By Yaimi Ravelo on November 28, 2023
photo courtesy of the Cuban Embassy in Belgium
When Dairelis and Pedro Armando, Natali’s parents, put their story in our hands, we never imagined that their testimonies would be part of the denunciation that reached the heart of the European Parliament. But at the International Tribunal held their on November 16-17 that is exactly what happened.
This came about at the Peoples’ Summit held in Brussels on July 17 and 18 of this year, when the European, Latin American and U.S. jurists, social, trade union and political organizations present launched the call for an International Tribunal against the Blockade of Cuba.
The signatories denounced the extraterritorial nature of the blockade and the inclusion of the island in Washington’s demonic list of countries sponsoring terrorism, which reinforce the violation of international law of US policy towards Cuba.
The Tribunal was made up of judges and prosecutors of great international prestige from countries of the European Union and even the United States.
Speaking in the first person has always been uncomfortable for me, and although journalism qualifies it as a first person chronicle, that day I had to do it in my own voice.
The JAN2Q2 room of the European Parliament looked gigantic, perhaps because of the presence of so many important people – not because of the positions they hold – but because of the conviction they all have to oppose one of the greatest injustices in the history of mankind.
A genuine feeling towards Cuba created the oxygen among the participants; Euro-parliamentarians, judges, prosecutors, Cuban government officials, leaders of solidarity movements, diplomatic corps, activists, journalists, photographers. Everyone listened attentively to each denunciation, the evidence, the words of the witnesses, the honesty on their faces, the truth in their hands.
In that epic atmosphere of deep respect for my nation, I felt that with me were my teammates, my press media, my own movement of solidarity with my homeland, everyone in my small humanity, with that enormous commitment to speak on behalf of all of them and for Natali, for the families that like those of Dairelis and Pedro Armando who need health treatment to save the life of a loved one without the aggression of U.S. foreign policy towards Cuba that makes medical equipment and medicines a near impossibility.
At 11:15 a.m. it was my turn on the podium, the program indicated: Presentation of the documentary “La gota de agua”, produced by Resumen Latinoamericano and directed by the filmmakers Iriana Pupo and Yaimi Ravelo.
The impact of that room and being accompanied by the Portuguese MEP Sandra Pereira and the Secretary General of the National Assembly of People’s Power and the Council of State of Cuba, Homero Acosta, shook me. I felt that my companions were there with them, even if they only saw me wrapped in a Palestinian scarf. My hands were shaking, not because of the cold of Brussels, but because we never imagined that our film Drop of Water would have the honor of flooding that great hall.
I was filled with pride when I saw Natali’s beautiful face and strength on the huge screens of the room, I cried for the umpteenth time with the lump in my throat unleashed by the testimony of her young parents.
Solidarity for Natali and all the Cuban girls and boys suffering from cancer and other severe ailments, for all the Cuban mothers and fathers who suffer so much when their children cannot have access to a necessary medicine because the blockade prevents it, prevailed in that great oval space.
When the exhibition ended. I received the embrace of many who in tears said from near and far: it is a great condemnation of the blockade and all it affects. Copies with subtitles in English, French, Portuguese and Italian were requested so others could share it. Minutes later, my work as a photographer and editor continued to cover everything that happened that first day.
International Tribunal against the Blockade of Cuba
At the conclusion of the second day great symbolic and political triumph reached due to the characteristics of this International Tribunal:
photo: Yaimi Ravelo
“No Blockade in the history of mankind has been so extensive, so lasting and constant as the one imposed on Cuba by the government of the United States for more than six decades”, declared the German judge and Magistrate Norman Paech. According to the conclusion of the team of judges, “intentional affectations to end the lives of people amount to genocide”.
The International Tribunal against the Blockade condemned the United States government resolutely for genocide for its attempt to undermine and exterminate the dignity and life of the Cubans, from room JAN2Q2 of the European Parliament.
The condemnation, although not legally enforceable, is backed by an opinion regulated by the laws and legal norms that govern international law and serves as a tool to strengthen the legal basis for the European Parliament to continue condemning the U.S. government for genocide.
Source: Cuba en Resumen