The Popular Party (PP) deputy, Belén Hoyo Juliá, delivered one of the most powerful speeches on Cuba that has been made in the Congress of Deputies of Spain this Wednesday, in response to a non-legislative proposal from Sumar urging the Government to take the lead in defending the island in the European Union against the American embargo.
A non-legislative proposal (PNL) is a parliamentary initiative through which a chamber, in this case, the Congress of Deputies, expresses its position on a matter or urges the Government to take specific action.
Sumar launched the initiative to urge the Government of Pedro Sánchez to lead the defense of Cuba in the European Union against the "economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States" on the island. The motion did not pass, receiving 163 votes in favor, 170 against, and 13 abstentions.
Belén Hoyo's speech on Cuba
The speech of the MP from the PP representing Valencia went viral on Cuban social media. The video was shared on Facebook by various opposition members, including José Daniel Ferrer García, founder of UNPACU.
Hoyo Juliá opened his remarks by pointing out that the Sumar initiative did not contain the words "dictatorship," "political prisoners," "censorship," "repression," or "persecution" even once.
"It's not a problem of misinformation; it's a problem of choice. You have chosen to side with the executioners instead of being with their victims," Hoyo stated before the assembly.
Addressing the Sumar deputy Enrique Santiago directly, the Popular Party parliamentarian spared no irony.
"How easy it is to defend the Cuban Revolution from Spanish democracy. How easy it is to praise a single-party system from a seat that has been won in free elections."
The phrase directed at Sumar that captured the essence of the speech was a devastating contrast: "For you, freedom; for Cubans, repression; for you, pluralism; for Cubans, a single party; for you, alternation; for Cubans, resignation," said the woman from Valencia.
Hoyo was direct in defining the nature of the regime: “Cuba is a dictatorship, a dictatorship that has denied entire generations democracy and freedom for more than six decades,” he said, also rejecting the appropriation of the concept of “Cuban people” by the promoters of the initiative.
The Cuban people are not the Castro regime. The Cuban people are those who have been persecuted and silenced by that regime. The Cuban people are those who remain there, on the island, in fear, but they are also those who have had to flee and choose between their homeland or their freedom.
The speech included a direct criticism of the PSOE and its historical leaders. According to Hoyo, “Zapatero found in complicity with certain Latin American dictatorships a way to do business,” while “Pedro Sánchez has found a new way of governing, where anything goes if it helps to remain in power.”
In the same debate, Santiago argued that the Cuban people are "being slowly exterminated" by the embargo and that the United States is creating "a humanitarian crisis" on the island.
The debate takes place in a context of increasing international pressure on the Cuban regime. In June 2026, the European Parliament approved a resolution that called for individual sanctions against Díaz-Canel and leaders of GAESA, with 283 votes in favor.
Hoyo concluded his remarks with a message of hope directed at both Cubans and Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.
"There will come a day when Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans will be able to vote freely. And on that day, some of us who are here will be able to look them in the eyes and tell them that we stood with them defending democracy and freedom, that we never justified, whitewashed, or glossed over the regime that oppressed them."
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