“We are here to demand the sovereignty of our peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean,” Samantha Wherry, a member of the pacifist organization CodePink, said in statements to Prensa Latina.
“In particular, we demand the end of sanctions, the end of the blockades against Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela,” he added.
The young activist noted that the demand also includes that the United States respect the sovereignty of the peoples of Honduras and Colombia, as well as Peru given its interference in that country’s internal problems.
“We remain very aware of the Cuban people and send them our solidarity,” Wherry stressed, recalling that CodePink is conducting a campaign to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, drawn up according to US government criteria.
“Cuba doesn’t support terrorism, these are lies that are invented here in our country, in the White House, in Congress, to isolate them and so we can’t learn from all the Cuban social programs that we should take on,” he explained .
He also said it is time for the United States to build better relations with the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.
In this vein, speakers stressed that this part of the world was not Washington’s backyard and condemned attempts to keep alive the Monroe Doctrine, which had been at the interventionist core of United States foreign policy since December 1823, nearly two centuries ago defined the region.
The slogan “USA hands off Latin America and the Caribbean!” took on a new dimension on this Sunday, which first promised rain and then brought sunshine.
And amid the high temperatures that characterize this time of year, participants raised banners and kept repeating “Cuba yes, blockade no,” “Cuba off terror list,” and other expressions of solidarity with the rest of the nations in the region.
Well into the afternoon, protesters remained outside President Joe Biden’s home at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
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