Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel said that Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip amount to a "brutal genocide", stressing that the demands of the public must be listened to and that the genocide must be stopped. 

Diaz-Canel made the remarks during an interview for Al Mayadeen on the sidelines of the Patria International Colloquium in the Cuban capital, Havana.

"Cuba cannot abandon its condemnation and denunciation of what is happening in the Gaza Strip," the Cuban President stressed, noting that "history will condemn those who participate in the war and genocide there."

The Palestinian people "do not deserve what is happening to them," he stated, stressing that "everyone should raise their voices and find solutions to this genocide."

"The scenes depicted in pictures emerging (from Gaza) are extremely harsh, and this reaffirms our convictions in support of the Palestinian people and their cause. The Palestinians can always count on Cuba for this support," he added.

Devious US empire prevents peace

"Acting with this deviance and criminality in order to determine the fate of peoples can only be compatible with the philosophy and intellect of a corrupt society and a corrupt empire like the United States empire, which considers [every region] as its backyard," Diaz-Canel told Al Mayadeen.

"This policy will not change as long as the empire exists and as long as capitalism exists, as [the two are] completely consistent with their convictions and their expression of hegemony," he explained.

"They want to change people's minds and separate them from their identities, from their worries, and from their dreams," the head of the Cuban state said, adding, "This is the way to control the world, so they will never surrender."

Read more: Cuba's President slams UNSC 'hypocrisy', pledges support for Palestine

Changes to international economic system necessary for new world

"We must first be convinced of the logic of socialist construction, the logic of humanity, and the logic of modernity. [We must also] change the international economic system and put an end to capitalism, so that there is no empire, so that solidarity, friendship, peace, and better everything in this world prevail, that is, in the attainable world that Fidel (Castro) sought," Diaz-Canel told Al Mayadeen.

He said that the Cuban and Palestinian peoples are examples of "courage and defiance to the logic of the Empire," referring to the US-led Collective West. 

Underlining the importance of these virtues, Diaz-Canel said that courage and defiance "expand people's minds and award them enough confidence and conviction to confront and resist capitalism and imperialism and even overcome them."

He stressed that the fact that the Collective West has not been able to defeat the free people of the world is "a victory in itself."

Read more: Cuba summons US envoy to reject 'interfering conduct'

Resistance will continue until victory is achieved

"The Palestinian people, in light of the deviant aggression, are able to stand tall and strong and not surrender to tell others where the path to dignity is, where the path to solutions is, and what should be done and defended."

Concluding his interview for Al Mayadeen, the Cuban President extended his salutes to Palestinian mothers, confirming that "everyone in Cuba is a child of Palestine," asking for resistance to continue "since victory will be ours."

Al Mayadeen participated in the PATRIA conference, which included more than 200 politicians and dozens of journalists from more than 30 countries around the world. Al Mayadeen set up its own designated display section at the conference, aiming to find a new media collective based on combatting deliberate Western disinformation of the Global South. 

Read more: Across rivers and seas, the world unites for a 'Free Palestine'