NEWS leadership, 17 September 2019. The Nigeria Movement of Solidarity with Cuba is set to host its 6th Solidarity meeting from September 23 to September 25 in Abuja, to pressure the US government to lift its over 50-year blockade on Cuba. The movement comprises labour centres such as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and coalition of other Civil Society groups and women organisations.
Addressing journalists yesterday in Abuja, secretary of the Nigeria Movement of Solidarity with Cuba, Abiodun Aremu urged the Nigerian government to gather international support for Cuba, stressing that the solidarity was necessary, following the great role Cuba played in the development of Africa. According to him, the Cubans have the fundamental right to decide their political system without interference.
He said, “The 56-year American economic embargo which stops Cuba from freely accessing the international market and trading with other countries is counter-productive, unhelpful and should be lifted without delay”.
“It is in Africa’s interest to follow the development path of Cuba which guarantees free and qualitative health and education for all its citizens, gender equality, locally produced medicine and vaccines for its people,“ he said. He said there could never be a credible history of the Africa liberation struggle without the solidarity of Cuba, noting that during the Ebola fight, the country sent doctors to help fight and eliminate the scourge.
The Cuban Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Carlos Trejo said Cuba had a long history of partnership with Nigeria adding that the US blockade of Cuba, which lasted almost 60 years, was the longest single blockade of any country in history.
The ambassador said Cuba had prospered despite “imperialist aggressiveness from United States of America”, stressing that the country had achieved one of the best healthcare systems as well as education in the world. He said Cuban people were conscious of their cultural affinity with the African people and would always ensure that they share their successes with Nigerians, adding that past efforts by Cuba in assisting Nigeria had nothing to do with financial gains.
The ambassador also said that his country had made some breakthrough in its research into drugs for the treatment of lung cancer. Trejo, who said that Americans were working with Cuban researchers to produce the drug for the first time, noted that cancer did not know race, colour or culture. He said in spite of strong opposition from the United States of America, Cuba would continue to strengthen friendship with Africans and Nigerians, insisting that Nigerians in Cuba were not regarded as Afro-Cubans, but as Cubans, assuring that “Cuba will never let Africa down.“
Source link : https://misiones.cubaminrex.cu/en/articulo/nigeria-hosts-african-solidarity-meeting-cuba
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Publish date : 2019-09-23 03:00:00
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