Cuban diplomat returns home

By Brian E. Muhammad -Contributing Writer- | Last updated: Sep 3, 2013 - 4:16:59 PM

L-R Brian Becker; A.Akbar Muhammad; Patricia Prego; Brian E. Muhammad, Alexander V. Rodriguez Salazar

WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) - Comrades, friends and supporters gathered at the Cuban Interest section here to bid farewell to First Secretary Patricia Prego, whose diplomatic service in the United States has ended.

The reception was held in the sprawling building which houses the Cuban diplomatic mission.

Under Ms. Prego the Interest Section continued the legacy of struggle for freedom, justice and solidarity with leaders and organizations fighting adverse foreign policies and imperialism of the United States government.

The outgoing diplomat left a lasting impression from her efforts representing the revolutionary government she represented. For Fifty-three years the U.S. has imposed an economic embargo on Cuba after the rise to power of Fidel Castro in a 1959 revolution that ousted the government of Fulgencio Batista—a U.S. puppet regime.

With the crippling sanctions and many assassination attempts on Castro, the U.S. attempted to break the spirit of the Cuban people and their leadership as political punishment for their uncompromising position against U.S. capitalism and imperialism. “Cuba has been confronted the dilemma of being independent, or being absorbed by the United States,” Ms. Prego explained in a speech.

But Cuba has weathered the storms of foreign meddling and Ms. Prego’s four years represented the spirit of the Cuban endurance. She fostered people-to-people alliances with independent groups like the Nation of Islam and others that worked against the machinations of the U.S. State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency.

During the gathering, Ms. Prego introduced the incoming Ambassador, Mr. Alexander V. Rodriguez Salazar who expressed determination yet humility in his new position. Mr. Rodriguez Salazar stated his eagerness to continue to nurture the progressive relationships and facilitate initiatives such as the Cuban Medical School scholarships that has allowed the training of students to serve as doctors in the inner cities across America.

Various activists were present such as Abdul Akbar Muhammad, the international representative of the Nation of Islam and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, who gave official greetings and regards to Ms. Prego from Minister Farrakhan, his family and the Nation of Islam. Other people and organizations such as Brian Becker of Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (A.N.S.W.E.R.) coalition and the All African People Revolutionary Party were present as well.

(Brian E. Muhammad can be reached at [email protected])

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