Washington deceives public opinion about the invitations to that meeting from which it intends to exclude Cuba and also exerts extreme pressure on numerous countries in the region that oppose it. Can someone come up with something more anti-democratic? Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla wondered | Victor Manuel González
(April 25) – Cuba denounced today before the national and foreign press that the US is negotiating in a dark and exclusive way the issues of what would be the ninth Summit of the Americas, agreed for June in Los Angeles.
Washington deceives public opinion about the invitations to that meeting from which it intends to exclude Cuba and also exerts extreme pressure on numerous countries in the region that oppose it. Can someone come up with something more anti-democratic? Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla wondered.
Cuba was present at the last two summits, but it could be surprising that, due to a maneuver linked to the internal and electoral situation in the United States, the current administration incurs a serious historical setback in terms of the step taken by its country under the presidency of Obama, of which Biden was the vice president, and that Trump even kept him; to the detriment of the concertation objectives.
The foreign minister thanked the governments of the region for their supportive position that oppose the decision not to invite the island to the Summit of the Americas.
It is even more incomprehensible that Cuba was not present when the event would seek to collate consensus on issues in which, such as health, the Caribbean country is recognized for an outstanding performance, while the host shows very poor grades.
In other matters such as migration, democracy and human rights, the northern country also lacks the moral authority to set itself up as a model.
Health plan without Cuba?
A purported health and resilience action plan for the Americas until 2030 is managed in an opaque manner, riddled with neoliberal elements and with many shortcomings regarding the real needs of the peoples, Rodríguez Parrilla said, adding that such negotiations evade substantial cooperation and fundamental financing to face the aftermath of Covid-19, he added.
Neither do they take into account the real needs of the peoples and the structural failures of precarious health systems that caused many deaths in the hemisphere during the pandemic, including in the United States.
Cuba in a modest but altruistic and persistent way has provided international cooperation in health, recognized worldwide, said the minister, who recalled the support of the Caribbean nation in many countries in the region.The medical brigades in more than 50 countries, the vaccines against Covid, the presence in countries that are victims of natural disasters and epidemics are Cuban. The thousands of scholarships awarded to low-income youth from the continent, not excluding Americans, are also Cuban. Operation Miracle restored sight to thousands of people. The Cuban capacity to transfer technology, vaccines, protocols and treatments, among other proven successful experiences, should be taken into account when defining hemispheric health policies.
Cuba in a modest but altruistic and persistent way has provided international cooperation in health, recognized worldwide, said the minister, who recalled the support of the Caribbean nation in many countries in the region.The medical brigades in more than 50 countries, the vaccines against Covid, the presence in countries that are victims of natural disasters and epidemics are Cuban. The thousands of scholarships awarded to low-income youth from the continent, not excluding Americans, are also Cuban. Operation Miracle restored sight to thousands of people. The Cuban capacity to transfer technology, vaccines, protocols and treatments, among other proven successful experiences, should be taken into account when defining hemispheric health policies.
The US breaches immigration agreements
The head of Cuban diplomacy also denounced that the migratory issue will also be the center of the summit, on which another document is being negotiated behind the back of public opinion, which intends to force Latin American states to repress migration and absorb the migrants that the United States rejects. , with a racist and xenophobic vision
Rodríguez Parrilla pointed out that in the case of Cuba, the conduct of the US has been to cut off regular and safe channels and prevent emigration through a policy that he described as selective and discriminatory.
The US fails to comply with the agreement to grant 20,000 annual visas, forces applicants for this document to travel to Guyana and imposes third countries to establish transit visas for Cubans, while encouraging illegal emigration.The head of Foreign Relations described as positive the resumption last week of bilateral talks, the recognition by the US delegation of the breaches and the expressed desire to resume consular services in Havana, although in a very limited way. However, he considered it necessary to ask the authorities in Washington when they will comply with the 20,000 annual visas, how many will be granted in 2022, until when Cubans will have to travel to Guyana to do the paperwork and what will happen with the family reunification program.
Serious human damage due to the blockade
The minister updated the data on damages caused by the US to Cuba during more than 60 years of economic, commercial and financial blockade, amounting to 150 thousand 410 million dollars. He clarified that these losses total one trillion 326 thousand 432 million dollars when taking into account the depreciation of the dollar against gold in the international market.
This represents more than 365 million dollars per month, and more than 12 million per day to the detriment of a small and underdeveloped economy like Cuba’s; it has a severe impact on families, involves serious human damage, and becomes a cause of economic emigration.
Rodríguez invited the government of the northern power to talk bilaterally or multilaterally about those sensitive issues in which, he said, Washington has many problems.
He supported Nicaragua’s decision to withdraw from the Organization of American States (OAS) and rejected the participation in the June meeting of illegitimate and spurious representatives of Latin American countries.
Finally, he stressed that the US should understand that Latin America has changed forever and there is no room to impose the vision of the Monroe Doctrine, against which the heroes of the independence of the peoples of the region fought.
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(Bohemia, with information from Cubavisión Internacional and Prensa Latina)
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