Tegucigalpa, October 14 (RHC)-- Friends of Cuba in Honduras have demanded an immediate end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States, a policy that today hinders the development of the Caribbean country.

According to the final declaration of the 12th National Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba held in the Honduran department of Intibucá, Washington's unilateral measure against the island has caused enormous damage and continues to be the main obstacle to progress towards development.

Referring to the measures to tighten the siege, the members of the Honduras-Cuba Friendship Association affirmed that they not only affect the Cuban people, but also the interests of other countries and several U.S. sectors that are betting on normalizing bilateral ties.

The document also demanded to remove Cuba from the spurious list of countries that supposedly sponsor terrorism, when the island is one of the victims of that scourge and not a promoter.

Likewise, the document demanded the return of the territory illegally occupied at the Guantanamo Naval Base, and described it as a flagrant violation of sovereignty, whose headquarters is a criminal torture center widely denounced worldwide.

The statement denounced the increased hostility and aggressive rhetoric of the Washington government against Havana, which seeks to dismantle the progress achieved at the bilateral level.

It also demanded the independence of Puerto Rico with the purpose of decolonizing all peoples from the imperial yoke.

The solidarity meeting condemned the interventionist policies and the financing of subversive plans against the Cuban Revolution promoted by the government of the United States, which is contrary to international law and to the will of the majority of the Cuban people to choose their own political system.

It expressed solidarity with the peoples of Latin America, the Caribbean and the world who are the object of an imperialist escalation and offensive by the fascist and Zionist forces against humanity, while calling for a halt to the genocide by the Israeli forces against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

The statement made reference to the application of coercive and unilateral measures by the United States and its allies against other nations such as Venezuela and Nicaragua, and demanded an end to these policies.

The XII National Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba was held for two days in Tegucigalpa and was attended by dozens of delegates from various regions of this Central American nation.