Cuba participates in virtual session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union

Cuba is participating as of today in the extraordinary session of the 206 Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), an organization of which the island has been a constant member since 1977.

The delegation of the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP), led by the vice president of parliament, Ana María Mari Machado, participates in the meeting, which is held virtually due to the limitations imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

As part of the conference, which will run until November 4, it is expected to discuss and make decisions on issues such as the operation, the adoption of the budget, the IPU work program for 2021 and the election of its President.

Through her Twitter account, Mari Machado reported that the candidacies of Canada, Portugal, Uzbekistan and Pakistan have already been submitted for the presidency of the IPU.

The president of the ANPP's International Relations committee, Yolanda Ferrer, also specified from her Twitter profile that Mexican deputy Gabriela Cuevas, president of the IPU from 2017 to 2020, concludes her mandate.

At the meeting, Ferrer will officially cease her functions in the Executive Committee of the organization, after four years of activity.

After the constitution of the parliament in Cuba, in 1976, the largest of the Antilles joined the IPU.

In 2003, for the first time, a deputy from the island, Kenia Serrano, held a position on the organization's Executive Committee, although later other Cuban deputies assumed important positions, such as the aforementioned Ferrer.

The island hosted an appointment of the international organization of parliaments on two occasions: first in 1981, when deputy Raúl Roa was elected president of the Conference held in Havana; and then in 2001.

From the spaces of the Union, Cuba denounces the damages caused by the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on the island for almost 60 years, as well as the implementation of the Helms-Burton law, which internationalizes that siege.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union was founded in 1889, and today it constitutes the focal point of world parliamentary dialogue, from where it works for peace and cooperation among peoples and for the firm establishment of representative democracy.