Quito, December 12 (PL/RHC)— Cuba is today an example not only for Latin America but for the world, said Colombian peace process facilitator Henry Acosta said in Quito, the Ecuadoran capital.

Acosta's comments came in the context of World Human Rights Day, as the Colombian official attended the opening ceremony in Quito of Plaza de la Memoria.  Speaking to Prensa Latina, he said he wished all countries were as committed to citizens’ rights as Cuba is.

“It is not by mistake that Cuba is recognized as the first free territory in the Americas,” he noted.

Acosta said Cuba’s human rights achievements include education, health, security, housing, all of which are prioritized on the island, besieged as Cuba is by a policy of economic and political suffocation imposed by the United States.