International Association of Democratic Lawyers condemns US escalation against Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, February 16 (ACN) The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) strongly condemned the executive order issued by US President Donald Trump, which aims to choke the Cuban people by imposing tariffs on countries that supply oil and fuel to the island, reported the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, Cubaminrex.

Cuban ambassador to the Philippines, Yadira Ledesma Hernandez, thanked Cuba's friends in that country for promoting the declaration, which denounces that the actions of the US government violate the Charter of the United Nations, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The text emphasizes that the unilateral and coercive measure, falsely labeled a "national emergency," constitutes an escalation of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade policy that the United States has maintained against Cuba for 67 years, and which seeks a forced regime change.

The IADL recalled that the executive order contradicts the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, approved by CELAC in 2014, as well as the UN General Assembly resolutions that demand an end to the economic, commercial, and financial blockade.

The organization demanded that the US government end the blockade and redress the damages caused to the Cuban people, in addition to initiating a dialogue leading to the return of the territory illegally occupied at the Guantanamo Naval Base.

It also urged the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, to demand respect for the principles of sovereign equality, non-intervention, and freedom of international trade and navigation, recognized in the Charter of the United Nations.

The statement called for international solidarity from States, legal professionals, and social movements to denounce the new escalation of hostilities and preserve peace and international relations based on respect and dialogue.