Cuba denounces that USAID allocated more than $120 million dollars to destabilize the country
Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodriguez, revealed on Tuesday the amount of millions of dollars that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) allocated to promote a government transition on the island
The U.S. government has backed financially and in large amounts, several initiatives both internal and external to Cuba, all with the objective of dismantling the Cuban Revolution. Photo: Hispan TV
USAID is in the middle of an investigation for possible corruption.
Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodriguez, revealed on Tuesday the millionaire amount that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) allocated to promote a government transition on the island.
Through his account in X, the Cuban Foreign Minister indicated that USAID used more than 120 million dollars to support several projects with the aim of destabilizing the Caribbean island.
The Foreign Minister repudiated the constant pressure and economic exhaustion of the United States towards the Cuban population, but insisted that they will not succeed in annihilating the Revolution.
Over the course of the month, both Rodriguez and Miguel Diaz-Canel, the Cuban president, have denounced in X the USAID support to subversive activities. According to them, the agency allocated 61 million dollars between 2001 and 2006 to 142 projects and illicit actions directed against the island.
Currently, USAID is in the midst of a possible corruption investigation, after the new administration of Donald Trump in the United States decided to freeze funding for the agency.
For decades, the U.S. government has supported financially and in large amounts, various initiatives both internal and external to Cuba, all with the goal of dismantling the Cuban Revolution.
The Carlos J. Finlay Order was awarded to 28 personalities of the Cuban scientific community
Urgent results are needed from the scientific community in all branches of society. PhotoPhoto: Estudios Revolución
Twenty-eight prominent men and women of science were awarded, on Thursday afternoon, with the Carlos J. Finlay Order, in an act headed by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.
The Order was awarded to researchers from the Ministries of Public Health, Science, Technology and Environment, Interior and the BioCubaFarma Group, by means of Presidential Decrees 950 and 952, and at the proposal of the Ministers of Minsap and Citma.
In the Portocarrero Hall of the Palace of the Revolution, the award was presented by the Cuban President, as well as by the members of the Political Bureau, Manuel Marrero Cruz, Prime Minister, and Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, General Secretary of the Workers’ Central Union of Cuba.
The Carlos J. Finlay Order is awarded to Cuban and foreign citizens, in recognition of extraordinary merits and valuable contributions to the development of natural or social sciences, scientific or research activities, which have contributed in an exceptional way to the progress of sciences and for the benefit of humanity, and especially to the preservation and improvement of health, and the welfare of the people.
The ceremony, attended by Party and Government leaders, was a moment of great significance for the Cuban scientific community; it was a tribute to women and men with a high scientific performance and significant contributions in their areas of knowledge.
Dr. Santiago Dueñas Carrera stressed that in the history of Cuba there are enough and important examples of people dedicated to science, and among them Dr. Carlos J. Finlay, so he thanked, on behalf of the laureates, this Order, while it is a responsibility, he said, with the hundreds and hundreds of women and men who do science in Cuba today.
He stressed that the award is a recognition to the collective work and dedication of professionals from different areas of knowledge who work from a scientific and innovative approach, so that now the challenge that is on us, he said, is to achieve greater impact in the scientific work.
It is a challenge, he added, to find solutions to the problems that Cuba faces as a society; and results are urgently needed from the scientific community in all branches.
Dr. Dueñas Carrera also praised the work with young people, because youth, he said, is a relay and a fundamental link to promote development.
For the economy and the well-being of the population, the recovery of the National Electric System is a top priority
The use of renewable energy sources will be multiplied, without neglecting other forms of generation
By 2025, the installation of 1,200 megawatts of capacity in photovoltaic solar farms is expected to be completed. Photo: Ricardo López Hevia
The recovery of the National Electric System is a top priority of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, due to the transversality of this activity in all sectors of the economy.
This was stated by the member of the Political Bureau of the Party and Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, at the annual work meeting of the organism, held yesterday at the Plenary Hall of the Palace of the Revolution.
In the presence of the First Secretary of the Party Central Committee and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, the Prime Minister insisted on the need to boost savings, since, despite the low availability of electricity, demand continues to be very high, with a tendency to increase.
He also stressed the need to advance in the use of renewable energy sources without neglecting other forms of generation.
Marrero Cruz referred to the negotiations to recapitalize and bring the country’s four refineries to their maximum exploitation point, as well as to increase the production of domestic crude oil for export and electricity generation.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE ELECTRICITY GENERATION SYSTEMS IN 2025?
Alfredo López Valdés, General Director of the Electric Union, explained that for this year the following is planned:
Conclude the assembly and commissioning of capacities to generate 1,200 megawatts (MW) in photovoltaic solar parks, with 200 MW of accumulation throughout the country.
Complete the maintenance of units 3 and 4 of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes thermoelectric power plant (CTE) in Cienfuegos; unit 2 of the Ernesto Guevara CTE in Santa Cruz del Norte; and unit 5 of the Antonio Maceo CTE in Santiago de Cuba.
Secure financing and put into effect the contract for the recovery of unit 2 of CTE Lidio Ramón Pérez de Felton, in Holguín, affected by a major fire in 2022.
Ensure the financing and execution of capital maintenance at CTE Antonio Guiteras, in Matanzas.
Recover 850 MW of availability in distributed generation: 520 MW in diesel-based engines, and 330 MW in those running on fuel oil.
Progress in the construction of the Herradura I wind farm in Las Tunas, where 22 of the 33 generators planned have been installed, representing 33 MW.
RESULTS AND WORK PROJECTIONS
Argelio Jesús Abad Vigoa, First Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines, while presenting the work results derived from the President of the Republic’s indications in the balance corresponding to 2023, specified that, out of the ten recommendations, four have been fulfilled and six are in process.
He pointed out that, as regards the installation of small photovoltaic systems, mainly for pumping water to supply water to the population and for irrigation, 804 of the 1,071 that have been imported have been installed.
He detailed that all the refined crude oil has been processed, although the processing levels of the industry have not yet been reached.
For his part, Vicente de la O Levy, head of Minem, summarized the main negative impacts of the sector in the previous year, marked by the fuel deficit, the withdrawal of five floating power plants, the shortage of liquefied petroleum gas, and the deterioration of the facilities for electricity generation.
He affirmed that many variables converge in the above, one of them is our own weakness, but the one that has the greatest impact is the intensified blockade imposed by the U.S. government.
DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL GOVERNMENT
Regarding the implementation and management of Digital Government strategies, executives stated that progress is being made in the creation of platforms and systems for the management of processes in the Top Management Business Organizations, as well as in the reinforcement of cybersecurity in critical entities.
Regarding the use of electronic payment channels for the commercialization of services, it was reported that more than three million customers regularly make their electricity payments through the EnZona and Transfermóvil gateways. In addition, last year, 76.1 % of the service billing was collected in this way.
The collection management for liquefied gas and manufactured gas services is also tending to increase through these channels.
This working meeting was also attended by the Deputy Prime Ministers, Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdés Menéndez and Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, as well as other ministers.
Millions of Cubans have become part of a struggle that has added hearts from all latitudes
March for the freedom of Palestine and against genocide, from the Fragua Martiana to the José Martí Anti-imperialist TribunePhoto: Jose M. Correa
Since October 7, 2023, the beginning of one of the cruelest genocides that humanity remembers and will remember, Israel’s massacre against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, Cuba has made clear its position, not only of condemnation of the crime, or of perennial denunciation of the violation of the rights of innocent civilians, but also of recognition of the Palestinian State.
Deep bonds of friendship unite us with this people, brave and defending their land to the last consequences -like us-. Cuba has loudly expressed its condemnation of the harsh reality that the Palestinians have been facing for decades, erased from their own map, as Israel and the U.S. now want to do, after a long genocide: to remove them forever from their lands.
This feeling of solidarity has mobilized millions of Cubans, who from squares, schools, workplaces, social networks and even with the use of the traditional Palestinian kufiya, have become part of a struggle that has added hearts.
Our side is the side of justice, the side of truth, the side that gives voice to the thousands of children, women, young people, the elderly, and parents, silenced under the roar of bombs made in the U.S., in front of unarmed and defenseless people.
It is no coincidence that Cuba then occupies the Vice-Presidency of the Committee for the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, a gesture that honors us, and that we assume with the commitment that “the unjust should not be indifferent to us”.
At the United Nations, we will continue to be a pillar in calling for a just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the recognition of an independent Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders.
This was made clear yesterday by the ambassador, permanent representative of Cuba to the United Nations, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, who also stated that we will continue to denounce the crimes committed in the West Bank and the power that obstructs aid to those who every day find it an ordeal to look for water, food or the most basic services.
Cuba was, is and will always be, together with the Palestinian people.
