| Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador AMLO in his June 6 2022 press conference | MR Online Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) in his June 6, 2022 press conference

Mexico’s President AMLO condemns U.S. blockade of Cuba as ‘genocide’ and ‘tremendous violation of human rights’

By Ben Norton (Posted Jun 13, 2022)

Originally published: Multipolarista on June 7, 2022 (more by Multipolarista)
Empire, Human Rights, Inequality, State RepressionAmericas, Cuba, Mexico, United StatesNewswireBlockade, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), President Joe Biden, Sanctions, Summit of the Americas, Xiomara Castro

Mexico’s left-wing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has condemned the illegal U.S. blockade of Cuba as a “type of genocide” and “tremendous violation of human rights.”

At his daily press briefing on the morning on June 6, López Obrador was asked about his decision to boycott the U.S. government’s Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California.

The Mexican president, known popularly by the acronym AMLO, explained that he refused to attend in order to protest Washington’s exclusion of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.

López Obrador denounced the blockade that the United States has imposed on Cuba for more than 60 years, in flagrant violation of international law.

“How is it that a blockade is maintained that prevents food from arriving to the Cuban people, that prevents medicines from arriving?” he asked.

“That is a type of genocide,” the Mexican president declared, calling it “a tremendous violation of human rights.”

“When the subject of the blockade is addressed in the UN, every country votes to lift the blockade. One or two prevent it,” AMLO noted.

“It would be the peak [of hypocrisy] for us to attend the Summit [of Americas] in that context,” he added.

That violates the foreign policy of Mexico, which our constitution establishes, the non-intervention, the self-determination of peoples.

AMLO reiterated his call for “the integration of all of the Americas,” but he emphasized that “that is going to mean a change in the policy, leaving behind confrontation, leaving behind hate, leaving behind the threats, the blockades, the meddling, and choosing brotherhood.”

In May, López Obrador took a historic trip to Cuba, where he called for an end to the U.S. blockade and criticized right-wing “coup-plotters.”

“I will keep trying to get the United States to lift the blockade,” the Mexican president said.

The Summit of the Americas opened in Los Angeles, California on June 6.

Honduras’ new left-wing President Xiomara Castro and Bolivia’s socialist President Luis Arce joined AMLO in boycotting the summit in condemnation of the U.S. government’s refusal to invite Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.

Guatemala’s right-wing president, Alejandro Giammattei, likewise chose not to attend, in protest of the policies of the Joe Biden administration.

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