In Colombia, former President Ernesto Samper (1994-1998) presented the letter to the press in which he pointed out the damage caused to the Cuban people by this unilateral policy, such as the lack of food, medicine, lack of access to technology , financial restrictions, among others.
“In our capacity as former Presidents and Prime Ministers of Latin America and the Caribbean,
We are writing to you to express our deep concern about the sensitive items
situation that the Cuban people are going through today suffers from enormous difficulties
for the delivery of medicines, the arrival of humanitarian aid, the
Restrictions on financial services, the arrival of tourists and investments
Third,” they underline in the text.
All of this is made worse by the passage of recent Hurricane Ian and its devastating impact on the island, they add in the letter addressed to Biden.
They also point to the beginning of the thawing of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba at the end of Barack Obama’s term (2009-2017), when Biden was his vice president.
“You, Mr. President, have been part of this dialogue that has opened a virtuous chapter in hemispheric relations. Therefore, he knows the delicate situation like few others and enjoys authority
politics to push his exit,” he emphasizes.
He adds: “For this to be possible, it is imperative that Cuba be removed from the State Department’s list of countries that promote terrorism.”
She warns that Cuba “was admitted because it supports the peace process in Colombia with the National Liberation Army (ELN) and respects the protocols signed with the Colombian state in its capacity as international guarantor of the same”.
For his part, former President of Ecuador Rafael Correa (2007-2017), who attended the press conference virtually, stated that the blockade had no justification whatsoever.
“We demand a right, we demand that the abuses against Cuba, against its people, abuses that have lasted for decades, stop,” he noted.
He assured that it was “an illegal, unilateral blockade that violates international law, which the General Assembly of the United Nations has repeatedly condemned almost unanimously, but is absurdly being continued”.
He emphasized that this blockade has never made any sense and only lasts for domestic reasons of the United States and it cannot be, it cannot continue sacrificing an entire people.
This initiative of the former presidents, promoted by Samper, complements the call from various sectors of Colombian civil society, religious, academic and political, calling for Biden to exclude Cuba from the list, as did Secretary of State Álvaro Leyva, Peace Commissioner and recently President Gustavo Petro himself to the US -Foreign Secretary Antony Blinken.
The letter was handed over in the context of a growing international demand for an end to the blockade.
Last Saturday, social organizations, the Colombian Movement of Solidarity with Cuba and members of the Association of Cuban Residents in Colombia organized a caravan against the blockade that culminated in front of the United States Embassy in Bogotá.
That same day, a dozen activists and leaders in Washington presented the same allegation to officials at the Cuban office at the State Department.
The sending of the letter also coincides with the debate at the UN General Assembly on the Cuban resolution against the blockade, which will be voted on tomorrow after the presentation of Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez.
The letter is signed by Dilma Rousseff (Brazil), José Mujica (Uruguay), Ernesto Samper (Colombia), Juan Manuel Santos (Colombia), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Martín Torrijos (Panama), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), Vinicio Cerezo (Guatemala), Leonel Fernández (Dominicans), Keith Mitchell (Grenada) and Kenny Anthony (Saint Lucia).
Also David Granger (Guyana), Moses Nagamootoo (Guyana), Donald Ramotar (Guyana), Percival James Patterson (Jamaica), Said Musa (Belize), Winston Baldwin Spencer (Antigua and Barbuda) and Dean Barrow (Belize).
Letter to Joe BIDEN.docx (2)
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