#Cuba Hosts International Meeting for #Peace without Military Bases

Published by Alma

By  Nuriem De Armas/Prensa latina

To reaffirm Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace and denounce the danger of increasing military bases around the world, more than 300 experts will gather from May 4 to 6 in Guantánamo, Cuba.

The Fifth International Seminar for Peace and the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases will be held in this eastern Cuban province, where a US naval base remains, charging the headquarters with a great symbolic significance, said in an exclusive interview with Prensa Latina, the president of the Cuban Movement for Peace, Silvio Platero.

‘Experts and scholars from more than 20 nations, including Japan, the United States, Brazil, and Colombia, among others, have already confirmed their attendance,’ he said.

He added that for that meeting the presence of Cuban specialists highly trained in military matters will increase.

#Cuba: #GuantánamoNavalBase, not to be forgotten

Publicado por Alma

Torture and abuse of prisoners at the Guantánamo Naval Base, and the legal limbo in which they find themselves has led to international condemnation of the United States. Photo: AFP

Por Yadira Cruz Valera, | internet@granma.cu/PL

President Barack Obama will shortly exit the White House, without keeping his promise to close the maximum security prison established in 2002 at the Guantánamo Naval Base.

Despite the fact that the U.S. appropriated 117.6 square kilometers of Cuban territory more than 100 years ago, it was not until the beginning of this century that the world’s interest in the site was reawakened, precisely when the illegal base became a prison for Islamic militants, and chilling pictures of the crimes committed there began to circulate on the internet.

International pressure and thousands of voices have been raised to demand the closure of the base, and the issue became part of the agenda discussed by candidates aspiring to the Presidency in the United States.

Obama heeded these demands and said he would close the prison, but once in office, and now just days away from his departure, the commitment remains unfulfilled.

Despite his Nobel Peace Prize and stated intention to normalize relations with Cuba, Obama will be one more President leaving office without resolving one of the main obstacles to a less hostile relationship.

In fact, the Presidential directive on the country’s policy toward Cuba which Obama issued this past October 14, specifically states, «The United States Government has no intention to alter the existing lease treaty and other arrangements related to the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station.»

#U.S. Presidential Directive on #Cuba: Ten key questions

Published by Alma

Photo: Getty Images

Author: Granma | internet@granma.cu

The directive issued by President Barack Obama, October 14, describes the blockade as an “outdated policy that had failed to advance U.S. interests.” Will Washington ever recognize that the blockade has been an illegal and unjust policy of aggression which has caused Cuba billions of dollars in economic damages and incalculable human losses? Is the U.S. willing to compensate the Cuban people for these losses?

Losses caused by the U.S blockade of Cuba (April 2015 through April 2016):

Health: $82,723,876 Five million dollars more than last year

Food: $605,706,289 The greatest impact is seen in the increased price of seeds, fertilizers, and replacement parts from agricultural and other types of machinery.

Culture: $29,483,800 The U.S. could be Cuba’s main source market for an important group of raw materials, resources, tools and equipment for the country’s artists, artisans and designers, if the blockade didn’t exist.

Education: $1,245,000 The Ministry of Education suffered losses in the cited period, due to the increased cost of sourcing supplies from markets further a field.

Construction: $30,868,200 Key losses in this sector are related to the island’s inability to access more efficient, lighter and energy-friendly construction technologies.

Biotechnology: $171,665,136 Total losses caused by the blockade have reached an enormous figure.

The #blockade against #Cuba is an outdated policy and must end

Published by Alma

Josefina Vidal, director general for the United States at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations. Photo: Juvenal Balán

Author: Sergio Alejandro Gómez | informacion@granma.cu

A year after diplomatic relations between the two countries were reestablished on July 20, 2015, Granma International spoke with Josefina Vidal, director general for the United States at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations, to discuss Cuba-U.S. relations as they stand today

“We have been working for many years for a change in U.S. policy toward Cuba,” stated Josefina Vidal, the main face representing Cuba in diplomatic negotiations with the United States to open a new chapter in bilateral relations between the two nations.

But the Cuban diplomat isn’t referring to the quarter of a century she has spent dealing with this issue. “You need to read history and see how Fidel, at different times, expressed Cuba’s willingness to discuss and resolve our differences with the United States through negotiations, without renouncing a single one of our principles. And Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, on assuming the leadership of our government, stated that we have always been willing to normalize relations with that country on the basis of equality.

“This process began on December 17, 2014, following more than half a century of resistance by the Cuban people to all kinds of aggression. A few months later, on July 20, 2015, diplomatic relations between the two nations were officially reestablished with the opening of respective embassies in Washington and Havana.”

A year on, Granma International spoke with Josefina Vidal, director general for the United States at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations, to discuss Cuba-U.S. relations as they stand today.

What has been achieved?

Press release: Third Meeting of the #Cuba-#US Bilateral Commission

Published by Alma

Author: Cubaminrex

The third meeting of the Cuba-US Bilateral Commission was held in Havana on May 16, 2016. 

The Cuban delegation was headed by Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, Director-General of the U.S. Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, and the U.S. delegation was headed by Ambassador Kristie Kenney, Counselor of the State Department, and John S. Creamer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.

During the meeting, both delegations reviewed the implementation of the agreements adopted at the second meeting of this Commission as well as the results achieved in the course of the last six months.

Both delegations highlighted the increase of official visits in both directions, including the one paid by President Barack Obama to Havana in March, 2016; as well as of the technical meetings held to discuss topics of common interest and the bilateral instruments signed in order to expand mutually beneficial cooperation between Cuba and the United States.

However, similar advances have not been seen in the economic field because of the continued implementation of the blockade. Despite the steps that have been taken, there are still significant restrictions that limit U.S. exports; very few Cuban products can be imported by the United States; U.S. investments in Cuba are not allowed except in telecommunications; and there are no normal banking relations between both countries.

#Cuba and #US set ambitious agenda for coming months

Published by Alma

Author: Sergio Alejandro Gómez

Josefina Vidal, the Cuban Foreign Ministry’s director general for the United States, with ambassador in Washington, José Ramón Cabañas. Photo: Juvenal Balán

The third meeting of the Bilateral Commission established by Cuba and the United States was held in Havana, May 16, and an ambitious work agenda for the coming months was set, as part of the process of moving toward normalization of relations, according to Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Relations.

Josefina Vidal, the ministry’s director general for the United States and Cuba’s leading representative to the Commission, stated during a press conference that the two sides made plans for the signing of new cooperation agreements.

Since December 17, 2014, Havana and Washington have agreed to a total of nine accords on a variety of issues such as direct flights, postal service, protection of marine areas, and the reestablishment of diplomatic relations.

Press Conference offered by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla

By Alma

On March 15, the Departments of the Treasury and of Commerce issued new regulations that modify the implementation of some aspects of the US blockade against Cuba.

This is the fourth announcement of this sort made by the Government of the United States since December 17, 2014, when the presidents of both countries made public their decision to re-establish diplomatic relations.

Obama’s plan on Guantanamo

By Emmanuel Bonforti*

(Unofficial translation by Alma)

Meeting of Cuban President Raul Castro and US President Barack Obama at the UN headquarters on 29 September 2015. Photo: AP / Andrew Harnik

The proposal to close the Guantanamo prison and the impact on US domestic policy. The role of the mass media. Story of a long-standing occupation and need the support of Latin America.

Editorial: President Barack Obama’s visit to Cuba

Por Alma

Before presenting the Granma editorial, I would like to give my opinion. Cubans read yesterday’s editorial, and for us, as we say in the popular slang: any clearer than that, not even the water. Cuba’s position regarding relations with the US is ratified, once again clarifying this position to concerned friends and to enemies declared or overlapping. And above all I think it is a statement of principles, which honestly makes me very proud, and I am one of the millions who support it.

Without underestimating them, because we know what they are capable, sometimes I wonder if the arrogance of some members of the US government provokes such blindness, which are not able to see that they fall into ridicule and ignorance when undervalue other people, including my own.