Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has criticised former Caribbean heads of government who appealed for international support for a United Nations resolution opposing the United States embargo on Cuba, according to CiberCuba. The report, published on Tuesday, attributed her comments to statements. It said the annual UN vote was scheduled for Wednesday, October 28. Persad-Bissessar argued that the former leaders were defending a political system in Cuba that they would not accept in their own countries. CiberCuba reported that she accused them of hypocrisy and urged them against supporting an oppressive political system abroad. The dispute centres on an open letter dated October 24 and published by the Jamaica Observer. According to CiberCuba, the letter called on countries to support the resolution and described US measures against Cuba as unilateral coercive actions contrary to the UN Charter and international law. The report identified former leaders from Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines among the signatories listed by the Jamaican newspaper. It also noted a discrepancy: former Trinidad and Tobago prime minister Keith Rowley among the signatories, although his name did not appear in the ten-person list cited from the Jamaica Observer. The former leaders argued that restrictions affecting fuel supplies were worsening hardship for Cubans. Those statements represent the position advanced in their letter, as reported by CiberCuba. The report also said former foreign affairs minister Amery Browne had called on Trinidad and Tobago to support the resolution. His appeal added a domestic voice to the debate over the country’s position. The supplied report did not establish how Trinidad and Tobago would vote. Persad-Bissessar’s criticism therefore sets out her opposition to the former leaders’ argument, without confirming the country’s decision on the resolution.
