An editorial titled “While Solidarity Is Forgotten,” published on the *Il Faro di Roma* newspaper’s website, highlights that the stance adopted by the country during the July 7 vote “seems incomprehensible given the history of relations between the Italian and Cuban peoples.”
The text, authored by renowned economist and political activist Luciano Vasapollo, notes that “Italy’s abstention is not merely a diplomatic act,” as it demonstrates “a loss of political autonomy and subordination to the logic of major power blocs.”
A country like Italy, which has historically recognized the value of international solidarity and cooperation among peoples, could have adopted a different stance—one consistent with its constitutional tradition and the principle of multilateralism,” emphasizes the leader of the Communist Network (*Red de los Comunistas*) and co-founder of the Italian chapter of the Network of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Humanity.
Meanwhile, the Italy-Cuba National Friendship Association (ANAIC) highlighted that the debate regarding the criminal U.S. blockade against the Caribbean nation—which was intensified during President Donald Trump’s administration—”was approved with the support of 136 countries, against only nine opposed and 30 abstentions.” Italy was among the latter; by abstaining, it “missed, for the umpteenth time, the opportunity to show independence, thereby damaging its international standing.”
The Communist Refoundation Party also weighed in on the matter, noting that this nation was one of the few in the European Union to adopt that stance—a move it described as “shameful,” as it thereby “betrayed Cuba,” a country whose people “are suffering under a criminal and genocidal blockade imposed by Trump.”
“This is all the more serious when compared to the position of other European countries, such as France and Spain, which chose to vote in favor of the debate regarding the economic blockade imposed on Cuba”—alongside the vast majority of the global community—asserts Vasapollo in an editorial published by the newspaper *Il Faro di Roma*.
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