The international relations commission of the National Assembly of People’s Power issued a statement in the Cuban capital in order to strengthen international claim to end the United States embargo against Cuba.

The text, published before the IV extraordinary session of the IX legislature, invites the U.S. Congress to attend the majority of broad sectors in American society advocating the closure of the embargo, and then put an end to this stagnant policy.  

Cuban parliamentarians urge their colleagues around the world to reinforce the international demand to put an end to this harmful policy towards the rights of the Cuban people and third states.

They also summon the deputies of the world to encourage and uphold their respective foreign ministries in support of the draft resolution entitled «Need to end the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba », which will be presented again before the General Assembly next November 6th, 2019.

The text emphasizes the embargo is a massive, flagrant and systematic violation of human rights towards the Cuban people as the main obstacle to the development of Cuban economy, as well as to the implementation of the national plan for economic and social development, so as the 2030 agenda and its sustainable development goals.

Moreover, the Cuban deputies highlight there has been a significant setback in bilateral relations between United States and Cuba, and that the U.S. government has decided to harden the embargo and reinforce its extraterritorial application through the Helms Burton Law; also their attempts to boycott Cuban medical missions in third countries and the pursuit of vessels intended for fuel supply to Cuba.

Damages accumulated by the embargo for almost six decades of application reach the figure of 922 thousand 630 million dollars, considering the dollar depreciation against the value of gold in the international market. Currently, new obstacles are imposed on the already limited possibilities of American business for trading and investing in Cuba, applying additional restrictions to their citizens to travel to the Greater Antilles and limiting shipping of family remittances.

During this day they will receive a preparation on legislative topics as part of the activities that precede the IV Extraordinary Session of the National Assembly of People’s Power, corresponding to the IX Legislature to be held tomorrow, in which the main positions of the Cuban State will be elected.

More than twenty themes will be discussed in the XIV Cuban surgery congress which will take place in the Tryp Habana Libre Hotel, in Havana, from October 9th until 11th, where the last advances of this specialty will be exposed.

According to the organizing committee, some of the themes are: advances in oncologic surgery; of the thyroid and parathyroid; lungs and mediastinum, esophagus and gastric joint; stomach and duodenum; small intestine, colon and anus; liver, bile ducts, pancreas and spleen; minimal invasive surgery; trauma and breasts.

The scientific program also includes surgery for the elders, the ambulatory type, bariatrics, technological advances and investigations in that field, medical education, nutrition and transplantation, among others.

More than a hundred specialists around the country will participate in this scientific forum to honor the renowned Cuban surgeons and teachers Benito Saínz Menéndez, Manuel Fuentes Rodríguez, Roberto Méndez Catasús and Rómulo Soler Vaillant.

On Monday, the pre congress courses were about trauma surgery, the hernial one, the hepatic, the thoracic, the oncologic, breast conditions and minimal invasive, among others.

A study of researchers from several institutions in the province of Holguín proposes changes in planting patterns in that territory to increase yields considering the impact of climate change on the behavior of rainfall, temperature and pests.

Scientists suggest new planting and harvesting dates so as good phytosanitary and water management practices including crops such as beans, tomatoes, tobacco, corn, sweet potatoes, yucca and vegetables.


The experts’ proposals, belonging to the Department of Plant Health and the Center for Studies of Arid Agrosystems, of the University of Holguín, take into account detailed observations performed in the field and duly documented, as well as the results of surveys applied to producers.

According to specialists in the fields of Holguín, there is an increase in temperature, which has exceeded 34 years Celsius in
the evaluated stage, along with the systematic periods of drought, which contributes to the appearance of pests and
diseases.

The investigations have detected physiological imbalances which are manifested in the plants, when loosing leaves and
flowers or in the early maturity, for what they propose, in addition to changes in the sowing-harvest patterns, to enrich the
integrated phytosanitary management of soil fungi and use products that stimulate the growth and development phases of
crops, facilitating with this procedure the fight against pests and diseases.

According to experts in Cuba, the impact of climate change on agriculture implies a decrease on plants productivity and
physiology, unexpected variations in the sowing and harvest periods, alterations in the dynamics of pests and diseases,
and the extinction of animal and plant species.