Cuba Thanks Mexico's Solidarity Amid US Blockade Strengthening



Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel (L) and Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (R), Sept. 16, 2021. | Photo: Twitter/ @UpdateCuba

Published 17 September 2021

The Trump administration implemented over 240 economic sanctions against Cuba, including the suspension of non-family remittances.

During the celebrations of the Mexican independence on Thursday, Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel thanked President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) for calling the U.S. to lift its economic blockade against Cuba.

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"President AMLO, we will always remember your solidarity amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the strengthening of the blockade. Among all the brother countries that our America gave us, Mexico is one of the dearests ones to Cuba,” Diaz-Canel stated.

The Donald Trump administration implemented over 240 economic sanctions against Cuba, including the suspension of non-family remittances, a ban on the import of products from any country containing over 10 percent of U.S. components, and the criminalization of ships and insurance companies linked to the transportation of fuels to this Caribbean nation.

These measures caused economic losses valued at US$20 billion to Cuba, causing an impact on the welfare of the population, who has also suffered the consequences of the economic recession prompted by the pandemic.

To counteract the effects of the blockade, Mexico sent over 100,000 barrels of diesel, oxygen tanks, buckets, syringes, and food to supply Cuban hospitals.

"The Cuban people only want to live in peace, and we accompany them in this battle," Miguel Diaz Reynoso, the Mexican ambassador to Cuba, stated and recalled with gratitude the help given by hundreds of Cuban doctors in the most critical stage of the pandemic.

During his speech to the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in July, AMLO proposed to declare Cuba a "world heritage" for resisting against the United States, an issue on which he insisted on Thursday.

"One country may or may not agree with the Cuban Revolution or its government, but having resisted 62 years without submission is an undeniable historical feat," AMLO said and urged the U.S. to separate politics from humanitarian issues.