Cuba and Italy, the conviction that we can do more together

ROME, Italy, Jun 20(ACN) "The bells that toll today for those who die of hunger every day, will toll tomorrow for the whole of humanity if it did not want, did not know how or could not be wise enough to save itself".

With those prophetic words Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz closed his speech at the World Food Summit, held at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in this city, on November 16, 1996.

Fidel's speech was brief - very brief, one might say, compared to his usual speeches - but it was widely reported by the media at the time and is still very relevant today. It was the first time that the Commander-in-Chief visited the Italian Republic, where he carried out a broad agenda that included meetings with the main government and state authorities of that country.

This visit, according to specialists in international relations, marked a milestone in the bilateral relations between both nations, which date back to February 4, 1903.

These ties are considered historic and stable, and in recent years they have been expanding in different fields of cooperation. The high-level visits made to Cuba, in October 2015, by the then President of the Council of Ministers, Matteo Renzi, and to Italy, in May of the same year, by Army General Raul Castro Ruz, in his capacity as President of the Councils of State and Ministers, gave new impetus to relations.

In statements made to the press by both of them -after the meeting they held in the context of the Army General's stay in the city of Rome-, Renzi considered this as "a day of joy for our governments, which have been working for months and will continue working even more. It is a great day for all Italians who love Cuba and for all Cubans who love Italy. We were able to touch with our hands that many things are changing, that history took its course and we want to be protagonists of the new history."

"We can do many things together," he asserted.

For his part, Raul described as important the meeting in which, he said, "we talked about everything, about past times, about the present and about the relations that Cubans and Italians have historically maintained. Relations are good, commercial exchange is progressing and will undoubtedly continue to develop in the near future".

The cultural collaboration between both nations is very broad and diverse.

The cultural collaboration between the two nations is very broad and diverse; as well as particularly strong is the economic and commercial relationship with Italy, which is among the top ten trading partners of Cuba, being considered the largest of the Antilles as a priority country for Italian cooperation, especially in the areas of food security and the recovery of architectural heritage.

The steps that have been taken in recent years to develop those ties ratify the will of both countries to continue fostering them in areas of mutual interest, among which the economic-commercial, cultural and health spheres stand out.

An example of the support Italy has shown towards Cuba is the firm position it has maintained since 1995 in favor of the Resolution against the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States Government, presented by the Caribbean island every year at the United Nations General Assembly.

CONFRONTING COVID-19: A NEW TURNING POINT IN COOPERATION

2020 was a tremendous year for the world due to the pandemic caused by the COVID-19. The Italian Republic experienced very difficult times as a result of the virus, and the Henry Reeve collaborators were there, providing support in the regions of Lombardy and Piedmont.

"Those were days of hard work, of deep exchange of experiences and of rigorous compliance with sanitary protocols that gave us more security in our work", said Dr. Carlos Ricardo Perez, head of the medical brigade that was in Lombardy, upon his return to Cuba.

And although at the beginning the Italian professionals looked askance at our professionals, their altruistic, humane and very committed performance with the life of this friendly people, marked a positive turning point in terms of medical cooperation between the two nations.

It is the will of both Ministries of Health to continue deepening these bilateral ties. And in support of this interest, in the context of the recently concluded 76th World Health Assembly, the Ministers of Health of the Italian Republic and Cuba, Orazio Schillaci and Jose Angel Portal Miranda, respectively, signed a MOU on collaboration in Health and Medical Sciences, which strengthens relations between the two institutions.

According to ideas shared by the Cuban Minister of Public Health on his Facebook, during the meeting his Italian counterpart "acknowledged Cuba's progress in health and scientific and biopharmaceutical research, while considering as key areas for the promotion of bilateral cooperation, the response to health emergencies; the fight against communicable and non-communicable diseases; as well as pharmaceutical and biotechnological research".

This June 19, President Diaz-Canel arrived in Italy, in a visit that will last until June 20, and that reaffirms, once again, the unquestionable will of both nations to move forward in strengthening their ties to do more for the benefit of mutual cooperation.