Medicines, dairy industry, assembly of tractors… and other niches of possible cooperation
The Cuban-Belarusian intergovernmental commission concluded with the signing of several agreements
Photo:Luis Jiménez Echevarría
The signing of several interbank, business and institutional agreements resulted from the 12th session of the Cuban-Belarusian Intergovernmental Commission for economic-commercial collaboration, held yesterday.
The meeting highlighted “the projects for the joint production of medicines, the development of the Cuban Dairy Complex, with Belarusian raw material and technology; and the second phase of tractor assembly, as initiatives with the highest level of progress for the period 2025-2026,” said the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment (Mincex), Carlos Luis Jorge Méndez.
He stressed that the formal dialogue has been surpassed, giving priority to the exchange between the business delegations of both sides to agree on future contracts and projects that make effective the participation of Belarusian companies in the National Plan for Economic and Social Development of Cuba until 2030, especially in sectors of mutual interest, such as agri-food, industrial, transportation, health, biopharmaceuticals, among others, in which real potential for economic complementation is observed”.
The signatures, also presided over by the Belarusian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Evgeni Shestakov, contributed to establishing work priorities to be developed in the short, medium and long term, which confirms the important role of the business sector of both countries in the implementation of the agreements reached.
The Belarusian Vice-Chancellor, at the closing of the event, emphasized that the work by sector will allow “to achieve all those plans and objectives that have been set in search of new collaboration niches”.
Martí thought, lived and left for us the score of that music called Homeland
Photo:Internet
Artwork of Kamill Bullaudy
In everything José Martí wrote he left his soul; but his life, since he opened his eyes, and until he fell fighting for freedom in the Cuban fields, 130 years ago, was summarized in that kind of lyrical sentence he entitled Yugo y Estrella (Yoke and Star).
He was born “without sun”, and still a child, he knew what to choose between those two insignias, and how sadly comfortable it is to live, if “you serve the lords”; and also the growth, far from any involution, that entails sticking to the star. He was a child when the ignominy of slavery wrung his throat and at the foot of the dead he swore / to wash away the crime with his life; a child when he charted the course of his heroic existence.
Slave of his age and his doctrines, the adolescent paid a very high price for the love of his homeland. At the age of 15, he had created the newspaper La Patria Libre, and in the only issue that would circulate, would burn the verses of Abdala, an epic poem in which its protagonist, in circumstances similar to those of its author, knew that to throw off the yoke that oppressed his country was the only possible destiny.
That was the age of prison, which deprived him of his mother’s arms, and threw him into perpetual pain, “because the pain of prison is the harshest, the most devastating of pains, the one that kills the intelligence, and dries the soul, and leaves traces in it that will never be erased”.
This May 9, the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory over fascism during the Great Patriotic War took place in the Red Square of the Kremlin, as in all Russia.
Photo: Alejandro Azcuy
MOSCOW, Russian Federation – As has been the tradition since the first parade was held on June 24, 1945, mid-morning, around ten o’clock, marked the beginning of the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Victory Day on the Red Square of the Kremlin.
Long before, friends from different latitudes had begun to arrive at the venue of the ceremony to join the Russian Federation in these hours of joy and firmness. The dignitaries numbered some thirty; and on behalf of Cuba, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, arrived at the venue at the stroke of nine o’clock in the morning.
From the presidency, a smiling Vladimir Putin could be seen. And it is logical that it was so, because this May 9th was a day of victory; because it was the Soviets, although many pretend to deny it and tell other legends, who stopped the murderous machinery of Nazism -which seemed unstoppable- at a very high cost.
Next to the President of the Russian Federation was his counterpart Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China. The image was more than eloquent: friends must be united in this world marked by uncertainty; and especially those who lead strong nations and must carry on their shoulders the responsibility to counterbalance, to change the current unjust order imposed on the world by an increasingly aggressive empire.
17,500 soldiers marched in the celebration ceremony that has been held every year since 1995. The words of Vladimir Putin, who began his speech by greeting everyone: the citizens of Russia, the “dear veterans”, the guests, the comrade soldiers and sailors, the sergeants and non-commissioned officers, the midshipmen and non-commissioned officers, the “comrade officers, generals and admirals”.
To all, the President congratulated them on the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. And then he affirmed: “Today, we are all united by feelings of joy and sadness, pride and gratitude, and admiration for the generation that crushed Nazism and, at the cost of millions of lives, conquered freedom and peace for all mankind”.
The President stressed that they faithfully preserve the memory of the historical and triumphal events: “As heirs of the victors – he emphasized – we celebrate the feast of May 9th as our own, as the most important feast for the country, for the whole nation, for each family, for each one of us”.
“Our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents saved the Homeland. And they bequeathed us to defend our Homeland, to be united, to firmly defend our national interests, our thousand-year history, our culture, our traditional values; everything that is dear to us, everything that is sacred to us.”
Vladimir Putin stressed: “We remember the lessons of the Second World War and we will never agree with the distortion of its events, with attempts to justify the executioners and slander the real victors”.
“Our duty is to defend the honor of the soldiers and commanders of the Red Army, the great feat of representatives of different nationalities, who will forever remain in world history as Russian soldiers.”
In a very clear message to the world, the President asserted that Russia has been and will be an indestructible barrier against Nazism, Russophobia and anti-Semitism, and will fight against the atrocities committed by the advocates of these aggressive and destructive ideas.
THE SACRIFICE OF A GREAT NATION
The President of the Russian Federation reminded all present that the Soviet Union bore the brunt of the most brutal and merciless attacks of the enemy. And he emphasized that “millions of people who knew only peaceful work took up arms and resisted to death on all heights, bridgeheads and borders, determined the outcome of the entire Second World War with unconditional victories in the largest battles near Moscow and Stalingrad, on the Kursk salient and the Dnieper.”
Putin emphasized the courage of the defenders of Belarus, who were the first to confront the enemy; the steadfastness of the participants in the defense of the Brest Fortress and Mogilev, Odessa and Sevastopol, Murmansk, Tula, Smolensk; the heroism of the inhabitants of besieged Leningrad, the bravery of all those who fought at the front, in partisan detachments and in the underground, the courage of those who evacuated the factories of the country under enemy fire, who worked in the rear without sparing efforts, to the limit of their strength.
He also appreciated that the plans of the Nazis to take over the Soviet Union were shattered by the truly iron unity of the country. He said that the heroism of the people was massive, and that all the republics bore the common heavy burden of the war.
“The contribution of the people of Central Asia and Transcaucasia was enormous,” the statesman said. He added: “From here, trains with everything needed at the front continued to move without interruption. Hospitals were located here, and hundreds of thousands of evacuees found their second home. They shared with them shelter, bread and warmth.” “We honor every veteran of the Great Patriotic War, we bow our heads to the memory of all those who gave their lives for the Victory.” The President of the Russian Federation spoke for “the memory of sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, mothers, grandparents, great-grandparents, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, relatives, friends.” And he stressed: “We bow our heads to our comrades-in-arms”, those who died a heroic death in a just battle for Russia. A minute of silence was declared. And that was the moment to make a special tribute as the seconds of the Kremlin carillon, the most important clock of the country, that legendary symbol of the Eurasian giant, about which there is a legend that it has never stopped, were ticking.
MORE EXPRESSIONS OF TRIBUTE
“Dear friends, almost 80 percent of the planet’s population was dragged into the fiery orbit of the Second World War,” the president said in his speech. And he stressed, “The complete defeat of Nazi Germany, militaristic Japan and their satellites in different regions of the world was achieved through the joint efforts of the countries of the United Nations.” “We will always remember that the opening of a second front in Europe, after the decisive battles on the territory of the Soviet Union, brought the Victory closer. We highly value the contribution to our common struggle of the soldiers of the Allied armies, the participants of the Resistance and the brave people of China. All those who fought for a future of peace.” “Dear friends!” ”We will continue to admire the veterans, their sincere love for their homeland, their determination to defend their home, the values of humanism and justice. Let us give these traditions, this great heritage the most important thing in our hearts, and pass it on to future generations.” “We will always rely on our unity in military and peaceful affairs, in achieving strategic goals, in solving problems on behalf of Russia, its greatness and prosperity.”
THE SYMBOLS AND GESTURES OF A CELEBRATION
An orange ribbon with three black stripes was worn on the lapel of many participants in the Parade ceremony. It was an allegory of the Order of St. George – a Russian honorary distinction, one of the oldest that distinguishes exclusively military merits, whose symbolism was taken up again after the disappearance of the USSR, and that in the context of this Friday’s celebration connoted the spirit of a victory that all good men and women welcome as their own.
Putin wore one of those orange ribbons on his lapel. At the conclusion of his speech, a martial and colorful parade began. The first forces were the fighters of the Special Military Operation, which included 24 Heroes of Russia. Then it was the turn of the military academies, followed by the various groups of land, naval and air forces. The armored combat technology was in charge of the closing ceremony. And then the heads of state present accompanied Putin to the Alexander Garden to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
It is known that there is buried there an anonymous fighter, and that is why it is the symbol of all those who gave their lives without leaving names, without leaving faces, stoically, in pursuit of their fellow men.
This Friday there was an unforgettable Parade. And beyond the colors and martiality, the planet received the message that a giant people, the Soviet people, was able to stop the Nazi machinery of death. The parade made us think of gratitude, and of the necessary historical memory without which it would not be possible to know which side the main heroes are on.
Dear compatriots:
May 1st, International Workers’ Day is coming in tribute to those who produce and sustain life.
More than 30 years ago, after the fall of socialism in Europe, the massive celebrations of this day were limited to a few countries, Cuba among them.
With legitimate pride, today we can say that in the midst of the hardest shortages we never ceased to raise the banners of socialism.
During the following years, delegations from all over the world arrived and still arrive to celebrate the day in this small and exceptional nation where the workers rule.
They want to witness and share in the strength of our difficult, yet joyful resistance.
They do not want to miss the impressive example of this people, capable of celebrating the rights won, even under the worst economic conditions and at the same time criticizing and demanding that even with a blockade we are capable of defeating our own inadequacies and mistakes.
That is what the working class was empowered to do since the triumph of 1959, and that power was strengthened when Cuba declared itself the first socialist state in the Western hemisphere.
These days are no better than those, when utopia was an invisible horizon under the weight of the defeat of socialism in other latitudes.
Just as then we paraded celebrating the sustained power of workers and peasants, creators and artists, today we are here ready to parade to continue celebrating.
The hurricane winds of imperial power have blown and are blowing today over our economy, with more force than ever and determined to erase from the universal political map this example of daring creative resistance.
Let us demonstrate once again that we are not alive and standing because the greatest enemy of the Cuban people wanted us to be. We are alive, standing, resisting and creating by the will of Cuban men and women.
And this time with a special inspiration. May 1st marks the 25th anniversary of Fidel’s historic speech in the Revolution Square full of people, when he called on us to act with “a sense of the historical moment”, to “change everything that must be changed”, and to “emancipate ourselves by ourselves and with our own efforts”.
As Fidel said at the time: “Revolution is unity, independence, fighting for our dreams of justice for Cuba and for the world”.
Let us parade on May 1st showing the strength of unity. For our independence and our dreams of justice.
Against the blockade and fascism. Against the genocide in Gaza and against the silent genocides provoked by the sea of injustice that threatens our species.
Let us parade for the better world that Cuba wants and deserves.
See you on May 1st. in the Revolution Square!
