U.S. preventing the arrival of fuel to Cuba

Cuban President announces measures to deal with conjunctural fuel shortage

Cuban President announces measures to deal with conjunctural fuel shortage

The President of Cuba’s Councils of State and Ministers, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and ministers appeared on the Mesa Redonda television program, last night, to report on measures being taken to address the current energy situation

Author: Digital news staff | informacion@granma.cu
september 12, 2019 10:09:53

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Photo: Tomada de la televisión
The President of Cuba’s Councils of State and Ministers, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and several ministers appeared on the Mesa Redonda television program, last night, to report on measures being taken to address the current energy situation and inform the population .

The Ministers of Economy, Alejandro Gil Fernández; of Energy and Mines, Raúl García Barreiro; of Transportation, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila; and First Vice President Salvador Valdés Mesa participated, as well.Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez began by explaining , “We want to inform without frightening or causing fear. We are making known something that we had warned of earlier, this is the responsibility of the Council of Ministers, which has the duty to announce these new challenges.

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Photo: Tomada de la televisión
We want to report what is happening, its causes, how we have worked in these months to minimize the impact, and the options we have to overcome this conjunctural situation.”… It is well known that the current U.S. administration is increasing its hostilities towards Cuba, with the aim of hurting the basic needs of the people and their daily activities and blaming the Cuban government for this,” pressuring us to change the course we have chosen as a country.

“…They persist in trying to prevent the arrival of fuel to Cuba. And additionally apply unilateral measures to limit our contracts with shipping companies that deliver resources to Cuba. There are entities that have withdrawn.“…This situation has caused a shortage of diesel.”

“…Ships with food are arriving in the country, ships with wheat flour, and this is a result of measures that have been adopted recently.”Díaz-Canel explained that this scenario forces us to adopt measures to minimize the impact on services to the population and focus on priorities, stressing that this is a conjunctural situation.

National industry guarantees 40 percent of the country’s fuel, and with this domestic production, we guarantee the operation of our thermoelectric plants. That is, the fundamental basis of the country’s energy system remains stable, the President stated.

All measures adopted have had positive results. However, despite the effort, the arrival of oil tankers was not achieved these last few weeks. In this situation there are two important moments. One is the one we currently experiencing, that will last until September 14, because fuel will not arrive until that date. On the 14th, a tanker will arrive.

The next shipments arrive at the end of September. We must maintain conservation and efficiency measures so that this fuel lasts until the end of the month, when the other vessels arrive and stabilize the situation. October contracts are negotiated. We are sure that fuel will be guaranteed at the end of September, and with the October contracts, Díaz said.

Hurricane Dorian

Díaz-Canel expresses Cuba’s readiness to cooperate with the Bahamas

Díaz-Canel expresses Cuba’s readiness to cooperate with the Bahamas
In the name of Cuba´s government and people, President Díaz-Canel extended condolences in a message to the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, given the loss of human life and devastating damage caused by Hurricane Dorian
Author: Granma | internet@granma.cu
september 4, 2019 09:09:45

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Photo: Internet
Given the loss of human life and devastating damage caused by Hurricane Dorian in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, the President of Cuba´s Councils of State and Ministers, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, extended condolences to “the people of the Bahamas and families of the victims,” in a message to the Prime Minister of the island nation.
Díaz-Canel also expressed Cuba’s “willingness to cooperate with the Bahamas, within our possibilities, in the mitigation of damage.”

Fidel Castro Gabriel García Márquez

The Fidel Castro I know: Gabriel García Márquez

The Fidel Castro I know
The Nobel Prize for Literature winner offers his observations of a good friend
Author: Gabriel García Márquez | internet@granma.cu
august 30, 2019 14:08:04

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Photo: Granma Archives

His devotion to words. His power of seduction. He looks for problems wherever they may be. The impetus of inspiration is characteristic of his style. Books reflect very well the breadth of his tastes. He quit smoking to have the moral authority to fight smoking. He likes to prepare cooking recipes with a kind of scientific fervor. He stays in excellent physical condition with several hours of daily workouts and frequent swimming. Invincible patience. Iron discipline. The power of his imagination prepares him for the unexpected. Learning to rest is as important as learning to work.
Tired of conversing, he rests while talking. He writes well and likes to. The greatest stimulus in his life is the emotion of taking a risk. The podium of an improvising orator seems to be his perfect habitat. Always beginning with an almost inaudible voice, with an uncertain course, but taking advantage of any flash to gain ground, inch by inch, until he delivers a blow and seizes the audience. It is this inspiration, the state of irresistible and dazzling grace, which only those who have not had the glory of living it deny. He is anti-dogmatic par excellence.
José Martí is his number one author and he has a talent for incorporating his ideals into the bloodstream of a Marxist revolution. The essence of his own thinking lies in the certainty that working with the people is fundamentally being concerned with individuals.

Continue reading The Fidel Castro I know: Gabriel García Márquez →

U.S. obstruction of Cuban Medical Cooperation

The U.S. government allocates millions of dollars to obstruct Cuban medical cooperation

The U.S. government allocates millions of dollars to obstruct Cuban medical cooperation
Statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Digital news staffaugust 29, 2019 14:08:28

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Photo: MINREX
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounces and strongly condemns the United States government’s recent aggression against Cuba through a USAID program to finance projects and seek information to discredit and sabotage Cuba’s international health care cooperation in dozens of countries, benefitting millions of people. This plan joins the disgraceful pressure exerted on several governments to hamper Cuban cooperation, and previous attempts with the same purpose such as the special “parole” program meant to rob human resources trained in Cuba.

The core of this immoral slander is the totally unfounded allegation that Cuba is involved in the trafficking of persons and practices slavery, attempting to denigrate the meritorious work done voluntarily, over a long period of our history, by hundreds of thousands of Cuban health professionals and technicians in many countries, especially in the Third World.

This is an attack on bilateral programs and inter-governmental cooperation projects, all legitimately established by the Cuban government and those of dozens of countries, adhering to United Nations guidelines regarding South-South cooperation and meeting health standards sovereignly defined by the governments involved.

This is an attack against acts of solidarity that have been recognized by the international community and praised specifically by the highest authorities in the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization.

These lies reveal the base morality of the U.S government and politicians dedicated to the business of aggression against Cuba. The campaign is funded with millions of dollars and enjoys the complicity of several mass media outlets, in particular, unscrupulous reporters who sacrifice their supposed impartiality and objectivity to serve the political interests of the U.S. government.

For decades and today, in nations with unfavorable economic conditions, this cooperation has been, and is, provided as a gesture of solidarity, with costs covered practically in their totality by Cuba. Likewise, in line with United Nations conceptions on cooperation between developing nations, services are offered in several countries on the basis of complementarity and partial compensation.

This exchange is completely fair and legitimate among developing countries, many of which have natural riches, economies, and industrial development greater than Cuba’s, but lack the human resources our state has been able to create – disinterested, humanist professionals willing to work under the most difficult conditions, on their own free will; and a conception of health care coverage that years of experience have allowed us to construct.

Cuban technicians and professionals who participate in these programs do so absolutely freely and voluntarily. During the fulfillment of their missions, they continue to receive their full salaries and additionally receive a stipend in the destination country, along with other forms of compensation.

In those cases in which Cuba receives compensation for the cooperation provided, these collaborators are meritoriously making a highly valuable, fair, and totally legitimate contribution to the financing, sustainability, and development of our massive, free healthcare system that is accessible to each and every Cuban, as well as cooperation programs that are carried out in many parts of the world.

Access to health care is a human right and the United States is committing a crime when it attempts to deny or obstruct its provision for political reasons or as an act of aggression.

Havana, August 29, 2019