Miguel Díaz-Canel, President of the Republic of Cuba, delivers the central remarks of the fourth period of ordinary sessions of the National Assembly of People's Power, in its tenth legislature.     Photo: Abel Padrón Padilla/ Cubadebate.

Havana, December 20 (RHC)-- “As every difficult year, I come to give an account, to explain the enormous efforts and the still insufficient results of the presidential administration, in the face of the obstacles that have been imposed on us and the prevailing injustice in international economic relations that have turned the world into a betting market with few options for nations that, like Cuba, refuse to accept the law of the strongest,” said President Miguel Díaz-Canel in the plenary session of the National Assembly of People's Power.

Speaking at the last session of the Fourth Ordinary Session of the National Assembly of People's Power, in its tenth legislature, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the PCC welcomed the presence of Army General Raúl Castro in the plenary session and stressed that “he accompanies us today with his legendary energy as recognized by his beloved combatants.”

“My greatest dream is to one day come to this Assembly and announce that the blockade has been lifted, the 243 additional measures, and that we have left the spurious list of countries sponsoring terrorism, where we should never have been,” he said.

He commented that overcoming the obstacles imposed on Cuba by Washington's policy "depends on what we are capable of doing and promoting, with the heroism, intelligence and creativity that distinguish us as a people."

However, he said, "the truth is the reverse of that dream.  The blockade, its walls, have no expiration date.  It is the style of empires to impose punishments and extend them over time.   Díaz-Canel stressed that "Cuba is the country with the longest period of time under the blockade, but not the only one."

"We constantly hear news of people and countries surrounded by sanctions. The new hawks speak of peace through force. They deeply despise diplomacy promoted for understanding with nations that they do not consider their equals, which they despise," he said, adding that "we are aware of the unjust configuration of international economic relations and the ultra-right tendencies that are being imposed at a regional and global level."

The Cuban president stated that “as a political response to the global economic challenges in Cuba, we have proposed to combine forces and efforts in the defense of the chosen social system, guaranteeing the maximum possible justice in the current circumstances.

“This is, without a doubt, the most difficult task of an era that has been imposing an irrational consumerist, wasteful and selfish model as a measure of progress on a universal level, leading the planet to the point of self-destruction.”