The blockade violates the civil and political rights of the Cuban population

Declaration of the XX Forum of Cuban Civil Society against the blockade

Civil society organizations, movements, networks and social actors participating in the XX Cuban Civil Society Forum against the blockade, with the presence and support of non-governmental organizations that cooperate in favor of the development of our country, convened around the theme "The impact of the blockade on the health of the Cuban population", deeply moved by the experiences and experiences exposed on the devastating and inhuman impact of the economic, commercial and financial blockade applied by successive US administrations to our country for more than six decades,

• We denounce that the blockade contravenes the resolutions of the United Nations related to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and, therefore, the decision of the heads of State and Government to “leave no one behind.” Its criminal implementation has a devastating effect on the entire Cuban population, particularly families, children, women, the elderly and other vulnerable groups. It also violates the commitments and will expressed by the heads of State and Government when they adopted the “Pact for the Future” last September during the current 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
• We denounce that the blockade hinders the implementation of public policies adopted by the government in the health sector and, therefore, the achievement of SDG 3 of the 2030 Agenda “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”. In addition, it significantly hinders the actions and efforts of the Cuban government, with the support of civil society, to achieve the sustainable development of the country, while undermining the alliances and actions promoted by various actors, aimed at contributing to the achievement of a sustainable nation.
• We reaffirm that the blockade constitutes the main obstacle to the implementation of the 2030 Economic and Social Development Plan and, therefore, to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the fulfillment of its Sustainable Development Goals; it substantially limits Cuba's right to development and violates the Declaration and Program of Action adopted at the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna in 1993, which recognize the Right to Development as a universal and inalienable right and as an integral part of fundamental human rights.
• We denounce that the damages caused to the Cuban nation during more than six decades of application of this illegal and cruel policy amount to 164 thousand 141.1 million dollars, which could have been used for the economic and social development of the country. The loss of these resources negatively impacts the efforts of the State to guarantee the health of the population, for which it has the support and commitment of all scientific societies of health and of the workers of the sector.
• We reiterate that the blockade substantially limits the actions of Cuban civil society to contribute to national efforts to guarantee the health of the population; it significantly affects the activity of scientific health societies and slows down their exchange with their American counterparts, which would benefit the peoples of both nations. This cruel policy hinders the publication of articles by Cuban researchers in specialized journals in that country; it hinders the payment of membership fees by scientific societies to international entities, while preventing our specialists from paying their participation fees in different events, among many other effects.
• We condemn the harmful impact of the blockade on the studies of students in the health sector, by preventing them from acquiring the literature, supplies and technologies necessary for their comprehensive training.
• We reject the actions of the United States government aimed at hindering Cuba's well-known medical cooperation with many countries. We reject and strongly condemn the infamous labeling of this humanitarian and essential cooperation as human trafficking, which pursues the objective of reducing the income resulting from said collaboration, which is entirely destined for the Cuban health system.
• We denounce that the blockade undermines cooperation with Cuba by agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations System, international non-governmental organisations and other actors interested in supporting the Cuban health system and the economic and social development of the country. We reiterate the appreciation and gratitude of Cuban civil society to these many actors and our satisfaction at being, in many cases, their partners in cooperation.
• We reject the extraterritorial application of the blockade, which violates the sovereignty of third States and breaches the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. We denounce that measures such as the suppression of the ESTA for European citizens travelling to Cuba, significantly affect cooperation and scientific exchange in the health sector.
• We repudiate and condemn the massive, flagrant and systematic violations of the human rights of the entire Cuban population as a result of the blockade, including the right to health.
• We condemn the policy of maximum pressure and suffocation developed by the Biden Administration, which is the heir of President Trump, and which has a devastating effect on all spheres of Cuban society. We urge President Biden to listen to the growing clamor of the American population and the international community demanding the lifting of this criminal policy and to adopt measures, under his presidential prerogatives, aimed at making its implementation more flexible.
• We denounce that the blockade violates the civil and political rights of the Cuban population, since it pursues the objective of changing the political, economic and social system that we Cubans have freely decided upon, in full exercise of our self-determination. We reject all actions aimed at undermining the decision of the Cuban population to build a socialist, prosperous, sustainable, independent and sovereign homeland.
• We demand that President Biden exclude Cuba from the unilateral, illegal, unfounded and immoral List of State Sponsors of Terrorism, which lacks moral and legal justification and whose objective is to reinforce the criminal blockade and significantly affect the lives of Cubans.

We reiterate our gratitude to the international solidarity movements that support Cuban civil society and the entire nation in this just demand. We invite the promoters and defenders of public international law, international humanitarian law, and all human rights for all to continue to support us in this battle to defend the fundamental human right of the Cuban population: our right to life.

• We support the presentation, on the 29th and 30th of this month, during the current 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, of the draft resolution “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba” and we ask the member states of the Organization to support it, as an unequivocal demonstration of their commitment to justice and international law.

Havana, October 25, 2024

(Cubaminrex-Rebel Youth)