On June 23, the United Nations General Assembly will vote on a motion to again condemn the US blockade of Cuba. The UN has repeatedly voted in favour of similar motions, by very wide margins, but this year’s vote is particularly important because of the recent tightening of the blockade and US President Joe Biden’s decision to leave Cuba on the list of “state sponsors of terrorism.”
In preparation for the UN vote, the Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC) has launched a petition campaign calling on the Canadian government to pressure the United States to end the blockade and aggression against Cuba. The CNC is also planning several actions and events during the week of June 23, including a 24-hour virtual picket.
The petition is being sponsored by Manitoba NDP MP Niki Ashton. The CNC is campaigning to get thousands of signatures as quickly as possible. Links to the online petition in French and English are available on the CNC website.
The text of the petition follows:
Whereas:
The government of the United States has imposed economic sanctions, amounting to an economic war, against Cuba for more than 60 years, constituting the principal obstacle to Cuba’s social and economic development, having cost in excess of $100 billion;
The Government of the United States has pressured and coerced other countries to participate in its regime of economic sanctions against Cuba;
The United States economic sanctions and the campaign of subversion against Cuba are a violation of international law, the right of self-determination and the human rights of the people of Cuba; and
Since 1992, the international community, including Canada, has rejected United States economic sanctions against Cuba through overwhelming votes in the United Nations General Assembly.
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:
- Call on the Government of the United States to end all economic sanctions against Cuba;
- Call on the Government of the United States to cease its campaign of subversion and policy of hostility and aggression against Cuba;
- Call on the Government of the United States to remove Cuba from the United States Department of State’s List of State Sponsors of Terror;
- Take immediate steps and actions through the implementation and enforcement of, among others, the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act, in order to preserve Canadian sovereignty and ensure that Canadian companies and other entities do not participate in United States economic sanctions against Cuba; and
- Ensure that its relations with Cuba be based on equality and the respect of sovereignty, independence and the right of self-determination.
[hr gap=”10″]
Get People’s Voice delivered to your door or inbox!
If you found this article useful, please consider subscribing to People’s Voice.
We are 100% reader-supported, with no corporate or government funding.
