The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, demanded this Wednesday in New York that a specific date be set for holding free elections in Cuba and Venezuela.
"Free elections should take place, and I believe a date should be set—not in the short term, but a date should be defined for elections in Venezuela and also in Cuba," Noboa stated in comments to Martí Noticias, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
The statement was made after the Ecuadorian president addressed the United Nations plenary, where he focused much of his speech on the need to strengthen international cooperation against transnational organized crime.
Noboa's appeal adds to the statements about Cuba made this week by several leaders during the 81st General Assembly of the UN.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump described Cuba as an "absolutely failed state" and stated that "freedom will come to Cuba," while the regime's delegation was leaving the room in protest.
This Wednesday, Argentine President Javier Milei demanded the end of "that bloody dictatorship", while Paraguayan President Santiago Peña called for free elections and a democratic transition in Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Haiti.
In May of this year, Noboa himself, during an address at the Atlantic Council in Washington, had already warned that “we cannot sit idly by while people are starving” and demanded a “firmer stance” from the international community regarding the crisis on the island.
Two months ago, the government expelled the Cuban ambassador Basilio Gutiérrez and the rest of the diplomatic mission in Quito.
The Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry did not initially explain the reasons behind the decision, although days later, Noboa stated that his government had detected "Cuban interference" in political activities, which he claimed were violent. Cuba rejected the expulsion as "arbitrary and unjustified" and later closed its embassy in Quito.
The United Nations General Assembly has become the stage this week for various statements from Latin American leaders calling for political changes and free elections in Cuba.
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