Cuba Demands 'Reparations,' Defends World's Worst Human Rights Abusers at U.N.

Cuba’s Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla used his time at the 77th United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday in the representation of the Castro regime to accuse the United States of being behind the island’s problems and reiterate the communist regime’s support of other authoritarian regimes throughout the world.

Rodríguez Parrilla – who opened his speech by stating how the Chinese coronavirus pandemic has “laid bare like never before, the true essence of the unjust and unsustainable prevailing international order” – began his speech by quoting statistics on the percentage of the world population enduring hunger, as well as vaccine rates and denunciations of nuclear threats and alleged climate change.

After reminding everyone of mass murdering late dictator Fidel Castro’s claims that capitalism would “lead [humanity] to the apocalypse,” Rodríguez Parrilla, went on to accuse the United States and NATO of fostering a climate of tension and conflict “with unpredictable consequences,” an apparent reference to the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.

 Cuba’s ally and patron Russia claims its invasion of its neighbor was necessary as a response to the existence of NATO. Ukraine is not a NATO member state and its government’s requests to be included have fallen on deaf ears for years.

As is tradition, Rodríguez Parrilla went on to demand an end of America’s “embargo” on Cuba, blaming it for the worsening living conditions in the island nation. He did not note the extensive restrictions that the regime places on Cubans to prevent them from engaging with the United States, and omitted that the alleged “embargo” by the U.S. does not affect medical or humanitarian exchanges.

“As a result, in effect, the Cuban economy has experienced extraordinary pressures that are manifested in the industry, the provision of services, the shortage of food and medicine, and the deterioration of the level of consumption and general well-being of the population,” he claimed.

Rodríguez Parrilla claimed that the “embargo,” which, according to him, intensified “extremely to unprecedented levels” since 2019 and during the coronavirus pandemic, has caused an “enormous, cruel and immoral” damage to Cuban citizens — without making mention of the damages caused by six decades of communist rule in Cuba. Furthermore, the Castro regime’s representative described the “embargo” as an “act of economic warfare in peacetime.”

Rather than admit the Castro regime’s shortcomings, the foreign minister alleged that the United States has a desire to “generate scarcity, suffering, discouragement and dissatisfaction and cause harm to the Cuban people.” Rodríguez Parrilla also accused the United States of upholding the “most aggressive” pressure methods against the Castro regime adopted during the Trump administration, despite the Biden Administration’s tangible easygoing and cooperative attitude towards the communist regime, as well as its aggressive deportation of Cubans fleeing from the island by sea.

Furthermore, the Castro regime representative stated that Cuba’s inclusion in the United States’ “arbitrary and unilateral” list of state sponsors of terrorism hinders the regime’s financial transactions.

The United States lists Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism due to the Castro regime’s deep ties with international terrorist organizations such as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Shiite jihadist organization Hezbollah, and Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Marxist terrorist groups.

Rodríguez Parrilla went on to underscore “the valuable commitment shown by Cubans and their descendents in protests that have occured in that [United States] and across the world, to ensure that Cuba’s sovereignty rights are respected and to reject the merciless actions of the United States, in particular the policy of the economic blockade.”

His statements obviate the ongoing and daily protests in Cuba against the Castro regime that have intensified over the past weeks as Cubans continue to suffer through inhumanly long blackouts, shortages of food, and a severe health crisis due to dengue outbreaks on the island.

The Minister continued by claiming that “the Cuban people and government have not let up in their attempts to forge ahead with the construction of a socialist society, which is fairer, democratic, prosperous, and sustainable,” words that clash against recent reports that shows the demand for freedom and an end to 63-year old communism rule in the island to be the main driving force of the daily protests taking place in Cuba.

Rodríguez Parrilla, on behalf of the Castro regime, then expressed his support to like-minded authoritarian regimes in the region and in the world.

He started by reiterating the Castro regime’s support of Venezuela’s socialist regime and its dictator, Nicolás Maduro, calling for an end to the sanctions imposed by the United States upon the Maduro regime. He also expressed support for the authoritarian Sandinista regime of Nicaragua and its dictator Daniel Ortega.

The Cuban Foreign Minister paused his list of support of authoritarian countries for a moment to demand reparations for the Caribbean nations for “the damaging effects of colonialism and slavery,”  while calling for the independence of Puerto Rico and “special contributions” for Haiti. 

The Cuban minister continued by expressing support for Argentina’s alleged claim of the Falklands Islands and expressing the Castro regime’s support of Argentina’s vice-president, Cristina Fernández de Kircher in light of an alleged assassination attempt against her.

Rodríguez Parrilla expressed the Castro regime’s support of Palestine, Iran, North Korea, Belarus, Russia, and China’s false claims over the nation of Taiwan.

With regards to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Cuban minister advocated for a “serious, constructive and realistic” diplomatic solution, without condemning Russia for having invaded Ukraine.

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.