Cuba announces support for Yemen’s President Hadi

Cuba today announced its support for the ‘legitimate’ government headed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, stating that it is willing to work with him and all of the relevant parties to achieve a political settlement to the conflict in the country. The announcement was made by Deputy Foreign Minister Rohiluo Sierra Dias during a meeting with the Yemeni ambassador to Cuba, Mohammed Saleh, reported the Saba News Agency.

Dias reiterated the historical depth between Cuba and Yemen, along with Cuba’s support for peace there. He said that Cuba would be willing to support Yemen under the basis of the three most important deals made since the Yemeni revolution, the first of which is the Gulf initiative, which prompted long-time dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down after 33 years of rule on the condition of political immunity.

Read: Kuwaiti official: Gulf Initiative did not include the transfer of power from the Yemeni president to a presidential council

The second deal is the Yemeni National Dialogue Conference (NDC), which was created with the intention of addressing crucial issues to Yemen’s political stability in a post-Saleh Yemen.

The third and arguably most important deal is UN Security Council Resolution 2216, which reaffirms the legitimacy of the Hadi presidency and calls on the military withdrawal on the Houthi rebels.

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Dias then proceeded to thank Yemen for being a longstanding advocate of lifting US restrictions on Cuba which were in place from 1960 in an unsuccessful attempt to bring down the government led by the late Fidel Castro.