By Mario Muñoz Lozano
The Cuban ambassador to Italy, Jorge Luis Cepero, highlighted on Friday in Rome the importance of the upcoming caravan “Route to Cuba: Being Where It Matters,” which involves various political forces and civil society organizations in Italy.
In exclusive statements to Prensa Latina, the diplomat emphasized that all of them recognize the need to not leave Cuba alone at a time of such aggression from the U.S. government.
Cepero participated in a press conference at the headquarters of the National Federation of the Italian Press (FNSI) in Rome, which was attended by representatives of organizations, associations, parties, and journalists involved in the initiative.
The caravan, which will visit the island from September 23 to 30, is organized by ARCI, CGIL, Anaic, Nexus, ANPI, ARCS, AOI, and the Peace and Disarmament Network, in collaboration with the Democratic Party, the Five Star Movement, and the Green and Left Alliance.
“This is an initiative of solidarity, but also a denunciation of the criminal and genocidal blockade imposed by the United States,” he stated.
The Cuban ambassador emphasized that it is also “a denunciation of the pressures exerted by the Trump administration, its foreign policy, which violates international law and seeks to impose new conditions and relationships within the United Nations system and the human rights system that has brought us to this point.”
He noted that this delegation’s visit to the Caribbean nation is important because it directly challenges the United States’ intention to leave Cuba alone, to isolate Cuba.
In that regard, he expressed his gratitude, on behalf of the Cuban people and government, for the visit of a delegation of Italian parliamentarians, along with representatives of civil society organizations, to Cuba at this time.
Cuba’s ambassador to Italy warned that they will find an entire population subjected to a silent genocide.
“They will see firsthand the impact on the people, on an entire country, of imposing brutal measures, measures illegal under international law, and the true effect of U.S. policy on the Cuban population.
Cepero referred to the “criminal, immoral energy blockade” the country is suffering, and denounced “the effects caused not only by the blockade, which formally dates back to 1962, but also this year, when the measures have been replicated on a genocidal scale, demonstrating profound immorality.”
He mentioned that the Italian visitors will see the effects of U.S. policy on all areas of Cuban life: education, health, transportation, water resources, electricity, and employment.
The Cuban ambassador to Rome noted that the delegation will also find a resilient people. “They will witness the Cuban people’s desire to maintain their hard-won right to self-determination, and they will see a people who resist and will continue to resist because they have decided not to be oppressed. A slave who knows full well what the United States is after in Cuba.”
Regarding the political significance of the visit, he commented that it is a new attempt by a group of Italians to break down the media wall and the global system’s isolation imposed by the blockade. Therefore, they will contribute “greatly to solidarity and support initiatives for Cuba worldwide.”
On the debate and vote on the report “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba” at the UN General Assembly, scheduled for October 27 and 28, Cepero stated that Cuba will once again achieve an overwhelming victory.
“I have no doubt whatsoever that the sense of justice, even the sense of defending international law, will prevail, and we will once again achieve an overwhelming victory.”
He declared that this caravan, which unites so many political forces of diverse persuasions, also demonstrates a unity around the idea that the blockade is illegal and that there is no possible pretext to justify such a cruel measure, so contrary to international law, which he describes as a act of genocide.
[ SOURCE: PRENSA LATINA ]
