Ukraine’s government blasted Cuba’s support for the Russian invasion, as the island’s government opposed efforts to condemn the attack at the United Nations and even arrested a Cuban activist who left flowers at the Ukrainian embassy in Havana as a sign of solidarity.
In a diplomatic note, Ukraine formally complained and expressed “its strong protest against the statements of the Government of Cuba in support of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” the country’s deputy foreign minister, Emine Dzheppar, tweeted in Spanish on Sunday. She said her government called on Cuba “to urge Russia to put an end to this aggression.”
Although it has called for a diplomatic resolution, the Cuban government has not condemned the invasion and instead has blamed the United States for the current conflict. Cuban state media has hidden the true extent of the attack and has repeated Russian propaganda claims about the “demilitarization” and “denazification” of Ukraine as the goals of the “military operation.”
But risking detention, many Cubans have rejected the war on social media and in messages to the Ukrainian embassy in Havana.
The volume of the calls has been so “extraordinary,” the embassy said, that it asked Cubans to send their messages of support to a dedicated email address to clear the phones lines for those seeking information about their family members trapped in Ukraine.
“To all those friends and brothers who wish to express their solidarity with Ukraine, we really feel your support, every call from you is important to us, and it really moves us to tears,” the embassy said.
More than 300 members of the Cuba’s independent civil society signed a statement supporting the Ukrainian people, activist Saily Gonzalez said. The letter was sent to the embassy via email on Sunday.
“We have seen with dismay how the Cuban state, which claims to defend the inalienable rights and sovereignty of the peoples of the world, has not condemned the Russian military intervention in Ukraine,” the statement said. “We denounce the illegal actions of the Russian Federation.”
The signers condemned the “imperialist war” and urged the Cuban government to “review” its position.
A Cuban activist, Pablo Enrique Delgado Hernández, was detained and interrogated Saturday after leaving roses at the Ukrainian embassy in Havana in a show of solidarity. A Ukrainian diplomat had to escort him and pick up the flowers because the Cuban security officers guarding the embassy did not allow him to get closer to the building, Delgado Hernandez said on Twitter he was arrested.
As Ukrainian forces were resisting the attack on Saturday, the Cuban government lamented the deaths of civilians. Still, Cuba said Russia “has a right to defend” itself against U.S. threats in a statement that decried “hypocrisy and double standards.”
Cuba’s representative to the United Nations repeated those claims in an emergency session of the U.N. General Assembly discussing the invasion on Tuesday as Russian carpet bombing of residential areas in several Ukrainian cities continued.
“History will hold the U.S. government accountable for the consequences of an increasingly offensive military doctrine outside NATO’s borders, which threatens international peace, security and stability,” said Pedro Luis Pedroso Cuesta, Cuba’s ambassador to the U.N.
The Cuban official also suggested that his country would oppose a proposed resolution condemning Russia.
Cuba’s statements also drew condemnation from the U.S. embassy in Havana, which called the Cuban government’s efforts to blame the military aggression on the U.S. “false rhetoric.”
“Russia bears full responsibility for its premeditated invasion of Ukraine and the resulting catastrophic loss of life,” the embassy tweeted Monday in Spanish. “Efforts to shift responsibility from Russia to the U.S. and NATO have no credibility and are a form of disinformation.”
Cuba also voted Monday with Russia, China and Venezuela against a resolution to discuss the attack in an emergency meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Commission. Later that day, Cuba’s foreign minister received a barrage of criticism and insults after tweeting that Cuba “is committed to International Humanitarian Law and calls on all parties to protect the civilian population, their property and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.”
The island’s authorities have not said how many Cubans are in Ukraine, how many have evacuated or are still in danger. The website of the Cuban embassy in Kyiv was down on Tuesday and the embassy has not updated its Facebook page since December.
Many Cuban nationals are also stranded in Russia after its airline, Aeroflot, canceled flights to Cuba following international sanctions and prohibitions to use the airspace of several European countries.
Russia is one of the few countries that does not require Cubans to apply for a travel visa, and many Cubans have travel there to emigrate or buy products to sell back on the island, where scarcities of food and goods are rampant.
Social media chatter among Cubans about Ukraine’s lifting visa requirements for all foreigners wanting to fight against Russia was picking up on Tuesday. As the Cuban economy sinks and the crackdown on civil liberties continues, thousands of Cubans have recently left the island through countries that do not ask Cubans for travel visas. The Ukrainian embassy in Havana promptly clarified that Cubans would need transit visas to reach Ukraine by land through a neighboring European country.
Follow Nora Gámez Torres on Twitter: @ngameztorres
