Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares stated this Tuesday that it is the Cuban people who must freely decide on their future and proposed that any situation in that country should always remain within the respect for international law.

Albares, who concludes an official two-day visit to the Dominican Republic today as part of a Latin American tour, also advocated for an end to the unacceptable humanitarian situation currently affecting the Cuban nation.

He noted that during the IV Democracy Summit held in Spain, his country—along with Brazil and Mexico—issued a communique expressing enormous concern over the situation in Cuba. The statement focused on the need to send aid to alleviate the economic and supply crisis, citing the impact of the U.S. blockade.

The diplomat further clarified that Spain does not participate in the contacts currently held between the U.S. and Cuban governments.

This is an exclusively bilateral process between Cuba and the United States. This has been publicly stated, he emphasized.

However, he asserted that it is the Cuban people who must freely decide on their future (...) Cuba's territorial integrity must be respected, the high-ranking Spanish official responded to the media at his country’s embassy in Santo Domingo.

The Donald Trump Administration imposed an oil blockade on Cuba last January, which relied on the arrival of crude from countries such as Venezuela or Mexico.

At the end of last March, the United States allowed a Russian-flagged oil tanker to reach Cuba, an action that has contributed to somewhat alleviating the severe energy crisis currently facing the Caribbean nation.

Albares, who is accompanied by the Secretary of State for Ibero-America and the Caribbean, Susana Sumelzo Jordán, will depart this Tuesday for Mexico to conclude a regional tour that began Monday in Puerto Rico.