A walk to the top of this hill, led by the Cuban ambassador, Orestes Perez, closed with a rally in which members of the National Coordinating Committee for Solidarity with Cuba and the Marti Association of Cubans Residing in Panama (AMCRP) reaffirmed their duty to defend their homeland.

On behalf of the fraternal groups, young lawyer Lilian Ruiz stated: “From this place steeped in history,” she said, “we raise our voices in solidarity with Cuba in defense of sovereignty, justice, and respect for all peoples.”

Ruiz also rejected the most recent statements by US President Donald Trump, in which he raised the possibility of a “friendly takeover of Cuba,” and remembered that Panama is well aware of such intentions, having suffered a military invasion in December 1989.

In turn, Rachel Rubio, representing the Amcrp, pointed out that those who know the warmth of home and the embrace of family deeply feel the difficulties faced by their native country, difficulties manufactured from abroad by the malice of those who cannot defeat its inhabitants with either weapons or reason, thus resorted to make starvation kill silently.

As part of other activities planned for this year, it was also announced that the 26th National Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba will take place on March 27 and 28 in the province of Colon.

In a statement, Cornelio Gondola, coordinator of the territorial chapter and host of the event, reaffirmed the unwavering defense of the self-determination of the Cuban people in their struggle until the lifting of the cruel economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by Washington on Havana for more than six decades.

jdt/mem/ga