Cuban President Highlights National Unity in Wake of Hurricane Melissa

No Loss of Human Life Reported Despite Storm's Intensity

The President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, emphasized the Caribbean nation's response capacity to the emergency caused by Hurricane Melissa during a meeting of the National Defense Council on Thursday. The head of state acknowledged that despite the magnitude of the meteorological event, classified as one of the most intense in decades, no loss of human life has been reported in the eastern provinces.

Díaz-Canel attributed these results to prior preparation, social discipline, and institutional mobilization.

“Our triumph is unity,” the president stated, highlighting the role of the Civil Defense system, the Revolutionary Armed Forces, the Ministry of the Interior, mass organizations, and local governments in protecting the population, including vulnerable sectors such as the elderly and children.

International Context and Accusations

In parallel, the Cuban president highlighted the outcome of the UN General Assembly, where 187 nations voted in favor of a resolution demanding the end of the economic, commercial, and financial embargo against Cuba. He considered the result a “victory of dignity” and a display of the “decay of the coercive power” of those who, he said, persist in a hostile policy of more than six decades.

“In those numbers, you can see an empire using the force and the abusive and immoral power of all empires in the history of humanity, but that vote also shows the decay of its power,” he remarked.

The president also rejected what he termed disinformation campaigns that seek “to undermine the morale of the people” by speculating about possible victims or discrediting the recovery efforts. He affirmed that, should there be any fatalities, they would be reported with absolute honesty, but warned against using the pain of others for political purposes.

Díaz-Canel reiterated his commitment to transparently inform any developments regarding human or material damages, while calling for the continuation of cleanup efforts, the reestablishment of services, and solidarity support for the impacted communities.