Brazil’s Workers Party (PT) has issued a communique in support of Cuba, and denounced United States interference in the Caribbean island nation, calling on it to end the 60 year economic blockade designed to bring the country to its knees.
Having faced an international social media-led destabilisation campaign of its own, the PT’s statement condemns “those who, like the US government – speak of “humanitarian aid” while maintaining the blockade and approving financial resources for opposition groups.”
Former president Dilma Rousseff, the main target of that campaign, which ended in her removal from office, said: “60 years of economic and financial blockade of Cuba by the United States are subjecting the Cuban people to enormous sacrifices, which have become even more accentuated since the beginning of the Covid19 pandemic. The American blockade, which has already been condemned 29 times by the UN, imposes very serious deprivation on a small country that has been an example of solidarity, sending doctors around the world to help fight the health crisis. While Cuba offers humanity health professionals, it receives, in exchange, from the USA, in the midst of a pandemic, a cowardly embargo, which is repudiated by almost all countries in the world. I express my support to the Cuban people and to President Miguel Diaz-Canel.”
Meanwhile, Brazil’s current far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro has, like US president Joe Biden, expressed support for Cuban anti-government protests.
“The Workers’ Party (PT) expresses its unconditional support and solidarity to the people and government of the sister Republic of Cuba, which for six decades have been victims of a blockade by the United States of America (USA), damaging trade and diplomatic relations the country with the rest of the world.
On June 23, the PT expressed its opinion on the vote by the member countries of the United Nations (UN) regarding the blockade, which was condemned by an overwhelming majority with 184 votes, with only two votes in defense of the blockade (USA and Israel) and three abstentions (Brazil, Colombia and Ukraine). This UN position is the same since the issue was first voted on.
The Cuban people are the main victims of this long and criminal blockade, being excluded from regular conditions for a dignified life, which could be achieved in a situation of normality.
Combined with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the country had difficult access to food, sanitary material and financial resources at a time of extreme need. In addition, the pandemic led to the worsening of the domestic economic situation, as a result of a drastic drop in earnings from tourism, one of the main sources of income in the country.
Against all these adversities, Cuba managed to develop a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, using its own technology, being in an advanced stage of internal vaccination and have even been able to export doses to other countries.
Based on the above, the PT condemns those who – like the US government – speak of “humanitarian aid” while maintaining the blockade and approving financial resources for opposition groups.
The PT reaffirms its unrestricted condemnation of the blockade and demands its immediate lifting for humanitarian reasons, respect for international law and the inalienable right of peoples for their sovereignty and self-determination.
July 12, 2021.
PT National Executive Committee”
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