Saturday, September 30, 2017

Venezuela Delivers Help and Solidarity
Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, joined by President Nicolás Maduro and in the name of the Cuban people, received a donation September 22 from the sister Republic of Venezuela, to aid those affected by Hurricane Irma in our country

Yaima Puig Meneses | internet@granma.cu
September 25, 2017 17:09:18

Photo: Estudio Revolución
The history of brotherhood shared by the people of Cuba and Venezuela has deep roots. Standing before a statue of Simón Bolívar in Caracas, in the 19th century, José Martí asked how he could serve Venezuela. In the wake of Hurricane Irma, as on other occasions, the Bolivarian Republic was the first country to offer Cuba solidarity and help.

Upon receiving a donation from this sister country, in the name of the Cuban people, on September 22, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz stated, “This gesture by the revolutionary government of Venezuela, headed by its constitutional President Nicolás Maduro, demonstrates the validity of the words of Marti and the teachings of Bolívar”.

During a brief ceremony held in the Mariel Container Terminal, the President of Cuba's Councils of State and Ministers emphasized that steps taken by revolutionary governments existent on the continent show that the thought of Bolívar and Martí can be implemented, when the people play a leading role.

Sooner or later, he said, "In the end, we have but one option: victory. And we will triumph," while also expressing gratitude for the donation from a country with which Cuba has always maintained close ties of friendship and cooperation.

Maduro, accompanied by First Combatant Cilia Flores, affirmed that the present and the future are constructed with solidarity among peoples.

Especially Cuba, with which Venezuela is united by centuries of brotherhood and admiration, he said, "Since Bolívar, Martí, since Maceo and then with the historic re-encounter of Chávez and Fidel, who ensured that the historic roads again crossed and designed a method for future times that has as its foundation solidarity, joint work."

He likewise referred to the pending tasks of confronting climate change and the force of hurricanes, which demand a common response, in the short, medium, and long terms. He reaffirmed the commitment of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (Alba) to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, and Dominica, devastated by recent storms.

The Cuban people should know, he said, that our solidarity is sincere. It is always available, forever, because your emergency, your pain, is our emergency and our pain, Maduro said.

The Cuban press reported that according to Captain Delvis Salazar Lozano, the Bolivarian Armada's Los Llanos TANGO-64, delivered a cargo that included small motor generators, construction materials, lumber, electrical transformers, trucks, and other equipment and supplies.

Captain Salazar added that it was an honor and source of pride for the ship's crew to deliver the donation. The solidarity and brotherhood shared by our peoples is something entrusted to us by Chávez and Maduro, he stated, something that will go down in history, an example for the Americas.

Also attending the ceremony were Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Vice President of Cuba's Councils of State and Ministers and a Party Political Bureau member; Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz, Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment; as well Rogelio Polanco, Cuban ambassador in Venezuela, and other leaders.

No comments: