Cuba Denounces Europe’s Double Standard: Does the Blockade Not Violate Human Rights?

Through a statement issued on Monday, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the ”maneuver” and ”farce” on the part of a group of MEPs seeking to discuss the human rights situation in the island, without condemning the six decades long and ongoing unilateral blockade imposed by the US government against the Caribbean nation.

The statement by the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs reads: “If the European Parliament decides to discuss Cuba, the debate would necessarily have to refer to the massive, flagrant and systematic violation of the human rights of the entire Cuban population due to the genocidal, immoral and illegal economic, commercial and financial blockade maintained by the US Government against our country for more than 60 years now.”

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According to the statement, Cuba has suffered more than $144 billion in accumulated damage to its economy as a result of the unilateral sanctions imposed by Washington. In this regard, the document questions the unwillingness of the MEPs—”promoters of the farce”—to demand, from the US government, the end of the blockade policy. The Cuban statement asks: ”Could it be that they [the MEP’s] will demand the elimination of the 243 measures applied by former President Donald Trump, which the current US administration continues to maintain in force [as a violation of human rights]?”

Cuba is no longer a colony and will never be one again
The official statement by the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, highlighting that the Cuban people freed themselves forever from colonial subjugation on January 1, 1959, denounced the political motivations behind this most recent ”anti-Cuban spectacle” promoted by Spanish MEPs who ”share a common nostalgia for franquismo and have a coup vocation, and they forget that Cuba has ceased to be Spain’s colony since 1898.”

It also hurts human dignity, adds the text, that issues such as racism, discrimination and the growing xenophobia in Europe are not discussed in depth in the European Parliament.

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Cuba, a global example of solidarity
The document also criticizes as a display of ”extraordinary rudeness and a lack of ethics” that the MEPs have chosen to criticize Cuba, ”a country that guarantees the right to life and that constitutes a world example of solidarity and cooperation” regarding health, education and other cardinal areas of human rights.

With these words, the Cuban Foreign Affairs Ministry responded to the debate that the European Parliament scheduled for Tuesday, June 8, on ”the political situation and human rights” in Cuba, arising from an alleged ”concern” on this matter, as was expressed by a European Union delegation.

Cuba has constantly emphasized that the economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed by the US not only prevents the full development of the island, but also hinders access to medical supplies and equipment necessary to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Featured Image: View of a poster in Havana, Cuba that reads: “Blockade, the longest genocide in history.” Photo: Reuters.