Cuban President Diaz-Canel Arrives in New York

Cuba’s MINREX government website offered a press release on the historical visit of President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez to the United Nations Summit for Peace in New York City.

“At the stroke of two in the afternoon on September 23, the President of the Councils of State and of Ministers, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, arrived, as one who does to a large family, to the Mission from Cuba to the United Nations, located on the bustling Lexington Avenue.

“When you get here to New York, to participate in this session of the United Nations Assembly, the first thing to say is that a lot of things happen to your mind,” he said.

He spoke then – having in the background the image of a reflective Fidel at the United Nations podium in 1979 – of the memories of battle that have been kept since childhood in Cuba; and how later -more already- “we had (those memories) with the presence of Fidel in the United Nations, and later with Raúl. Therefore, I believe that here too there is a mixture of emotions.”

He declared that “we bring the voice of Cuba, which above all comes to denounce the aberrant policy of the blockade, a policy that has already failed, that will continue to fail. It is the “blockade that has lasted the longest in the history of mankind, which has condemned generations born before and after the Revolution,” he denounced.

“With all our strength, we are going to ratify that denunciation at a time when there is a setback in relations with the United States government; when there is an administration that has returned to the Cold War discourse, which has revitalized the Monroe Doctrine, and that, therefore, is an administration with which it is difficult to advance in a relationship between equals, seeking also a civilized relationship despite ideological differences. We also come to bring the message of Cuba: of peace, solidarity, desires and aspirations to build a better world.”

In his words, marked by emotion, Diaz-Canel did not ignore the will that encourages Cubans “to contribute as a small country, with our modest effort, in the construction of a better world that we are sure is possible”.

The President’s agenda

Monday, September 24:

Díaz-Canel will speak at the morning session of the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit.

Wednesday, September 26:

He will deliver a speech at the Commemoration of the International Day for the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

The President will participate in the General Debate of the 73rd Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

He will meet with Antonio Guterres, secretary general of the UN and will hold a dialogue with Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York.

He is expected to be received at the mythical Riverside Church in Harlem, where they also welcomed Fidel and Mandela.

Other activities:

Diaz Canel will hold bilateral dialogues with presidents and prime ministers from different parts of the world.

He will also participate in solidarity meetings of friends of Cuba and Cuban residents in the United States.”

Translated from Spanish by Cuba Business Report.

http://www.minrex.gob.cu/es/sala-de-prensa