Amidst the stepped up counterrevolution being fomented against the Cuban people by the U.S., the President of Mexico Andres Manuel López Obrador has pointed out that the U.S., which claims high ideals for these activities in the name of assisting the Cuban people, should start with putting an end to the economic blockade against Cuba.

“If one wanted to help Cuba the first thing that should be done is to suspend the blockade on Cuba, as most of the countries of the world are requesting. That would be a truly humanitarian gesture. No country in the world should be encircled, blockaded. That is the most contrary thing there can be to human rights,” said the Mexican president at a press conference while on a tour of Tabasco state.

He added that there should be no interventionism and neither should the health situation of the Cuban people be used for political purposes. He further criticized the singling out and politicization of the situation in Cuba through media campaigns by “those who do not agree with the policies of the Government of Cuba.”

He gave the example of the organization Article 19 that recently disseminated a photograph of massive protests in Egypt claiming they were demonstrations in Cuba. Article 19 is a British-based group whose funders include the U.S. Agency for International Development. It claims to defend freedom of expression and freedom of information yet regularly criticizes Cuba while covering up the criminal effects of the blockade and decontextualizing the need for Cuba to defend itself from U.S. interference and aggression.

“This is just a sample of what they did worldwide,” said the Mexican president referring to the campaign against Cuba.

López Obrador offered humanitarian assistance from Mexico to deal with the shortages of medicine and food in Cuba, deprivation that is caused by the blockade for purposes of heightening political tensions.

He affirmed that health and food are fundamental human rights, and provision of aid to meet these needs should not be used for purposes of foreign intervention.

(With files from Mexican government.)