FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION
An article from Cuba Información (translation by CPNN)
The Peace Boat will arrive in Cuba on July 17 with its message promoting a world free of nuclear weapons, according to the information received from the coordinators of the initiative.
The cruise departed on May 8 from the port of Yokohama, south of Tokyo, on its 98th international trip, and will arrive in the Cuban capital, for the eighteenth time, with 1,200 passengers. Of these, 900 are Japanese and the rest of other Asian countries, the organizers said in a press conference at the headquarters of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP).
In Cuba, visitors will participate in the youth forum on nuclear disarmament and peace, at the headquarters of the Higher Institute of International Relations, where the terrible consequences of a nuclear attack will be described by three hibakushas, as they are called, victims or their descendants of the atomic bombs dropped by the United States in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
They will also visit health centers, education centers and communities, in which they will see the development of the comprehensive health program, mainly with regard to the care of the elderly.
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Peace Boat: Building a Culture of Peace around the World
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A special activity is the visit to the School in Solidarity with Panama, the only one of its kind in Cuba, responsible for the care of children and adolescents with physical-motor impairments and other special needs.
The president of the Cuban Association of the United Nations (ACNU), Fermín Quiñones, added that there will be a meeting between senior citizens of Cuba and Peace Boat, which will be an opportunity to show the progress of the Caribbean nation in the defense of human rights.
Cuban ex-combatants who guarded Havana in 1962 will attend the meeting. They are veterans of the defense at the end of October 1962 when Cuba was threatened with a nuclear aggression by the United States, in what became known internationally as the October Crisis, he said.
Masumi Matsumara, representative of the Peace Boat, thanked the Cuban support for the initiative, through the ICAP, the Cuban Movement for Peace and the Sovereignty of the Peoples (Movpaz), the ACNU and other organizations.
He praised the seriousness and commitment that Cuba has always shown in the campaigns for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, with the signing of international treaties and conventions adopted by the organizations attached to the UN.
Silvio Platero, president of Movpaz, said that the visit of the pacifists is an opportunity for the island to recommence the campaign with Cuban youth for a culture of peace.
He also welcomed the efforts of Peace Boat in promoting a world of harmony, harmony and respect among all peoples.
This voyage, which includes participants from 23 nations, celebrates the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Peace Boat, an international organization with headquarters in Japan that works to promote peace, human rights, fair and sustainable development and respect for the environment.