Petition on Cuba sent to president, foreign affairs minister

Last Updated on Thursday, 5 March 2026, 21:33 by Writer

At least 146 organisations and individuals on Thursday petitioned the Guyana government to condemn the United States’ (US) fuel embargo and immediately pull back its move to end the almost 50-year Cuban medical brigade assistance.

“We call for an immediate reversal of the decision to terminate the invaluable services provided by the Cuban Medical Brigade and to have them return to Guyana immediately,” the petitioners said.

The US government had last year warned that members of governments and their immediate family members would face visa sanctions if they continued to take Cuban medical brigade members over concerns that they were being exploited through human trafficking. 

They condemned the “immoral, illegal and barbaric fuel embargo” on their Caribbean sister-nation, Cuba, saying that urgent action was required to avoid that man-made humanitarian crisis. “Preventing Cuba from receiving petroleum products necessary for the functioning of their society and the provision of vital services including life-saving medical services, food production and distribution, provision of electricity, functioning of water systems, transportation, vital revenue generating industries such as tourism, amounts to an act of genocide,” they said.

Supported by 11 organisations and 135 individuals, the petition was delivered to President Irfaan Ali’s office and the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hugh Todd.

In the document, they also called on the Guyana government to resist the pressure being exerted by the US to end the scholarship program that enables Guyanese to pursue studies in Cuba, especially in the area of medicine. 

There are currently 45 Guyanese who are studying in Cuba.

The backers of the petition said Cuba was being punished because it dared to exercise its inalienable right to sovereignty and self-determination.

They said Cuba was not posing any threat to the US or any other country around the w0rld, and so President Irfaan Ali and his administration should find the courage to “stop capitulating to US bullyism.”

If Guyana is a sovereign and independent nation, as is so often claimed by our Government, then there can be no rationale for joining this shameful and barbaric attempt to destroy Cuba and its brave citizens, who have sacrificed so much for so long,” they said.

The signatories included several members of the 11 organisations and recently late former WPA co-leader Dr Rupert Roopnaraine.

Responding to questions outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about who Guyana would turn to should there be a Venezuelan invasion, Leader of the Organisation of Victory of the People (OVP) political party, Gerald Perreira said the US had a history of permanent interests.

He reminded that during Guyana’s Forbes Burnham-led administration, the US had supplied F-16 bombers and was pushing Venezuela to invade this English-speaking nation. “Now that the tables have turned where you have a government in Venezuela that the US does not like, the US now is a friend of Guyana. Think about (that). There has not been any regime change in Venezuela because the power resides in the Bolivarian communities at the base level and they are imposing tremendous pressure on Delcy Rodriguez,” he said.

Declaring that the US “is not a reliable ally,” Mr Perreira said he was anti-imperialism and anti-white supremacy, and never believed that Venezuela would invade Guyana because of the condition of its military hardware due to years of an embargo and the virtual inability to advance troops beyond the forested and riverain Guyana-Venezuela border.