LATIN AMERICA/CARIBBEAN – In response to recent military provocations and threats from China to Taiwan, more than 80 political and opinion leaders, as well as scholars from eight Latin American countries, have signed a declaration supporting the Republic of China (Taiwan) in the face of the “climate of terror” created by the Xi Jinping regime.
These countries include Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico, Venezuela and Cuba, all which do not hold diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Among those who have signed the declaration are Costa Rica congressman Dragos Dolanescu, former Dominican minister of energy and mining Pelegrín Castillo, former Mexican prosecutor René Bolio, Colombia Senator María Fernanda Cabal and the Cuban Democratic Directorate National Secretary Orlando Gutierrez.
The declaration was endorsed via a video conference in San José, the capital of Costa Rica, on September 28, and has since seen a growing number of people signing it.
The Spanish declaration issued an “urgent call to the world and especially to the leaders of democratic nations to deplore the climate of terror promoted by the Xi Jinping regime against Taiwan and its president Tsai Ing-wen.” It praised Taiwan’s will to defend the nation’s democracy and freedom and appealed to the international community to reject China’s new offensive that has arisen from the closer relations between the US and Taiwan, two countries with a democratic spirit and friends of freedom.
The declaration was presented on Monday, October 5, by the Cuban Democratic Directorate National Secretary Orlando Gutierrez in person to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, in Miami.
Gutierrez said the significance of the declaration lies in the fact that political leaders of former Taiwan allies have given their support to Taiwan and expressed opposition to military threats by China. It proves that “virtue is not left to stand alone,” Gutierrez said. “Taiwan, which practices, will definitely have friends.”
