Filled with learning and questions that challenge and force everyone to work together, and also marked by essential achievements that put the name of Cuba on a high level. This is how the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, assessed the year 2022 experienced by the Island's diplomacy.
His gave his definition on the afternoon of Tuesday March 14, at the Annual Meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX in Spanish), which , as the dignitary also said, was a meeting to reflect on "how we are going to make the year 2023 better," and how we will have to do "things differently" if it is also necessary.
The purpose of the meeting attended by Foreign Ministry officials and workers include assessing the work carried out in 2022, and the work projections for the current year; an analysis in which also participated the member of the Political Bureau and Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz; the Deputy Prime Minister, Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, and the head of the MINREX, and also a member of the Political Bureau, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla.
At the meeting, it was also spoken on the conditions in which the foreign policy of the Island was developed, which is fighting its battles under the weight of a tightened blockade, and in a world scenario that has not yet emerged from the onslaught of the COVID-19 and which, full of asymmetries, is now suffering the harsh impact of the war.
Dissatisfaction with the work carried out and the challenges that the organization faces in its crucial work for the country were discussed on Tuesday, as well as the projections of Cuba's foreign policy for the current year.
Cuban diplomats talked about the battle against the intensified U.S. blockade and against the inclusion of Cuba on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism; the increase in the quality of consular service and links with Cubans living abroad; the success of the Cuban chair of the Group of 77 plus China; the promotion and consolidation of relations of the Caribbean country with the countries of the world; the defense of international law and the principles that govern it. They also addressed issues related to the contribution to the development of economic, trade, financial and cooperation relations; the media and communications battle; and the continuous introduction of science, technology and innovation in the island's foreign policy.
"What are we going to do differently to face this year, what are we going to do differently to face all the challenges?," Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz had asked at one point during the meeting. And that question, to which Díaz-Canel later alluded, set the tone for all the interventions.
Towards the end of the balance, the Head of State shared with the diplomats numerous reflections, all united by the common idea of defending a Cuba that resists and creates. Among other ideas, he expressed about 2022: "I believe that it is a year to be remembered by for the intensity of the systematic actions against the blockade that took place during the weekends all over the world."
This, he pointed out, was a new, fresher way of fighting. At another point of the meeting, the President described the current world, the changing scenario to which Cuban diplomacy must permanently adjust, so as not to lose effectiveness in every task.
The imperial blockade -which reaches the levels of State genocide-, occupied a large part of the analysis of the annual meeting. The President affirmed that, if there is any passage that clearly shows "the brutality and cruelty" of that punishment, it is precisely that of COVID-19, when the Island was denied medicines, vaccines and oxygen, as well as the persecution of "the companies that could sell us pulmonary ventilators."
Díaz-Canel emphasized the importance of proposing to move forward and succeed despite the intensified blockade, and to do so with creative resistance; and he stressed the importance of fighting for Cuba to be removed from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism. On the latter, he pointed out that many do not relate that unjust measure, imposed by Trump, with the real damage it implies for the country, since such inclusion "cut off all relations with the banking and financial system worldwide."
The president also spoke of working with all countries and in all possible spaces, of being proactive; of maintaining the prestige, coherence and firmness that Cuban diplomacy boasts, and he did not overlook the need to keep in mind that our economic battle is crucial, and that is where the island's diplomacy, along with many other protagonists, must venture into innovative paths.
On a front that the president called "the diplomacy of solidarity", Díaz-Canel recalled that this attribute "distinguishes us" and, as such, deserves to be cultivated, day by day and with great attention.
For all the ideas that were developed and shared at the meeting, the president said: "We are convinced that 2023 has to be a better year."
Translated by ESTI
