- Statement of Cuba Ireland Friendship Group Oireachtas Éireann -

Irish Parliamentarians express cross-party solidarity with Cuba in the face of US blockade.

Dublin, 5th February 2021

Irish parliamentarians from across the political divide today expressed solidarity with Cuba and its people in the face of the continuing illegal US blockade. Calling for an ending to the blockade and a removal of Cuba from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

The outgoing US regime arbitrarily included Cuba on its unilateral list of state sponsors of terrorism in the dying days of the Trump administration. This is on top of the intensification of the economic, commercial and financial blockade with the application of 240 sanctions aimed at hitting all sectors of its economy, at a cost of 5.5 billion dollars in the last year. Two hundred of the most important Cuban companies and entities were included in a blacklist with which any type of transaction is prohibited.

This position has been set out in a letter sent to the Minister for Foreign Affairs calling for action by the Irish Government to bring the matters to the attention of the US administration through his offices and through Ireland’s position on the UN Security Council.

The convenor of the Cuba Ireland Friendship Group in Oireachtas Éireann, Thomas Pringle TD, described the economic, commercial and financial siege imposed by Washington on the Caribbean country as, “morally and politically unacceptable for 60 years and rejected its application as a foreign policy instrument, especially in times of pandemic.”

“In the current context of Covid-19, what we need is a spirit of cooperation, multilateralism and solidarity, which Cuba has demonstrated for decades, also in the pandemic scenario with the dispatch of the Henry Reeve medical brigades to other nations,” stressed the Independent deputy for Donegal.

Adding to the call, Sinn Féin Senator said, “The policies of sanctions and the longstanding attempt to isolate Cuba were never justified, and their intensification under the Trump regime represents the worst kind of imperialist bullying. President Biden should usher in a new era of constructive dialogue and begin the process of normalisation of relations. I will continue to raise this issue within the Council of Europe.”

Concluding the Cuba Ireland Friendship Group are calling on the Minister to make public, Ireland’s rejection of the inclusion of Cuba in such a list, Ireland’s rejection of the continued illegal blockade of Cuba and to call for a change in US foreign policy in this area.

Signed:

Deputy Thomas Pringle (Convenor) Senator Paul Gavan

Deputy Chris Andrews Deputy Pa Daly

Deputy Catherin Connolly Deputy Sean Crowe

Deputy