July 23, 2021
La Via Campesina expresses its solidarity with the Cuban people and especially with the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP). We denounce the blockade and the media manipulation orchestrated to deceive the Cuban people and international public opinion. We join the response of the overwhelming majority of the Cuban people in support of their government and in defense of the Revolution.
At present Cuba, in addition to suffering with the rest of the world the serious consequences of the harsh COVID 19 pandemic, must do so within the restrictions of the economic blockade imposed by the United States; a blockade 184 countries recently voted against in the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN). The blockade is an illegal, illegitimate and vile policy that was already criminal before the COVID 19 pandemic, and has since become a crime against human dignity.
The unjust and murderous policies of this economic blockade prevent Cuba from having the same possibilities as other countries of producing or acquiring medicines or medical. Cuba is currently experiencing an increase in the number of Covid cases, despite having excellent health professionals and research centers. This difficult situation is being ruthlessly used for political gain, to destabilize Cuba and justify interventionism, thus attacking the sovereignty of Cuban people.
We echo the statement of the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), member organization of La Via Campesina, who on behalf of Cuban peasants and their families, resolutely support the statements of their Government in response to the actions promoted by U.S. imperialism to destabilize the country.
Historically, the peasantry has accompanied the revolutionary process since the times of Cespedes and Martí. Today farmers stand more united than ever in defense of the Revolution that gave them the land and the resources that enabled their own production, the Revolution that eliminated injustices, evictions, cruel murders, a Revolution that has educated, provided healthcare and ensured the wellbeing of the masses of farmers and all those who were dispossessed and forgotten before 1959, resolutely building Food Sovereignty in the face of the difficulties brought about by the most genocidal economic blockade in history.
As stated in the ANAP communiqué “the losses that the blockade has caused to Cuban agriculture in these 62 years are enormous. But it has also demonstrated the capacity of farmers in the search for alternatives and solutions to the problems caused by the blockade imposed on Cuba”.
Cuba has worked non-stop to implement policies towards Food Sovereignty and Food Security which have even been described as advanced programs by international organizations such as the FAO. In the midst of the complex epidemiological situation that the country is going through, the call for sabotage, vandalism and violence is nothing more than a vile act of opportunism and intervention.
As La Via Campesina we join the international community in demanding an end to the immoral blockade against Cuba, and we call on our member organizations, friends and allies to mobilize in solidarity and to remain alert to any kind of interference and attack against the sovereignty of Cuba.
Solidarity is the tenderness of the peoples!
Source: La Via Campesina