The Party of the European Left sends its best wishes of solidarity and friendship to the Cuban people, as they celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution.
The Cuban revolution has brought concrete ameliorations for the Cuban people, being an example of national resistance and representing hope for the people struggling for liberation all over Latin America and in other continents of our world. For all these years, the Cuban people have resisted all attempts against their independence and freedom and their socialist project. They have repelled the unceasing all-sided military, economic, financial and propagandistic assault by the USA as well as by the EU and other European countries.
The independent development of Cuba within these 50 years is also an example of concrete results of the international solidarity: It demonstrates on the one hand the broad international support to the Cuban development, and on the other hand real opportunities of a direct support for progressive movements in the world and for cooperation with developing countries in the fields of health and education, for instance.
The Party of the European Left wants to use the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution to stress its will to continue concrete steps of solidarity with the Cuban people and to deepen the mutual exchange of views and actions with Communist Party of Cuba and the Cuban trade unions, youth, women and other social forces.
The members and sympathisers of the EL member and observer parties will continue the struggle at all levels, as in the European and the national parliaments, for:
1. The EU to follow the Latin American countries by ending the embargo that is imposed on Cuba by the USA. This unjust measure is contrary to the rights of the Cuban people. It must be accompanied by the stop of all unilateral measures decided by the various US governments and by several EU member countries.
2. The EU to abandon the policy of submitting the cooperation with Cuba rejecting the “Common Position” adopted in 1996.
 
3. The EU to pressure the US political and juridical responsible organs to free the  “Cuban Five” - unjustly imprisoned because they defended their country against terrorism. Such a gesture, together with the lifting of the embargo, would be a strong signal on behalf of the newly elected US president Obama and of the US government for a real change of their policies towards Cuba.
EL Executive Board
Rome, 18 April 2009