European Parliament will denounce extraterritorial nature of U.S. blockade

HAVANA, Cuba, Nov 12 (ACN) The European Parliament will host an International Tribunal, convened in July by various organizations attending the Peoples' Summit in Brussels, to undertake symbolic criminal proceedings against the U.S. blockade of Cuba and denounce its extraterritorial impact.

The president of the association Cuba Coopération France (CubaCoop), Víctor Fernández, will be a witness in this trial—scheduled to take place on November 16 and 17 in Brussels—on behalf of both his organization and the State Cuba Solidarity Movement in Spain.

Fernández will present specific examples of the effects of this 60-plus years old anti-Cuban policy Paris on the island and they way it tampers with the solidarity work and cooperation developed in France and Spain.

The U.S. blockade has an extraterritorial scope insofar as it bans foreign companies from selling goods to Cuba and causes purchasing price rises, which hinders CubaCoop’s efforts to engage in joint projects or send commodities to the island, as foreign banks fear sanctions and shipping companies risk facing prohibitions to operate in U.S. territory.

The blockade’s extraterritorial nature gained ground in 2019 as a result of Trump Administration’s tightening measures, including the return of Cuba’s name to Washington's unilateral list of state sponsors of terrorism.