Following the visit of the OCDH and other activists to Brussels in February, 34 MEPs sent a letter to Josep Borrell describing the dramatic situation on the island and calling for greater commitment in demanding changes from the Cuban regime. Among the issues addressed by the MEPs are: political prisoners and initiatives by relatives for their release, the situation of poverty, as well as Havana’s non-compliance with the Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with the European Union.
Brussels,
February 21, 2024
Dear High Representative,
Mr. Joseph Borrell,
On the occasion of the visit to the European Parliament of the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) and a group of Cuban activists, we support the initiatives of prisoners’ relatives calling for the freedom for all Cuban political prisoners; we also demand that the Cuban state considers any legal action that implies the immediate release of political prisoners on the island, as well as the cessation of harassment to prisoners’ families and members of Cuba de Luto, who are demanding the release of their unjustly imprisoned relatives.
We are concerned about the increase in social violence and irregular migration as an escape route from the critical socioeconomic situation, marked by 88% of families in
extreme poverty, inflation, lack of medicines, and the deterioration of essential public services. This is the result of a structural crisis and the absence of political will of the Cuban regime to make the changes that the country needs, instead of measures such as the recent “paquetazo”, which implies sacrifices only for
the population.
In accordance with the commitments made, and always unfulfilled, by the Cuban regime
in the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with the European Union, we reiterate the urgent need for concrete steps towards a transition to a state of full rule of law on the island, and the holding of plural, free and democratic elections, as well as respect for human rights and individual freedoms.
The undersigned,
GRUPO POPULAR EUROPEO
Leopoldo López Gil
Gabriel Mato
Antonio López Istúriz
Javier Zarzalejos
Isabel Benjumea
Pilar del Castillo
Francisco José Millán Mon
José Manuel García-Margallo
Ana Collado
Juan Ignacio Zoido
Andrius Kubilius
RENEW EUROPE
Javier Nart
Dita Charanzová
Jordi Cañas
Izaskun Bilbao
Petras Austrevicius
Bernard Guetta
Dragos Tudorache
Fabio Castaldo
Frédérique Ries
Karen Melchior
José Ramón Bauzá
María Soraya Rodríguez
Maite Pagazaurtundúa
ECR GROUP
Jorge Buxadé,
Hermann Tertsch
Mazaly Aguilar
Margarita de la Pisa
Carlo Fidanza
Anna Fotyga
Ladislav Ilcic
Ryszard Czarnecki
Izabela Kloc
Dominik Tarczynski
