Cuban Observatory for Human Rights called on EU and UN for “distracting from the reasons for the protests” on the island

The Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) criticized the High Representative of the European Union for foreign policy, Josep borrell, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle bachelet, for “diverting attention from the motives of the protests in Cuba”.

“There were many demands in the protests, but the most popular phrases were ‘freedom’ and ‘we are not afraid’. To attribute the reason for the protests solely to the economic situation, as Ms. Bachelet did, is to understand absolutely nothing of what is happening in Cuba “, said the Executive Director of OCDH, Alejandro Gonzalez Raga.

“The language of presumption in its official statement is also unfortunate, which seems to ignore what anyone in the world in the world has seen with their own eyes,” he added.

In the opinion of the Madrid-based agency, the demonstrators “have clearly expressed the main problem of Cuba: the lack of freedom, which reveals the dictatorial situation from which they suffer, in addition to the serious economic problems inherent in the infeasibility of the political and economic system in force on the island”.

For the OCDH, Josep “Borrell is wrong to hold the United States to account.” “These demonstrations sum up 62 years of repression. Cuba must change. We must focus completely on those responsible for the dictatorship in Cuba today, ”the dissident group said.

“External factors influence, but the problem is dictatorship”, declared González Raga, for whom “the pandemic is the last straw, but to put the objective in the drop, it is to forget that the glass was full”.

Last week, Borrell said that “In Cuba there are political problems, but there are also problems derived from political decisions taken by others which dramatically affect the population and which I certainly do not support”. The Spanish diplomat claimed that former US President Donald Trump’s decision to halt remittances from Cuban families is influencing the situation for which protests have erupted on the island.

“If we are to be honest and want to know it as it is, this situation, which has worsened considerably in recent months, also has to do with the decisions Mr. Trump made in the last days of his life. warrant, ”Borrell said. during a routine appearance before the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs. Specific, he spoke of the measure “to prohibit families in Miami from sending, as they have been doing for years, transfers to their families in Cuba”.

Bachelet, for his part, in addition to demanding the release of the detainees and expressing his concern at the violence of the security forces, requested the lifting of “unilateral sectoral sanctions“That Cuba suffers”,given its negative impact on human rights, including the right to health”.

For her part, the United States Under Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, Julie chun, criticized the violence against demonstrators and activists detained in Cuba during the protests, seeing them as “revenge” and recalled the Cuban dictator, Miguel Diaz Canel, that Cuba is a signatory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“Nothing worries us more than the violent crackdown by governments and their henchmen against peaceful protesters who exercise their rights,” the US official said on her Twitter account.

Specifically, Chung mentioned information about “Cuban protesters killed by police” or those who were beaten while detained by security forces. These data show that “the dictatorship wants revenge, not order”.

The US official said that for some members of the Communist Party and Castro’s leadership, these acts “went too far”. “It is not too late to denounce violence and repression”, a point.

In addition, Chung mentioned articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, relating to freedom of expression, opinion and thought.

Amid growing international condemnation of the Castro regime’s violent response, Venezuelan interim president Juan Guaidó this Saturday accused the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro, the main ally of Castrism, to finance the “repression and persecution” in Cuba, after Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez met with Díaz-Canel.

“While the world rejects repression and persecution, Maduro’s dictatorship is funding them in Cuba. They have been cooperating for years in the violation of human rights “Guaidó said on Twitter, sharing a screenshot of a tweet from Diaz-Canel in which he posted a photo of his meeting with Rodríguez.

“This photo represents contempt for human beings, it does not represent Venezuelans and Cubans who are fighting for freedom and democracy,” added the Venezuelan opposition leader.

Díaz-Canel received last Friday in Havana the vice-president of the Venezuelan dictatorship, who expressed Chavismo’s support for the Castro regime, after the recent protests that took place in the country.

Rodríguez sent Díaz-Canel a message of solidarity and support for the Venezuelan dictator “in the face of the political communication campaign against Cuba” and the intensification of the economic embargo that the United States maintains on the Caribbean country, according to Cuban state television. .

During the meeting, the Cuban leader and the Venezuelan executive vice president discussed the main aspects of the cooperative ties between the two nations and other topics of interest, such as the confrontation with the covid-19 pandemic, the TV note posted with images said. .

Venezuela’s executive vice president is on a working visit to Havana, the third she has made so far in 2021.

Cuba and Venezuela have been close political and economic allies since the late former President Hugo Chávez came to power in 1999. Since 2001, the two regimes have maintained a broad cooperation agreement whereby Havana receives crude from preferential prices in exchange for shipping to Venezuela. professional services, mainly doctors and teachers.

With information from Europa Press and EFE

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