Mexico, Spain and Brazil have voiced concern about the “dramatic situation” in Cuba, which has faced months of pressure from US president Donald Trump, with the trio urging “sincere and respectful dialogue”.
Without explicitly mentioning the US, the three leftist-led countries expressed on Saturday “deep concern regarding the grave humanitarian crisis that the people of Cuba are enduring, and call for the adoption of necessary measures to alleviate this situation”.
The countries, in a joint statement issued by Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called for a “sincere and respectful dialogue” in line with international law.
The purpose of such a dialogue should be to “find a lasting solution to the current situation and to ensure that it is the Cuban people themselves who decide their own future in full freedom,” the statement said.
The appeal came as a summit of leftist leaders is taking place in Barcelona, led by Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez, one of the biggest critics of the US and Israel’s bombing campaigns in the Middle East.
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum and Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva were among those who attended, and who called for efforts to “protect democracy”.
Cuba has been bracing for a possible attack in light of repeated warnings from Trump that Cuba is “next” after he toppled Venezuela’s leader Nicolás Maduro and went to war against Iran.
Trump has imposed an oil blockade of Cuba, aggravating the impoverished island’s worst economic and energy crisis in decades.