Caribbean leaders reiterate calls to lift decades-old restrictions and defend national sovereignty.On Friday, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Godwin Friday called for an end to the U.S. blockade against Cuba.
“We must speak clearly on two urgent matters in our hemisphere. The economic, commercial and financial embargo continues to impose severe hardship on the Cuban people,” he said while speaking at the High-Level Forum between Africa and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Bogota.
“St. Vincent and the Grenadines reaffirms the need to end this embargo and rejects the extraterritorial measures that obstruct Cuba’s access to international financial transactions, while noting that its continued designation as a state sponsor of terrorism further restricts its development,” Friday added.
He also urged CELAC countries and African nations to continue defending international law and national sovereignty. Friday called on nations to “stand together in calling for the immediate removal of anti-development measures.”
Historically, most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have voted at United Nations meetings in favor of ending the U.S. blockade against Cuba, which has worsened living conditions for Cubans since 1962.
“Last year, 165 out of 193 UN member states again urged Washington to lift the measures. The resolution — titled ‘Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the U.S. against Cuba’ — was adopted by 165 votes in favor, seven against and 12 abstentions,” the outlet iWitness News recalled.
Over the weekend, during a meeting of the Democratic People’s Movement in Grenada, former Foreign Minister Peter David expressed his gratitude to Cuba for its contributions to the well-being of the Grenadian people and questioned the “ingratitude” shown by some Caribbean countries.
teleSUR/ JF
Sources: Al Mayadeen – iWitness News
0 Comentarios