Inspired
by the Days of Action Against the Blockade in Washington DC organized
by the International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity,
Cubanismo, a solidarity organization with Cuba based in Belgian,
organized the Days of Action Against the Blockade in the European
Parliament.
On November 29 and 30,
Cubanismo.be,
a Belgian solidarity organization, organized - in cooperation with
representatives of the European solidarity movements with Cuba and with
the GUE/NGL faction in the European Parliament in Brussels - two
European Action Days against the U.S. blockade against Cuba. This was
the first pan-European common action of its kind.
Twenty-five representatives from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland,
Italy, France, Portugal, Spain and Sweden met with members of the
European Parliament. The representatives exposed the consequences of
the blockade for Cuba and also for Europe, due to the illegal
extraterritorial application of the US blockade laws.
They denounced the fact that several European banks refused to transfer
money urgently needed for the damage of hurricane Irma, and even within
Europe they blocked money transfers to solidarity organizations and in
some instances even closed down bank accounts.
The representatives have asked the members of parliament to push for
Europe to oppose the blockade not only in words but also in action. In
fact, the European laws say that Member States should sanction
companies or persons that apply the blockade laws in Europe.
The U.S. threatens European entities with big fines - and banks and
companies already have payed many millions of dollars to the US
treasury in past years - but the European institutions barely react to
these illegal extraterritorial sanctions. This proves that the
US-blockade against Cuba is not only a threat to Cuban sovereignty, but
also to the sovereignty of the EU and its member states.
These facts are nearly unknown to the public and these lobby days were
aimed at raising awareness about it to European politicians and public.
The representatives met with the following members of the European
Parliament:
- Bart Staes (Belgium)
- Kathleen Van Brempt (Belgium)
- Hilde Vautmans (Belgium)
- Malin Björk (Sweden)
- Bodil Valero (Sweden)
- Luke Ming Flanagan (Ireland)
- Matt Carthy, Martina Anderson, Lynn
Boylan and Liadh Ni Riada (Ireland)
- Joachim Schuster (Germany)
- Sabine Lösing (Germany)
- Helmut Scholz (Germany)
- Joëlle Bergeron (France)
- Marie-Pierre Vieu (France)
Several members of parliament made suggestions for further action, like
sending letters, co-signed by several members of parliament to Federica
Mogherini and Moscovici, file a petition to the European Parliament in
order to defend their case and to put the struggle against the blockade
on the agenda, and to work even closer with all democratic forces who
want to have the Cuban and the European right to sovereignty be
respected.
European solidarity organizations will now expand these suggestions and
turn them into appropriate action in order to get answers from the
European Commission and the Parliament. We aim to inspire them to be
more assertive in their reaction against the extraterritorial
consequences that the U.S. imposes on European citizens, companies and
institutions. The days of action were a first step in a campaign
for getting the anti-Cuba blockade on the European agenda. European
solidarity organizations will continue to encourage all democratic
forces to demand an immediate end to the blockade.
GUE/NGL and
Cubanismo.be
also organized two conferences with international experts - amongst
them Camilo Guevara, one of Che's sons -, a cultural evening and
concert with Tumbao Cubano and a short public demonstration at the
Luxemburgplein in front of the European Parliament concluding these two
Days of Action Against the Blockade.
In the next days, reports of these two action days will be released on
the websites of all participating organizations.
Cubanismo.be
wishes to thank them once again and particularly the members of
parliament and collaborators of the GUE/NGL for their political,
financial and logistical support.
USA:
END THE BLOCKADE NOW!
EUROPE:
ACT NOW TO STOP ALL EXTRATERRITORIAL APPLICATIONS OF THE BLOCKADE!