Josep Borrell and Double Standards

During the Plenary Session of the European Parliament held on June 8, 2021, gross human rights violations perpetrated by the regime in the island against activists, independent journalists and critics was one of the topics in the agenda.

In this clip, Josep Borrell, Vice President of the European Commission and a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers´ Party (PSOE) gave a demonstration of what double standards mean when it comes to the regime in Cuba.

According to Borrell, Belarus is a dictatorship and sanctions need to be put in place to pressure the Lukashenko regime into holding free and fair elections. Civil society needs support and financing. For him, regardless of whether sanctions affect the economy and the people in Belarus, they are justified as in his own words: “to make an omelette, one has to break a few eggs.”

In the case of Cuba, ruled by the longest lasting dictatorship in Latin American history, he opposed sanctions and refrain from calling its regime a dictatorship, but a non liberal/non democratic system that lacks multiple parties.

Since when sanctions can be justified for one dictatorship but not for other? Lukashenko needs to be pressured to hold free elections but not Diaz Canel?