CELAC, President Miguel M. Díaz-Canel Bermúdez

CUBA at CELAC, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on April 9, 2025,

Let us not delay any longer the integration dreamed and fought for, from Bolivar to this day

Speech by Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, at the 9th Summit of Heads of State and Government of CELAC, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on April 9, 2025, “Year 67 of the Revolution”

Author:  | internet@granma.cu

april 10, 2025 07:04:29

Cuba ratifies its willingness to maintain the cooperation agreed with each country that has required it, through legal agreements, under the protection of international norms and practice, said Díaz-Canel. Photo: Estudios Revolución

(Shorthand Versions – Presidency of the Republic)
Dear Xiomara Castro Sarmiento, President of the sister Republic of Honduras;
Dear Heads of State and Government of Latin America and the Caribbean;
Heads of delegations and guests:
I would like to thank the brotherly Honduran people and, in particular, President Xiomara Castro, for your generous hospitality and congratulate you for the work carried out at the head of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, an organization constantly threatened by divisive winds, which we have been able to overcome with united efforts such as the one that brings us here today.
I believe that never before has it been so visible and urgent for the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean the need to “walk in a tight frame, like silver in the roots of the Andes”, a warning issued by José Martí, who lived in the monster, knew its entrails and understood, like Bolívar, that only unity could save us.
The actions taken by the current U.S. government defy multilateralism and International Law, by disregarding basic principles such as peaceful coexistence and sovereign equality among States.
As Cuba has been warning with concern in successive meetings, the current U.S. administration is shaping an aggressive agenda, marked by unilateralism on issues of migration, drug trafficking, international trade and climate change, among others; to which is now added the attempt to control our relations with extra-regional partners.
The Government of the United States threatens and seeks to legitimize the imposition of unilateral coercive measures, without respect for the order of other countries.  It seeks to make blackmail, harassment and political manipulation standard practice against our nations.

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Cuban socialism

Children and youth, at the roots of the Homeland

Children and youth, at the roots of the Homeland

Cuba celebrates the life of its pioneer and youth organizations

Author:  | internet@granma.cu

april 4, 2025 08:04:00

64 years ago, on this date, but in 1961, the Organization of Pioneers of Cuba was born. Photo: Ismael Batista

Cuban children and young people open their arms to life in April. On the fourth day of the fourth month of the year, like today, children’s innocence and youthful enthusiasm were founded forever with the immense responsibility of contributing to the national future and that of humanity.
Sixty-four calendars ago, on this date, but in 1961, the Organization of Pioneers of Cuba was born, renamed in 1977 to honor that great preacher of practical instruction and the sowing of civic values: José Martí.
In the classrooms they embrace the Homeland and, while their parents adjust the scarves, they are possessed by a deep happiness, beyond the natural joy of the first ages before a gift.
Teachers dedicated to the difficult but essential task of forging good people motivate them to participate in society, from that small great country called school. They also teach how to converse with heroes.
The transformation of barracks into schools represented an ineffable change: in the places where the future ended, they began to fertilize it. On February 24, 1960, when handing over a fortress to the Ministry of Education, Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz said about the children: “They must be cared for (…) as the pillars on which a truly beautiful work is founded”.
Another bastion of the Revolution resides in the Young Communist League, born a year later, but also on April 4, 1962. At the closing of the First Congress of the Association of Young Rebels -linked to the figure of Che Guevara-, Fidel proposed the current name, summarized in three letters with telluric force: UJC.
It came to welcome in its bosom young people determined to march at the forefront of the great challenges and victories of the country, from the internationalist missions to the confrontation of terrorism, and to every impossible turned into reality.
In times of enormous dangers, surrounded by threats to the very existence of this dream, we can make any mistake but give in to the “great sin of the old youth” mentioned by the Spanish poet Antonio Machado.
With the rebelliousness and loyalty of those who showed us the way, our faith in the future will be able to overcome circumstantial difficulties.
The struggle seems endless, but there are plenty of reasons to sustain it if we find in each other the true source of eternal youth.

Cuban Russian Friendship

“Russia will always be on Cuba’s side”

“Russia will always be on Cuba’s side”
The Vice President of the Slavic giant’s government emphasized the close friendship between the two nations

Author: Luis Alberto Portuondo | internet@granma.cu

april 4, 2025 08:04:29

The distinguished visitor paid tribute to the Commander-in-Chief, at the Santa Ifigenia cemetery. Photo: Luis Alberto Portuondo
Santiago de Cuba.- “It is a great honor for me to be here and pay tribute to the Cuban heroes who gave their lives for their homeland,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko, vice president of the Government of the Russian Federation, after paying tribute before the monolith that treasures the ashes of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, the main architect of the Cuban-Russian relations. There he laid a wreath, as a culmination of the tribute he paid in the Santa Ifigenia patrimonial cemetery to José Martí, National Hero; and to Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and Mariana Grajales, Father and Mother of the Homeland, respectively.
In statements to the press, the Vice-President of the Government of the Slavic giant highlighted the close friendship between both nations, while ratifying that “Russia will always be on Cuba’s side and will assist it in the defense of its sovereignty”. In his tour of the National Monument, he was accompanied by the member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and its first secretary in the province, Beatriz Johnson Urrutia; by the governor of Santiago de Cuba, Manuel Falcón Hernández; and by the Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga.
During his stay in Cuba, Chernyshenko will co-chair the 22nd Meeting of the Russian-Cuban Intergovernmental Commission for Economic-Commercial and Scientific-Technical Collaboration. It is also noteworthy that the visit of the Russian delegation takes place in the year in which the 65th anniversary of the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between the then Soviet Union and our country is being celebrated.

 

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Cuban Culture

Cultural resistance, an identity shell

Cultural resistance, an identity shell

Without a critical and decolonizing sense, there will be no emancipating culture

Author:  | nacionales@granma.cu

april 1, 2025 15:04:37

Photo: Dunia Álvarez

Having established the consensus that the first thing to save is culture, the question arises: how to do it? Based on that question and the commitment of a sector that -as stated by the member of the Political Bureau and Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz- has been “a pillar of the cultural and political resistance of the Revolution,” the balance of the work carried out by the Ministry of Culture in the year 2024 was articulated.
Presided over by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, the analysis insisted on priorities such as stimulating artistic and literary creation with a decolonizing sense; ensuring the protection of heritage and the preservation of historical memory; as well as encouraging the participation of all segments of the population in cultural activities.
Also highlighted were the use of science, technology and innovation; the comprehensive training of artistic education students; the efficiency of economic, financial and administrative management; and the development of capacities to manage income.
The Minister of Culture, Alpidio Alonso Grau, addressed the need for the programming of artistic talent to respond to the country’s cultural policy, both at the national level and in each territory, and in state and private centers; and to rigorously ensure its quality.
He also said that, although progress has been made in greater spaces for dialogue with creators, it is necessary to deepen that exchange; and to unite them in a permanent vindication of Cuba in order to, besides facing cultural colonization, fight against fascism.

Taking cultural activities to the neighborhoods is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Culture. Photo: Juvenal Balán

In the balance, it was also assured that the institutional framework cannot turn its back to the artistic expressions that have emerged in conjunction with new technologies, but rather attend to them; and that the battle cannot be against a specific phenomenon, but rather against indecency, discrimination and vulgarity.
The community space as the epicenter of culture was strongly defended: bringing professional talent to the neighborhoods, and ensuring that all major events include activities in the communities, with the presence of teachers and students of artistic education, were among the keys shared.
The president of Casa de las Americas, Abel Prieto, explained that we are engaged in a battle of ideas and feelings and, therefore, it is unavoidable to create a critical climate against any concession to cultural colonialism. Fortunately, we have José Martí and Fidel, whose legacies will prevent us from falling into extreme nationalism, because Homeland is also humanity, he said.
At the meeting, which was also attended by the vice chief of the Ideological Department of the Central Committee of the Party, Marydé Fernández López, and Vice Prime Minister Inés María Chapman Waugh, Marrero Cruz recognized the efforts of writers, artists and workers in the sector to preserve the identity and strengthen social cohesion, as well as to put culture on high, keeping it alive and developing; and emphasized aspects such as legal and financial protection to artists, vigilance in the care of heritage, and support for the teaching of history.