The meeting between the Ambassador and the Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister, Bruno Rodriguez, started by conveying the greetings of His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, to Mr. Rodriguez.

The Cuban Minister referred to his recent visit to Doha, which he said was positive and fruitful. He commended Qatar's policy and efforts to promote bilateral relations, which undergoes an excellent phase. The Minister also thanked HE The Emir father for his participation in the funeral of his friend, the late Fidel Castro, and the speech he gave on this occasion.

The Ambassador then explained the background of the Gulf crisis, which he indicated began in May 2017, with the piracy operation that hacked the Qatari News Agency and the dissemination of false statements attributed to the Emir of the country. Even though the State of Qatar has denied these fabricated allegations, the Saudi and Emirati media have widely spread these declarations in various media outlets from the embargo countries (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, The Egyptian Arabic Republic).

He continued saying that the State of Qatar has repeatedly tried to clarify this, but the leaders of these countries refused to communicate with Qatar’s government and listen to its clarifications. It turned out that it was intended to undermine the confidence in the State of Qatar and its leadership, and to delegitimize it.

The Ambassador referred that the Qataris were surprised on the morning of June 5th by the decision of the Gulf states (Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Bahrain), in addition to the Arab Republic of Egypt, to sever diplomatic relations with the State of Qatar, as a few weeks before these incidents, a summit had taken place in Riyadh for the tripartite meetings; the latters were:  the Gulf Summit, the meeting with US President Donald Trump and the Islamic Summit. HE Al Mulla said these meetings were held in a natural and friendly manner, and the leaders of these countries showed no signs of a possible crisis. The countries performing the blockade also decided to close all land, airspace and territorial access to the Qatari people. Likewise, they started immediate measures to put pressure on friendly countries and international companies to implement these same measures on the State of Qatar as soon as possible.

He pointed out that these countries did not present accusations at the international level. Yet their arguments are that the State of Qatar support several extremist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, which is considered a terrorist organization in these countries, as well as al-Qaeda, and the Organization of the Islamic State (Dahesh), and its relationship with Iran. The Ambassador explained that in 2014, Doha had reduced its diplomatic representation in Tehran following the attacks on the Saudi embassy. In spite of the fact that these countries have relations with Iran, the Ambassador added, they are calling upon the State of Qatar to sever its relations with this nation. Regarding this, HE Al Mulla said that Qatar has good neighbourship relations with Iran and common economic interests.

The Ambassador explained that the State of Qatar regretted the decision and said the Qatari Foreign Ministry stated the charges were fabricated, unjustified reasons, and that the aim was to impose its will over the sovereignty of the State of Qatar. Moreover, the Ministry said in a statement, issued immediately after the crisis began, that the State of Qatar was subjected to a campaign of incitement based on fabrications, indicating that the intention is to harm the State. He added that Qatar is an active member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, committed to its Charter, respects the sovereignty of other countries, and it does not intervene in their internal affairs; also, that Qatar carries out its duties in combating terrorism and extremism.

The Ambassador pointed out that the precise reasons for the diplomatic crisis are unclear; but, unfortunately, these arbitrary decisions led to an open violation of human rights, and that these countries did not take into consideration humanitarian situations. The crisis has weighed on the humanitarian aspects. The Gulf family is intertwined among them. These are hard decisions that deprive families of communication, and have affected the status of students and citizens working in other Gulf states. Actually, he said, these countries even warned their citizens of sympathy with Qatar or criticism of the measures taken by them, and considered sympathy with it a crime that could result in a big fine, or even imprisonment for a period of five to ten years.

The Ambassador also referred to the 13 Demands submitted by the four countries to Qatar and then relinquished them to become the Six Principles, on the grounds that Qatar supports and finances terrorism. HE Al Mulla stressed that Qatar is very keen to combat terrorism in all its forms. He said their claims were untrue and there is a lack of consistency in their position on these demands, which he said were unreasonable and unacceptable, as they affected the independence and sovereignty of a State.

He mentioned the position of the President of the United States, Donald Trump and his declarations in twitter, saying that Qatar finances terrorist groups. The Ambassador claimed that Trump's policy was paradoxical, that his initial remarks contradicted the positions of his foreign and Defense ministers (the Pentagon), but the reversed it, when a few weeks later, he telephoned the Emir of Qatar and offered him mediation.

HE Al Mulla then spoke about the Kuwaiti initiative and the role played by the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah in mediation, and said the four countries are working to thwart them. However, Qatar is working to make this mediation a success, and continues its efforts in coordination with the sisterly State of Kuwait to make these four countries sit down for dialogue to find solutions to the crisis.

He continued by pointing out that Doha is still committed to resolving the crisis through dialogue and negotiation. During his recent visit to the Asian countries, HH the Emir stressed that everyone will lose from this crisis and therefore we, as brothers, must find quick solutions. He added that Qatar is counting on the role of the international community and the friendly countries to exert pressure on these countries to stop these policies, and to condemn the threat of using force to change the Qatari regime. He said that we look forward to the countries to declaring their rejection of the measures taken against Qatar for being illegitimate, and to urge them to follow the wisdom and listen to the Kuwaiti mediation, sit at the dialogue table, and call for lifting this illegal blockade.

In this regard, the Ambassador compared the situation of the State of Qatar to the embargo that Cuba had suffered for many years. Cuba has a historical experience to follow, and it has a good reputation in all countries of the world, especially in the Arab world in the field of resistance and steadfastness, he said. The State of Qatar does not want Cuba to take sides in this crisis, that Qatar respects the views and positions of all nations, but urges the friendly countries to condemn the embargo, and make the siege countries follow the wisdom and sit at the table of dialogue.

From his side, the Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, thanked the Ambassador for giving all the details of the crisis. He also stressed that Cuba's foreign policy and positions are both wise and firm. He said that during his speech at UN meetings in New York, he spoke about Cuba's policy of promoting international peace and security, condemning the use of force, defending the right to self-determination, and that dialogue and negotiation are the only means to resolve conflicts, as well as the promotion of joint cooperation. Cuba defended the principle that Latin America and the Caribbean should become a zone of peace, embodied in a document based on respect for international conventions and the rule of law, and should be applied in a serious and responsible manner. The document was very brief, containing only 8 paragraphs, so it is easy to be followed and applied.

He emphasized that Cuba was cautiously dealing with these kind of disputes that takes place between the non-aligned and the sisterly countries. Cuba categorically refrains from any policy that does not resolve disputes, and respects the role of regional organizations and objects to all kinds of foreign interference in internal affairs. He said several countries in the Latin American region had asked Cuba to mediate in Venezuela's crisis, but its role was limited to respect for sovereignty, independence of all States, and the right to self-determination. He also gave an example, what happened in Colombia regarding the Peace Negotiations; that his country only mediated after demanding the parties of the conflict to sit at the negotiating table, and did not take any sides.

Mr. Rodriguez praised the bilateral relations between the two countries and said that they are historical and based on mutual respect and consensus in foreign policy. He expressed regret that he was unable to meet with the Qatari delegation during their participation in the UN General Assembly. He commended their active participation and the speech of HH the Emir. He welcomed the visit of the Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs or the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs to the Republic of Cuba as well.