Cuban Ambassador pays courtesy call on Speaker of Parliament

 The Cuban Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Pedro Luis Despaigne Gonzàlez has met the Speaker of Parliament, Honourable Alban Bagbin and the leadership of the house to bid his farewell as his tenure of office in Ghana comes to an end.

Speaking at the event, the Ambassador told Speaker Bagbin that, it very painful to be in a blockade for 59 years as a country.

According to him, if one surrenders after the blockade by the United States, he can not build his own country.

He mentioned that an example is what happened in Lybia.

"Look at what Lybia was and what Lybia is now" he regretted.

The United States embargo against Cuba prevents American businesses, and businesses with commercial activities in the United States, from conducting trade with Cuban interests to become the most enduring trade embargo in modern history. 

The US first imposed an embargo on the sale of arms to Cuba on March 14, 1958, during the Fulgencio Batista regime.

Again, on October 19, 1960 (almost two years after the Cuban Revolution had led to the deposition of the Batista regime) the U.S. placed an embargo on exports to Cuba except for food and medicine after Cuba nationalized American-owned Cuban oil refineries without compensation. 

On February 7, 1962, the embargo was extended to include almost all exports.

 Since the year 2000, the embargo no longer prohibits the trade of food and humanitarian supplies.

Also speaking, the former Member of Parliament for Ho Central, Honourable Kofi Attor shared some of the experience and the relationship between Cuba and Ghana.

He said, even though the government kept changing but the relationship between Cuba and Ghana is still strong.

The former MP said, he hopes the current US president Joe Biden will lift the blockade (embargo) on Cuba even though some of the embargoes are by law.

Meanwhile, the Ranking Member on the foreign affairs Committee and MP for North Tongu Honourable Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa thanked the Ambassador for what his country has been doing for Ghana by training medical practicians.

He expressed that Cuban Doctors who always come to work in Ghana always give their best by going to the remotest area of the country without complaining of the unavailability of social amenities.

But for the Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu, it is not in the area of health that Cuba has trained Ghanaians, but also in Oil and gas.

He assured Ambassador Gonzalez that Ghana will support them to bring an end to the Blockade by the US government.

Adding, the Majority Leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu implied that, the two countries should build a much more bilateral relationship with consolidation which will bring a mutual benefit to the citizens of the two states.

E K Ansah Parliament