City of Santiago de Cuba hosts Solidarity Meeting

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba, Jul 25 (ACN) As part of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the assault on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks, more than 200 members of Cuba solidarity movements from 26 countries held a meeting in the city of Santiago de Cuba, chaired by President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.

The Cuban leader denounced before those present the recent arrest of Gail Walker, leader of the Pastors for Peace Caravan, after her peaceful attempt to meet with U.S. Congressman Robert Menendez to discuss his cruel Cuba policies and the constant harassment against Pastors for Peace during 30 years of activism.

Díaz-Canel praised that the meeting was organized in Santiago, known as Hero City and cradle of the Cuban Revolution, and stressed the importance of sharing feelings of peace and understanding with a view to a better world. He also reasserted that Cuba will always defend every just cause in the world and underscored the resistance of the Cuban people despite the shortages caused by the intensification of U.S. hostility and the subversion that portrays the country as an unsafe destination.

The solidarity organizations ratified their support for Cuba's sovereignty, stated their willingness to strengthen relations, and decried the U.S. blockade.

On her end, Gail Walker held to be honored to visit the Hero City to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the historic date, which she described as a paradigm for the world in the struggle against imperialism, and confirmed the activists’ tireless support to the Cuban family and against the inclusion of Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, “because this nation exports love to the world,” she assured.

Milagros Rivera, leader of the Juan Rius Rivera Brigade and the Cuba Solidarity Committee of Puerto Rico, voiced their commitment to maintain the campaign in favor of Cuba and against the blockade and the occupation of the Guantánamo Naval Base, “so that people learn about Cuba from another perspective, as it happened during the struggle for the release of the Cuban Five,” she remarked in reference to Cuban anti-terrorists Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, René González and Fernando González, who served unjust prison sentences in the United States, “which is only fair, as the revolutionary government is always fighting for the release of Puerto Rican political prisoners and for their country’s progressive hopes.”