LOCAL NEWS

Cuba lashes US, Europe over human rights, wars Published on Thursday, March 4, 2010 Email To Friend    Print Version GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters) -- Cuba on Wednesday accused the United States, whose Democratic administration has been seeking to ease long-term restrictions on links with Havana, of stepping up subversion against the communist-ruled island. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla also lashed out at the West in general for creating a global economic system bringing the death of millions in poor countries and for launching bloody wars to seize control of energy resources. Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla AFP PHOTO Dubbing Washington's long economic blockade as genocide, he told the United Nations Human Rights Council: "The US policy against Cuba that the government of President (Barack) Obama has kept unchanged is taking a toll on the lives of Cubans." And he said the hunger-strike death in a Cuban jail last week of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who supporters say was a political prisoner and Cuba argues was a common criminal, had sparked a new escalation of subversion against the island. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed deep regrets over the death and said Zapata was imprisoned for speaking his mind. Other US politicians have fiercely condemned Havana. Political experts in the United States and Europe say the affair has struck a blow against hopes for near-term improvement in US-Cuba -- and European Union-Cuba -- relations. The vehemence of Rodriguez's speech to the 47-nation council suggested that Havana had a similar view, although it was reported this week to be seeking to persuade foreign firms to keep doing business with Cuba. Rodriguez accused the West of appointing itself as the world's human rights watchdog but was responsible for systematic and flagrant rights abuses. "They are the ones who bear responsibility for the present international economic order that silently murders tens of millions of human beings who fall victims of starvation, poverty and preventable and curable diseases," he said. "The US and its European allies resorted to the manipulation of terrorism to launch the wars whose aim was to control and conquer the energy resources of Iraq and Afghanistan," he added.   Reads : 22 Back... Comments: No comments on this topic yet. Be the first one to submit a comment. Back... Send us your comments!   Send us your comments on this article for publication in our Readers' Forum or as a Letter to the Editor. All fields are required and in the interest of openness and transparency we will no longer accept anonymous submissions. We therefore request that all submissions include a name for publication, regardless of content. We will in special circumstances protect a writer's identity only after we have established good cause for anonymity, otherwise we will not be able to publish the submission. For your contribution to reach us, you must (a) provide a valid e-mail address and (b) click on the validation link that will be sent to the e-mail address you provide.  If the address is not valid or you don't click on the validation link, it will be a waste of your time typing your submission because we will never see it! Your Name: Your Email: (Validation required) Comments: Enter Validation Code *