Forced regime change not on table in Cuba, says ambassador

As Cuba and the United States (US) continue delicate and discreet diplomatic discussions aimed at easing the humanitarian crisis facing the island’s 11 million people, the country’s ambassador to Jamaica, Tania Lopez Larroque, has indicated that while she is not privy to the agenda items, regime change is not an option.

Larroque’s comments come amid new and more punitive sanctions on countries providing assistance to Cuba.

While there are “no recent updates” on the government-to-government discussions, Larroque told a media briefing on Friday, at the embassy’s headquarters in Kingston, that the Cuban people reserve the right to choose their leaders and make the constitutional changes they require.

“The Cuban people are determined to protect their democracy, their sovereignty, and their rights. We have the information you have already, probably seen by our government, that is the one that's been leading the public information on that, that we consider a really sensitive topic, and we have always been really discreet on that,” said the ambassador when asked to provide the most recent update.

“What I could say on that is to reiterate that Cuba has always been open to discussions with the US government on the same basis, on a fair basis, and it's been clear what will be the items that are not in discussions, and all the ones related to sovereignty. It's been stated that there is a dialogue in the process, but we don't have any further details on that…” she said in response to a question from The Gleaner.

However, she was clear that regime change was not up for discussion.

“Absolutely. That's not up for discussion. The political system of our country is up to our people, is up to our population. It's only for us to decide. That's not something that, not Cuba, not any other country would negotiate that with third parties…” she stated.

The ambassador also reiterated the Cuban government’s rejection of executive orders signed by the US president on January 29 and, more recently, on May 1, which she said “intensifies to extreme and unprecedented levels the economic, financial and commercial blockade against Cuba”.

“This act is an act of economic aggravation that amplifies the extraterritorial effects of the blockade and further hinders the functioning of our national economy, which has already been facing devastating effects of the oil blockade imposed on January 29th,” she said.

The action, she argued, continues to be a blatant violation of international law and the fundamental principles of free trade in goods and services, “that attempts to force the international community through blackmail and intimidation to submit, and to comply with the blockade. No country is exempt from this threat of extending genocide against the Cuban people”.

According to Larroque, the measures imposed on the Cuban state present a clear and present danger to other sovereign states and could achieve their intended destructive effect if independent nations allow themselves to be intimidated and coerced by the US government.

She called on the international community to reject what she described as illegal regulations that could force countries to relinquish their sovereignty.

“We hope that the world will never accept illegal regulations and will not relinquish sovereign equality, nor will leave its citizens, business, corporations and financial institutions unprotected. We denounce the criminal nature of these aggressive measures that attempt to generate social, economic and political catastrophe on a national scale…” she also stated.

She said Cuba also rejected what it sees as an attempt by the US to create a humanitarian crisis that could justify more dangerous actions, including military aggression against the island.

Larroque said Cuba has been facing a national and humanitarian crisis as a result of systematic economic pressure for more than six decades.

“All these economic measures imply constant persecution of Cuban exports and imports and the executive order on January 29th particularly imposes tariffs on imports from countries that supply oil to Cuba. So only one tanker has reached Cuba in approximately five months.”

The ambassador said Cuba cannot be called a failed state, given the economic persecution it has faced over the past six decades and the brigades it has been able to develop and send across the world.

However, Cubans have remained resilient, long-suffering and determined to survive, said Osvaldo Cardenas, a Cuban living in Jamaica.

According to him, all aspects of Cuban life have been affected.

“This is a crime. This is what Adolf Hitler used to do in the Second World War against the European countries that they attacked, some of which today support those policies of the United States,” Cardenas said.

He noted, however, that a majority of the international community has consistently condemned the US’s blockade against Cuba at the United Nations, which he described as the highest representative of the international community.

Cuba-Jamaica Friendship Society representative Paul Burke said the US is desperately seeking a success as the blowback from the ongoing war with Iran is not going well and it is searching for a victory.

“By now they would have thought the Cuban people would have been protesting, there would have been mass protests, particularly after successfully having Venezuela close oil shipments to Cuba and Mexico close oil shipments to Cuba. Any other country going four months without oil, there would have been mass revolts. That would probably have been what the United States wants, regime change, and they expected that,” Burke said.

According to him, with its objectives not being achieved in Iran, and after having thrown everything at Cuba for more than 60 years, “having failed with their economic blockade for decades, what is happening has proved two things; one, what they are doing is very destructive, painful, and hurtful to the Cuban people, but more importantly and secondly, the Cuban people are determined to protect their democracy, sovereignty, and their rights”.

Meanwhile, with assistance from China, Cuba has been diversifying its electricity solutions, expanding solar usage in public spaces and developing a solar plant in Matanzas.

erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com