Jamaica Baptist Union criticises gov’t over Jamaica's abstention on Cuba embargo vote

The Jamaica Baptist Union (JBU) has criticised the Government's decision to abstain from a United Nations vote calling for an end to the United States' economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba, arguing that the move represents a departure from Jamaica's longstanding position on the issue.

In a statement, the JBU said Jamaica's decision to abstain from the October 28 vote marked a departure from more than 30 years of consistently opposing the embargo, which it described as a one-sided policy that has caused suffering among millions of Cubans.

The union said the decision raised questions about Jamaica's commitment to justice and its historical position on the international stage.

“For more than 30 years, Jamaica spoke with one clear voice at the UN on this question. We stood with the rest of the world, and with most of our Caribbean neighbours, against a one-sided policy that brings great suffering to millions of innocent people,” the statement said.

“To abstain now is to break with that record. It is a real departure from the way we have conducted ourselves in the world.”

The JBU acknowledged the Government's authority to determine the country's foreign policy and said it had taken note of Information Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon's assertion that Jamaica had acted without external pressure.

It also referenced comments by Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson Smith, who maintained that Jamaica remained opposed to unilateral coercive measures that breach the United Nations Charter.

However, the union questioned the Government's argument that repeatedly supporting the resolution had done little to improve Cuba's worsening humanitarian crisis or create opportunities for wider dialogue.

It argued that the lack of immediate political results should not determine whether Jamaica upholds a principle it considers morally right.

“If the embargo is wrong, and the Government says it is, then voting against it is the least our conscience asks of us. A resolution does not stop being true because the powerful ignore it,” the statement said.

Invoking the biblical teachings of the prophet Micah, the union said Jamaica should have provided a clear answer when the question of justice was placed before it at the United Nations.

The JBU also called on the Government to restore what it described as the nation's clear voice against the embargo.

The union, founded in 1849, said its position was rooted in its historical struggle against slavery and its longstanding advocacy for freedom, human dignity and social justice across Jamaica and the Caribbean.

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