive order signed in January by US President Donald Trump, which resulted in an energy embargo.
“Before landing, many international media outlets announced the imminent collapse of Cuba; however, despite the suffering caused by the blockade, what we found was a people in resistance, determined not to be subjugated in any way,” Hernández stated.
The opinion editor of La Jornada also observed on the island a state with an enormous capacity for organization, mobilization, and response, and, faced with precariousness and material scarcity, he witnessed a surge in solidarity, cooperation, and mutual aid.
“During our walks through the streets, of course we heard anger and discontent, but we never saw those hardships translate into votes in favor of a U.S. intervention,” he said, mentioning that they also witnessed expressions of gratitude toward countries like Mexico.
During their time in the Caribbean nation, he noted, they found “a concentrated dose of dignity.”
“That’s what I saw, that’s what I heard, and that’s what I wrote, and that’s what appears alongside Cabrera’s superb photographs,” he asserted.
Speaking at the presentation, the Cuban ambassador to Cuba, Eugenio Martínez, alluded to the damage caused by the tightening of the economic blockade imposed by Washington and dismissed as a lie the notion that Cuba poses an unusual and extraordinary threat to the United States.
“It’s a lie that the United States administration wants what’s best for the Cuban people. It’s a lie that they offered a $100 million donation to Cuba. It’s a lie that our government is responsible for our shortages. It’s a lie that there isn’t a brutal blockade,” he denounced.
“Faced with the exhausting shortages of our people, and with luck, surrounded by solidarity,” he emphasized, “we will demonstrate that the Cuban people’s resistance is not an extravagance, but a necessity, a duty, and this book proves it.”
For his part, Cuban intellectual Omar González referred to the areas visited by the authors, who were in cooperatives, working-class neighborhoods, and health centers, among other places, and mentioned recurring themes in the texts, such as love, truth, and solidarity.
Cabrera and Pedro Miguel, a columnist for La Jornada, also participated in the event, which was attended by legislators, members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of the José Martí Association of Cuban Residents in Mexico, and friends of solidarity.
[ SOURCE: PRENSA LATINA ]
