CARICOM Demands Cuba Embargo Be Lifted

The presidents of the nations that make up the Community of the Caribbean States (CARICOM) demanded this past Thursday that the United States lift the embargo on Cuba, a unilateral policy set almost five decades ago.

Denzil Douglas, prime minister of the regional organization of Saint Kitts and Nevis, demanded an end to sanctions on Havana in the inaugural speech of the Cuba-CARICOM summit, carried out in Puerto España, capital of Trinidad and Tobago.

The Spanish agency EFE highlights in a report that Douglas emphasized the right of each nation to self-determination and to have no interference in its internal affairs by other states.

CARICOM’s headline reiterated the position of the nations that make up the organization to ask Washington to immediately cease the economic, financial and commercial blockade, which has cost Cuba losses valued at $975 billion.

This request joins that of the other countries in the world which vetoed the sanctions to the Caribbean island in the past General Assembly of the United Nations, with 186 votes in favor of lifting, two against and three abstentions.

The absurd and obsolete laws of the embargo also affect other countries; for example, CARICOM’S own summit had to be changed from its initial headquarters at the Hilton Hotel in Trinidad. Since the American chain didn’t have a permit from Washington, it wasn’t able to host the meeting.

The brutal economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba is the most prolonged and cruel that I’ve ever seen in human history.

The damages caused have been uncountable in every aspect of life; plus, the fighting capacity of those born on the rebellious island has continued to be a bastion, impregnable against the evil intentions of the imperial inhuman law.