Much more could be done between two peoples with so many common ties in history, culture, science and even in sports, as Obama stated then, but the administration that succeeded it chose the path of aggression instead of building bridges.
Donald Trump and his cabinet chose to intensify the economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba and applied more than 240 unilateral coercive measures.
Returning to the path of coexistence is the will expressed by almost a score of North American cities, and also by 80 congressmen who addressed a letter to the current president of the United States, Joe Biden.
Since the triumph of the Revolution in 1959 and after the imposition of the United States trade blockade in 1962, Cuba has had to become self-sufficient to mitigate its effects, and so we have managed to overcome so many biological and violent attacks in its attempt to suffocate by hunger and despair our people.
And here we are, Cuba, the largest of the Antilles but still a small and economically Empoverished Island, resilient to the effects of an over 60 years old blockade, is about to become the first Latin American nation to count on its home-made vaccines against Covid-19.
Health authorities of the Caribbean country announced that 70 percent of the Cuban population will be immunized against SARS-Cov-2 between July and August of this year, thanks to a staggered vaccination strategy, which involves different population groups between 19 and 80 years.
The president highlighted that, between clinical trials and controlled intervention studies, thousands of Cubans are receiving the doses of Soberana-02 and Abdala, and thus , the way to mass vaccination is opened.
The mass Covid-19 vaccination route began with phase III of Soberana 02 candidate’s clinical trial, which involved 44,101 volunteers in eight municipalities of Havana.
Soberana 02 candidate is followed by Abdala vaccine candidate.The purpose is to gradually immunize the population, so that between April and May 1.7 million people will be protected against the virus. Later, the research will be extended to other population groups, in a larger trial with both vaccine candidates.
The digital site of the CNN chain in Spanish recently highlighted the progress of the Cuban anti-Covid-19 vaccine candidates in different phases of the trial, despite the sanctions imposed by the United States against the island.
The report, signed by Patrick Oppmann, a correspondent in Havana, points out that amid the worsening economy and the increase in punitive actions by Washington, the Caribbean island achieved a feat that no other Latin American country can claim.
This actually contrasts significantly with the US latest report on Human Rights accusing the Cuban Government of alleged restrictions on the right to peaceful assembly, as well as religious freedom and human trafficking, among other allegations.
The question here is how can a government have any kind of concern over the health of its people if it is capable of violating such essential human rights.
The treasures of creativity that characterize our people are being brilliantly demonstrated once more in the field of research such as in developing several Covid-19 vaccines.
The Cuban President Miguel Díaz Canel thanked those who created and those who produce the island’s immunogens, “because as he said they not only inject our body,” but also sow “security and hope in the national soul.”
“Dreaming and continuing a country: this year we will advance in immunization with our vaccines!” the president assured.
