The Belgian Coordination for the End of the Blockade against Cuba today urged the government headed by Prime Minister Alexander De Croo to take the necessary measures to achieve the lifting of the U.S. siege.
In an open letter addressed to De Croo, he asked him to work in coordination with European institutions to convince U.S. President Joseph Biden to end the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed more than 60 years ago, a policy that the platform of more than 40 organizations denounced for its inhumane impact.
This would be an extremely positive step for the Cuban people, Belgium, the European Union (EU) and all countries, reflects the letter signed by the secretary of the Coordinating Committee, Wim Leysens, a text also sent to the Chancellor, Hadja Lahbib, and to the Minister of Development Cooperation, Meryame Kitir.
The letter asks the authorities to take advantage of Belgium's current presidency of the European Commission to normalize trade channels between the EU and the island, in view of the extraterritorial nature of Washington's blockade and the sanctions it applies to European companies and banks for their links with the Antillean nation.
There is a big difference between the political condemnation in the UN General Assembly and the practical possibilities for European entities to trade with Cuba without the risk of strong sanctions, he warned.
According to the Coordinating Committee, Belgium has a solid track record in foreign policy and diplomacy, hence the importance of its active role in this cause.
In the letter, the platform mentioned to De Croo, Lahbib and Kitir the concrete consequences of the U.S. blockade on Cuba and its people, expressed its willingness to provide additional information on the subject and asked the Belgian government to respond to it.
In this regard, he pointed out the impact of the siege on the capacity to produce medicines, the difficulties to acquire fuel and food, and the enormous obstacles to access the international financial system, aggravated by Donald Trump's decision, a few days before leaving the White House, to include the island in the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.
Trump adopted 243 measures to tighten the blockade, which in almost all cases are still being fully implemented by his successor as of 2021, President Biden.
https://www.prensa-latina.cu/2022/10/12/piden-al-gobierno-belga-actuar-c...