The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, described the decision to hold a new edition of the Havana International Fair, Fihav 2025, as an expression of "our resilience, our concept of creative resistance."
His words, in which he emphasized the relevance of holding the event, were made in statements to the Cuban press on the opening day of the fair, which runs from Monday until November 29.
In support of this decision by the government of the largest of the Antilles, the president assured that Cuba is resisting the attacks, including the intensification of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the U.S. administration, not only to endure and confront it, but also to do so with creativity, in order to overcome the adversity and circumstances imposed on us by this policy.
"This", he stressed, "must be done through development, alliances, science, and innovation, as well as by increasing productivity and production. In pursuit of this goal, the Fair allows us, first, to showcase our potential and capabilities, and at the same time to learn about those of other nations, thereby enabling us to build productive and business alliances that contribute to the country's development. "
"Not doing so would be to condemn the future and also the present, because we are working for the future from the present, and furthermore, we cannot be intimidated by anything, we cannot be stopped by hurricanes or intensified blockades," he said.
This, he said, is precisely the challenge facing the generations that are currently sharing in the process of the Cuban Revolution: "that in the midst of these conditions we are able to move forward, and to move forward we must do things like this, and do them with courage, creativity, and determination."
Referring specifically to his tour of several pavilions at the Fair, which had concluded shortly before, and the presence of many foreign businesspeople in our country, the Head of State considered that this is a sign that "they continue to trust in Cuba."
"There are businesspeople here to whom we owe debts, there are businesspeople here with whom we have not been able to fulfill all our commitments, and yet they are in Cuba," acknowledged President Díaz-Canel.
And they are in Cuba, he asserted, for several reasons: "first, because they feel a true commitment to Cuba, and second, because they know that this is an honest country; this is a country where the rights of businesspeople are also respected, where there is a whole system of communication that, regardless of whether it operates within the framework of trade and business, also involves solidarity, respect, fraternity, and decency—a great deal of decency."
And that, he said, is also a commitment; many of them "have been in Cuba for decades, have bet on Cuba, have made it part of their lives and also part of the results of their businesses in Cuba, and that is above other things."
That is why he recognizes the willingness of those who accompany us despite the pressures they suffer from the blockade and are here with us. "Better times will come, and we can also make more progress," he said.
Finally, he commented on the presence at Fihav 2025 of Cuban businesspeople living abroad, which is shaping the group of economic actors we need to have in our country, in the conditions in which we can build socialism in these times.
We, he reflected, have to "build what is possible, defend what is possible in these circumstances, without giving up on what we want in the future," which also includes the development of the 41st edition of the Havana International Fair.
