The event was organized by the Left Party, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and the working group of that group, Cuba Sí, to address the topic “End the US blockade against Cuba now” at Paul Löbe’s house, near the Bundestag.
The meeting was attended by Acosta Alvarez, Cuban Ambassador Juana Martínez González, and her deputy, Miguel Torres Tesoro.
On the German side, the Left Party members of the Bundestag Sören Pellmann and Dietmar Bartsch, as well as the party’s chairwoman, Ines Schwerdtner, were present.
Among all 60 participants were activists, former parliamentarians and Cuban residents in Germany.
Acosta Alvarez explained Cuba’s difficult situation due to Washington’s blockade and global crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the conflict in Ukraine and recent natural disasters, which have an even bigger impact on Cuba due to US sanctions.
The Cuban leader emphasized that during the era of former Democratic President Barack Obama, it was possible to see how quickly ties between Cuba and the United States can improve.
However, under the administration of Republican President Donald Trump, all progress was reversed and numerous sanctions were imposed, he recalled.
Although the United States wanted to force the overthrow of the Cuban Government with measures that violate international law, Cuba has moved forward and was transformed with the participation of its population in the constitutional referendum in 2019, the Cuban politician explained.
Lawyer and Professor Norman Paech noted the need for new courts, such as the one in Brussels this summer, to condemn the blockade, which he considered a crime against humanity.
A representative of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Heinz Bierbaum, referred to the planned intensive exchange and far-reaching cooperation between the Left Foundation and Cuba.
Member of the Bundestag and former party Chairman Dietmar Bartsch said that in the context of a very tense crisis of the Left Party in Germany, it is a sign that its senior members are consulting on Cuba shortly before the next elections in the Federal Republic.
The newly installed president of the Left Party, Ines Schwerdtner, informed that the decision of that organization, starting in 2022, to maintain unconditional solidarity with socialist Cuba, remains in force and will be applied.
Other activists and members of the party emphasized that not only does Cuba need the worl’d support, but that the world needs a socialist Cuba, an alternative form of society with more social justice than in Western countries’ capitalism.
At the end of the event, a declaration condemning the US blockade was presented, with which it is intended to continue to express solidarity with Cuba.
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