The visit to Cuba of President Barack Obama
Cuba confirms its will to advance relations with the United States,
based on the observance of the principles and purposes of the United
Nations Charter and the principles of the Proclamation of Latin America
and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace
The President of the United States of America, Barack Obama will pay an official visit to Cuba from 20 to 22 March next.
It will be the second time a US president arrives in our archipelago.
Previously only did Calvin Coolidge, who landed in Havana in January
1928. He arrived aboard a warship to attend the VI Pan American
Conference, which took place in those days under the auspices of a local
character infamous, Gerardo Machado.
This will be the first time a President of the United States comes to
an owner Cuba of its sovereignty and a revolution in power, led by its
historic leadership.
This is inserted into the process started December 17, 2014, when the
president of the Councils of State and Ministers of Cuba, Raul Castro
Ruz and President Barack Obama, simultaneously announced the decision to
restore diplomatic relations , broken by the United States almost 54
years ago.
It is part of the complex process towards normalization of bilateral
ties, which is just beginning and has advanced on the only possible and
right field: respect, equality, reciprocity and recognition of the
legitimacy of our government.
It has come to this moment as a result of the heroic resistance of the
Cuban people and their loyalty to principles, the defense of national
independence and sovereignty, first and foremost.
Such securities are not traded on more than 50 years, they led to the
current government of the United States to admit the severe damage that
the blockade has caused to our population and recognition of the failure
of the policy of open hostility to the Revolution.
Neither force nor economic coercion, and isolation imposed on Cuba
achieved contrary to its almost century forged through heroic struggles
and aspirations condition.
The current process with the United States has been possible thanks to
the unwavering international solidarity, in particular, governments and
peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, which placed the United
States in an unsustainable isolation.
"As silver in the roots of the Andes" -as expressed our national hero
José Martí in his essay "Our America" - Latin America and the
Caribbean, strongly united, demanded the change of policy towards Cuba.
This regional demand has underlined unequivocally in the Summits of the
Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, in 2009, and Cartagena,
Colombia, in 2012, when all countries of the region demanded
unanimously and categorically the lifting of the blockade and the
participation of our country in the VII hemispheric meeting in Panama in
2015, which for the first time attended a Cuban delegation headed by
Raul.
Since ads December 2014, Cuba and the United States have taken steps towards improvement of bilateral context.
On July 20, 2015, they were officially restored diplomatic relations
with the commitment to develop them on the basis of respect, cooperation
and observance of the principles of international law.
Have two meetings between the presidents of both countries as well as
exchanges of visits by ministers and other contacts of senior officials
took place.
Cooperation in areas of mutual benefit dissimilar advances and
discussion spaces, which allow a dialogue on issues of bilateral and
multilateral interest, including those in which we have different
conceptions open.
The president will be welcomed by the Government of Cuba and its people
with the hospitality that distinguishes and will be treated with all
consideration and respect, as head of state.
This will be an opportunity for the President of the United States
directly appreciate a nation embroiled in economic and social
development, and improving the welfare of its citizens.
This town enjoys rights and can exhibit achievements that constitute a
dream for many countries in the world, despite the limitations arising
from its locked condition and underdeveloped country, which has earned
him international recognition and respect.
World-class personalities as Pope and Patriarch Kirill Francisco
described this island, in their joint statement issued in Havana in
February, as "a symbol of hope in the New World".
French President Francois Hollande said recently that "Cuba is
respected and heard throughout Latin America" and praised its
resilience to the most difficult tests.
The South African leader Nelson Mandela for Cuba always had words of
deep gratitude: "We in Africa said in Matanzas, on 26 July 1991 we are
used to being victims of other countries who want to break off our
territory or subvert our sovereignty. In the history of Africa there is no other case of a people (such as Cuba) has been raised in defense of one of us. "
Obama will encounter a country that actively contributes to peace and
regional and global stability, and shares with other peoples not what is
left him but the modest resources available, making solidarity an
essential element of its rationale being and welfare of humanity, as we
bequeath Martí, one of the fundamental objectives of its foreign policy.
Also you have the opportunity to meet a noble, friendly and dignified
people with a high sense of patriotism and national unity, which has
always fought for a better future despite the adversities he has faced.
The President of the United States will be greeted by a revolutionary
people with a profound political culture, which is the result of a long
tradition of struggle for true and definitive independence, first
against Spanish colonialism and then against the imperialist domination
of the United States ; a struggle in which its best sons have shed their blood and assumed all the risks.
A people who will never back down from its defense of its principles
and the vast work of the Revolution, which continues without hesitation
the example of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, José Martí, Antonio Maceo,
Julio Antonio Mella, Ruben Martinez Villena, Antonio Guiteras and
Ernesto Che Guevara, among many others.
This is also a town that unite historical, cultural and emotional ties
with the US, whose paradigmatic figure, writer Ernest Hemingway,
received the Nobel for Literature for a novel set in Cuba.
A people showing gratitude to those children of the United States, as
Thomas Jordan [1], Henry Reeve, Winchester Osgood [2] and Frederick
Funston [3], fought with the Liberation Army in our wars for
independence from Spain;
and those more recently opposed the aggression against Cuba, defied the
blockade, as the Rev. Lucius Walker, to bring their solidarity to our
people help, and supported the return to the Homeland of the boy Elián
González and the Cuban Five . Marti learned to admire Lincoln's homeland and Cutting disown [4].
It is worth remembering the words of the historic leader of the Cuban
Revolution, Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, on September 11, 2001,
when he said: "Today is a day of tragedy for the United States. You know well that here has never been sown hatred against the American people.
Perhaps precisely because of its culture and its lack of complex,
feeling completely free, with a homeland and without a master, Cuba is
the country where more concerned with respect to US citizens.
We have never preached any kind of national hatred, or anything similar
to fanaticism, why we are so strong, because our conduct is based on
principles and ideas, and treat them with great respect, they noticed
this and said all Americans who visit to our country. "
This is the people who will receive President Barack Obama, proud of
their history, their roots, their national culture and confident that a
better future is possible.
A nation that assumes with serenity and determination the current stage
in relations with the United States, which recognizes the opportunities
and unresolved issues between the two countries.
The visit of the President of the United States will be an important
step in the process towards normalization of bilateral relations.
Remember that Obama, as he did before James Carter, has been proposed
from the exercise of his presidential powers, work to normalize ties
with Cuba and therefore has taken concrete actions in this direction.
However, to reach the standards is a long and complex road ahead, which
will require the solution of key issues that have accumulated over five
decades and deepened the confrontational nature of the links between
the two countries. Such problems will not be solved in the overnight, or with a presidential visit.
To normalize relations with the United States will be crucial to the
economic, commercial and financial blockade, causing hardship to the
Cuban people and is the main obstacle to the development of the economy
of our country is lifted.
repeated President Barack Obama's position that the lock has to be
removed and called on Congress to lift it must be recognized.
This is also a major and growing demand for the American public, and
almost unanimous international community, which in 24 consecutive
occasions approved in the United Nations General Assembly Cuban
resolution "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial
embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba. "
The president has taken steps to modify the application of some aspects of the blockade, which is positive. Senior administration officials have said they are studied other.
However, it has not been possible to implement a good part of the
measures for its limited scope, the persistence of other regulations and
by the intimidating effects of the blockade as a whole, which has been
harshly applied for over fifty years.
It is paradoxical that on the one hand, government action and,
secondly, arrecie sanctions against Cuba, which affect the daily lives
of our people.
Reality continues to show that blocking is maintained and implemented
with integrity and with a marked extraterritorial reach, which has a
deterrent effect for companies and banks in the United States and other
countries. Examples include the multimillion continue to impose fines to US companies and banks and other nationalities to relate to Cuba; denial of service and closing financial operations of international banks in our country; and the freezing of legitimate transfers of funds to and from Cuba, even in currencies other than the dollar.
The people of Cuba hopes that the visit of the US president to
consolidate its willingness to actively engage in a thorough discussion
with Congress to lift the blockade and in the meantime, continues to use
his executive powers to modify as much as possible its application,
without legislative action.
Other issues that are harmful to Cuban sovereignty also have to be
resolved in order to achieve normal relations between the two countries.
The territory occupied by the Naval Base of the United States in
Guantanamo against the will of our government and people, must be
returned to Cuba, fulfilling the unanimous desire of Cubans for over a
hundred years ago.
They should be eliminated aimed to provoke destabilizing situations and
changes in the political, economic and social order of our country
interventionist programs. The policy of "regime change" has to be definitely buried.
It must abandon the pretense of making an internal political opposition, paid for with money from American taxpayers.
You will have brought to an end to radio and television aggressions
against Cuba in clear violation of international law and the unlawful
use of the telecommunications policy objectives, recognizing that the
end will not exert a certain influence on Cuban society, but put
technology based development and knowledge.
The preferential immigration treatment given to our citizens under the
Cuban Adjustment Act and the policy of feet, dry feet wet, causing loss
of life and encourages illegal migration and trafficking in people and
generate problems for others countries.
This situation must be changed, as it would have to cancel the program
"parole" for Cuban medical professionals, depriving the country of vital
human resources to meet the health of our people and affects the
beneficiaries of the cooperation of Cuba with nations that They need.
In addition, the policy should be changed as a condition to Cuban
athletes break their country to play in the leagues of the United
States.
These past policies are incongruent with the new stage that the US government has started with our country. All predated President Obama, but he could modify some of them by executive decision and eliminate others entirely.
Cuba has been involved in building a new relationship with the United
States in the exercise of its sovereignty and committed to its ideals of
social justice and solidarity.
No one can expect for it, have to give up one of its principles, give
an inch in his defense, nor abandon proclaimed in the Constitution:
"Economic, diplomatic with any State not can never be negotiated under
aggression, threat or coercion by a foreign power ".
No can not harbor the slightest doubt about the strict adherence of
Cuba to its revolutionary and anti-imperialist ideals, and its foreign
policy committed to the just causes in the world, the defense of
self-determination of peoples and the traditional support to our sister
countries.
As expressed last Declaration of the Revolutionary Government, it is
and will remain unshakeable solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela, the government led by President Nicolas Maduro and the
Bolivarian and Chavista people struggling to follow their own path and
faces systematic destabilization attempts and unilateral sanctions
established by Executive Order unfounded and unjust March 2015 that was
condemned by Latin America and the Caribbean.
The notification issued on March 3 by extending the "National
Emergency" and sanctions is a direct and unacceptable interference in
the internal affairs of Venezuela and its sovereignty. That Order should be abolished and this will be a permanent and firm claim of Cuba.
As noted by Army General Raul Castro, "we will not give up our ideals
of independence and social justice, nor claudicaremos in one of our
principles, nor cede a millimeter in defense of national sovereignty. We will not press in our internal affairs. We have earned this sovereign right with great sacrifices and the price of the biggest risks ".
We got here, we reiterate once again to defend our convictions and because we attend reason and justice.
Cuba confirms its will to advance relations with the United States,
based on the observance of the principles and purposes of the United
Nations Charter and the principles of the Proclamation of Latin America
and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, signed by the Heads of State and
Government of the region, including full respect for their independence
and sovereignty, the inalienable right of every state to choose the
political, economic, social and cultural system without interference in
any form; equality and reciprocity.
Cuba reiterates turn full readiness to maintain a respectful dialogue
with the Government of the United States and develop relations of
civilized coexistence.
Living together does not mean having to give up the ideas in which we
believe and we have brought here, our socialism, our history, our
culture.
The profound differences of views between Cuba and the United States on
political models, democracy, exercise of human rights, social justice,
international relations, peace and global stability, among others, will
persist.
Cuba defends the indivisibility, interdependence and universality of
civil, political, economic, social and cultural human rights.
We are convinced that it is the obligation of governments to defend and
guarantee the right to health, education, social security, equal pay
for equal work, the right of children and the right to food and
development. We reject political manipulation and double standards on human rights, which must cease.
Cuba, which has acceded to 44 international instruments in this field,
while the United States has signed only 18, has a lot to say, to defend
and to show.
What is in our ties with the United States, is that both countries
respect their differences and create a relationship based on the benefit
of both peoples.
Regardless of the progress that can be achieved in ties with the United States, the Cuban people will continue.
With our own efforts and proven ability and creativity, we will
continue working for the country's development and welfare of Cubans. We will not relent in demand for the lifting of the blockade that has done us so much damage and does.
We persist in carrying forward the process of updating the economic and
social model that we have chosen, and building a prosperous and
sustainable socialism to consolidate the gains of the revolution.
A road sovereignly chosen and will surely be ratified at the Seventh
Congress of the Communist Party, Fidel and Raul in victory.
This is the Cuba that will welcome President Obama respectful.
[1] Major General, Chief of Staff of the Liberation Army (1869).
[2] Commander. He fell in combat on the site Guáimaro, the October 28, 1896.
[3] Colonel gunner, on the orders of Calixto Garcia.
[4] Character in 1886 stoked hatred and aggression against Mexico.
‘Saint Wolfgang and the Devil’ by Michael Pacher (De Agostini Picture Library)
Eyespots. (Wild Horizons/Getty)
An Osculum infame from 1608′s Compendium Maleficarum. (DeAgostini/Getty)
