Judgment against the blockade of Cuba opens a new stage

The ruling against the U.S. blockade of Cuba issued in the European Parliament by an international court opens a new stage of struggle against that policy, Cuban leader Fernando Gonzalez affirmed today.

• November 17, 2023
• 13:26

After the judges’ verdict -a non-binding decision-, the president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) stressed its political and moral importance to fight more effectively the battle for the end of the economic, commercial and financial siege imposed more than six decades ago.

Even though this verdict is not binding, it constitutes a useful tool to sensitize world public opinion on the issue, he pointed out in this capital city.

Set up yesterday, the international court headed by German judge Norman Peach reached its decision after two days of arguments by the prosecution and denunciations by Cuban, European and U.S. witnesses on the human and economic damages caused by the blockade.

In his decision, he stressed the violation of International Law and the UN Charter, its extraterritorial scope and its devastating consequences in such sensitive sectors as health and education, which could even escalate to the crime of genocide, by virtue of the 1948 convention that typifies it.

Gonzalez thanked the MEPs and the organizations that made the process possible and its depth, based on the quality of the testimonies and the professionalism of the jurists involved.

Likewise, he considered that holding the international tribunal in the European Parliament has a particular symbolism, since attacks on Cuba were made in this space, using human rights and democracy on the basis of falsehoods.

The ICAP president and deputy told that delegates from more than twenty countries, among them 15 from the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom, attended the process in various functions.

In statements to Prensa Latina in a meeting with journalists, both Gonzalez -one of the five Cuban heroes- and the Portuguese MEP Sandra Pereira expressed the contribution of the opinion to strengthen the struggle for the lifting of the siege in different areas.

In this regard, they agreed that it will serve to accompany future actions and initiatives, which will have to be defined and coordinated.