Press release –
Cuban Embassy, The Gambia
The International Relations Committee of the National People’s Power Assembly of the Republic of Cuba wishes to thank all parliaments, parliamentary groups, organisations, entities and persons from all corners of the world who have raised their voice in the last months in favour of the lifting of the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States against Cuba. Additionally they expresse appreciation for the annual support of practically all governments in the world who sit in the United Nations General Assembly, for putting an end to this cruel and illegitimate policy.
The blockade is the most comprehensive, unequal and protracted war ever launched against any nation. It violates international law and the purposes and principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter. It is a morally untenable policy and qualifies as an act of genocide. It counters the well-being, the social stability and the satisfaction of the most basic needs of the Cuban people. It poses significant obstacles to the fulfillment of the country’s development potential it deprives the nation from considerable financial and material resources needed for the day-to-day management of domestic economy, the provision of essential services and the country’s overall vitality.
The International Relations Committee strongly condemns the economic blockade and in doing so recalls that the United States government escalated its aggression against Cuba in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic by applying additional coercive economic measures.
This in combination with the punitive actions resulting from Cuba’s re-inclusion in the State Department’s spurious and arbitrary list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism. These actions continue posing exceptional obstacles to the accomplishments of the hard task of fighting the pandemic and saving lives. They reveal this policy’s extreme cruelty towards the Cuban people.
Cuban members of parliament also reaffirm their appeal to all legislators in the world asking them to support the demand that the United States should repeal the infamous Helms-Burton Act, which was conceived to perpetuate the US government’s hostility against Cuba which imposes a colonial tutelage mechanism on the Cuban nation, punish, threaten, intimidate the persons, organisations and governments from third countries who sovereignly exercise their right to have relations with Cuba and freely develop their economic and commercial links with the island.
We reiterate our call for the US Congress to pay heed to the voice of broad sectors of US society who are in favor of the lifting of the blockade and to take the necessary steps to put an end to this stagnant policy against Cuba. We urge the US legislature to establish communication channels with Cuba that may favor exchange and collaboration in areas of mutual bilateral interest.
The International Relations Committee also reaffirms, beyond any doubt, the Cuban people’s unbending determination to resist and overcome.
