More than thirty trade union and labor organizations from over a dozen countries reaffirmed their support for Cuba today at a solidarity meeting held at the headquarters of the Central Organization of Cuban Workers (CTC) in Havana.
Via videoconference, representatives from countries such as Mexico, Canada, Spain, Argentina, and the United States extended their support to the Cuban people in the face of the Trump administration’s escalating energy blockade and persecution, which included an executive order declaring a supposed national emergency and authorizing the imposition of tariffs on oil exports from third countries to Cuba.
Osnay Miguel Colina Rodríguez, president of the Organizing Committee of the 22nd CTC Congress, highlighted the absurdity of the arguments put forward by the U.S. government in its attempt to provoke economic strangulation and suffering for thousands of workers and their families.
In this way, Colina Rodríguez insisted that Cuba is not a failed state, as the message the enemies of the Revolution are trying to promote to legitimize foreign interference claims, but rather a policy of maximum pressure that hinders access to basic resources. However, decisions continue to be made to avoid paralyzing essential activities and services, thus defending, under the current adverse conditions, the most fundamental human right: the right to life.
He also expressed his gratitude for the support and shared history with many of the organizations present at the meeting, most recently demonstrated by the assistance provided after Hurricane Melissa struck the eastern provinces.
Along these lines, he referred to the risks posed by the increasingly frequent occurrence of extreme events as a consequence of climate change and the difficulties the U.S. embargo presents in repairing the extensive material damage caused by these events, and the weight this situation places on the well-being of families, which represents incalculable and unjustifiable human suffering.
Faced with this threat, he noted, friendly voices have risen from many parts of the world, demonstrating that it is possible to appeal to the best of humanity in the face of barbarity.
The heroic people of Cuba desire peace but will know how to fight and will not submit to defeat or to pressures that threaten their hard-won sovereignty, he concluded. Also present in the room were other members of the Organizing Committee of the XXII Congress of the CTC and the general secretaries of the 15 national unions.
Friends from around the world agreed on the need to prepare and distribute audiovisual capsules with messages of support for the population, thus demonstrating the solidarity that transcends borders and how the just demands of the Cuban people find echoes around the planet.
IMAGE CREDIT: José Manuel Lapeira Casas | Photo: Luis Jiménez Echevarría
[ SOURCE: AGENCIA CUBANA DE NOTICIAS ]
