If the U.S. Government Cares About the Opinion of the United Nations General Assembly, it Should End its Blockade of Cuba!
Cuba solidarity picket,
Kingston, Jamaica, February 28, 2022.
If the U.S. government cares about the opinion of the United Nations General Assembly, it should end its blockade of Cuba! On March 2, following the UN General Assembly vote by 141 for, five against, 35 abstentions and 12 non-participating, to condemn Russia's military action in Ukraine and call for its immediate ending, U.S. officials stepped forward to commend the stand of the General Assembly. U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield declared that "the world has spoken with a clear, united voice," while President Joe Biden stated that "Russia stood isolated."
With these words, the leaders of the U.S. try to create the impression that the opinion of the United Nations General Assembly matters to them. But this is clearly not the case when it comes to the illegal and criminal blockade that the U.S. has maintained against Cuba for the last 60 years.
In fact, for the last 29 consecutive years, the United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly spoken with a clear, united voice to condemn the U.S. blockade of Cuba and demand that the U.S. lift it. At the last such vote, on June 23, 2021, the U.S. stood even more isolated than Russia in the Ukraine vote, with 184 votes in favour of the motion calling for the lifting of the blockade, two votes against, three abstentions and four non-participants. However, the U.S.A. has showed that it has no respect for the opinion of the UN General Assembly by completely ignoring all its votes calling for the lifting of the criminal blockade.
The Cuban government has pointed out that the illegal blockade is part of a policy of siege and economic suffocation aimed at inflicting suffering on the Cuban people in order to incite them against the Cuban government. The blockade has evolved into the most complex, prolonged and inhumane act of economic warfare committed against any nation and it constitutes a massive, flagrant and systematic violation of the human rights of the Cuban people. It qualifies as an act of genocide under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. In the 60 years of the economic blockade, it has inflicted over U.S.$144 billion in damages to the Cuban people and their economy.
The U.S. should end its hypocritical approach towards the opinion of the UN General Assembly and heed the calls of this body to end its illegal blockade against Cuba and her people.
Lift the Blockade and Let Cuba Live!
(See online: Caribbean Network for Solidarity with Cuba)
This article was published in
Volume 52 Number 3 - March 6, 2022
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2022/Articles/M5200317.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca