Cuban nationals in the U.S. for a permanent dialogue

Summoned by the embassy of the Caribbean country in Washington DC, those present Friday night at the diplomatic headquarters proposed to intensify efforts to remove Cuba from the arbitrary list of sponsors of terrorism and to lift the blockade that for more than 60 years has caused suffering to the people of the island.

María Conchita Méndez, a resident of Alabama, said in a video message that she considered it an insult to hear that “we are from a terrorist country. There is no one more resourceful and hardworking than a Cuban.”

He invited to call legislators, knock on doors, write to ask for the elimination of this policy.

Another attendee, from North Carolina, urged to create some mechanism to help, for example, to improve conditions in Cuban schools.

One, who traveled from Miami, lamented the hostility that characterizes that city.  She recalled that she was almost killed there in 1991 for her stance towards Cuba and wished that “all this would end”.

She spoke about her altruistic experience and her Christian faith in terms of aid, and she was joined by an artist who expressed his pride in his Cuban heritage, which he has passed on to his children, who were born in the United States.  And she evoked Cuba’s National Hero, José Martí, when he said that the country he wants is that: ‘With all and for the good of all’ and in that purpose -he stressed- those who live here and there must work.

They were also interested in the processing of documents such as passports and the possibilities of academic, cultural and scientific exchange.Some of them stressed to Prensa Latina the importance of having an Association of Cubans in the United States, an idea that was discussed during the more than two hours of conversation and that may materialize in the near future. The meeting served to follow up on the IV Conference on the Nation and Emigration held in November last year in the island’s capital, and especially to update and listen to the criteria of those who could not attend then.

In addition, to define what else to do to continue strengthening Cuba’s ties with its nationals abroad.The Consul General of the Antillean diplomatic representation, Nora Alberteris, urged a frank and open dialogue, and it was achieved.At the end of January, a similar exchange of opinions took place at the Cuban Mission in New York.