00:11The United States continues its imperialist pressure on Cuba, this time fabricating accusations
00:16against revolution leader Raul Castro, which has sparked international rejection. In this context,
00:22we welcome Peter David, a member of the House of Representatives of Grenada, to discuss how this
00:26affects the Caribbean as a region. Hi, Mr. David. Good evening, good evening, how are you? I'm good.
00:34So, Mr. David, the United States is insisting on attacking the Cuban revolution and its leaders,
00:41despite the fact that Cuba has never posed any kind of threat to the northern neighbor. So,
00:46what do you think is the pursuit of the Trump administration with these accusations against
00:52the leader of the revolution, Raul Castro? Well, you know, the Caribbean has had, the
00:58English-speaking Caribbean has had a very good relation with the people and government of Cuba.
01:04And we know the history of the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba, the attempt since 1960
01:10to blockade Cuba. And our view is that it is against international law to start with. But then again,
01:23there is the issue of Cuba and Cuba's right to self-determination. Cuba has had an extremely good
01:32relationship with the Caribbean. We've done a lot together with Cuba. And we in the Caribbean are very
01:37concerned about this attempt, not only to reverse the Cuban revolution, but to seek to extradite
01:45leaders like Raul Castro, who has done a lot for the people of Cuba and the people of the Caribbean.
01:52There's deep concern in Grenada and the Caribbean about that.
01:57So, speaking of this, in this context, the United States is once again deploying its military forces in
02:04the Caribbean Sea, although it denies the possibility of any intention of attacking,
02:09of doing any kind of military action against Cuba. So, how does this measure fit into the recent
02:15aggression against Cuba? And how does this affect the region as a whole in its economic and political
02:21processes of the Caribbean? We recently saw the actions in Venezuela and those actions were
02:29sung wrongly condemned by the Caribbean people. We believe that the Caribbean should be maintained
02:34at a zone of peace. We believe that Cuba should be left alone to determine its own future. We do
02:42not
02:42accept that the use of military force against Cuba is justifiable. We believe that this is just an
02:48extension of what has been taking place since 1960 in Cuba. So, we in Grenada and we in the Caribbean,
02:58are deeply concerned about it. We believe that those actions go against our call for the Caribbean
03:04to be maintained at a zone of peace. And we call for dialogue. We urge the parties to enter into
03:12dialogue. And we know that Cuba has done a lot to try to peacefully resolve whatever issues they are. And
03:20we do not want to see an escalation of any conflict in the Caribbean, the way the conflicts are taking
03:26place in the Middle East. We condemn the Venezuela action against President Nicolas Maduro. And we
03:33condemn the military actions now envisaged against Cuba. And we continue to condemn the blockade and
03:40the attempts to to strangle the people of Cuba. We must remember that these actions are aimed at the
03:46people of Cuba. And we in the Caribbean, the governments and the people of the Caribbean,
03:52utterly condemn these actions.
03:56So, as you were saying, in this context of increasing violence of the Trump administration
04:01against the region with the attack in Venezuela and the threats against Cuba. Well, this poses a
04:08serious threat for the entire region, not just for Cuba. So, what steps do you think Caribbean and
04:14Latin American governments should take to defend the sovereignty of the region and the peace of the
04:19region?
04:19We call on Caribbean and Latin American governments through all of the mechanisms that we have,
04:25the regional integration mechanisms, the CARICOM, the mechanisms in Latin America,
04:32CELAC and all of the other mechanisms to openly condemn these actions. In addition,
04:37we call for them to urge Washington to enter into a dialogue. We urge Caribbean leaders, Caribbean
04:45foreign ministers to urgently meet to discuss these issues. These issues may today affect Cuba. They
04:52may today affect Venezuela. But we believe that this thing affects all of the region. So,
04:58we call on regional governments and the regional integration process, the regional arrangements to come
05:05together to seek to urge Washington to enter into dialogue. We in the Caribbean, we call on CARICOM to
05:12come together to unite in the face of these difficulties, because it is going to have a serious impact on
05:19the
05:20people of the Caribbean. Already, we have seen the impact of the wars in Iran with rising food prices,
05:27rising gas prices. And in addition to that, this so near to home, this violence can spill over
05:34into all of our countries. So, we call on the regional bodies, the regional governments to intervene to
05:41assist our brothers and sisters in Cuba. Cuba has been one of our best friends in this region. Cuba has
05:48done a tremendous amount to help the people of the Caribbean in healthcare, in education, in all of these areas.
05:54We believe our leaders must come together to seek to ask Washington to respect
06:00the Caribbean as a zone of peace and to cease from urging wars in this area.
06:09What do you think is the way Cuba keeps fulfilling a special role in the region in healthcare, in education,
06:18in infrastructure and the sovereignty of the region?
06:21Yes, Cuba has been a dear friend of the Caribbean. Cuba has been a staunch ally. Cuba has assisted the
06:30region in healthcare. If you go to any hospital in the Caribbean, it is filled with Cuban doctors,
06:37not only Cuban doctors, Cuban trained doctors from the Caribbean. Cuba has helped us in
06:44infrastructural development, in education, in several areas. Our international airport in Grenada
06:50was built with Cuban assistance and Cuba played a critical role in that. Our hospital was built with
06:58Cuban assistance. We believe that Cuba has played a significant role in the development of the region.
07:04And they did this in the face of the blockade. We have consistently called for the lifting of the
07:12blockade. We urge the lifting of the blockade. We urge the normalization of relations between Cuba and
07:19the United States, where the United States are respecting Cuba's right to develop in the way the Cuban
07:25people want to develop. We hope that this continues. And we hope that Cuba and the Caribbean can come
07:33together to work to maintain the region as a zone of peace. And we urge the United States,
07:38and we urge all of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to assist in keeping Cuba free of
07:47invasion. We do not want to have another military action in the Caribbean that will undermine our
07:56developmental objectives. We want to maintain the region as a zone of peace. And we want the Cuban
08:02people to develop the way the Cuban people want to develop.
08:08Well, thank you, Mr. David, for your input and for that show of support for the Cuban people.
08:13Thank you. Well, that was Peter David, a member of the House of Representatives of Grenada,
08:21sharing his views on the current escalation of aggressions of the Trump administration against
08:25Cuba and its regional repercussions. We'll be right back.
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