The Hero of the Republic of Cuba, Fernando González, arrived in Panama on Sunday for an official visit marked by solidarity with Cuba and condemnation of the United States blockade.

Panamá.- At the Tocumen international airport, in this capital, the delegation headed by González, who is also the president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), was welcomed by Ambassador Víctor Cairo.

According to the three-day agenda, González will meet with local officials and will visit the University of Panamá (UP), its Manuel Amador art gallery, and the faculties of Law, Medical Sciences, Humanities, and Economics, among others. He will be accompanied by students and representatives of social organizations.

At the higher education center, González will lay a wreath at the monument to Cuban National Hero José Martí, which was created by Cuban ceramist and engraver José Fuster and evokes the world campaign for the liberation of The Five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters, whom González also represents.

A transcendental moment during his visit will be his participation in a mass and anti-imperialist rally of solidarity, according to its organizers, which will take place at the legendary Assembly Hall of the University of Panamá, where in 2000, the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, denounced plans for an attack, to be perpetrated by terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, who was arrested at the time.

González, a member of the Cuban Five, as the Cuban anti-terrorist fighters (Fernando González, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labañino, and René González), who served unjust prison sentences in the United States for alerting US authorities about violent actions from that territory against Cuba, are also known, will visit areas of the Panama Canal.

In Panamá, González will conclude a tour that took him to Brazil and Paraguay, where he attended the 26th Cuba Solidarity Convention in the state of Para, during which he met with local authorities and social leaders from both nations.

At those meetings, the lawmaker charged that the White House’s blockade policy against Cuba for more than six decades constitutes the main obstacle to national development and has the purpose of making the Cuban people surrender out of fatigue, submitting Cuba’s economy, and putting pressure on Cuban families.

In addition, he stated that activism in social media is a priority at these times, and called to condemn the blockade in all its manifestations, as well as to reject Cuba’s inclusion on Washington’s spurious list of State sponsors of terrorism. (PL)