Silvio Rodríguez: “If what is spent on means of destruction had been used for health, everything would be different” | Exclusive interview on AM750

In an exclusive interview with AM750, Silvio rodriguez He reflected on the coronavirus pandemic, gave his opinion on the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel and repudiated the blockade of Cuba put in place by the government of the United States more than 60 years ago.

Cuban vaccines

More than a year and a half after the start of the pandemic and with the development of three vaccines underway, Rodríguez highlighted the Cuban advances in the fight against Covid and recorded them as one more step in the policy that began Fidel Castro.

“Fidel Castro has said over and over again that we have to be a country of scientists, which is why we have these vaccines and the other three candidates that are still being tested.”, expressed Rodríguez and added: “In addition to the talent and dedication of our scientists, these vaccines exist thanks to the vision and efforts involved in the assembly and pursuit of medical sciences in Cuba. The person most responsible for this was Fidel ”.

So far, Cuba has the Abdala, Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus vaccines, and it is the only country in Latin America that has successfully developed a vaccine against Covid-19.

“I believe that any country can achieve what Cuba has achieved. It does not matter its size or its resources. If there are fewer resources it will take more work, but it is not impossible and we are the example, ”said Rodríguez, also blaming the United States for the blockade it has maintained for 60 years. years.

He added that without the blockade the vaccines would have been ready a long time ago. “Our scientists had to work slower because there are reagents and chemicals that because they don’t sell us, we have to buy them in remote places through third parties. This not only delays, but also makes the production more expensive, ”he commented.

“Countries with more resources tend to do better economically, but these are also countries where more people have been infected and have died,” Rodríguez said and reflected: “If what was spent on destruction had been used for health, it would all be very different. Hopefully we learn and start spending more on health than on suicide, ”the singer said.

Regarding some aspects that have been exposed in the pandemic, Rodríguez stressed that it is “curious and astonishing” that in rich countries there are important sectors of the population who do not want to be vaccinated whereas in poor countries many people cannot be vaccinated even if they want to.

“We live in a contradictory and unfair world», He reflected. “I hope the pandemic will help those who decide around the world to think better about this whole issue. I hope it all makes us more human. This is what we need, ”he added.

Cuba news

“Over 60 years ago, we suffered a blockade that the United States declared for the people to rise up against the revolution. Added to this was the decline in tourism due to the pandemic and the more than 240 measures that the Trump administration imposed on us to suffocate us even more, ”explained the singer when asked about the social and economic crisis in Cuba.

The troubadour said he liked to dialogue with the new generations “to find out how they think” and to exchange opinions. “Young people have their own interpretation of the needs and emergencies of our country. That’s not to say that we always have to coincide no matter who is upset by it. The normal thing is that no two heads are the same, ”said Rodríguez, who asserted that as long as there is respect, all exchanges are positive.

In this sense, the singer recalled that during the first years of the revolution “not all revolutionaries thought in the same way”. “Some were more orthodox. Others, more open, flexible, and even more iconoclastic and with more confidence in the young”, he recalled, while warning that as many historical revolutionaries are already dead or withdrawn of politics, that diversity has been replaced for a time. more unified way of thinking.

“Unfortunately, this uniformity does not resemble those revolutionaries who were more open but rather those who were more conservative.pains. It is one of the contradictions of having a single party, because if the ideas that emanate from it are inclusive, there is no problem, but if these ideas are exclusive and inflexible, we are faced with a problem that tends to get worse, ”he said.

Faced with this situation, the singer stressed the importance of keeping active the “spirit of self-criticism “. “This spirit is made by people who want the gains of the revolution to be saved and maintained. May errors be overcome and our sovereignty consolidated forever, “he said.

Crisis in Cuba

Either way, Rodríguez said that the current crisis that Cuba is going through is the product of Blockade of the United States and the coronavirus pandemic. “It is inevitable that the aim of the blockade has been to economically suffocate the Cuban people to such an extent that the people come to repudiate the revolutionary government.”, I consider. “Added to this is the decline in tourism due to the pandemic and the 240 measures that the Trump administration has imposed on us to suffocate us even more,” he added.

The singer also claimed that the government of Joe biden Not only did he leave Trump’s measures intact, he even deepened them. “Since Biden’s arrival, the Cuban who wants a visa for the United States has to go to another country to ask for it because they have dismantled the consulate they had here in Havana. Another thing that touches us has to do with the remittances that people receive from their relatives abroad. They put up a number of obstacles to create a more drowning feeling, ”he said.

The government of Miguel Díaz-Canel

Rodríguez said he thought highly of Miguel Díaz-Canel’s government. “He is aware that his leadership is inaugurating a new stage, a new government-people commitment. For the first time, the historical leaders of the revolution are not in the foreground, ”said the singer. “I see a president who is constantly on the move listening to people from different spheres of knowledge,” he added.

Rodríguez later denounced that the arrival of the Díaz-Canel government in 2018 caused an increase in attacks against Cuba by the imperial regime. “They see in this absence a factor of weakness and that is why they multiply the attacks”, he concluded.