In the forum, organized by the National Education Workers Union (SITEN), Cuban Ambassador to Panama, Victor Cairo, denounced the extraterritorial nature of Washington’s blockade, described as the most comprehensive, integral and prolonged system of unilateral coercive measures against any country in history.
These unilateral coercive measures are an instrument of political and economic coercion, which violate the United Nations Charter and international law, he stressed.
Speaking at the meeting, held at the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of the University of Panama, the ambassador pointed out that no State can claim the right to act as a sanctioning body in an international legal framework where sovereign equality prevails.
In another part of his speech, Cairo denounced Cuba’s unjust inclusion on a spurious list of nations that allegedly sponsor terrorism, which hinders the Caribbean island’s ties with the rest of the world.
Regarding the impact of the blockade, he mentioned several examples, including that 25 days of this policy – which amount to 339 million dollars – is equivalent to the money that Cuba must allocate to guarantee the production and availability of basic medicines required by the sick, including children, the elderly and pregnant women, for a year.
Also present at the forum were Nicaraguan Ambassador Consuelo Sandoval and Syrian Consul Mohamed Fakih, as well as Dr. Julio Yao and Professor Juan Carlos Mas, among other figures.
The analysts assessed the current threats to world peace as a result of wars such as those between Ukraine and Russia, encouraged by Washington and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); and Israel’s massacre of Palestinians in Gaza, among others.
Both Yao and Mas underscored Cuba’s heroic resistance and example in the construction of a better possible world, with outstanding indicators in education, science and health care, among other spheres, despite being under the US blockade for more than 60 years.
Yao, who was an advisor to General Omar Torrijos (1929-1981) in the negotiations for the return of the Panama Canal from US hands, stated that the blockade against Cuba is one of the most painful episodes in history since the 19th century and is a form of medieval genocide.
jg/ro/ga
