UN General Assembly
2017

The grave damage to services, the loss of social and personal goods, and the hardships endured by families that spent many hours without electricity and/or water only strengthened the unity and solidarity of our noble and heroic people. The moving scenes of rescuers saving a girl and returning her to her mother, a little boy picking up a bust of José Martí from the rubble, students helping families they had never met before, soldiers from the Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior doing the toughest jobs, and local leaders heading the most difficult tasks have become all too familiar. During a visit to the area that suffered the most severe devastation, President Raúl Castro issued an appeal that read: