London, 9 August 2021- The Cuba Solidarity Campaign in the United Kingdom held a virtual event on Monday entitled "What´s going on in Cuba? And why the US blockade needs to end now!" Among its panellists were the Cuban Ambassador to the UK, Barbara Montalvo; British MPs Grahame Morris, also chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cuba, and Richard Burgon; the General Secretary of the Unite Trade Union (the biggest of its kind in the UK), Len McCluskey; Bolivian reporter, Ollie Vargas, and Cuban journalist, Cristina Escobar.
The President of the All-Party Parliamentary Group recalled among the recent parliamentary actions promoted by the Group in solidarity with Cuba, the "Early Day Motion 1550", signed by 58 members of Parliament, which asks the British government to promote international cooperation between the United Kingdom and Cuba and urges the Biden administration to normalize relations by removing Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism and to put an end to the blockade. He also acknowledged the island's solidarity support for the Braemar cruise ship and the sending of medical brigades from the Henry Reeve contingent to four British overseas territories to help in the fight against COVID-19.
Richard Burgon, Member of Parliament, said that the aim of the blockade is to provoke hunger and necessity among the Cuban people, as defined by the then Assistant Deputy Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, Lester Mallory, in 1960.
The General Secretary of Unite the Union described US congressmen who claim to respect international law, while ignoring the call of most countries to lift the blockade on Cuba, as hypocrites.
Cuban Ambassador Bárbara Montalvo Álvarez thanked the Campaign's traditional support for the lifting of the blockade and against any foreign interference in Cuba's internal affairs.
Regarding the incidents of last July 11 in some municipalities of the country, the Ambassador recalled that this was not a social outburst, but the result of a brutal campaign against Cuba, financed by the US government, to justify an intervention. Montalvo reiterated that the country remains calm; she recalled that Cuba has the legitimate right to defend itself and considered it irresponsible to encourage, support in any way or remain silent about the possible use of force against Cuba.
The head of the Cuban mission in London concluded her speech by quoting the following phrase from Commander in Chief Fidel Castro:
"Sovereignty and freedom is an essential right of nations recognised by all the peoples of the world. And the more powerful a country is, the more obliged it is to respect small peoples...It is not just a question of defending justice, which is our right. It is about defending the sovereignty of the country, it is about demonstrating that we have the right to govern ourselves and that no one has to set guidelines for us from elsewhere".
More than 400 people attended the virtual event.