Cuba's Ambassador in Damascus: We wish to strengthen relations with Syria in all fields to face the coercive American measures imposed on the two countries

Damascus-Sana

Cuba's ambassador to Damascus Miguel Porto Parga affirmed his country's desire to strengthen relations with Syria in all fields, pointing to the difficulties that the two countries face as a result of the unilateral coercive measures imposed on them by the American administration.

In an interview with SANA on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and Syria, he pointed out the importance of the two countries relying on their national and local expertise and capabilities in facing these coercive measures, pointing out that the United States has imposed sanctions on all commercial exchanges with his country, including a fine of 128 international banks an amount equivalent to Three billion and 751 million dollars just because of its dealings with Cuba, and the same applies to banks and economic entities that establish commercial exchanges with Syria.

Porto Parga touched on the most prominent historical milestones witnessed in the relations between the two countries, including sending his country a battalion of tanks to fight alongside Syria during the October Liberation War, strengthening cooperation, consultation, trade exchange and exchange of official delegations, in addition to mutual positions in international forums, where Syria condemned the unjust economic and commercial blockade imposed on Cuba in The General Assembly of the United Nations about 27 times, while Cuba has condemned the sanctions and terrorist war on Syria since 2011, and its embassy has continued to work in Damascus with the aim of affirming Cuba's solidarity, support and support for Syria and its people, as it participated in the activities of the Damascus International Fair.

Ambassador Porto Parga indicated that his country will continue to provide scholarships to Syrian students in the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, especially in the field of medicine, indicating that the Cuban Embassy in Damascus will receive in the coming days the files of students who will leave to study in Cuba.

The Cuban ambassador confirmed that the Cuban scientists' experiments to develop a vaccine against the Coronavirus have entered the first phase of clinical trials, and it is expected that the vaccine named (Soberana) or (sovereign) will be ready for use in early February of next year.

Ambassador Porto Parga explained that when the vaccine developed by his country is put on the market, friendly countries, especially Syria, will have priority in obtaining it, pointing out that the World Health Organization has approved only 30 out of 200 papers related to developing a vaccine against the virus, and the Cuban vaccine was among them. An achievement for a country suffering from a stifling siege for 61 years.

The population of Cuba is estimated at 11 million, and there are about 95 thousand doctors and 84 thousand nurses. As a result of the ongoing US embargo since 1960, Cuba has sought to rely on its national expertise in order to secure self-sufficiency and was able to enhance its capabilities in the fields of medicine, biotechnology and medicines.

During the Coronavirus pandemic, Cuba was denied the supply of ventilators, masks, and tools to detect infection with the Coronavirus, and it was forced to manufacture them locally, as between 3000 and 4000 checks are performed daily to detect infection with the virus.

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