[News] Reflections on Fidel Castro’s Internationalism in Cuba on ICAP’s 65th Anniversary

[Anti-Imperialist News]

resumen-english.org
<https://resumen-english.org/2025/12/reflections-on-fidel-castros-internationalism-in-cuba-on-icaps-65th-anniversary/>
Reflections on Fidel Castro’s Internationalism in Cuba on ICAP’s 65th
Anniversary
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By Iliana García Giraldino on December 29, 2024

240 reps from 240 countries gather in Havana on 65th anniversary of ICAP

Some 240 activists and representatives of solidarity organizations and
movements with Cuba from 32 countries highlighted today the
internationalist thought and action of the historical leader of the
Revolution, Fidel Castro.

Gathered at the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), the
participants reflected on the legacy of the institution’s founder, which
will celebrate its 65th anniversary on December 30th, having promoted and
coordinated international support for the causes of the world’s peoples.

Speaking on the panel, René González, director of the Fidel Castro Ruz
Center, emphasized that Cuba’s commitment to solidarity arose and was
strengthened in the struggles of Latin America and Cuba for independence,
with the participation, commitment and solidarity of Latin American
patriots in those struggles.

ICAP President Fernando Gonzalez Llort

These values, González pointed out, are part of the humanist essence of the
Cuban Revolution, which drew on the thought of  Cuba’s National Hero José
Martí and the ideology of Fidel Castro, who stated that “To be an
internationalist is to repay our own debt to humanity.”

For her part, the center’s deputy director, Sissy Abay, recalled that Cuban
solidarity was expressed from the very first moments of the revolutionary
triumph on January 1, 1959, through concrete actions in various parts of
the world, and today Cuba is a recipient of that support.

According to the president of ICAP, Fernando González, solidarity is a
fundamental pillar of Fidel Castro’s thought and action, and is understood
here as a human duty and an unrenounceable principle of the Revolution,
which continues to manifest itself in a practical and consistent
internationalism.

At the event, representatives of solidarity organizations and movements
from the United States, Australia, Europe, Asia, and several Latin American
nations presented the actions they are taking to support

Cuba in the face of its complex economic situation and the unprecedented
intensification of the blockade and U.S. aggression.

*The main event was attended by Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel*

Medal recipients that included Rosemari Mealy, Ed Newman, Cheryl Labash,
Nesbit Crutchfield, Onye Sanwu and 17 others.

President Miguel Diaz Canel

The President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary
of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, attended the main
and final event on Monday afternoon During Monday’s ceremony, where he
presented the commemorative seal for ICAP’s 65th anniversary to
international solidarity movements with Cuba, including the Cuba-Italy
National Association, the International Committee for Peace, Justice and
Dignity of the Peoples, the Brazilian Movement of Solidarity with Cuba, and
the Antonio Maceo Brigade.

Once again the keynote speaker was ICAP president Fernando González Llort,
who stated that “65 years after that December 30, 1960, the Cuban Institute
of Friendship with the Peoples not only endures, but is renewed in
fulfilling the same mission for which it was conceived: to build bridges,
unite wills, and cultivate peace, friendship, and solidarity among peoples.”

He emphasized that ICAP has been “a witness to and active participant in
the history of the Cuban Revolution: welcoming people from all over the
world interested in learning about the transformations driven by the
revolutionary process; encouraging the creation of solidarity committees
with Cuba on all five continents; hosting important events; and promoting,
from within our society, Cuba’s support for the just causes of the world’s
peoples.”
He recalled that for 65 years the Institute has marched alongside “the
unwavering support of a solidarity movement that has grown immensely in the
most difficult moments: in the defense of Cuba’s right to be a free,
independent, and sovereign country, in the denunciation of hostility and
aggression against our country.”

short video of yesterday’s event.
https://cubaenresumen.org/2025/12/30/65-anos-de-amor-por-cuba/

Photos: Bill Hackwell

translation: Resumen Latinoamericano – English

Source: Siempre con Cuba
<https://www.siempreconcuba.org/en-el-icap-conmovedora-y-comprometida-evocacion-del-pensamiento-solidario-de-fidel/>
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