Multiple voices were raised at the Peoples' Summit to condemn the genocidal blockade against Cuba.

By María Josefina Arce

Solidarity with the struggle waged by the Cuban people against the blockade imposed by the United States was evident in Brussels, where multiple voices were raised at the Peoples' Summit to condemn the genocidal measure, which was intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic.
   
The support for Cuba was intense, decisive and that is how the attendees made it felt to the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, who attended the forum of social movements and progressive European, Latin American and Caribbean forces.
   
The participants in the meeting in the Belgian capital denounced the impact on the daily lives of Cubans of this hostile U.S. policy, which aims to destabilize and force a political change in the Caribbean nation.
   
The blockade affects sectors such as health, food and education. In the latter sphere, for example, more than three million books necessary for a more efficient and higher quality educational process have not been printed.
    
The damage caused by the blockade amounts to more than 150,410 million dollars, which, as Yuri Pérez, vice-dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Havana, stressed in his speech, violates elementary principles such as sovereign equality, good faith and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.
  
But the Peoples' Summit went further and made clear its decision to reinforce its actions against the unilateral measure, rejected since 1992 by the international community in the UN General Assembly by a large majority.
  
In this way, the convocation of an International Tribunal against the blockade against Cuba for next November also in Brussels, and which according to the Euro MP Manu Pineda will be held at the European Parliament, is part of this process.
  
In declarations to the Prensa Latina news agency, he pointed out that they claim that this institution cannot be at the service of reaction, as happened in the past days when it approved an unjust and politicized resolution against Cuba, promoted by conservative and extreme right-wing Euro-deputies, allied with Washington.
  
The call to the Tribunal is added to the multiple activities that take place throughout the year in rejection of the economic siege in many nations, including the United States, where there is also a broad movement of solidarity with Cuba.
  
There are the caravans that take place at the end of each month, organized by the humanitarian project Bridges of Love, which have a wide participation in U.S. territory and in various cities in Europe.
  
And we could not miss the U.S. religious organization Pastors for Peace which, defying the framework of the blockade laws, leads the U.S.-Cuba Friendship Caravans, which arrive every year in our territory with solidarity aid.
    
Cuba is not alone. Countless and emotional have been the shows of support in recent days on European soil, because as expressed by Diaz-Canel at the Peoples' Summit: "solidarity cannot be blocked...it is an indestructible weapon of struggle and a message of peace".