Cuba is at an important moment in history, says its Ambassador

This week, it’s been 14 years since five Cuban intelligence officers, popularly known as the ‘Cuban Five’, were arrested by the U.S. for espionage. Despite requests and dialogue, the U.S. continues to ignore the Cuban government’s demand for release of its five officers who had been sent unarmed to monitor right-wing exile groups in Miami that were planning attacks on Cuba, pointed out Abelardo Rafael Cueto Sosa, Cuban Ambassador to India.

He handed out a book, an autobiographical account by Antonio Guerrero, one of the five “freedom fighters”, translated into Hindi. This, he said, was just one of the “many hostilities” Cubans faced from their neighbours, the U.S. “It’s a permanent economic war,” the livewire Cuban emphasised.

Barack Obama, the “smart face of the U.S. government” and the first African-American president imposed the largest number of penalties on companies that traded with Cuba, he said. The economic blockade may just sound like a “trade phenomenon”, but Mr. Sosa explained that the repercussions had been severe, sometimes even costing lives. READ FULL STORY