Ghana calls on US to lift ban on Cuba

Mr Thomas Kwesi Quartey, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, on Friday noted the United States continued embargo on Cuba is outdated and appealed to the world super power to lift the ban.

Mr Quartey said this after he had a closed door meeting with the visiting Cuban Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Mrs Ana Teresita Gonzalez Fraga, in Accra.

Mrs Fraga who is in the country to have a political consultation with the government, also signed a diplomatic agreement with Ghana.

The Cuban embargo was inaugurated by a John F. Kennedy administration executive order in 1960 in response to the confiscation of American property in Cuba under the newly installed Fidel Castro regime.

The embargo codified primarily in the Helms-Burton Act, aimed at producing free markets and representative democracy in Cuba through economic sanctions, travel restrictions and international legal penalties. Mr Quartey said the visit was part of the usual bilateral consultations that exist in the area of medicine, education, health, agriculture and scientific cooperation.

He said the friendship between Ghana and Cuba dated back to the 1960s. Mr Quartey pledged Ghana’s commitment to protect the relationship to grow in all fields of discipline.“We will continue the struggle together to improve the lots of our people,” he added.

Mr Quartey said under the agreement there would be visa exemption for citizens travelling to both countries for official visits. Mrs Fraga thanked the government and the people for the warm hospitality extended to Cubans over the years.

She said her visit is to find ways to expand and strengthen bilateral cooperation.

The Cuban Foreign Minister said Cuba is united with Ghana through history, and pledged the commitment to strengthen the political relations.