http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2009/march/mier11/sudamerica.html
Havana. March 11, 2009
South American defense ministers demand an end to the blockade of Cuba
SANTIAGO DE CHILE, March 10.- Defense ministers from the region, meeting
today here at the first South American Defense Council (CDS), agreed on the
need for the United States to bring an end to the unjust economic blockade of
Cuba, imposed for almost 50 years, reports PL.
Ramón Carrizález, vice president and defense minister of Venezuela,
confirmed that the entire international community is against this blockade and
the arbitrary measures adopted by the U.S. toward the island.
For his part, when asked by journalists if the United States could be an
observer at the defense meeting of the Union of South American Nations
(UNASUR), Nelson Jobim, the Brazilian defense minister, said that Washington
"will not be able to change its letter of presentation to the region while it
maintains its blockade of Cuba."
For Uruguayan Minister José Bayardi, Cuba does not present a security
problem for the United States and Washington's policy toward Cuba is determined
more by the pressure of the internal Cuban-American lobby than by hard analysis.
Meanwhile, Walker San Miguel, the Bolivian defense minister, commented
that these measures negatively affect the Cuban people and emphasized: "We do
not share hegemonic measures."
According to AFP, on Tuesday the defense ministers of the 12 UNASUR
countries established an organism to promote cooperation among the different
Armed Forces, generate joint peace operations and secure transparency with
respect to military spending
