Cuba urges Caribbean states to oppose military aggression against Venezuela

Managua — The president of Cuba on Friday urged the Caribbean nations to stand together in opposing any military aggression against crisis-ridden Venezuela.

During a regional summit in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua, Miguel Diaz-Canel criticized the United States for saying its Monroe doctrine was as relevant today as the day it was written.

The Cuban president urged the Caribbean governments to rise above their political and ideological differences and defend peace and oppose escalation of coercive economic measures against Venezuela that would deeply hurt Venezuelans and put the regional stability at risk.

The Cuban president at the 8th Association of Caribbean States summit said the steps and actions taken by Washington against Venezuela defy the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of peace, which was signed in January 2014 in Havana.

He emphasized that they had declared their continued commitment to the peaceful resolution and put an end to the use and threat of force in the region, with strict observation of the obligation of no intervention in the internal matters of any other states either directly or indirectly.

He criticized the US government for following the Monroe Doctrine written nearly 200 years ago as its regional foreign policy document.

The doctrine, named after President James Monroe, was written in 1823 and justifies US interference and influence in the western hemisphere.

Diaz-Canel said the Caribbean states needed to continue working together and it is their responsibility to protect peace and maintain the achieved aims, with the assurance that the present situation of confrontation and threats would be overcome.

Morales said Cuba, in particular, has been subjected to irrational and perverse policies with the US-imposed blockade and the campaign of manipulations, lies and pretexts to sustain the practice of persecution and harassment which has been condemned internationally.

During his speech, Diaz-Canel thanked the countries who opposed the “irrational” policy against Cuba.

He further expressed his solidarity with the Nicaragua government in the face of “destabilization efforts”.

The Cuban president welcomed the process of negotiation between Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega government and the opposition to overcome the crisis that began in the country last year.

He emphasized that the Association of Caribbean States continued to be important in the unity of the Greater Caribbean, and called it as the only alternative in the face of the big challenges that these countries face.

The association commemorated its 25th anniversary in Managua and called for unity and cooperation between the member states and associate members that make up the Greater Caribbean to cope with the consequences of climate change.

Nicaragua hosted a series of meetings that included apart from the 24th Ordinary Meeting of the ACS Ministerial Council, third ACS cooperation meet and the 8th Summit of the Heads of State The ACS comprises of Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, El Salvador, Granada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.