Statement on the UN Vote Against the US Blockade of Cuba

The Communist Party USA takes the occasion of the vote October 30 by the UN General Assembly against the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba to express solidarity with the Cuban people. We support heightened efforts within the United States to end Bush administration Cuba policies that defy international law, go against the grain of international opinion and against the grain of U.S. public opinion.

The CPUSA notes that for 16 years U.S. depredations against Cuban sovereignty and national independence have been condemned by progressively increasing majorities of nations in the UN General Assembly. This year, the largest ever total of nations, 184 in all, joined Cuba's appeal for fairness and common decency on the part of the United States government.

The CPUSA extends its recognition of the heroic determination of a unified Cuban people to resist unjust policies whose cruelties have intensified under the current U.S. administration.

U.S. restrictions that block Cuba's access to materials essential for human survival - food, medicines, and medical supplies in particular - point to the genocidal thrust of U.S. policies lasting almost five decades. Meticulous documentation by Cuban officials demonstrates that U.S. policies that maim, kill, and hurt persist, unabated.

Now is the time in concert with all peoples and nations intent upon justice, for the U.S. policy of economic blockade to end. Now is the time, too, for the administration in Washington to cease prescribing for sovereign, harmless states not to its liking.

Lastly, the CPUSA declares that a sure sign of a U.S. turn toward justice would be the release of five Cuban men unjustly imprisoned in U.S. jails for fighting terrorist attacks against their people.

National Committee Communist Party USA