By Nuria Barbosa León on January 12, 2022
Alicia Jrapko being awarded the Cuban Medal of Friendship. Photo: José Manuel Correa
The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, lamented today the death of the tireless Argentine fighter Alicia Jrapko, who devoted her life to fight for justice on behalf of her disappeared comrades. She also fought with determination for the return of Elián, Gonzalez to Cuba and the freedom of the Cuba Five and against the long US blockade of Cuba.
“Farewell sister,” Diaz-Canel wrote on Twitter. Also, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla expressed his heartfelt condolences for the death of the solidarity activist of Argentine origin and resident of Oakland, California, who has been fighting against a malignant tumor for more than two years.
Granma spoke with her during the solidarity event held in Havana from November 1 to 3, 2019, where she expressed her committed activism as coordinator of the International Committee Peace, Justice and Dignity in the US.
She urged us to “reflect that today the U.S. is a convulsed society with a decaying system. The government chooses which countries to attack and which to support, depending on their behavior in regards to obeying the laws of imperialism. Today the enemy for them is Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Syria and other nations that have chosen to protect their sovereignty without bowing to US interests.
“Cuba has not done anything to the U.S., it has never attacked it, but that government must justify its actions as a way to divert attention so that people cannot reflect on the chaotic situation inside their own country. There are many fundamental problems there in terms of unemployment, racism, drugs, murders and other evils. It is a society that shows a face of hatred, xenophobia, instead of messages of love and peace,” argued the woman who headed the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five in the United States.
“I have hope because in the United States we are uniting in the fight to conquer our rights. Every day there is struggle and someday that society will explode,” said Alicia who has received several distinctions in Cuba, including the Felix Elmuza Medal awarded by the Union of Journalists of Cuba, the Shield of the city of Holguin and the Medal of Friendship granted by the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba, at the proposal of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples.
Source: Granma, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English