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Overwhelming Support of Cuba at UN Human Rights Council

GENEVA, Switzerland, June 12, 2007.- — Twenty-five countries offered their support to Cuba and demanded the end of mandates by countries at the UN Human Rights Council .

"We will drink a toast with our Cuban friends and celebrate by singing La Guantanamera very soon, when these politicized, selective mandates are over," said the Palestinian representative, making habitually restrained delegates laugh.

The Palestinian delegation was in fact the 19th to speak with admiration towards Cuba, following representatives from Sri Lanka, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Vietnam, Ecuador, Iran, Bolivia, China and South Africa.

The unusual chain of speeches in favor of a country in the Palais des Nations in Geneva took place after a report presented by the so-called Special Representative for Cuba Christine Chanet to the now defunct UN Human Rights Commission.

Representatives from Russia, India, Indonesia, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Algeria, Syria, Sudan, Malaysia, Libya, Angola, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Belarus, Pakistan and Uzbekistan joined the choir, discrediting Chanet’s report.

Especially eloquent, the speech given by the delegation from Sri Lanka recalled the role played by Cuba in wiping out apartheid, and the words of Nelson Mandela, who said that he owed his freedom to Cuba’s contribution to the war of liberation of Angola.

Vietnam, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Bolivia praised the example of Cuba in the fields of education and health, and highlighted its achievements in all fields, despite the economic blockade imposed by the US for more than 40 years.

Cuban Ambassador to international bodies in Geneva Juan Antonio Fernandez described the report presented by Chanet as a farce which, he said, deserves no credibility.

Echoing the feelings of his audience, the Cuban diplomat warned that "this grotesque show will soon be over." (Cubaminrex-PL)

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