With the reading of “Letter from a Cuban Mother to an American Mother,” by the poet Indio Naborí, the Public Parliamentary Hearing “Cuba Wants Peace” opened on Thursday at the National Capitol Building. This forum serves as a platform to denounce the intensification of the blockade and the military threats from the United States.
Alberto Núñez Betancourt, president of the International Relations Committee of the National Assembly of People’s Power (Parliament), expressed his gratitude for the expressions of international solidarity and affirmed that “Cuba is a beacon for Latin America, the Caribbean, and the entire world,” acknowledging the support of people around the globe, especially those who, despite their own hardships, have extended a helping hand to the island.
On behalf of Cuban legislators, Deputy Elba Martínez Amador, acting president of the Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs, denounced the tightening of sanctions imposed by the U.S. administration and their disproportionate impact on sensitive sectors such as healthcare.
She also presented painful statistics: more than 96,000 patients awaiting surgery, 11,000 of them children; and that the life expectancy of children with cancer has fallen from 85 to 65 percent, as tangible evidence of the blockade and its impact on the population.
“Behind each number is a mother watching over her, a father struggling, a home on edge,” she stated, asking the U.S. congresswomen to remember that history had the courage to defend dialogue and peace when they had the opportunity.
Yamila González Ferrer, president of the Committee on Youth, Children, and Women’s Rights, warned that the induced humanitarian crisis is being used as a pretext for military aggression and urged U.S. lawmakers to promote legal action to lift the blockade.
“Cuba is a peaceful country, but it has the right to defend itself if attacked,” she asserted, adding that a nation’s true security is built with hospitals, schools, and solidarity, not with bombs or sanctions.
Danhiz Díaz Pereira, vice president of the Committee on Youth, denounced the energy blockade that causes blackouts, paralyzes the work of hospitals and other vital centers, and strongly rejected the accusations against Army General Raúl Castro Ruz.
On behalf of the young members of parliament, he affirmed that they are not asking for mercy, they are demanding justice; Cubans want to build the future with their own hands, not amidst ruins.
Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, Deputy Foreign Minister, stated in her closing remarks that the aggression against Cuba is not a possible future threat, but an act already underway.
She described the accusation against the leader of the Cuban Revolution as “crude and fraudulent” and emphasized that it is immoral to justify military aggression with a humanitarian crisis that the U.S. government itself is causing.
She reiterated that the country only wants peace, but not peace without sovereignty: “If we were attacked, the Cuban people, united as always, would face war with the same determination with which they have withstood more than six decades of blockade,” she stressed.
During the hearing, video messages were shown from international solidarity committees of MEPs and Latin American and African parliamentarians, who condemned the blockade as a violation of international law. At the same time, they reaffirmed their unconditional support for the Cuban people and described the secondary sanctions as “an act of political cowardice that punishes the most vulnerable.”
The hearing concluded with a performance by artists from the Hermanos Saíz Association, who sang a moving rendition of “Cuba Wants Peace,” and cheers for Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz on the occasion of his centennial, for Raúl Castro on his 95th birthday, and for a free Cuba without foreign interference.
IMAGE CREDIT: Sarahí Núñez Pérez | Photos: Luis Jiménez
[ SOURCE: AGENCIA CUBANA DE NOTICIAS ]
