International
Cuban President urges to redouble efforts in economic battle
July 26 |
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez expressed on Wednesday that the duty of the generations responsible for the immediate destiny of the Revolution is to maintain what has been conquered and advance further, and denounced once again the criminal nature of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on the Caribbean nation by the United States (U.S.).
During the central act for the 70th anniversary of the assault on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks, National Rebellion Day, the head of state said that as long as a degree of dignified prosperity for all Cubans is not reached, there will be a Moncada to be assaulted.
Referring to the battle on the economic front, one of the fundamental challenges of the Revolution, he recalled that the Cuban people are waiting for answers on issues that affect the standard of living and the daily life of all, which he said can be resolved without waiting for the U.S. to lift the blockade of more than six decades.
Among them, he mentioned the need to increase the supply of consumer goods to combat inflation. He considered that this is “a difficult Moncada that we have the duty to assault here and throughout the country”. Every day, every hour, every minute, we have a Moncada to storm, he pointed out.
Referring to the transcendence of July 26, 1953, he stressed that “the actions of that day were the beginning of the end of the last dictatorship installed in Cuba with the recognition and the immoral and material support of the U.S.”.
He stressed that for that reason Washington does not forgive the Revolution, in addition to the fact that the Cuban people did not allow it “to break national independence, international solidarity, the defense of the socialist alternative to savage capitalism”, as they thought would happen after the physical disappearance of the historic generation.
He pointed out that since 1959 “we are much more than a few dozen brave young people against the tyranny of (Fulgencio) Batista. Since that date we are a people who defend the Revolution and socialism as the fairest way to achieve the fairest society for all”.
Referring to another singular challenge, the U.S. blockade, he pointed out that imperialism is the natural enemy of the right to self-determination of the peoples and of those governments interested in developing programs of social justice and exercising sovereignty in their foreign policy.
He emphasized that the governments of that country have shown themselves to be more aggressive and intolerant when they realize that there is no force in the world capable of provoking the Cuban people to renounce the Marxist, Marti and Fidelist ideals that inspire the untiring struggle for the greatest possible social justice.
He assured that this explains the severity of the blockade and the current validity of the reinforcement measures established by the Administration of Donald Trump (2017-2021) and maintained by that of Joe Biden, in a more aggressive and harmful dimension.
He denounced five pressure measures imposed by the U.S. that stand out for their perversity and harmfulness to the Cuban economy and population:
The inclusion of Cuba on the list of States that allegedly sponsor terrorism; the application of the provision of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act that allows actions to be taken in U.S. courts against businessmen from other countries who decide to establish ties and investments in Cuba.
The persecution of fuel supplies that Cuba needs to acquire; – the president continued – the persecution of medical services provided by Cuban specialists in dozens of nations; and the existence of a list of Cuban entities with which U.S. citizens are prohibited from having ties.
Díaz-Canel reiterated that the Revolution is not isolated, but that the US isolates itself by maintaining its hostility, as confirmed every year by the generalized rejection of the blockade policy by the international community. He also acknowledged the expressions of solidarity received by Cuba from various nations.
International
Paraguay launches dengue vaccination for children in high-risk areas
Dengue fever, transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, remains a persistent threat in tropical and subtropical countries such as Paraguay, where it claimed the lives of 132 people among nearly 100,000 infections during the 2023–2024 Southern Hemisphere summer, according to official data. However, that figure was lower than the record set in the 2012–2013 season, when 252 deaths were reported among roughly 130,000 infections.
“Today marks a very important step toward protecting our children and bringing peace of mind to families,” Paraguay’s Minister of Health, María Teresa Barán Wasilchuk, said in a speech on Wednesday.
The vaccine will be administered to children between 6 and 8 years old in municipalities with the highest incidence of dengue cases in the past five years. Authorities will use TAK-003 (Qdenga), developed by Takeda—one of Japan’s largest pharmaceutical companies—which was approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2024.
“We celebrate this step, which positions Paraguay as a country with one of the most robust immunization programs,” said Héctor Castro, director of the Acosta Ñu Pediatric Hospital. “We will work tirelessly to ensure this government decision becomes a success in the fight against this scourge.”
Vaccinating children against dengue “is not only a historic and public health milestone, but also a humanitarian one,” Castro added during remarks delivered at the hospital in San Lorenzo, near the capital, Asunción.
International
President Paz dismisses Vidovic Over 2015 corruption sentence
Justice Minister Freddy Vidovic took office on November 9 after taking the oath of peace for a five-year term. However, his tenure was short-lived: he was removed from the position on Thursday after a past criminal conviction came to light.
In 2015, Vidovic was sentenced to three years in prison for bribery in favor of Peruvian businessman Martín Belaúnde, a former adviser to ex-president Ollanta Humala. Belaúnde was captured in Bolivia ten years ago and handed over to Peruvian authorities, who sought him for alleged involvement in a corruption case that also implicated Humala, who later served time for corruption charges.
At the time, Vidovic was part of Belaúnde’s legal defense team. He was accused of assisting the former presidential adviser in a failed attempt to escape while in Bolivia.
Following the revelation of the conviction, President Paz dismissed Vidovic and appointed Jorge Franz García as the new Justice Minister, according to the decree published on Thursday.
On Wednesday night, Government Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo confirmed the three-year sentence against Vidovic, noting that this background meant he “could not hold public office.”
Before his dismissal was made public, Vidovic acknowledged on his Facebook account that he had been convicted, but claimed he had been a victim of “kidnapping and torture” and argued that the ruling was “invalid and tainted.”
International
International organizations push for expanded kidney transplant access in SICA region
A group of international organizations held a high-level meeting in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala, to address transplantation as a key component in the comprehensive management of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in the countries of the Central American Integration System (SICA).
The meeting was organized by Spain’s National Transplant Organization (ONT), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and the Executive Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of Health of Central America and the Dominican Republic (SECOMISCA). It was conducted within the framework of the Triangular Cooperation Program of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and endorsed by the Ibero-American Donation and Transplant Network/Council (RCIDT).
The purpose of the gathering was to promote kidney transplantation as a priority option for renal replacement therapy, given its superior cost-effectiveness and health outcomes compared with dialysis.
According to a joint press release, the participating organizations also sought to encourage political commitment to advance equitable access to kidney transplantation and to identify common priorities for regional cooperation.
During the event, institutions presented the current status of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and access to kidney transplantation in SICA countries, as well as the 2019–2030 Regional Donation and Transplant Strategy (CD 57R11). The meeting also facilitated a regional political dialogue aimed at incorporating transplantation into the comprehensive management of CKD, with the goal of generating recommendations to ensure equitable and progressive access to renal replacement therapies.
Additionally, the organizations explored opportunities to improve CKD registry systems, including transplantation data.
The meeting was convened in response to the growing burden of Chronic Kidney Disease across the World Health Organization (WHO) regions.
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