Latest update November 21st, 2024 1:00 AM
CARICOM reiterates condemnation of US embargo against Cuba
The Caribbean Community has unequivocally condemned, once again, the embargo that the United States of America has placed on the Republic of Cuba.
CARICOM Secretary General Irwin LaRocque during yesterday’s meeting – Credit: DPI
This was iterated during the Sixth Meeting of Foreign Ministers of CARICOM and Cuba yesterday, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.
The Donald Trump administration has imposed heavy new restrictions on travel to Cuba by US citizens. It includes a ban on cruises, in an attempt to pressure the country to rescind its support for Venezuela’s President, Nicolas Maduro.
A release from the US State Department on June 4 states, “The United States holds the Cuban regime accountable for its repression of the Cuban people, its interference in Venezuela, and its direct role in the man-made crisis led by Nicolas Maduro. Despite widespread international condemnation, Maduro continues to undermine his country’s institutions and subvert the Venezuelan people’s right to self-determination. Empowered by Cuba, he has created a humanitarian disaster that destabilises the region.”
It is important to note that this is only one in a history of actions taken by the US since the 1960s to cripple the Caribbean island
CARICOM Secretary General, Ambassador LaRocque was keen to note that CARICOM’s member states appreciate the close relationship forged with Cuba, and nurtured over the past 47 years.
LaRocque reminded how Guyana, Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago, in 1972, established diplomatic relations with Cuba despite the tensions of the Cold War.
“Recent actions against Cuba revive memories of that period,” he said.
“The community reiterates its call for an immediate and unconditional end to the economic, commercial and financial embargo against imposed by the government of the United States of America against Cuba.”
Ambassador LaRocque also condemned what he called the “extra-territorial” nature of the embargo, referring to America’s citing of Cuba’s support for President Maduro as the reason for it.
He said that recent developments have not just affected Cuba, but CARICOM member states as well.
“This has made even more important our practice of mutual support in hemispheric and international arenas.”
And Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Karen Cummings, lauded Cuba for its work in the region “in human resources” for the development of the region, particularly scholarships for students to train in the medical sciences.
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