By Daylén Vega Muguercia on May 4, 2022.
Photo: Yusmilis Dubrosky
The VII International Seminar for Peace and for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases began today in the city of Guantanamo, with the participation of members of peace and solidarity organizations, as well as anti-war personalities.
With the attendance of delegates from 23 countries and 70 Cubans, the event sponsored by the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) and the World Peace Council (WPC), began with the laying of a wreath at the allegorical monument to the mother of the Maceo family, Mariana Grajales in the Plaza of the Revolution that bears her name.
The governor of the province, Emilio Matos Mosqueda, welcomed the participants to the seminar.
At the inaugural meeting, Fernando González Llort, president of ICAP, expressed the Cuban people’s demand for the respect of the United Nations Charter and “the return of the occupied lands to their legitimate owners” that has been occupied by the US since 1903.
The Guantanamo Naval Base, the oldest imperialist outpost in the world, is used by the United States to supply logistical means to the U.S. fleet, besides being a starting point for the invasion of Latin American countries and the world.
The president of ICAP opened the seminar by saying, “The planet now more than ever needs peace, and to achieve it we need unity,” said the Hero of the Republic of Cuba, who thanked those present for the countless expressions of solidarity with Cuba.
The governor of the province, Emilio Matos Mosqueda, made an economic-social characterization of the territory, in which he pointed out important aspects of the locality, so that the participants in the event could know a little more about the province that welcomes them.
This was followed by a special intervention by the President of the World Peace Council, Maria do Socorro Gomes, who condemned the foreign usurpation of Cuban territory, as well as the atrocities taking place there. “They deeply affect all of us who defend human rights and peace,” she said.
The representative of the World Peace Council alluded to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the decisive role of NATO as a detonator of wars, and at the same time she made a call to overcome the media siege that is twisting the truth.
“From the World Peace Council we are against the permanence of military bases in sovereign countries, since it is an exercise of domination,” he said.
The VII International Seminar for Peace and the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases is being held on the through May 5 at the Mariana Grajales Coello Revolution Square, where 19 papers will be presented.
This afternoon, the delegates will visit Caimanera, a small fishing town bordering the illegal US naval base, where the Final Declaration of the event will be read in the presence of the local residents.
Source: Cuba en Resumen