3-03-09, 3:58 pm

HAVANA, Cuba, March 3 (acn) Jose Marti is a source of inspiration for all the people fighting for freedom, dignity and decorum, the Dominican Republic's President Leonel Fernandez Reyna said today. He also called for Latin American integration and condemned the US blockade to Cuba.

The head of state placed a floral wreath at Jose Marti's memorial of the Revolution square in Havana on Tuesday, accompanied by Cuban Higher Education Minister Juan Vela Valdes.

In statements to the press after visiting the museum dedicated to the Cuban national hero, the president said there is a special bond between Cuba and the Dominican Republic through the figure of Maximo Gomez, who Marti looked for to reinitiate the war for Cuban independence.

Fernandez spoke about the importance of Latin American and Caribbean integration to face the international financial crises. He said the region should be able to unify ideas through unity and that those criteria should be presented at the United Nations.

Unity is a starting point to express a common vision of this universal problem, said the president, who noted that his current visit to Cuba seeks to strengthen the historical, cultural and friendly bonds between both nations.

Fernandez also referred to the economic, financial and commercial blockade by the US on Cuba. He said this measure that has been kept for nearly 50 years is a failed policy and that he hopes that the American administration rethinks its stance and lifts the measure.

From the Cuban News Agency