Mejía affirms that the US blockade is solely responsible for the difficult economic situation
through which Cuba crosses. Photo taken from Prensa Latina
By Pedro Martinez-Pírez
At midnight on Friday, July 29, when it was 30 years since Fidel Castro (1926-2016) visited in Láncara, a municipality in the Galician province of Lugo, the shack where his father was born, now converted into a museum, I received a phone call from a dear Dominican friend, happy to have been received by the president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel.
At that time I watched the end of the volleyball game between the teams from the Czech Republic and Cuba, won by the followers of the famous Morenas del Caribe.
The phone call was made to me by Martha Pérez, valuable assistant to Miguel Mejía, general secretary of the United Left Movement (MIU), the man who invited me to the Dominican Republic in 1999 to interview President Leonel Fernández, who would attend the IX Summit Iberoamericana in Havana and would make an official visit to Cuba.
Tireless in solidarity with Cuba, Miguel wanted to give Radio Habana Cuba his assessment of this meeting at the Palace of the Revolution, which was also attended by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez and Ángel Arzuaga Reyes, deputy head of the international relations department of the Central Committee of the Party. Cuban Communist.
Mejía recalled that Leonel Fernández was the Dominican president who had the merit and courage to restore relations with Cuba after 29 years of diplomatic estrangement.
The interview I did with Fernández at the National Palace, in Santo Domingo, was also broadcast on Cuban television, which allowed many people to meet the president from Quisquey, who would make his first visit to Cuba, and at the same time would contribute to promoting the holding in Havana of the Ninth Ibero-American Summit.
Miguel Mejía highlighted that he had known Díaz-Canel for a long time, and they met once in Managua, Nicaragua. Also to Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, for his duties as Minister of Integration in the Dominican Government.
We have established a link that goes beyond the institutional framework, because affections, identity and empathy have been developed through the work dynamics.
“I felt like family at that meeting, which I did not expect, because my visit to Cuba on this occasion has the objective of recovering my health, for which I also thanked President Díaz-Canel and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez who gave me solidarity and support so that I was treated at CIREN, the International Center for Neurological Restoration”.
I reminded Mejía that Professor Juan Bosch’s Cuban wife, Doña Carmen Quidiello, who died not long ago at the age of 105 in Santo Domingo, was also treated at CIREN, where I visited her on her last trip to Cuba.
Miguel Mejía wanted to record in this interview for the knowledge of the peoples of Cuba, the Dominican Republic and all friends and relatives in the world “that I feel very healthy, because all the evaluations that have been made have been positive.”
Throughout the interview, Mejía reiterated his gratitude to the Cuban authorities. He said that the supportive and family atmosphere during the meeting with Díaz-Canel, Bruno Rodríguez, and Arzuaga, allowed an analysis of what is happening in Cuba, in the Dominican Republic, in the Caribbean region, and in Central America.
“We had many coincidences in the approach, and above all the emphasis on how to keep the flame of solidarity with Cuba, a country that has been a great reference for humanity, and that has already suffered more than sixty years of a criminal blockade and economic terrorism”, underlined the leader of the MIU.
Mejía added that despite all the economic difficulties that Cuba is facing, his friends in the world recognize that the main cause of the insufficiencies is simply due to the blockade of the United States and its allies.
At another point in the dialogue, Miguel Mejía commented: “No one can imagine how Cuba, which is not a perfect society, has managed to survive in the face of the economic terrorism that its people have suffered, and that is part of the admiration and respect that humanity feels to Cuba”.
The MIU leader highlighted the Cuban battle in international forums, the solidarity campaign that is taking place throughout the world, as well as the solidarity position maintained by the friendly governments of Venezuela, Russia, China, Korea, Viet Nam and Nicaragua, among others. others.
Mejía pointed out that “Cuba maintains its morale high and defends its right to survival. The only crime that Cuba has committed is having made sovereign decisions that favor the people. That is why I believe that the flame of solidarity with Cuba will be maintained in the world”, he emphasized.
He concluded the interview by recalling the Dominican Máximo Gómez (1836-1905), his enormous contribution to the struggle for the independence of Cuba and his close friendship with José Martí (1853-1895).
“Look, -emphasized the general secretary of the MIU- I have always said that there is no country in the world that has as many common and historical roots as the Dominican Republic and Cuba.
“That is why beyond the difference due to the political and ideological system, paying homage to that historical legacy, it is that unity, rapprochement, good relations between our two countries must be maintained above all else. It is about achieving unity in diversity,” said Miguel Mejía.