Labour, coalition want Nigeria to vote against blockade of Cuba

The Nigeria Movement of Solidarity with Cuba has urge Nigeria Government to vote against continuing blockade of Cuba by the United States of America.

The group in a protest letter against the economic blockade handed down to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, said such action is tantamount to genocide.

Leader of the group, Comrade Biodun Aremu said Cuba has for the past six years of the blockage loss fortune , urging other African countries to vote yes against such unilateral and inhuman action.

“We, a coalition comprising the two labour centres in the country; the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC ) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), radical progressive groups, intellectuals in the Academic unions, Civil Society and Human Rights organisations organised as the Nigerian Movement of Solidarity with Cuba, bring you greetings.

“We write to express our desire and the hope of millions of the Nigerian people that our country should vote at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 for the resolution demanding a final end to the blockade against Cuba imposed by the United States since February 7, 1962. This final push is necessary because the American establishment has treated with contempt, the 28 resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly condemning the blockade.

“Nigeria as a country has consistently voted against the blockade, and at this final stage, we need to make our vote emphatic. This will be in line with the February 7, 2021 Resolution of the African Union (AU) Heads of State Summit, which in declaring “its solidarity with the People of Cuba” also expressed: “serious concern about the continuous and illegal Economic, Commercial and Financial Blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.

“The right of all countries to self-determination which the US is challenging by its unilateral blockade of Cuba for six decades now, is sacrosanct. It was this principle Nigeria stood for in ensuring independence for all countries particularly in the bloody liberation wars in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa.

“We need not remind ourselves of the fact that thousands cr Cuban youths laid down their precious lives on the African soil fighting the forces of Apartheid and militarily defeating them to ensure the liberation of our continent.

“Your Excellency, the US blockage against Cuba is tantamount to genocide as it blocks that country from free trade including freely importing and exporting goods, using credit from financial institutions or import life-saving medicines including for the Covid-19 pandemic.

“At the outbreak of the pandemic, the Chinese business mogul, Jack Ma sent life-saving medicines and emergency Covid-19 materials to various countries including Nigeria and Cuba. While all beneficiary countries received the aid, Cuba was denied because the American embargo forbids airlines delivering such aid to the Cubans.

“In financial terms, the accumulated quantifiable cost of the blockade to Cuba over the past sixty years is $1,098,008,000,000. No country can be subjected to such haemorrhage and remain financially healthy.

“we urge our country not just to vote to tear down the walls of the American blockade, but also to give leadership to the African continent in delivering a strong ‘Yes’ vote against this unilateral and inhuman blockade against a sister country with ancestral roots in Africa”.