Cuba reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to peace and condemned the threats made by the United States government against Venezuela, including the extraordinary military deployment in the Caribbean under the false pretext of the fight against drugs.
During the recent Security Council debate on “Maintaining International Peace and Security: Leadership for Peace,” the Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations, Ambassador Yuri Gala, denounced the persistent interference in Venezuelan airspace.
The Cuban diplomat also deplored the psychological warfare and smear campaigns against Venezuela, as well as other actions that constitute flagrant violations of the UN Charter and International Law, such as unilateral coercive measures and economic strangulation.
Expressing his country’s solidarity with the people and government of Venezuela, Gala denounced the December 10th attack by U.S. military forces on an oil tanker in international waters.
Such an act “represents an act of piracy and maritime terrorism that constitutes a serious violation of international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation,” the ambassador emphasized. He warned that these actions are part of the United States’ escalating efforts to impede Venezuela’s legitimate right to freely use and trade its natural resources with other nations, including hydrocarbon supplies to Cuba.
Ambassador Yuri Gala added that these actions negatively impact Cuba and intensify the United States’ policy of maximum pressure and economic strangulation, with a direct impact on the national energy system and, consequently, on the daily lives of our people.
“This blatant application of the Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine violates the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace and demands universal condemnation,” Gala emphasized.
He opined that speaking today “of leadership for peace inevitably leads us to think about Palestine” and condemned Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people, with the complicity and impunity granted by the United States government.
And Yuri Gala further stressed that the new U.S. National Security Strategy validates the dangerous doctrine of “peace through strength,” reflecting the enormous challenges facing humanity, and in particular, the Latin American and Caribbean region.
The ambassador added that “one cannot speak of leadership for peace while unilateral coercive measures continue to be applied against sovereign states as weapons of political pressure, as is the case with the intensified economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States against our country.”
IMAGE CREDIT: Cuba’s Ambassador Yuri Gala / Prensa Latina
[ SOURCE: PRENSA LATINA ]
