At a press conference in Santiago de Chile with Secretary of State Antonia Urrejola, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed the importance of taking action to hold the Cuban government accountable for the oppression of the Cuban people.
“And when it comes to Cuba, I think the longstanding views of the United States, including this administration, are well known,” Blinken said.
The Secretary of State recalled the actions taken by the Biden administration “to alleviate as much as possible the hardships facing the island’s people” and how the communist regime resorted to violence to quell the peaceful July 11, 2021 protests.
“We have recently taken steps, including remittances, travel and visas, to try to continue to help and empower the Cuban people. At the same time, we saw that a year ago the Cuban people tried again to defend their rights and that these protests, peaceful protests, were not only violently repressed, but people, including minors, were generally imprisoned with excessive prison terms 15 , 20 to 30 years just because they speak their mind,” said Blinken.
In this regard, the head of US diplomacy said that “we must hold the Cuban government responsible, like any other government, for denying the Cuban people these rights.”
“Again, we may have different approaches on how best to do this. And that’s a very important conversation that we always have, because we all make our judgments, and certainly no one is infallible when it comes to that, including us. And we try: we listen carefully and learn from our partners and friends, but the underlying principle is the same,” he said.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric was among Latin American leaders who criticized Washington’s decision in June not to invite Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela to the Americas Summit in Los Angeles.
Referring to the United States’ relationship with Latin America, Antony Blinken pointed out that “virtually all of the challenges facing our peoples simply cannot be dealt with on our own. We need alliances, we need cooperation, we need cooperation, and that starts with America’s closest partners, like Chile.”
Ahead of his meeting with Urrejola, Blinken met President Boric at the Palacio de la Moneda and both stressed the importance of the relationship between the two countries, shortly after 2023 will mark the bicentenary of bilateral relations.
Blinken and Boric discussed the importance of continuing to expand responsible trade and investment flows as the 20th anniversary of the US-Chile Free Trade Agreement approaches.
They also analyzed areas of cooperation that contribute to strengthening democracy in the region. They also agreed to continue to address the aftermath of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, which is being seen around the world, including in the Western Hemisphere.
(With a contribution by Michel Sagué for Radio Martí)