European Parliament condemns human rights violations in Cuba and calls for sanctions against Díaz-Canel

( Spanish) — the european parliament condemned this Wednesday “the violations and systematic abuses” of human rights in Cuba and asked the European Union (EU) for sanctions against those whom it points out as responsible for the situation, including President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

With 359 votes in favor, 226 against and 50 abstentions, the resolution approved this Wednesday by the plenary urges the Cuban regime to stop “the policy of repression” on the island. In addition, it is requested to immediately release the protesters and dissidents detained by the government headed by Díaz-Canel.

“MEPs call for the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained solely for the exercise of their human rights, the withdrawal of abusive criminal charges and for those exiled to be allowed to return,” the statement read.

The Chamber asked the member countries of the EU to sanction those responsible for “the persistent violations of human rights” in Cuba.” Starting with President Miguel Díaz-Canel, as a pre-eminent figure in the chain of command of the security forces Cubans, along with other senior officials of the Cuban Government,” said the institution.

The resolution also warns that the EU-Cuba Agreement on Political Dialogue and Cooperation includes a clause on human rights that, if not complied with, could be suspended.

In this sense, the MEPs insisted that the human rights crisis in Cuba must find “a proportional response from the Union and the Member States.”

For its part, the Presidency of Cuba, on his official Twitter accountshared an article from the state newspaper Granma signed by the National Assembly of People’s Power where it is assured that the European Parliament “lacks the moral, political and legal authority to judge #Cuba“, to conclude that “as has happened with previous resolutions on Cuba, approved by the current legislature, the text shows a high interventionist content.”

Along the same lines, the International Relations Commission of the National Assembly of People’s Power of Cuba rejected the resolution approved by the European Parliament this Wednesday, according to the Cuban state newspaper Granma.

In addition, the Cuban government adds in its response in Granma that the European Parliament “defames not only the Cuban reality, its legal system and the rule of law, but also the links that Cuba maintains with other States in a sovereign manner.”

The resolution of the European Parliament also denounces the support of the Cuban regime for the Russian war in Ukraine, as well as the defense it has made of Russia and Belarus.

Criticism of the head of European diplomacy during his visit to the island

The European Parliament also criticized the High Representative of the European Union for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, accusing him of contributing to the “laundering” of the Cuban regime after his visit to the island last May did not meet with representatives of independent civil society, political prisoners or their families.

In the resolution, the MEPs lamented the “lost opportunity” that, according to them, Borrell’s visit to Cuba entailed.

The European Parliament pointed out that the summit that the EU will hold next week in Brussels with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) “is an opportunity to defend the principles of the rule of law, democracy and human rights.”