Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, president of the Federative Republic of Brazil, arrived Friday in Cuba to represent his country at the Summit of Heads of State of the Group of 77 and China, which began in Havana.

Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution, has held several meetings with heads of state and leaders attending the Summit of the Group of 77 (G77) and China.

World leaders reaffirmed this Friday the importance of the Group of 77 (G77) and China as a coordination mechanism to promote economic and collective interests, during the first day of the Summit of this organization, which is being held at the Havana Convention Center.

Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and president pro tempore of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), called today in Havana for a stronger commitment by international mechanisms to the cause of the countries of the global South, victims of exploitation and colonialism to this day.

The voice of the Group of 77 and China will always be heard at the United Nations (UN), and I count on this group, which has long been a defender of multilateralism, to stand up, use its power and fight, said António Guterres, UN Secretary General, today in Havana.

The Group of 77 (G-77) and China have the responsibility to assert their majority and change the rules of the game of the unjust international economic system, said Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, at the opening of the Summit of that bloc that will be held until tomorrow.

The unity is a necessity of the people who work to build bridges of cooperation for the sake of development, said Nicolas Maduro Moros, president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, after his arrival in Cuba to participate at the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Group of 77 (G77) and China.

Army General Raul Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution, and Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, attended the opening of the Summit of the Group of 77 (G77) and China, which will be held in Havana until tomorrow.

Azali Assoumani, President of the Union of the Comoros and Chairperson of the African Union, arrived in Havana to attend the G77+China Summit, to be held on September 15 and 16 in this city.

Salvador Valdés Mesa, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba and vice president of the Republic, is holding official talks today with Kashim Shettima, his Nigerian counterpart, who is in Cuba to attend the G77+China Summit.

The International Fair Exposur 2023 opens its doors today until Sunday 17 at the exhibition grounds of the Pasacaballos Hotel in the province of Cienfuegos.

Mahmud Abbas, president of Palestine, arrived in Cuba to attend the G77+China Summit, to be held on September 15 and 16 under the theme “Current development challenges: the role of science, technology and innovation”.

Esteban Lazo Hernández, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and president of the National Assembly of People's Power and the Council of State, met with Thongloun Sisoulith, secretary-general of the Lao People's Revolutionary People's Party and President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, who traveled to Havana to attend the G-77+China Summit to be held on September 15 and 16.

Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz and Thongloun Sisoulith, Secretary-General of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and President of the Democratic Republic of Laos, ratified the willingness of both nations to strengthen and expand cooperation in fields of common interest, especially agriculture, health, biotechnology and sports.

During the 54th session of the Human Rights Council, Juan Antonio Quintanilla, Cuba's permanent representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva, denounced the damages caused by the U.S. blockade and described it as the most severe and long-lived unilateral coercive measure ever applied against a country.