The president of Cuba’s National Assembly, Esteban Lazo, sent official communications to 10 international inter-parliamentary organizations to warn of the “dangerous threat of direct military aggression” by the US against the island, the legislature reported.
“In the letters sent, the head of the Cuban legislature has informed them of the recent declarations of the Revolutionary Government and the Council of State of our country, in which it has been warned that Cuba currently finds itself under the real and dangerous threat of direct military aggression by the Government of the United States,” the Cuban parliament published on its website.
The letters were addressed to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement, the BRICS Parliamentary Forum, the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Pan-African Parliament, the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (Parlatino), the Mercosur Parliament (Parlasur), the Andean Parliament (Parlandino), the Central American Parliament (Parlacen), and ParlAmericas.
Lazo warned that amid the escalation driven by the Trump administration, executive orders have been issued that will tighten “to extreme levels” the economic, commercial, and financial blockade, as well as the energy stranglehold and other unilateral coercive measures against the island.
The parliamentary president requested “the mobilization and supportive pronouncements in favor of the just and legitimate cause of the Cuban people” to prevent military action that would trigger a “humanitarian catastrophe” and destabilize Latin America as a zone of peace.
He also reiterated Cuba’s willingness to engage in dialogue with the US government on the basis of respect for the island’s sovereignty and international law.
Tensions between Washington and Havana have escalated since the beginning of this year following the US military action in Venezuela in which President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were seized.
On May 20, acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche announced US criminal charges against former Cuban president Raúl Castro, 94, for an alleged conspiracy to murder US citizens in connection with the 1996 shootdown of two light aircraft belonging to the civil organization Brothers to the Rescue. In a separate statement, the US Justice Department indicated that Castro and five other officials could face the death penalty or life imprisonment if found guilty.
Lazo described the Justice Department’s charges against Castro as “infamous.”
Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel reacted on social media, stating that the charges against his predecessor lack legal basis and are aimed at justifying a potential US military aggression against the island.
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Translation: Orinoco Tribune
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