President Miguel Diaz-Canel received this Friday the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Organization (UN) on the negative repercussions of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of Human Rights, Alena Douhan, who is on an academic visit to the island.
“It is a pleasure to receive her in our country and we hope that she has been able to take advantage of the interrelationship with the Cuban authorities and also with civil society,” said the president to the visitor, who is in the Cuban capital invited to participate in an event organized by the University of Havana.
I received the UN Special Rapporteur, @AlenaDouhanwho makes an academic visit to #Cuba.
We talked about the serious economic damage caused to our country by the illegal blockade imposed by the US and the incalculable human damage caused to the Cuban people. pic.twitter.com/SNSCYDxZBO— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) May 5, 2023
The president also assured him that Cuba is “committed to all the mechanisms of the United Nations in relation to the human rights”, according to one note published by the official newspaper Granma.
He also took the opportunity to explain to Douhan that the country promotes mechanisms for greater democratic participation among the population, in decision-making and in the process of creating regulations for our laws.
“We are working hard on the legal framework that guarantees the rights that we have recognized in the latest Constitution, approved by a popular majority,” he explained to the official, who during her stay has carried out other activities associated with the functions of her position before the UN, need the medium.
Díaz-Canel explained to his interlocutor the negative impacts of the pandemic and how since 2019 the United States Government has increased its sanctions on the island with more than 200 measures, including the activation for the first time of Chapter III of the Helms-Act. Burton under the administration of Donald Trump, as well as the inclusion of Cuba in the list of countries that sponsor terrorism.
“That meant that we began to have shortages of medicines, fuel, food, and a very complex situation was generated,” the president asserted, according to Granma.
For her part, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights issues thanked “the support and assistance that Cuba has constantly provided to this mandate, which has taken place in the midst of an increasingly difficult situation for the world, because the unilateral sanctions that are applied are increasing and they are increasing day by day“.
Douhan highlighted the opportunity she has had to meet with different groups of Cuban society and said she was “very impressed” by the resilience and resistance that the Cuban people have.
He added that the different conversations held in the country have contributed a lot to him, which would have allowed him “to learn about the effects that unilateral measures have on human rights issues and how these measures also affect human life”, as well as “to understand better some of the challenges they face on a daily basis”, highlights the note
As part of his academic visit to the island, Douhan offered a keynote speech last Thursday at the opening of the forum “Diverse views of the Cuban context on the impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights”, convened by the University from Havana.
In addition, he toured educational centers, communities, institutions, and met with government authorities and directors of various ministries.
