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UNASUR Demands End to US Blockade of Cuba
Port-of-Spain - The presidents of the Union
of South American Nations (UNASUR) urged
their US counterpart, Barack Obama, to lift
the economic, commercial and financial
blockade of Cuba.
During a meeting between Obama and the
presidents of all 12 UNASUR member
countries, parallel to the Fifth Summit of
the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, the
Latin American heads of State and Government
insisted on the need to end Washington's
isolation policies on Cuba.
The Cuba issue is on everybody's mind,
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told
reporters in this capital, adding that
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had
pointed out that it is difficult to hold
another similar forum without Cuba's
presence.
Cubans deserve historic reparation for what
they have gone through, according to
Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo, who was
echoed by Bolivian President Evo Morales,
who harshly criticized Cuba's exclusion from
the continental meeting.
I refuse to call this meeting the Summit of
the Americas, at which there are two notable
absentees, said Nicaraguan President Daniel
Ortega, who added that he felt uncomfortable
without Cuba's and Puerto Rico's attendance.
At the opening session of the Summit,
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez
described the US blockade of Cuba as
historic anachronism.
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