"The historical relationship between the Cuban people and the Italian people is truly heartfelt," said the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, to representatives of the Italian project "Energy for Life, Let's Light Up the Light in Cuba," with whom he held a meeting on Thursday night.
The Head of State held an extensive dialogue with members of the European Parliament, members of the national parliament and representatives of civil society, members of the solidarity movement with Cuba in Italy who launched this project in mid-2024.
This is a campaign that aimed to raise funds for the installation of photovoltaic solar panels in various institutions across the country, and now a delegation of its promoters are on the island to exchange ideas with the Cuban people, their institutions and authorities.
Upon receiving them, Díaz-Canel described the people of Cuba and Italy as two nations distinguished "by the way we defend our homelands, by our cultures, by our way of being; we are joyful, we are optimistic, we do not give up, and we are dignified peoples, and I believe that is why we understand each other so well."
In reflecting on the emergence of this solidarity project with our country, he emphasized how representatives of Italian civil society and different organizations joined together to form a single caravan to come to Cuba, demonstrating – he added – “enormous sensitivity, enormous understanding of our problems, and also showing us enormous support.”
The president thanked them for carrying out the Energy for Life campaign, let's turn on the light in Cuba, whose benefits he has been able to verify in visits to the territories, such as in the House of Culture of El Cobre, where they told him –he shared– about everything they had contributed; help that has also been received –he pointed out– in health centers, cultural facilities and other institutions in various regions of the country.
“That you are present here today in Cuba, precisely at these difficult times,” Díaz-Canel Bermúdez reiterated, “is an expression of courage, because we know,” he said, “what it costs to come to Cuba today”; “the courage one must have to come to Cuba.”
“We,” he said, “are condemned. We are being put in the international spotlight, especially from a communications standpoint, as if we were the most terrible country in the universe. And this propaganda, this media construction, hasn’t been done by just anyone; it’s been done by the most powerful nation in the world, the one that controls the main media outlets, the social networks, and that is leading this entire campaign of media manipulation regarding Cuba.”
FOR CUBA, AN ESSENTIAL SOLIDARITY, OF PEOPLES
The Energy for Life project, Let's Turn on the Light in Cuba, has raised about $400,000 thanks to contributions from various organizations and individuals to install solar panels in various institutions, mainly in the east.
To date, facilities in the food industry, agriculture, and cultural and health institutions in Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Granma, and Havana have benefited.
The campaign was promoted by the Italian Cultural Recreational Association (ARCI) and its NGO dedicated to international work; the Italian National Confederation of Labor; the National Association of Italy-Cuba Friendship; the National Association of Partisans; trade union organizations and sectors of civil society.
As part of the initiative, several parliamentarians, MEPs, representatives of the organizations participating in the campaign and sectors of civil society are currently visiting the country to learn about the devastating effects of the blockade and evaluate the results of the campaign.
With the participation of colleagues Abel Prieto Jiménez, president of Casa de las Américas, and Fernando González Llort, president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), the exchange was moderated by Daniel Lorenzi, leader of ARCI.
Walter Massa, a member of ARCI, expressed his joy at being back in Cuba and witnessing once again the resilience and strength of the Cuban people. He reaffirmed his commitment that upon returning to Europe, specifically Italy, it is essential to continue promoting initiatives to help the Cuban people in their time of greatest need and to continue denouncing the aggression they suffer at the hands of the U.S. government.
"Ours," he pointed out, "is not a campaign solidarity, it is an essential solidarity, a solidarity of peoples, because Cuba," he affirmed, "is a symbol of resistance to capitalism, to that world we do not want to be. Cuba teaches us," he asserted, "that another world is possible, and that world must be a world of peace."
MEP Sandro Routelo, vice-president of the Euro-Latin Political Commission, said he was shaken by everything he has seen in Cuba as a result of the aggression of which it is a victim.
The Cuban people, he denounced, are the victims of a silent crime. We, he added, are children of the post-war era, a generation born for peace, and therefore Cuba and its people "are in our hearts" and reaffirm our commitment to the struggle and the need for a new international law to be established in the world, one that confronts and condemns the crimes being committed by figures like Trump and Netanyahu.
Today the world is facing a very aggressive situation, so I believe that an international progressive front is needed, that it is urgent, to confront this, Routelo argued.
Stefania Ascari, a member of the Italian parliament for the Five Star Movement, pointed out that the donations they have brought are only a small gesture towards the Cuban people, and being here – she affirmed – has allowed us to touch with our own hands what they are suffering, the economic, financial and commercial genocide of which they are being victims.
Cuba, Ascari pointed out, is suffering a criminal embargo, and we are leaving here with a very high responsibility and we are taking sides in favor of its people, a people of peace who want peace and who have the right to peace.
Laura Boldrini, a member of parliament for the Democratic Party and President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, commented that coming to Cuba is a duty for Italians because of what Cuba did for Italy during such a difficult time as the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the Cubans arrived in Lombardy, he recalled, the pandemic had brought our country to its knees, but the Cuban doctors gave us strength, brought us solidarity, and instilled confidence in our healthcare system to provide an effective response to COVID-19. Therefore, in these difficult times that Cuba is going through, we have a duty to reaffirm our solidarity with you, he affirmed.