#BTSpeakingOut – Caribbean Network in support of Cuba

The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by The Caribbean Network for Solidarity

The Caribbean Network for Solidarity with Cuba is responding to a letter from Annette Lashley in the Barbados Nation Newspaper on Thursday the 30th September 2021.

In light of the current situation where Cuban volunteers are working across the Caribbean providing invaluable support to the region in our effort to counter COVID 19, it was very disappointing to read the letter from Annette Lashley titled Denny must help Cubans lift US embargo, which appears to be crude anti-Cuban propaganda.

Ms Lashley seems to be of the opinion that if the political system in any country is not in line with her personal political opinions, then the government in that country is a “dictatorship” and the US government is therefore entitled to economically blockade that country in order to cause maximum suffering to the people who live there.

Fortunately, most people in the world do not accept or endorse such a barbaric and inhumane approach to managing relations between different countries.
That is why each year at the United Nations, the overwhelming majority of countries vote to demand that the US lift its murderous blockade against Cuba and her people.

Unlike Ms Lashley, this is a position that the Government of Barbados and the whole CARICOM family support.

In reality, it is the only civilised way to deal with the reality that different countries have different political systems and the choice of political system is the sovereign right of the people of each country.

The world would be in an even more chaotic state if we accept Ms Lashley’s idea that as soon as a government doesn’t like the political system in another country, it should immediately launch an economic blockade against that country.

Ms Lashley’s letter is further marred by its disinformation with regard to the recent demonstrations in Cuba.

She must be aware that every country, without exception, has its own rules and regulations governing public demonstrations and that if the authorities think that such demonstrations endanger public order or that crimes have been committed, then individuals can be arrested and charged.

This is not unique to Cuba.

However, what Ms Lashley fails to mention in her letter is that the Cuban President actually went to the street, met and talked with some of the demonstrators, that the government openly acknowledges that some of the complaints raised by the demonstrators are legitimate and have explained the steps they are taking to address these within the constraints caused by the US blockade.

I guess Ms Lashley left this information out of her letter as it doesn’t support her propaganda narrative of “a socialist dictatorship” oppressing the people.

It may also be the reason why she failed to mention the much larger demonstrations by thousands of Cubans in support of the government and against the efforts of the US government to exploit the hardships caused by its economic blockade in order to bring about regime change in that country.

Unfortunately, Ms Lashley appears to have allowed her political ideology to blind her to what is humane and just.

However, the Caribbean Network for Solidarity with Cuba is confident that, unlike her, the vast majority of people in our region will continue to demand that the US lift its unjust blockade against Cuba and her people and let them breathe.

Barbados: David Denny – Cuban Barbadian Friendship Association.
Trinidad and Tobago: Shaun Hutchinson – Trinidad and Tobago Friends of Cuba.
Marlene Alexander – Humanistic Solidarity Association (St Lucia – Cuba) Jamaica: Trevor Brown – Jamaican Cuban Friendship Association.
Laura Stephens – Dublin, Solidarity St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Peter Lansiquot – President, St Lucia- Venezuela Solidarity and Integrationist Movement (SLVSIM) Gerald A. Perreira – For the Victory of the People, Georgetown, Guyana