Mexico's Obrador pledged to lead movement to lift US blockade on Cuba

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
12 Feb 12:10
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Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says he will lead an effort to lift the US embargo on Cuba.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel, right, and Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador speak after signing bilateral agreements at Revolution Palace in Havana, Cuba, May 8, 2022 (AP)

Mexico will be leading an effort to defend Cuba's sovereignty and lift the US blockade on the Caribbean island nation, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Sunday.

"We will continue to demand the lifting of the blockade from Cuba, it is inhumane... I propose to [Cuban] President Miguel Diaz-Canel that Mexico lead a more active movement, that all countries unite, and that Cuba's independence and sovereignty be protected," the Mexican president told his Cuban counterpart at a bilateral meeting.

The US broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in the 1960s, after which Washington announced a trade embargo against the island nation.

There were some attempts by former US President Barack Obama to normalize bilateral trade with Cuba during his tenure, but all of his policies were reversed by his successor, former President Donald Trump, whose tenure saw an additional 243 economic sanctions imposed on Cuba, tighter travel regulations, and the country's placement on the list of "State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT).

A group of 160 mostly American lawyers called in late January on US President Joe Biden to "immediately initiate a review and notification process to remove Cuba from the SSOT list."

In a letter by the Alliance for Cuba Engagement and Respect (ACERE), the attorneys pointed out that "there is no legal or moral justification for Cuba to remain on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list."

Biden not only reversed, but tightened measures

Havana previously highlighted that US-backed terrorism has killed or wounded more than 5,000 Cubans and cost its economy billions of dollars.

It is noteworthy that Cuba has been under US sanctions for 60 years. Despite election promises, Biden has not reversed the measures, in fact hardening his speech following US-backed anti-government riots on the Caribbean island nation in July 2021.

It is noteworthy that during his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York in late November 2022, Cuban Foreign Minister Rodriguez Parilla decried the 60 years of US economic embargo against Cuba which he described as "vast, cruel and immoral."

Parilla explained that "the government of the US is reinforcing pressure on banking institutions, companies, and governments throughout the world that are interested in establishing relations with Cuba, and the US continues to obsessively pursue all sources of foreign exchange coming into the country to bring about the economic collapse of the nation."

The top Cuban diplomat recalled that the UNGA had voted 29 times, with an overwhelming majority, to end the "ruthless and unilateral" embargo on Cuba, noting that the US ignored the assembly's decision 29 times.

"Thirty years have now elapsed since the first general assembly voted against this blockade, and at this time, the US continues to ignore the almost unanimous demand from you to cease its illegal and brutal policy against Cuba," Parilla indicated, urging the US to remove the Caribbean island from the list of "state sponsors of terrorism."