US nudged to end Cuban embargo

Opposition Spokesman on Foreign Affairs Lisa Hanna has urged the Jamaican Government to act as a principled interlocutor in helping the United States and Cuba to negotiate the removal of the decades-old embargo on the Caribbean state.

Debating a motion moved by State Minister for Culture, Entertainment and Sport, Alando Terrelonge, in support of the United Nations General Assembly’s vote for the removal of the blockade against Cuba, Hanna said that efforts to end the embargo were not just an issue involving the United States and Cuba.

“The collective economic development of the Caribbean has been impaired as the embargo inhibits trade, investment and tourism with a market of over 30 million people,” she said.

Terrelonge said that the 59-year-old policy of economic blockade remains in place despite the fact that 184 member states of the UN, including Jamaica, voted this year in favour of the resolution.

He said notwithstanding the embargo, Cuba has managed to run successful trials of its own vaccine against COVID-19, with recent reports suggesting that the efficacy of the vaccine was 92 per cent effective against the virus.

“Imagine the possibilities if Cuba were able to do the requisite research and get the raw material that it needs, Cuba could also be a player in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean and would be able to supply us all with the vaccines that we need, notwithstanding the hoarding of some First-World nations,” Terrelonge said.

Phillip Paulwell, MP for Kingston East and Port Royal, paid tribute to the late former Cuban President Fidel Castro, calling him the architect of the Cuban revolution.

According to Paulwell, the Cuban leader was a regionalist who had a special place in his heart for Jamaica.

The senior Opposition lawmaker said that Castro would go down as arguably one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century.

“No praise can be too much for that great architect of freedom of the Cuban people,” said Paulwell.