Havana, April 10 (RHC)—Cuban lawmakers proclaimed Wednesday the new Constitution that was submitted to a national referendum last February 24, and that was overwhelming endorsed by the island’s people.
The extraordinary and solemn session of the 9th Legislature of the national Parliament, took place at Havana’s Convention Center, on the day that marks the 150th anniversary of the first Constitution of the nation –the Constitution of Guaimaro--, by the leaders of the first independence war.
A special moment of the event was when the national anthem was performed by the Revolutionary Armed Forces Chief of Staff Music Band, and a 21-gun salute was staged simultaneously at the Santa Ifigenia Cemetery in Santiago de Cuba and La Cabaña Fortress in Havana.
After that moment, the original of the first constitution was escorted to the rostrum by three combatants dressed in uniforms of the Liberation Army.
Addressing the gathering, the Cuban Communist Party leader Raul Castro said that the New Magna Carta was a continuation and a follower of the first Constitution, since it safeguards the nation´s main pillars of unity among all Cubans and the independence and sovereignty of the island.
Raul Castro made a description of the trajectory of the different constitutions enacted on the island since 1869 to the current one.
During his address, the First Secretary of the Party also spoke about the current international difficulties stemming from the US hostile policies and the return to the Monroe Doctrine by the Trump Administration.
He noted that the tone of the rulers of the United States is increasingly threatening, while progressive steps are being undertaken to progressively deteriorate bilateral relations.
“Cuba is blamed for all evils, using lies at worst Hitlerian propaganda style,” he said.
Raul Castro denounced the United States’ renewed attempts to destroy the Cuban revolution and pressure Venezuela, adding that the island nation did not fear its threats.
“We have conveyed to the US Administration with firmness, clarity and serenity, through direct diplomatic channels, and publically, that Cuba is not afraid of threats, and that our vocation for peace and understanding is accompanied by the unshakeable determination and the sovereign right of Cubans to defend the future of the nation without foreign interference.”
“We will not renounce any of our principles and we reject all forms of blackmail, the increase of the economic war and the strengthening of the blockade,” Raul Castro stressed.
He also pointed out that Cuba would never abandon its solidarity with Venezuela or give in to U.S. blackmail over its support.
“The Venezuelan and Chavista government is writing admirable pages of resistance,” he told the lawmakers.
The Cuban leader noted that in face of the current turbulent scenario, topping the island’s priorities are the country's preparation for its defense and the development of the national economy, and that both targets receive the same amount of attention
In this regard, he said that measures have been taken to reinforce the combat readiness of the Armed Forces and of all the defensive system of the country, under the strategic conception o of the war of all the people, as endorsed by the new Constitution of the Republic.
Raul Castro also warned Cubans that in the next few months the economic situation could get worse, although he said the situation will not return to the extreme deprivation of the so called “Special Period” of the 1990s because the island’s economy is more diversified.
The leader of the Cuban Communist p[arty closed his remarks by stating that despite its immense might, US imperialism does not have the capacity to undermine the dignity of a united people, who is proud of its history and of the freedom it has achieved at the expense of enormous sacrifice.
