[One peace group praised AMLO for "once again providing such an
important voice against U.S. imperialism and bullying." ]
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MEXICAN PRESIDENT VOWS GLOBAL PUSH TO END ‘INHUMANE’ US EMBARGO
OF CUBA  
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Kenny Stancil
February 13, 2023
Common Dreams
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_ One peace group praised AMLO for "once again providing such an
important voice against U.S. imperialism and bullying." _

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador , Photo by
Christopher Sherman, Associated Press

 

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador vowed over the weekend
to lead a worldwide movement to end the 61-year U.S. embargo of Cuba.

"We are going to continue demanding the removal, the elimination of
the blockade against Cuba, which is inhumane," López Obrador,
popularly known as AMLO, said
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in a speech attended by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

"And not only when it comes to voting at the U.N., which is always
won. Only one or two countries abstain or vote against" annual
resolutions condemning
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embargo, AMLO continued, referring to the U.S. and Israel. "The
majority of the countries of the world are in favor of the elimination
of the blockade, but the assembly passes and it's back to the same
thing."

"Mexico will lead a more active movement so that all countries unite
and defend the independence and sovereignty of Cuba," said AMLO, who
denounced Washington's attempts to treat the Caribbean island "as a
terrorist country or put them on a blacklist of alleged terrorists."

Anti-war activists from CodePink praised
[[link removed]] AMLO for
"once again providing such an important voice against U.S. imperialism
and bullying."

Last summer, the Mexican president boycotted
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Summit of the Americas, held in Los Angeles, due to the White
House's refusal
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invite officials from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to the meeting.

"Together with friends in Mexico and around the world, we will unblock
Cuba," CodePink tweeted Sunday.

Following Obama-era efforts at normalization, former U.S. President
Donald Trump intensified Washington's crackdown on the small island
nation, implementing
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than 240 punitive policies even as Cubans endured acute shortages of
food and medicine
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the Covid-19 pandemic.

One of the Trump administration's most "despicable"
actions, according to
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was its last-minute decision to put Cuba back on the State
Department's list
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Sponsors of Terrorism" (SSOT), a move that has derailed the provision
of economic aid and loans made by international financial
institutions.

Despite Democratic lawmakers' pleas
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President Joe Biden's own campaign pledge
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reverse his predecessor's "failed" approach to Cuba, the White
House imposed
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economic sanctions against the island following anti-government
protests in July 2021 and has so far refused to remove the country
from the SSOT blacklist.

Last month, a group of 160 mostly U.S. lawyers implored
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to "immediately initiate a review and notification process to remove
Cuba from the SSOT list," writing that "there is no legal or moral
justification" for the country to remain on it.

That letter from the Alliance for Cuba Engagement and Respect came a
few months after more than 10,000 people and 100 progressive advocacy
groups signed
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open letter demanding, to no avail, that Biden reverse Trump's
terrorism designation for Cuba and reinstate Obama-era policy toward
the nation.

Meanwhile, Cuba has continued to send
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to various parts of the world to help tackle Covid-19 and other
diseases. In defiance of more than six decades of harmful U.S.
sanctions, the biggest export
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which has a lower child mortality rate
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its more powerful and hostile neighbor to the north, is medical care
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On Saturday, AMLO thanked Díaz-Canel for sending Cuban doctors to
provide healthcare in remote areas of Mexico.

Díaz-Canel, for his part, also expressed gratitude during his visit
to Mexico's southeastern port city of Campeche.

"I once again thank our brother nation for its solidarity with the
Cuban people, who have faced tremendously difficult challenges in the
last few years and months due to a combination of the blows of nature
and the effects of the toughened blockade," said
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Last summer, a few weeks after 55 House Democrats joined their
Republican counterparts to defeat
[[link removed]] Rep.
Rashida Tlaib's (D-Mich.) legislative attempt to make it easier for an
economically battered Cuba to import food grown by U.S. farmers, the
island was further devastated by a catastrophic oil fire.

Despite the best efforts
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a handful of progressive lawmakers who urged the Biden administration
to do more, the U.S. limited its disaster response to phone
consultations and refused to repeal sanctions even as they created
barriers to delivering humanitarian aid. Mexico, by contrast,
dispatched firefighting resources to help contain the blaze.

On Saturday, AMLO awarded Díaz-Canel the "Order of the Aztec Eagle,"
Mexico's highest honor for foreigners. Previous recipients include
Gabriel García Márquez, a Colombian novelist and Nobel literature
laureate, and Nelson Mandela, a South African anti-apartheid organizer
and eventual president of his country.

In addition, AMLO and Díaz-Canel participated in bilateral talks to
outline plans for further cooperation on matters of trade and
healthcare.

“The U.S. government should lift, as soon as possible, the unjust
and inhuman blockade of the Cuban people," AMLO said
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"It's time for a new coexistence among all the countries of Latin
America."

The Mexican president argued that U.S. policy toward Cuba "is
completely worn out, anachronistic, it has no future or point, and it
no longer benefits anyone."

"Its people and government are deeply humane," AMLO said
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island nation. "Long live the dignified people of Cuba!"

_Kenny Stancil is a staff writer for Common Dreams._

* Cuba blockade
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* President Andrés Manuel López Obrador; Mexico;
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* international affairs
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