CUBA, June 3, 2009. Fernando Lugo, President of Paraguay, reiterated his condemn of the almost 50-year long economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed by the United States upon Cuba. The Paraguayan president visited this afternoon the Latin American Medicine School (ELAM) where he said that he has learnt a lot about the dignity of the Cuban people and their capacity to resist the blockade; by staying alive and because of its solidarity, Cuba has become an example for Latin America and the Caribbean. Regarding the changes his country is experiencing, Lugo pointed out that first of all they are recovering their dignity since their foreign policy has been dependent on others. We have planted a flag to make us equal to all other democratic nations, on the same conditions, he said. Lugo explained that they are working on six main programs that started with agrarian reform and continued with the recovery of the energy sovereignty; they are also working on a national emergency plan and to eliminate abject poverty in addition to issuing a decree that grants subsidies to approximately 20,000 families. The Paraguayan head of state highlighted that the first steps are taken to guarantee free health care as an inalienable right for mankind, something which was unheard of in Paraguay. Later, Lugo talked to Paraguayan students at the school and urged them to practice medicine closer to the interests of the poor, and at the same time expressed his gratitude to the Cuban government for training these youngsters. You, he stressed, are the fruit of another time, and these new times we are living belong to you as well. (Cubaminrex- ACN) |