Havana, April 7 (RHC) – The Cuban Workers´ Confederation (CTC), the union gathering over 3 million Cubans, was excluded from the OAS-sponsored Civil Society Forum, to be held parallel to the Summit of the Americas in Panama later this week.

In statements to Cuba´s Trabajadores newspaper, Gisela Duarte, member of the Confederation´s National Secretariat said that their delegation is made up of eight representatives from the unions of health, construction and non-state labor initiatives, who represent all Cuban workers in 17 local unions and more than 400 thousand private workers.

“We would have liked to attend the Civil Society Forum... we sent our applications on time, but they did not approve any of us,” said the executive.

“However, we will participate, along other unions and social movements from around the region at the Summit of the Peoples, in which we will address the US economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba, a major point to be tackled by the Cuban delegation. We want this aggression to disappear, since it is illegitimate and hinders the development of Cuban society,” she noted.