Nineteen Cuban Medical Specialists deployed in Gaborone joined Ambassador Antonio Luis Pubillones Izaguirre on Friday evening to sign the Document denouncing the US economic blockade against the socialist island nation.
Expanded in 1962 under President John F. Kennedy, the embargo has since restricted trade, financial transactions, and access to vital goods.
Over the decades, laws such as the Helms-Burton Act (1996) have tightened restrictions, extending penalties to foreign companies trading with Cuba.
In 2026, the embargo has escalated with new measures targeting Cuba’s oil imports. A recent U.S. executive order authorised tariffs and sanctions against countries supplying fuel to the island, effectively creating a fuel blockade.
This has triggered widespread blackouts lasting up to 20 hours, disrupting electricity generation, hospitals, water systems, and food storage.
To counter this blockade, which has caused untold suffering, President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, has called for a national and international movement of solidarity and denunciation.
Here in Gaborone, the Ambassador led the signing of the Document immediately after the Head of the Cuban Medical Mission in Botswana, Dr Pablo Ricardo Betancourt Álvarez, had read the Statement of solidarity.
Below is the Statement:
MY SIGNATURE FOR THE HOMELAND
“On April 16, the Cuban people once again reaffirmed their unwavering conviction to defend the Homeland, on the very day we celebrated the 65th anniversary of the proclamation of the Socialist character of the Revolution.
In that historic moment, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, called for a national and international movement of solidarity and denunciation.
The truth of our people shall not be silenced. The suffering of millions of Cubans, caused by the blockade and the brutal
economic war, is nothing less than an act of genocide.
This policy of hatred and the constant threats of military aggression against Cuba stand in stark contrast to the values of millions of men and women who cherish peace, solidarity, and humanism.
Let us be part of a movement that gives voice to our convictions. Let us unite and denounce barbarism. Let our stance be the firmest and most resolute condemnation of every policy that denies life and the rights of the Cuban people.
In support of the Declaration of the Revolutionary Government — Girón is today and forever! — and in response to the call of Cuban civil society organisations,
We shall reaffirm with our signatures the irrenounceable vocation for peace that is the essence of the Cuban nation, forged with the deepest conviction that defending ourselves is not only a right, but, as enshrined in our Constitution, the greatest honour and the supreme duty of every Cuban”.
Background: U.S. Embargo and Oil Blockade on Cuba
The United States first imposed an economic embargo on Cuba in 1960, after the revolutionary government nationalised American-owned properties without compensation.Expanded in 1962 under President John F. Kennedy, the embargo has since restricted trade, financial transactions, and access to vital goods.
Over the decades, laws such as the Helms-Burton Act (1996) have tightened restrictions, extending penalties to foreign companies trading with Cuba.
In 2026, the embargo has escalated with new measures targeting Cuba’s oil imports. A recent U.S. executive order authorised tariffs and sanctions against countries supplying fuel to the island, effectively creating a fuel blockade.
This has triggered widespread blackouts lasting up to 20 hours, disrupting electricity generation, hospitals, water systems, and food storage.
To counter this blockade, which has caused untold suffering, President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, has called for a national and international movement of solidarity and denunciation.
Here in Gaborone, the Ambassador led the signing of the Document immediately after the Head of the Cuban Medical Mission in Botswana, Dr Pablo Ricardo Betancourt Álvarez, had read the Statement of solidarity.
Below is the Statement:
MY SIGNATURE FOR THE HOMELAND
“On April 16, the Cuban people once again reaffirmed their unwavering conviction to defend the Homeland, on the very day we celebrated the 65th anniversary of the proclamation of the Socialist character of the Revolution.
In that historic moment, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, called for a national and international movement of solidarity and denunciation.
The truth of our people shall not be silenced. The suffering of millions of Cubans, caused by the blockade and the brutal
economic war, is nothing less than an act of genocide.
This policy of hatred and the constant threats of military aggression against Cuba stand in stark contrast to the values of millions of men and women who cherish peace, solidarity, and humanism.
Let us be part of a movement that gives voice to our convictions. Let us unite and denounce barbarism. Let our stance be the firmest and most resolute condemnation of every policy that denies life and the rights of the Cuban people.
In support of the Declaration of the Revolutionary Government — Girón is today and forever! — and in response to the call of Cuban civil society organisations,
We shall reaffirm with our signatures the irrenounceable vocation for peace that is the essence of the Cuban nation, forged with the deepest conviction that defending ourselves is not only a right, but, as enshrined in our Constitution, the greatest honour and the supreme duty of every Cuban”.
