14ymedio, Havana, November 12, 2021–Chancellor Bruno Rodríguez’s harangue last Wednesday before the diplomatic corps has fallen on deaf ears in the European Union. Diplomats from EU member states will cover the Civic March for Change on November 15th and should inform the High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, of the events, as reported by Spanish daily El Mundo.
According to sources of the Madrid-based newspaper, the European Parliament’s delegation for Central America and Cuba Relations wrote a letter asking Borrell to have EU diplomats observe, from the ground, the events next Monday, protected by the Vienna Convention.
The European chancellor, following conversations with the responsible Members of the European Parliament — Javier Nart (Independent), Tilly Metz (Greens) and Jens Gieske (DemoChristian) — has approved it and asked representatives to monitor the events and convey what may happen.
One of the demands of Archipiélago is precisely this, international protection and, in particular, European protection. In a letter addressed to the international community on November 8th and translated to English and French that same day, the group noted that the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with the European Union signed in 2016 recognizes civil society as cooperation actors.
“Under the protection of the mentioned Cooperation Agreement, as Cuban civil society actors, we address citizens of member states of the European Union to invite them to be aware of the streets this coming November 15th.”
In addition, according to El Mundo, some diplomats will participate in the marches as observers, though they did not reveal any of their names and only mentioned Ángel Martín Peccis among those who will not do so.
The organizers of the march have also received additional support, this time from the United Nations. The office of the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, on Thursday assured that it will conduct “remote monitoring” of what occurs Monday.
Of course, the support of the U.S. was a given, as it has on numerous occasions made declarations with regard to 15N. Yesterday, during the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), Secretary Anthony Blinken, requested that each country in the continent sent a clear message that everyone has “the right to assemble peacefully and express their opinions.”
Blinken reminded them that there continue to be many detained following the massive protests which occurred in July and that several people have been tried for crimes which carry sentences of dozens of years. “Including a 26 year old woman named Yolanda Cruz who faces an eight-year prison sentence for filming a protest,” he highlighted.
Translated by: Silvia Suárez
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