Havana, June 28 (RHC)– The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) reiterated that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is promoting a campaign against the Caribbean nation’s medical cooperation, media outlets reported this Saturday.
According to Granma and Juventud Rebelde, two of the most important newspapers on the island, in their print editions, Rubio is using the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights “as part of his immoral campaign against the medical cooperation that Cuba offers.”
“To this end, he has, in an unprecedented manner, required all OAS member states to respond to a detailed questionnaire about the agreements they have or have had with Cuba regarding cooperation in the health sector,” it explains.
This action, according to the statement, is considered by many nations to be “an unprecedented request that violates the sovereignty of states.” “Cuba reiterates that it does not, nor will it, recognize any moral or legal authority of the OAS or any of its officials and subsidiary or autonomous bodies,” the statement asserts.
It also asserts that to help achieve its objective, the United States resorted to pressure and blackmail and imposed a “mercenary on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the OAS (Organization of American States).”
For months, Rubio unleashed an operation to try to transform a prominent member of his roster of salaried defenders of the blockade and aggression against Cuba into an impartial human rights expert, it asserts.
It notes that “pressure and threats, which included blackmail claiming the United States would cut budgets for cooperation programs in the hemisphere, narrowly led to the election of the notorious mercenary Rosa María Payá Acevedo as Commissioner of the IACHR.”
Despite efforts to whitewash Payá’s record, it clarifies, “they did not erase the shameful history of the new Commissioner, who flaunts her support for coups d’état, spreads lies, and promotes military interventions and economic warfare policies.”
It also refers to assessments by the Independent Panel that evaluates candidates for bodies of the Inter-American Human Rights System.
Payá demonstrated limited knowledge of international human rights standards, jurisprudence, or doctrine, and her political activity could call into question the appearance of independence in the eyes of a reasonable observer, the statement cites.
It also notes that the Center for Economic and Policy Research considered Payá’s public record to demonstrate a repeated disregard for human rights and international law.
It also accuses her of spreading “disinformation about the governments of OAS member states.”
Rubio, “with his delusional anti-Cuban obsession and contempt for Our America, has succeeded in imposing one of his favorite employees to defend coercive policies that are universally rejected,” it denounces.
Facts like this, the text notes, “demonstrate that hemispheric relations need a profound transformation.”
(Taken from RHC)
