"It has been an interesting and fruitful tour for us and for the country" Diaz-Canel affirms

HAVANA, Cuba, Jun 26 (ACN) Miguel Diaz-Canel, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) and President of the Republic, said that his participation in the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact was interesting, as he gave a vision of where the world is moving and also of the obstacles that exist around the issues of global finance.

As reported today by the Presidency, in an exchange with members of the Cuban diplomatic missions to the French Republic and UNESCO in Paris last Friday, the head of state summarized the work carried out during the week by the official Cuban delegation, which toured European countries on the occasion of the Summit.

The tour included the Vatican, where Diaz-Canel held a private exchange with Pope Francis; in Italy he was received by President Sergio Mattarella and held talks at the FAO headquarters in Rome with the organization's secretary general, QU Dongyu; and in Serbia he paid an official visit, with meetings with President Aleksandar Vucic and the leader of the legislature, Vladimir Orlic.

"This has really been an interesting and fruitful tour for us, for the country," the Cuban president summed up before the Cuban diplomats accredited to Paris, in the last activity of the Caribbean representation in the French city, before returning to Cuba.
WITH THE POPE AND IN ITALY, RESPECT FOR CUBA

The Cuban President commented that a visit to the Pope was pending, who, in the exchange held last Tuesday, was very kind and said: "you know how I feel about the Cuban people".

Diaz-Canel explained that the Cuban side spoke with the Supreme Pontiff about the situation of the country and the need to give an updated view on it, from the tightening of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States, as well as the inclusion of the island in the spurious list of alleged countries sponsoring terrorism.

Visiting the Holy See was the objective that first took us to Italy, the president pointed out, but then we held a bilateral meeting with the President of that nation, Sergio Mattarella.

"It was a good meeting, there was a lot of agreement on a number of issues, especially on collaboration, on the level of relations between our countries," he said.

Regarding the visit to FAO headquarters, Diaz-Canel highlighted Cuba's good relations with that organization, which is supporting the island with funding in a group of projects within the Food Sovereignty and Nutritional Education Program.

Another activity in Rome was the exchange with a representation of Italian businessmen who have investments in Cuba, which was described by the Head of State as an important meeting.

The Italian investors in Cuba, he pointed out, maintain a very positive approach: despite the difficulties, such as the debts contracted with them, their approach is to continue moving forward, to continue proposing businesses.

He commented on a very special feature of the Italian entrepreneurship that maintains relations with Cuba, and that is that the daughters and sons of those who started businesses on the island decades ago, the generation that follows them, has kept those businesses and wants to develop them.

SERBIA, A VERY POSITIVE VISIT

In particular about the official visit to Serbia, Diaz-Canel commented on the stays in Havana of Vucic, in 2017, and of his predecessor, Tomislav Nikolic, in 2015.

He stressed that it is a country with which it is possible to do things that had not been previously foreseen, such as the purchase of wheat, corn and other foods, in addition to generating economic-commercial relations in the areas of tourism, biotechnology, health, agriculture and scientific-technical exchange.

Diaz-Canel summarized that it was a very positive visit, with exchanges with the main personalities of Serbia, the President and also the President of the National Assembly.

SUMMIT IN FRANCE: A "COMPLICATED" EVENT

On the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact, held at the call of President Emmanuel Macron, and where Cuba attended in the exercise of the Pro Tempore Presidency of the G77 Group plus China, Diaz-Canel noted that this had been a complicated event.

Speaking on behalf of the G77 Group plus China allowed a different position to be expressed at this meeting, reflected the dignitary, who congratulated Cuban diplomats for the hard work done at this Summit.

Cuba's speech on behalf of the G77 plus China, he said, was a turning point in relation to those that had been made up to that time on Thursday, although on Friday Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa made two good speeches, in addition to the intervention of the President of Kenya, William Ruto.

Those speeches were more leftist, analyzed Diaz-Canel, for whom those made by the world banking and financial elite end in promises.

"One knows that of course, funds must be raised, that these summits must be held, but... Who is going to put up the money, the rich?" he questioned, and added that, for example, the Summits on Climate Change, in more than 10 years, have not succeeded in getting the promised financing (more than 100 billion dollars a year).

He reflected that for this reason it is necessary to highlight the vision shared by the Third World: that the international economic order is unjust, anachronistic, exclusionary, anti-democratic, and all this is what must be changed.

In this regard, Diaz-Canel denounced that it is clear that this cannot be done, because as long as there is capitalism there will be no possibility for Third World countries to solve this.

At another point, the Cuban head of state stressed that there is a group of issues that are dealt with from the First World, wanting to offer as recipes to the Third World; and they are necessary things, but what has to matter is how to apply them.

He mentioned the digital transition, the energy transition, green hydrogen..., and questioned how Third World countries could do that, if to acquire one megawatt of photovoltaic panels they have to pay a million dollars.

Resuming the agenda of the Cuban delegation to four European states in the week that concludes, Diaz-Canel spoke warmly about his visit to UNESCO headquarters, where he was received by its director general, Audrey Azolay.

"This is a United Nations Organization with which we also have a magnificent relationship, and which recognizes Cuba's role," he considered.

Diaz-Canel also met with Antonio Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations Organization, a meeting he described as pleasant.

Very important was also the reunion with the President of Brazil, Luis Ignacio Lula Da Silva, about whom he had written on Twitter that they exchanged on the possibilities of increasing cooperation in areas of common interest.

Finally, the President commented to the Cuban diplomats on the meetings held with representatives of the French business sector present in Cuba, with former President Francois Hollande and with other politicians.

This concludes a significant tour of the Cuban delegation to several European countries in which the Caribbean island has deepened bilateral ties and strengthened others; a tour where, once again, it has been possible to see how much admiration and support the island receives in the world, concludes the report, published on the website of the Presidency.