{"id":209299,"date":"2019-11-14T20:02:13","date_gmt":"2019-11-15T01:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=209299"},"modified":"2019-11-14T20:02:13","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T01:02:13","slug":"felipe-vi-defended-spanish-democracy-and-diaz-canel-vindicated-cuban-sovereignty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/felipe-vi-defended-spanish-democracy-and-diaz-canel-vindicated-cuban-sovereignty\/","title":{"rendered":"Felipe VI defended Spanish democracy and D\u00edaz-Canel vindicated Cuban sovereignty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Felipe VI recalled this Wednesday before Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel that Spain brought to Cuba the conception of universal human rights, defended their respect and stressed that it is the Cuban people themselves who must decide on their future because \u201cthe changes in a country cannot be imposed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The king of Spain conveyed that message in his speech at the dinner he hosted for the Cuban president, who was accompanied by his wife Lis Cuesta, on the occasion of the state visit to the island accompanied by Queen Letizia.<\/span><\/p>\n

The monarch underlined the need for the existence of institutions that represent all citizens and that they can express their preferences for themselves and find in them \u201cadequate respect for the integrity of their rights, including the ability to freely express their ideas, freedom of association or that of assembly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Along that line, he stressed that a sure lesson that is drawn from history is that evolution, adaptation and change are inevitable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNothing remains frozen in time, and whoever resists its passage loses the opportunity to collaborate in the design of that future that is already being born or, even more, that is already here,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was then that he defended that the future of the Cuban people should be elucidated by the citizens themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe changes,\u201d he said, \u201ccannot be imposed, they have to be born from internal dynamics. But in the same way that a change that does not emanate from within the social and political forces of a country cannot succeed, it is equally true that the change will not bring consensus and wellbeing if it does not represent the will of the citizenry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Felipe VI presented to D\u00edaz-Canel the Spanish experience for the process of change in which his country is immersed, and highlighted what the current 1978 Constitution meant for Spain and said it was based on agreement, negotiation, consensus and reconciliation.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo: Juan Carlos Hidalgo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For his part, Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel <\/span>vindicated this Wednesday before Felipe VI the Cuban system<\/span><\/a> that, he said, is aimed at achieving greater wellbeing for its people, and thanked Spain’s support in the face of the \u201cunfair\u201d U.S. sanctions.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his address, after hearing the king\u2019s in which he defended human rights and democracy, the Cuban president stressed that his country\u2019s society is being renewed, is evolving and advancing while preserving its traditions and values \u200b\u200band defending its rights.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are guided by clear principles of independence and sovereignty with the certainty that it is a path towards greater wellbeing for our people,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is, he said, a path chosen by Cubans of their own accord.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, he specified that, in order to understand Cuba, its dreams and what Cubans do, it is necessary to understand everything that the \u201cunfair\u201d U.S. blockade condemns them to.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was then that he showed Cuba’s appreciation for \u201cSpain\u2019s clear and public support against the unjust sanctions and unilateral extraterritorial coercive measures imposed on Cuba by the United States government and that damage so much,\u201d he said, \u201cthe economy and commerce.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n