9th Continental Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba Opens in Mexico City

ByMexico Solidarity

This article by Arturo Sánchez Jiménez originally appeared in the October 9, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Mexico City. In an auditorium filled with Latin American flags and a strong rejection of the US blockade against Cuba, the Ninth Continental Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba opened this Thursday at the Teatro de las Artes of the National Center for the Arts (Cenart). More than 250 delegates from 23 countries attended the opening ceremony, where they expressed their support for the Cuban people and their solidarity with Palestine, while several voices demanded that Mexico sever relations with Israel.

During the ceremony, representatives of the Mexican government, legislators, diplomats, and leaders of social movements agreed that Cuba embodies dignity and resilience in the face of adversity.

Fernando González Llort, President of ICAP and one of the Cuban Five

In inaugurating the meeting, Cuban hero Fernando González Llort, president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, thanked Mexico for its historic solidarity with Cuba and highlighted the support provided by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the face of the explosion at the Matanzas Supertanker Base on August 5, 2022. He reiterated Cuba’s commitment to Palestine and Venezuela and rejected the aggressions of the United States.

On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Imanol Belausteguigoitia Reyes, Director General for Central America and the Caribbean, reaffirmed Mexico’s rejection of the blockade and announced the second phase of the “Sembrando Vida” program in Cuba. He also emphasized the “valuable presence of Cuban doctors” in Mexican communities. “The Cuban people are an example of strength and hope,” he said.

At the end of his speech, the audience chanted: “Let’s break, let’s break relations with Israel!” in support of Palestine.

Palestinian Ambassador Nadya Rasheed

The longest standing ovation of the evening went to Palestinian Ambassador Nadya Rasheed, who was greeted by the audience with standing ovations and shouts of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will triumph!” while Palestinian flags were waved. “To speak of Cuba is to speak of solidarity,” the diplomat stated in her speech, in which she emphasized that the island has always stood by Palestine, with “loyalty and dignity.”

Senate President Laura Itzel Castillo recalled that the friendship between Mexico and Cuba “was put to the test during the neoliberal period,” when right-wing governments sought to “break the relationship.” She asserted that “the rise of the left to power in 2018 cannot be understood without the inspiration of the Cuban Revolution,” and demanded an end to the blockade, calling the island’s resistance “a moral lesson for the world.”

Nikolay V. Sofinskiy, Russian Ambassador to Mexico

Tamara Barra, coordinator of the Mexican Movement of Solidarity with Cuba, organizer of the event, demanded the return of the statues of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro removed by the Cuauhtémoc City Hall. “Ignorance cannot prevail over history,” she declared.

Among those in attendance were the ambassadors of Russia, Venezuela, and Vietnam, who were greeted with applause, as well as Morena leaders such as Carolina Rangel Gracida and Héctor Díaz Polanco.

Mexico is hosting this meeting for the second time—the previous time was in 2011. Activities will continue this Friday at the Los Pinos Cultural Center, with lectures and workshops, and will continue until Sunday. The previous meeting was held eight years ago in the Dominican Republic.