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Just hours before the annual voting at the United Nations General Assembly on the resolution condemning the U.S. embargo against Cuba, the Cuban opposition figure José Daniel Ferrer García, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), urged democratic countries not to endorse what he considers a "diplomatic farce" and denounced the ethical contradictions of Europe and the West regarding the Cuban regime.
“Neither the European Union, nor the United Kingdom, nor Canada, nor Australia, nor any free and democratic country should support the resolution regarding the embargo presented by the Cuban regime,” Ferrer wrote on his X account (formerly Twitter).
"When they vote in favor of that resolution, they are supporting a document filled with falsehoods and exaggerations; they are supporting a criminal dictatorship that imposes a harsh blockade on the rights of Cubans," added the opposition leader recently exiled to the United States.
Similarly, the political prisoner of the dictatorship emphasized that the U.S. embargo is not the cause of the suffering of the population but rather a political consequence of the regime's crimes and alliances.
Cuba, ally of Russia in the invasion of Ukraine
In his message, Ferrer highlighted the hypocrisy of the European Union and other Western countries that impose sanctions on Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, yet vote in the UN in favor of a strategic ally of Moscow.
"It is neither ethical nor political nor wise for EU member countries, which greatly need the support of the United States for Ukraine, to vote against their main ally and favor a dictatorship that has always been opposed to the West," he stated.
His statements align with the recent claims from the Ukrainian government, which confirmed the presence of thousands of Cubans recruited by Russia to fight on the eastern front.
The Ukrainian humanitarian project "I Want to Live," which is under the Ministry of Defense, assured this month that more than 5,000 Cuban citizens may have been sent to the conflict, some under false pretenses and misleading promises of work.
While the Cuban regime insists on the narrative of being a victim of the "blockade," its military and intelligence apparatus cooperates with an invading power, and its citizens are sent to fight in a war that it officially supports in statements and unofficially with military personnel.
The contradiction is evident: while America's European allies demand all possible support and a firm commitment within NATO to counter Russian aggression on European soil, at the same time they turn their backs in the UN vote, disregarding U.S. arguments and backing a strategic ally dictatorship of Vladimir Putin.
The European Inconsistency in the Face of a Dictatorship Allied with Autocracies
In that regard, Ferrer questioned the ambivalent position of the European Union, which maintains a Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with Havana (ADPC) but imposes sanctions on governments such as those of Venezuela, Iran, or Russia.
"The EU imposes sanctions on Russia, Venezuela, and Iran… but treats the liberticidal Cuban regime, a mentor to those in Venezuela and Nicaragua and a strategic ally of Russia, as if it were an innocuous democracy," he criticized.
The opposition leader urged democratic countries to abstain or vote against the resolution, arguing that voting in favor would equate to rewarding a regime responsible for international support and backing from regional autocracies for Moscow, as well as massive human rights violations, internal repression, and institutional corruption.
"The criminal is condemned and sanctioned; they are not rewarded or benefited," he concluded.
A symbolic vote in a context of war and hypocrisy
This year's vote takes place in a particularly tense geopolitical context. The United States seeks to break the automatic consensus that for decades has supported Cuba at the UN, while Havana tries to politically exploit the image of being a victim of the "blockade."
But the reports of Cuban mercenarism in Ukraine, the ties to sanctioned regimes, and the recent revelation that the military conglomerate GAESA has accumulated over 18 billion dollars while the population lacks food and medicine undermine the regime's humanitarian narrative.
For Ferrer, the true "blockade" is not the American one, but rather the one imposed by the Communist Party on its own people: the blockade of free thought, independent work, civil rights, and freedom of association.
Their message highlights a moral dilemma that Europe and Latin America will face in this week's vote: should they continue to legitimize a dictatorship that supports wars, represses its people, and conceals enormous fortunes, or should they adopt an ethical stance that challenges this historical complicity?
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