"The blockade and the policy of aggression and hostility of the United States government against Cuba is a threat to the existence and well-being of the Cuban people and to the exercise of their human rights. It is a threat to regional peace, security, and stability. It is a threat to any sovereign state that could be subjected to similar aggressive and extraterritorial measures in the future."
This was stated at a press conference on Tuesday by Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, a member of the Political Bureau and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, after announcing that a session of the United Nations General Assembly will be held on July 7th, under agenda item 38, entitled: The need to end the economic, commercial, and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.
The Foreign Minister said that, along with the other UN member states, Cuba will "denounce the aggressive actions of the United States government against our country, which include the threat of direct military aggression in violation of international law and international and regional peace and security."
He also stated that he will denounce the energy blockade, which, along with other measures to intensify the blockade, constitutes an act of genocide, also classified as collective punishment and a massive, flagrant, and systematic violation of the human rights of Cubans and of international humanitarian law.
Thus, the General Assembly, "will be able to address this issue objectively and in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, in particular respect for the sovereign equality of States and territorial integrity and political independence, the prohibition of the threat or use of force, respect for the self-determination of peoples and non-interference in internal affairs, as well as the peaceful settlement of disputes," he stated.
He also emphasized his certainty that the vast majority of the international community supports and will continue to support the Caribbean nation. "This is an urgent situation because the multidimensional aggression of the U.S. government against Cuba is already underway and intensifying."
In that regard, he clarified that this is not a future danger or threat, but a crime against humanity in full swing. Its humanitarian damage is growing, and the suffering and deprivation it inflicts on our people increase every day, he insisted.
Furthermore, he indicated that "this systemic aggression is reinforced by the use of monopolistic communication, digital, and media power to try to isolate and discredit Cuba, and to attempt to justify the unjustifiable crime that imperialism is committing against our people."
In this regard, he said that "it has been demonstrated in publications and in Cuban and international media outlets that the State Department is deliberately using U.S. media outlets as part of this aggression."
This is complemented, he said, by an intense diplomatic campaign in almost every capital city in the world and in multilateral forums. "The U.S. Permanent Mission in New York, at the United Nations headquarters, in other international organizations, and its embassies around the globe are exerting unprecedented pressure to try to prevent this session from taking place on July 7th," he denounced.
EVIDENCE
On this subject, he referred to three U.S. documents that are currently circulating clandestinely and that form the basis of the meetings and pressure exerted against diplomats and government officials in various parts of the world, he asserted.
1. "It’s time for change in Cuba." This document argues that Cuba is a direct threat to U.S. national security due to its support for hostile actors, terrorism, and regional instability, and it complements Executive Order 14404.
2. The first line states, "The regime must reform. Don’t vote for his propaganda." Similarly, it refers to the upcoming vote on the United Nations General Assembly resolution on the blockade of Cuba, which has always received overwhelming support from the majority of member states, "despite some attempts to contaminate it, procedurally damage the consideration of the issue, or even exert brutal pressure, particularly last year, to force states to change their discourse."
3. "Completely slanderous, dedicated to trying to portray Cuba as a belligerent party in the war taking place in Ukraine. Full of lies, without a single shred of evidence, without a single fact."
"CUBA HAS BEEN, IS, AND WILL BE A COUNTRY OF PEACE"
During the conference, Rodríguez Parrilla categorically rejected "the military threat from the world’s largest military and nuclear power against a small island, a country in the Global South." He reiterated that "there are no foreign military bases in Cuba and that the Secretary of State is deliberately lying when he claims otherwise. The only foreign base usurping our country’s territory is the U.S. base occupying Guantánamo. Havana was the site where the proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace was signed. Cuba has been, is, and will be a country of peace," he declared.
Furthermore, he insisted that the authorities of the Caribbean nation have cooperated and will continue to cooperate, despite its hostility, with the U.S. government on law enforcement matters, in the fight against drug trafficking, international organized crime, human trafficking, and particularly terrorism.
This, despite the fact that Cuba is currently the victim of terrorist acts and the incitement of terrorism and violence carried out from U.S. territory with absolute impunity, financed by and involving recruited terrorists—evidence that has been submitted to and is constantly being updated by that government, he reiterated.
He also recalled the thwarted attempt by a heavily armed terrorist commando to infiltrate the country through the Corralillo area. He further reiterated that Cuba is not participating in the war in Ukraine and that it prosecutes mercenaries, as established by the Constitution of the Republic.
Recently, the U.S. government tried to prevent the World Food Programme, an international agency of the United Nations system, from approving humanitarian food aid for the Cuban people. Despite this, the U.S. government was completely isolated in a democratic vote, he recalled.
He also referred to the contrast between these events and the supposed amounts of humanitarian aid offered by Washington to the Caribbean nation, which have not been fully delivered.
"Cuba is a nation that loves peace and dialogue. We believe in multilateralism and the central role of the United Nations. We will persist in preserving Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace," the Foreign Minister stated. "For Cubans, the free, sovereign, dignified, and independent homeland is sacred. For this ideal, several generations of patriots have paid the ultimate price and endured every sacrifice." Now it will be no different in the face of a scenario of aggression that we do not want and that we hope will never happen; we will fight to the bitter end."
In response to a question from Granma, the Foreign Minister argued that in Cuba, "newborn babies are dying as a consequence of the effects of this extreme policy of strangulation. The life expectancy of children diagnosed with cancer has deteriorated due to the lack of devices, technology, equipment, or even appropriate treatment that is beyond our reach."
"But today in Cuba there is no humanitarian crisis as described by international instruments." In that regard, he emphasized that "the very serious humanitarian damage being caused by the energy embargo and the intensification of the blockade is entirely deliberate."
"In no humanitarian situation in Cuba can the island constitute a threat to the national security of the United States, nor to its foreign policy, nor to its economy," he declared.
On the other hand, he maintained that "the talks between the governments of Cuba and the United States show no progress." He stated that the conduct of the U.S. government delegation is accompanied by aggressive statements against Cuba, threats of military aggression, the application of coercive measures or additional acts of blockade, offensive declarations against the unity of our people and against our independence, along with the persistent but ultimately unsuccessful attempts to interfere in and determine the internal affairs of Cubans, the constant leaking of toxic information to digital networks and the press, and even the politically motivated and sometimes complicit use of certain U.S. media outlets to spread a misleading narrative.
Despite all this, Cuba remains open to dialogue and the peaceful resolution of differences, based on international law, with equality and respect, in mutual interest and benefit, without interference in Cuba's internal affairs, he insisted.
