Final Declaration adopted as an
outcome of the National Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba in New Zealand
After making a balance of the work done by the Friendship Associations with Cuba throughout 2014 and discussing and agreeing on concrete actions to carry out next year, as the culmination of the important Gathering, the delegates adopted a Final Declaration that summed up the feelings and will of those present.
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| Participants at the National Gathering |
Final Declaration
New Zealand Cuba Friendship Society
Statement from the 2014 National Gathering of the New Zealand - Cuba Friendship Society
In a world dominated by increasingly chaotic neo-liberal capitalist regimes led by a morally bankrupt U.S. government, Cuba remains a beacon of integrity.
The small and economically-challenged island state continues to provide for all its citizens in a socially just manner. Its education and health systems are a model for other nations, as is its ability to cope with the natural disasters exacerbated by climate change.
We watch with interest its economic adjustments, carried out after consultation with all its people.
We admire its exemplary commitment to other nations experiencing crises, whether it be Haiti or, currently, the countries of West Africa.
We applaud its medical help with our South Pacific neighbours.
Why such a nation should be punished by a continuing and pernicious economic blockade beggars belief and we call on President Obama to lift the blockade, a call that echoes the judgement of every nation on earth other than the U.S client state of Israel.
We also call on President Obama to release the members of the Cuban Five who remain incarcerated in U.S. penitentiaries without fair trial and in an act of empty hatred.
In a world faced with planetary crisis, the lifting of the blockade and the release of Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero and Ramón Labañino would be seen as symbolic gestures giving hope that nations can restore international governance to the level of reason necessary to tackle the crisis.
We express our solidarity with the Cuban people.
He aha te mea nui o te ao. What is the most important thing in the world? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. It is the people, it is the people, it is the people.
New Zealand – Cuba Friendship Society
December 7th, 2014
Wellington, New Zealand
