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Sanctions don’t resolve anything, but just worsen situations – Rodriguez

Sanctions don’t resolve anything, but just worsen situations – Rodriguez
By Ernest Chanda
Thu 17 Dec. 2009, 04:01 CAT

CUBAN Ambassador to Zambia Carmelina Rodriguez has observed that sanctions imposed on any country do not resolve anything, but just worsen the situation.

At a public discussion orgainsed by the Southern African Centre for Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) and the Press Freedom Committee of The Post (PFC) in Lusaka on Tuesday under the theme 'Do sanctions resolve or fuel conflicts', Ambassador Rodriguez observed that the population suffers more as a result of sanctions.

“Cuba has a history of resistance; we have always fought for our rights. It is not always true that sanctions promote good governance. In most instances sanctions create worse environments; first it's the population that suffers the most,” Ambassador Rodriguez said. “In case of Cuba, sanctions have not promoted the interests of society.

That's why Cuban people are united against sanctions. We put a lot of resources in our military to protect ourselves, instead of pumping such resources in the economy. In Angola and Zimbabwe, for example, sanctions did not solve anything, but worsened the situation. The same thing happened in Iraq where a lot of people have suffered.”
And Ambassador Rodriguez has said there is a lot of misinformation about the political situation in Cuba.

She said contrary to international media reports that there was no democracy in Cuba; Cubans were in fact freely participating in their country's political affairs.

“There is a lot of misinformation about the Cuban political system. The international media like CNN Cable News Network, BBC British Broadcasting Corporation and others have misrepresented Cuba's political situation. What the international media calls the opposition in Cuba is a mercenary opposition financed by the United States; it has very few people,” Ambassador Rodriguez said.

“The political participation in Cuba is everywhere. We have the young and the old participating in Cuban politics.

In fact the participation of the ordinary people in Cuban politics is higher than in most countries. I'm not criticising any particular country because each country is free to have a political set up of their choice. So, it's not true that because we have a one party political system then we have very few people participating in politics.”

SACCORD executive director Lee Habasonda said sanctions had both good and bad effects on a particular country.

“For example, there wouldn't have been a government of national unity in Zimbabwe if it were not for sanctions. In my view they have a tendency of changing behaviour; they are not bad in themselves. It's unfortunate that they are not targeted at rich nations,” said Habasonda.

“We have also seen that sanctions have made countries self-reliant. Countries that have suffered sanctions have developed self-dependence. So, we can see that sanctions are both a tool for resolving conflicts and a tool for fueling conflicts.”

Labels: CARMELINA RAMIREZ RODRIGUEZ, CUBA, SACCORD, SANCTIONS, ZDERA

posted by MrK @ 6:09 PM