The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bernúdez, received George Katrougalos, Independent Expert of the Human Rights Council on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, at the Palace of the Revolution on Sept. 2. Katrougalos is in Cuba on an academic visit.

The president expressed his gratitude for his working visit to the island, “during these very complex times we are living through,” and added that he fondly recalled the exchange during the International Conference for the Balance of the World in January 2025.

Díaz-Canel referred to the statements made in the Human Rights Council in favor of Cuba, reaffirmed the Caribbean nation’s commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights, and assured that his country will continue to cooperate with UN mechanisms on this sensitive issue.

He described in detail the difficult situation Cuba is experiencing as a consequence of the blockade imposed by the United States government for more than 60 years. The most perverse aspect of this policy, he asserted, is its prolonged duration.

“It is the longest-lasting blockade in the history of humanity; an economic, financial, commercial, and now energy blockade, but not by just any country, but by the most powerful nation in the world,” he said.

The Head of State assured the independent expert from the Human Rights Council that Cuba’s decision “is not to surrender and to resist, but also to be able to move forward.”

“That means,” he noted, “being capable, with our own effort and our own talent, of overcoming the most adverse conditions of the blockade.”

During the exchange—which included Cuban Political Bureau member and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla—George Katrougalos thanked the Cuban authorities for their support and cooperation in carrying out his academic visit, which he considered very productive.

He addressed the challenges facing multilateralism and the United Nations system in the current context, marked by evident violations of international law; and he referred to several pronouncements in the Human Rights Council regarding the illegality of the United States blockade and the energy embargo.

The independent expert noted that the international community is increasingly aware of the effects of these policies against Cuba and their impact on the population, and he acknowledged the island’s traditional willingness to cooperate with the United Nations.

During his stay in Cuba, George Katrougalos delivered a lecture at an academic event on the current international order, organized by the Union of Jurists of Cuba and the University of Havana and the Faculty of International Relations.

He also held discussions with officials from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minrex), the president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), Fernando González Llort, members of Cuban civil society, and representatives of  the United Nations.

As part of his visit, the expert also toured the Latin American School of Medicine, which has graduated more than 31,000 doctors from some 122 countries; and the Quisicuaba Assisted Living Center, which provides shelter, care, and social reintegration for vulnerable individuals.

This visit, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting “constitutes a further expression of Cuba’s cooperation with the universal and non-discriminatory human rights mechanisms of the United Nations, in accordance with its commitment to respectful dialogue and multilateralism.”

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“Here, one crop is harvested and another is planted right behind it. We never have unplanted beds.” Dany Mena García pauses from his work to point out what is obvious to the naked eye.

For a long time now, the organic garden known as La Erea, located on one of the banks of the Guamá River in the city of Pinar del Río, has resembled a garden that maintains different shades of green 12 months a year.

When seeds are scarce, relatives send them from abroad, and when the electricity shortage began to jeopardize the irrigation system, an international collaboration project donated a new one that runs on solar panels.

Therefore, there are always vegetables and greens being harvested in its 49 beds.

“The acceptance is tremendous. People come here to find everything. As it is an organic garden that is in permanent production, people start arriving early. I don’t know how many have already passed through our point of sale today.”

Like Erea, thousands of similar facilities confirm the validity of this experience promoted by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz 38 years ago.

In Pinar del Río alone, there are more than 300 that have helped to promote a culture of vegetable consumption among the population for several decades.

The path traveled 

They say that at first this was not the case, and that part of the harvest had to be thrown away due to lack of demand.

It is even claimed that in the beginning, there were many detractors who questioned the idea of using resources to build garden beds in the middle of the city when there was so much unproductive land in the countryside.

Life, however, would ultimately prove those who persevered in pursuing a new model of agriculture right.

Thus, chard, spinach, chives, carrots, beets, and about twenty other crops would eventually become part of the diet of many people, along with the small group of vegetables (tomatoes, cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce) that had been available until then.

The Urban, Suburban, and Family Agriculture Program has established itself as the fastest way for Cuban agriculture to produce food after the impact of cyclones and other extreme weather events.

In 2022, for example, Hurricane Ian destroyed more than 8,000 garden beds in the organ gardens and semi-protected crops of Pinar del Río. However, in just over a month, vegetables such as lettuce, chard, spinach, and chives were already being harvested.

In addition, other crops were in an advanced stage of development, such as cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, carrots, and cabbage.

Lérida María Sánchez Díaz, head of the department that oversees this valuable program at the Provincial Delegation of Agriculture in Vueltabajo, explains that it currently covers 1,244 production structures and a total of 1,278 hectares (3,158 acres) distributed among organic farms, technified plots, intensive gardens, semi-protected gardens, and rustic greenhouses.

In these areas, average production in 2025 has been 10.2 kilograms per square meter.

This figure is in line with forecasts made at the beginning of the year and confirms the importance of this experiment, even amid all the limitations imposed by the current situation in Cuba.

Sánchez Díaz states that, by the end of December, some 5,000 backyards will also have joined the program in the province, bringing the total to 65,000, which contribute to the self-sufficiency of families and communities in Pinar del Río.

However, he acknowledges that there are also issues that need to be addressed, such as obtaining organic matter and the availability of labor.

In this regard, the autonomy that productive structures now have to manage themselves, raise wages, and secure part of the necessary resources has been positive.

Miguel Espinosa Correa, administrator of the organic garden Ingeniería #1, located in the Hermanos Cruz neighborhood of the Pinar del Río capital, recalls that the motor pump for the irrigation system burned out and they waited two years for a solution because the urban farm to which they were subordinate had no way of buying another one.

“As soon as we became usufructuaries, we said: with this month’s money, the first thing we have to do is solve the pump problem. So, we went out, bought it from a small business, and solved the problem.”

After 21 years at the helm of this unit, which currently combines 0.5 hectares (1.2 acres) of garden beds and two hectares (4.9 acres) of conventional land, he says that 2025 has been a very fruitful year for the program.

Ingeniería #1 was another of the organic gardens in the territory to benefit from new irrigation systems powered by solar panels, thanks to an international collaboration project to promote the use of renewable energy.

Through other initiatives that also bore fruit during the year, promoted by the United Nations, the European Union, and the Japanese Embassy in our country, they received seeds, new equipment for the canning and condiment processing center, and a tricycle to help market their products in neighboring communities.

With these, they are now taking the first steps towards obtaining dried condiments and dehydrated medicinal plants, in order to continue expanding the range of products available to the population.

“Demand has been growing, and that is an incentive to produce more,” he says. So, 38 years after the creation of the first organic gardens in the province, instead of dealing with skepticism, today Urban Agriculture faces the demand to surpass itself and multiply its results.

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The Head of State described the visit as a milestone for relations between the Communist Party of Cuba and the New Azerbaijan Party, and for the two countries.

He sent warm greetings to the leader of the Azerbaijani political organization and President of the Republic, Ilham Aliyev, “our friend,” he said, to whom he sent an invitation to visit Cuba when his schedule allows.

During the meeting, the Azerbaijani leader conveyed to Díaz-Canel greetings from President Aliyev and an invitation from him to his Cuban counterpart to visit this country in the South Eastern Caucasus again.

Tahir Budagov recalled Díaz-Canel’s visit to Baku in October 2019 to participate in the 18th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, when he held a fruitful exchange with his colleague Aliyev, while expressing the desire for greater rapprochement between the two countries.

The Cuban president referred to the historic nature of bilateral relations and the bonds of brotherhood between our peoples. He emphasized that these ties are based on the legacy of the historic leaders of our countries, founding president Heydar Aliyev and Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.

Díaz-Canel expressed the political will to continue strengthening inter-party relations between both organizations and for these to become an important basis for bilateral ties, boosting economic and trade relations and strengthening links at the highest level.

Díaz-Canel thanked Azerbaijan for its historic position in supporting Cuba’s resolution at the UN against the U.S. economic, commercial, and financial blockade and against the inclusion of the island on the list of states allegedly sponsoring terrorism.

He addressed areas of common interest between the two nations and highlighted the impetus that the Exchange and Collaboration Agreement signed between the Communist Party of Cuba and the New Azerbaijan Party can provide in this regard.

Both parties agreed that this agreement opens a new stage in the relations of friendship and cooperation between the two political organizations, governments, and peoples.

Consolidating relations between parliaments

Prior to the meeting, Esteban Lazo Hernández, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Party, president of the National Assembly of People’s Power and of the Council of State, received Tahir Budagov at the National Capitol.

Where both agreed on the importance of continuing to strengthen relations between the parties, parliaments, governments, and peoples of Cuba and Azerbaijan.

For his part, Tahir Budagov expressed solidarity with our country in the face of the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa, while thanking Cuba for its internationalist contribution with a Medical Brigade from the Henry Reeve Contingent, which collaborated in the fight against COVID-19 in his nation.

He also highlighted Fidel’s legacy as “a symbol of invincibility and strength; a man always ready to sacrifice himself for his people and his country.”

Both parties reaffirmed their mutual interest in expanding ties between the two legislative bodies, which have been strengthened in recent times following visits by the Vice President of the National Assembly of People’s Power. 

Ana María Mari Machado, to Azerbaijan in 2022 to participate in the meeting of the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM); and by Sahiba Gafarova, President of the Parliament of Azerbaijan, to Havana in September 2023. (Granma)

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The main event commemorating the 50th anniversary of national independence, held on Nov. 11 in Luanda’s Republic Square and attended by more than a dozen heads of state and government and other senior leaders from various nations, was attended by a Cuban delegation headed by Esteban Lazo Hernández, member of the Political Bureau of the Party’s Central Committee and president of the National Assembly of People’s Power and the Council of State.

Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of the National Assembly of People’s Power and the Council of State, was warmly applauded by those present at this event when the foreign delegations were introduced, as a genuine sign of the affection of the brotherly Angolan people towards the largest of the Antilles.

Our country’s internationalist epic, especially during the heroic Operation Carlota, was an enduring page of altruism and solidarity, whose contribution was decisive in preserving and consolidating Angola’s independence and achieving that of Namibia, as well as making a significant contribution to the demise of the apartheid regime.

In his speech at the main event, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola, made special mention of Cuba’s internationalist contribution to the most just causes in Africa.

“Brave young Angolan and Cuban fighters shed their blood to rescue the dignity of the peoples of South Africa and Namibia, and freed humanity from the long nightmare that was the apartheid regime,” said the head of state in his speech.

During the main ceremony, the commemorative medal for the 50th anniversary of national independence was awarded posthumously in its highest class, “Honor,” to Agostinho Neto, the first president of Angola.

Likewise, a civic parade was held in the Plaza de la República, representing the different social sectors, provinces, and cultural traditions of the country, followed by a military parade of 17 blocks displaying the weapons and technology, as well as the land, air, and naval resources of the sister African country.

On November 11, Esteban Lazo also spoke with the presidents of  Namibia, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah; the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou-N’Guesso; São Tomé and Príncipe, Carlos Vila Nova; Cape Verde, José Maria Pereira Neves; Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa; and the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Judith Suminwa Tuluka.

He also spoke with several former presidents of African nations present at the event, whom he thanked for their countries’ unwavering stance against the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States government against Cuba.

In addition, during the day, Lazo Hernández held a meeting with Brahim Ghali, president of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and secretary general of the Polisario Front, in which he reaffirmed his solidarity with the Sahrawi people. (Granma)

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And Luong Cuong, president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, was a genuine expression of the historic ties of brotherhood and solidarity between Cuba and Vietnam, based on the legacy of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz and Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh.

Lazo Hernández conveyed fraternal greetings to the Vietnamese Head of State from Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution, and from the First Secretary of the Party Central Committee and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.

While reiterating Cuba’s solidarity with the people, the National Assembly, and other authorities of the brotherly Asian country in the face of the damage caused by Typhoon Bualoi, and expressing his deepest condolences to the families of the victims of this meteorological event.

He also thanked that nation for its unwavering support in the struggle to end the economic blockade and remove Cuba from the list of states allegedly sponsoring terrorism.

For his part, the Vietnamese leader reaffirmed his conviction that Esteban Lazo’s official visit to co-chair the Second Session of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee will contribute to consolidating solidarity, special friendship.

And comprehensive cooperation in areas of mutual interest, in line with the historical ties between Vietnam and Cuba and in the context of the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations. He also conveyed warm greetings to the Cuban authorities.

Esteban Lazo was then received by his counterpart, Tran Thanh Man, at the headquarters of the National Assembly of Vietnam.

Both parties highlighted the importance of the Second Session of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee as a mechanism that reinforces the contribution of the respective national assemblies to the monitoring and promotion of comprehensive cooperation and economic relations between the two countries, which is also the reason for Lazo’s visit to the sister country. (Granma)

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It is time to march together,” said Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Party’s Central Committee and President of the Republic of Cuba.

With this certainty, and as a sign of unity and support for the Bolivarian people and government, the International Committee of Solidarity with Venezuelan Fishermen was formed, at Cuba’s proposal, following the recent attack on the tuna boat Carmen Rosa by U.S. military forces deployed in the Southern Caribbean.

The commission was created at the Ministry of Food Industry in Havana, within the framework of the virtual forum Voices of the Sea, in which 27 countries from around the world participated, “aware that the seas are a vital source of food, culture, and sustenance for humanity, and that their care and responsible management are the common heritage of all peoples.”

In proposing the initiative, Jorge Luis Fajardo Casas, the island’s national secretary of Food Industry and Fisheries, denounced “the repeated illegal and hostile assaults by U.S. marines against fishing vessels of that sovereign nation,”

Which he said is part of a strategy to achieve regime change in Venezuela under the guise of the war on drugs. Cuba’s Minister of Food Industry, Alberto López Díaz, also participated in the meeting.

Also in firm support of preserving the Latin American and Caribbean region as a Zone of Peace and Free of Nuclear Weapons, the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which comprises 120 sovereign nations around the world.

Issued an official statement expressing its determination to defend the principles of sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, non-interference, peaceful settlement of disputes, and refraining from the threat or use of force against the political independence of any State.

The document also rejects aggressive rhetoric, hostile actions, and military threats as instruments of foreign policy against that area, which is committed to diplomacy, peace, and its status as a denuclearized zone. (Granma)

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Upon his arrival at Brasilia’s Joselinho Kubisheck International Airport, Valdes Mesa was received by Elio Cardoso, Director of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry.

The Cuban delegation included the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Josefina Vidal Ferreiro; the Director of Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rafael Daussá Céspedes; the Cuban Ambassador, Adolfo Curbelo Castellanos, and other officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The meeting, which seeks to promote actions to find solutions to the common problems faced by the region, this time not only summons the nations that make up the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), but also the Dominican Republic and Cuba will participate in it.

Under the slogan “Approximate to Unite,” the meeting, as reported, has on its agenda issues such as food security, the promotion of air, maritime and land integration, the transition to renewable energies, and disaster management, all vital issues for the Caribbean.

The meeting will also allow coordinating positions around the Cop30 Climate Summit, which Brazil will organize next November in the Amazonian city of Belém.

Cuba’s participation is considered a recognition of its deep historical and cultural ties with the English-speaking Caribbean, while reaffirming the important role that the island plays in areas of cooperation and solidarity with the members of its geographical space par excellence.

Beyond regional issues, the Brasilia Summit is also expected to examine other pressing issues on the global agenda.

For the attending countries, the meeting carries great expectations, as a way to increase cooperation in vital areas for development, and they already qualify it as a milestone in the progress and strengthening of ties between Brazil and the Caribbean bloc. —Héctor Martínez Marrero, Granma

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The Cuban health system is not a set of scattered institutions, but a coherent community-based network, and its axis, Primary Health Care, transverses all levels of medical care and focuses on individuals and families through integrated networks that reach the entire territory, said José Angel Portal Miranda, Cuba’s Minister of Public Health, in his inaugural lecture at the 5th Cuba Health 2025 International Convention.

At the opening, which was attended by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, the minister referred to the Island’s medical collaboration in the world, and meant that our cooperants have reached the remotest corners, bringing not only medicine, but also comfort, hope and dignity.

“International medical cooperation is perhaps the most concrete expression of Cuba’s commitment to global health,” he said.

Also on the opening day, the National Health System exhibition was inaugurated, a space to present the main indicators and achievements of the sector in recent years.

Ileana Morales Suárez, director of Science and Technological Innovation of Minsap, pointed out that this 5th Cuba Health 2025 Convention has more than 5,000 participants from 88 countries.

In addition, the scientific program includes more than 1,670 activities that will allow for the discussion of topics focused on models of integral health strategies, artificial intelligence in health, transformations in Primary Health Care, universal access and equity of medical services and products, among other topics.

The opening ceremony was attended by members of the Political Bureau of the Party’s Central Committee, Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of the National Assembly of People’s Power and the Council of State;

Manuel Marrero Cruz, prime minister, and Teresa Amarelle Boué, secretary general of the Federation of Cuban Women, as well as other government and Party leaders.

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“We once again ratify Cuba’s unwavering commitment to peace, to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and to the non-conduct of nuclear tests,”

said the First Secretary of the Party Central Committee and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, to Robert Floyd, executive director of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO).

The president received the leader of the international organization on the afternoon of April 1 at the Palace of the Revolution. He thanked the support and relations that the CTBTO has maintained for years with the largest of the Antilles and acknowledged Floyd’s personal performance for the existence of “a robust, armored, effective and efficient verification system” on nuclear weapons.

He valued the intense work program that the executive director of the organization has developed during these days, which is already leaving traces, such as—stressed the head of state—the strengthening of CTBTO relations with a group of Cuban institutions.

Including centers and agencies of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (Citma), the Minrex, the University of Havana, the Higher Institute of International Relations and the Civil Defense.

Díaz-Canel thanked the CTBTO for its support in training experts and personnel in these matters, and for the facilities to access the international data center in order to have reliable information, and on that basis make comparative studies, update and project Cuban programs and statistics.

All these—the Cuban president expressed to the CTBTO executive director—“are ample reasons for you to be welcome in Cuba, together with the rest of your delegation.”

“With this visit,” he added, “our relations become closer.”

Floyd told Díaz-Canel that it was a great honor to be able to meet, “the leader of a country that has been so committed to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and total disarmament.”

He recalled that after the October crisis of 1962, a year later, the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed, a sign—he argued—that “from crises, from difficulties, new opportunities also appear.”

“These are dark night times for achieving disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons; however, our organization continues to be a light, a flame, despite these circumstances,” said the executive director of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, who recalled, by the way, that Cuba had been among the first countries to ratify it.

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force on January 22, 2021, after reaching the required 50 ratifications.

Cuba was the fifth country in the world to ratify it, initialing it on September 20, 2017, the same day it was opened for signature at the United Nations headquarters, and ratifying it on January 30, 2018, another sign of its commitment to general and complete disarmament.

Mrs. Lynette Floyd, wife of the executive director of the CTBTO; Mr. Pedro Penha, assistant to the executive, and Mrs. Alinas Canas, International Relations officer, attended the meeting.

The Cuban side was represented by Eduardo Martínez Díaz, Deputy Prime Minister; Gerardo Peñalver Portal, First Deputy Minister of Minrex; José Fidel Santana Núñez, First Deputy Minister of Citma; and Ulises Fernández Gómez, Director of International Relations of Citma.

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To continue working for the unity of the left-wing forces of Latin America and the Caribbean as what it is, “a strategic value,” was one of the consensuses between the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and Jorge Alberto Kreyness, Secretary General of the Communist Party of Argentina.

The party leaders held a meeting on Monday afternoon (March 17) at the Palace of the Revolution. Díaz-Canel stressed the need to strengthen an increasingly necessary unity; “a unity,” agreed Kreyness, “both at the Latin American level and in each country.”

The leader reaffirmed the commitment and solidarity of Argentine communists with the Cuban Revolution, although, he said, we must work more on this, not only at the political level but also through cooperation as he exemplified, in the food sector, in which we have diverse experiences, such as the use of technologies for food preservation.

“Thank you for dedicating this time to us, knowing the ‘homework’ you have on your shoulders,” said Kreyness when meeting with Díaz-Canel, in the portico of one of the halls of the Palace of the Revolution.

“Havana and Buenos Aires continue to be in the same place, but sometimes the road is longer and sometimes shorter,” he stressed at the beginning of a dialogue in which the affection went beyond.

The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba expressed his joy for the visit of the Argentine colleague, which will also serve, he said, to strengthen inter-party ties and enhance our historic friendship.

Díaz-Canel conveyed to the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Argentina all the solidarity of our people in view of the difficult situation being experienced by the Argentine people. Kreyness reiterated the value for them to maintain brotherly relations with the Cuban Revolution, the Bolivarian Revolution and the Nicaraguan Revolution.

The leader of the Communist Party of Argentina is in Cuba, among other tasks, to participate in the Patria Colloquium, and was accompanied, in the meeting with Díaz-Canel, by Ariel Elger, secretary of the Communist Party in the province of Buenos Aires.

On the Cuban side, Emilio Lozada García, head of the International Relations Department of the Central Committee, and Juan Carlos Frómeta, an official of that Department, participated in the meeting.

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