According to Santana, who is president of the Commission for Attention to Youth, Children and the Rights of Equality of Women of the National Assembly of Cuba, during the event, the respect for member countries and the interest that topics such as the joint struggle for peace, integration and development of peoples aroused in the region could be appreciated.

Santana, who also heads the Parliamentary Friendship Group with Panama in Cuba, indicated that both legislatures and peoples are in better conditions to expand collaboration and mutual aid.

The 38th Assembly of Parlatino, which will elect its new authorities for the 2024-2026 term on Thursday, had among its main points a keynote speech by the Honduran president, Xiomara Castro, in her capacity as pro tempore president of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

In her appearance, Castro reiterated the importance of integration and called for an end to blockades and unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States against countries in the area such as Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, and stated that this policy violates international rights. “Any policy of economic blockade and sanctions are acts of barbarism,” she said.

The president reflected on the crisis in Haiti, which she said is a reflection of the failure of neoliberal policies and foreign interference in our region and “demands immediate attention.” She also promoted the idea that the member countries of the bloc reach consensus for the creation of a regional emergency fund where all nations commit to contribute and address the humanitarian crisis.

Castro also recalled that Latin America and the Caribbean is a region of peace, for which reason she condemned the genocide of the Zionist forces of Israel against the Palestinian people, while advocating for peace in Lebanon and in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. “We do not accept the hypocrisy of those who advocate for peace, but finance war,” she stressed.

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