In a statement released by the Cuban Music Institute, O’Farrill described Washington’s policy as cruel, which includes restrictions on oil supplies and tariffs on countries willing to provide humanitarian aid to the Caribbean island.

“It’s literally putting ten million Cubans to starve; the richest nation in the world is watching human beings suffer and die 90 miles south of Key West,” stated the musician, founder of the Belongo cultural institution in Harlem.

The artist, a recipient of two Latin Grammys, emphasized that Cuba poses no threat whatsoever to the security of the United States, as it niether has weapons of mass destruction nor harbor terrorists.

In contrast, he emphasized that the island maintains a deep respect for American culture, reflected in its world-renowned jazz festival and prominent baseball players.

Every year, O’Farrill remembered, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly approves a resolution demanding an end to the embargo against Cuba, which the musician considers “a monstrous act of cruelty.”

The statement joins the voices of artists and intellectuals from both inside and outside the country who are calling for the lifting of unilateral coercive measures and the normalization of relations with Cuba.

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