Over 30 nations call for end to U.S. blockade against Cuba
Leaders from more than 30 countries on five continents have called on the United States to end the more than half-century-long blockade imposed on Cuba.
A total of 12 heads of state from the Caribbean and Latin America, Africa and Asia demanded the lifting of the economic, commercial and financial siege on the Caribbean island on the only day of recess during the 72nd United Nations General Assembly held in New York City.
Top diplomats and representatives from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts and Nevis, Guyana, Ecuador, Tanzania, South Africa, Sao Tome and Principe, Burkina Faso, Vietnam, Nauru and Vanuatu, just to name few, joined in the chorus against the unilateral blockade imposed on the island.
Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly, St. Kitts and Nevis Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Anthony Brantley defended the right of the Cuban people to live a dignified life in peace.
Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dennis Moses warned that the U.S.-imposed blockade jeopardizes the achievement of sustainable development in the largest island of the Antilles.
For his part, Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno alluded to the blockade and broader issues of conflict and war when he said, “We firmly believe that peace and development are built through dialogue, but if we continue with war and blockades, we will never reach true democracy and liberty. That is why we insist on respect for the sovereignty of states and non-interference.”
U.S. President Donald Trump called Cuba “corrupt and destabilizing” in his address to the General Assembly in New York, and said that he would not lift the blockade until the Caribbean nation made what he called “fundamental reforms.”
Responding to Trump’s remarks Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez reminded Washington of its own dirty laundry. “We remind the United States of its violations of human rights. They do not have the slightest moral authority to judge my country.”
He also accused the United States of using weapons and financial, judicial and cultural pressure to interfere with the right of self-determination of peoples around the world.
(From Telesur)
