In a statement, Puebla Group´s prominent political figures from 16 countries said that closing Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and lifting the economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba would mean an all-important gesture of progress in inter-American relations, respect for human rights and integration.

‘This decision would also be interpreted as a positive sign on the way to normalize bilateral relations carried out under Barack Obama, of which today’s President Biden served as vice president,’ the text reads.

The statement has been signed by some Puebla´s members including former Presidents Dilma Rousseff (Brazil), Ernesto Samper (Colombia) and Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), as well as several former presidential candidates and senators from Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, Ecuador and Chile.

Since 2002, the United States has had an internment center for terrorism suspects at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.

The prison, with some 780 inmates in its early days, generated worldwide outrage over torture and maiming conducted in there and represented a symbol of Washington’s excess in responding to terrorism.

Despite the international conventions that base the illegality of the naval base in Cuban territory, this military space continues to violate Cuba´s sovereignty.

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