No one has the right to asphyxiate a people, AMLO declares with respect to Cuba
by Fabiola Martínez and Néstor Jiménez
Cuba should not be isolated politically speaking; Cubans who have decided to remain in Cuba should not be asphyxiated, declared President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in ratifying his position against the US economic embargo against the Caribbean nation, which he characterized as inhumane. AMLO also expressed his opposition to interventionist measures aimed at provoking conflicts in other countries.
No one has the right to isolate and asphyxiate a people, no one has the right to use these measures to spur a people to rebel against their government. That is vile and despicable, he said yesterday at the habitual press conference at the National Palace.
The President stressed -as he has done on other occasions when the subject of Cuba has come up- that after two centuries of political supremacy in the Americas, for a country to have the nerve to feel free, independent, just for that fact alone it deserves all our admiration and all our respect; it is a unique case, a unique case. So, we don’t like to be a stooge, we think for ourselves.
However, López Obrador was cautious when asked about his opinion on the Cuban government’s ban on opposition demonstrations.
For starters, he alluded to Mexico’s foreign policy, respectful of the sovereignty of countries. Well, non-intervention, he answered, while quoting the Juarist maxim that among individuals as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace.
-Would you have liked to see the march take place?
I simply have no opinion, these are decisions of another country, he said.
He stressed the need to promote global changes to put an end to the practice of some countries of using reprisals against other governments that have decided to have a political system crafted on the basis of their idiosyncrasy, their history, and their internal processes.
The President also regretted that due to the blockade of Cuba, the United States prevents Cubans living outside the island “from sending aid to their families.”
“Why are they prevented from doing so if it is to help a family member, another human being? These measures are backward.”
The reporter -from a British chain- insisted on the freedom to hold peaceful demonstrations.
“That’s a question for them over there, let them resolve it,” AMLO answered.
Then the President spoke about his position on international issues -such as the attacks on the Cuban government- and domestic issues, as well as the criticism he receives daily for it.
He said that there is no balance either in the press or among opposition groups, so his comments in favor of the independence of the Cuban people “fall on deaf ears.
“It’s like when they say to me ‘let’s see, what about some self-criticism?’ Yes, I engage in it, but I have so many critics so why should I delve deeper into something if there is no balance,” he said.
Source: La Jornada, Tuesday, November 16, 2021.