The leaders of the governments of Spain, Mexico and Brazil issued the following communication during the course of their IV Cumbre en Defensa de la Democracia [IV Summit in Defense of Democracy i] which was held in Barcelona 16-17April 2026. The Communication, On the situation in Cuba, follows reports that the President of Mexico was seeking to develop a common position.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced Saturday during the IV Summit in Defense of Democracy in Barcelona that she will propose a formal declaration opposing any military intervention in Cuba, urging dialogue and peace to prevail over confrontation amid U.S. threats and energy blockade. “To this day, speaking of that small Caribbean island, we believe that no people are small, but rather great and stoic when defending their sovereignty and the right to a fulfilling life,” she added. Speaking at the opening of the gathering convened by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Sheinbaum made her call before a dozen progressive leaders including the presidents of Colombia, South Africa, and Uruguay
Pix credit here The Mexican president used her address to reaffirm that her country’s constitutional foreign policy principles remain fully relevant in the current global landscape. She cited non-intervention, respect for self-determination, peaceful dispute resolution, rejection of force, legal equality among states, and the enduring pursuit of peace as pillars of Mexico’s diplomatic identity. She warned against any definition of freedom that implies submission to external interests or reduces sovereign nations to the status of modern colonies, insisting that liberty holds no meaning without social justice, sovereignty, and the dignity of peoples. (here)
The language does not deviate form a position that the Mexicans have taken from the start of the current crisis in Cuba, its elements already part of discourse of President Sheinbaum in the wake of the U.S. action in Venezuela at the start of 2026. The three elements are (1) the centrality of humanitarian aid and the minimization of popular suffering, (2) sovereign equality and territorial integrity; and (3) respect for human rights, multilateralism within the context of the UN system, and respectful dialog.
The three elements, interestingly enough are shared by the United States. The problem, of course, is that the meaning that these common principles and the text used to express them of the terms and the values with which they are invested separate the United States from Mexico, Spain and Brasil as much as the common text appears to join them in a common project. The United States centers humanitarian aid to the people of Cuba and has made efforts in that respect; the United State sis also positive about sovereign equality and territorial integrity but it is shaped by the transactionalism of the America First Initiative rather than from the traditional institutionalist perspective. And of course, the nature of those terms is distinctly meaningful in the Global South in ways that may not resonate either the US or China except as perhaps as text. The last, of course is the most problematic for the U.S. in the sense that it is intended by the old istitutionalist order. The US understanding of multilateralism as inter-governmentalism is ironically closer to the traditional Brazilian and Chinese position than that of the old US elites or that of Mexico and Spain--except as seen in the communication as discourse.
Nine of this, of course, will have a substantial effect on the resolution of the Cuban crisis; it will have consequences for the relations between these four states in ways that are not yet clear--except that relations between the US and Spain and Brazil are likely to get worse before they get better (absent a change of government); those with Mexico will remain pragmatic and transactional, and it is likely that it will be Mexico that will be most effective in serving as an intermediary and bridge to other states.
The text of the Communication follows below.
Comunicado conjunto sobre la situación en Cuba
Brasil, España y México
Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores | 18 de abril de 2026 | Comunicado
Ante la evolución de los acontecimientos en Cuba y la dramática situación que vive el pueblo cubano, los Gobiernos de Brasil, España y México:
1. Expresamos nuestra enorme preocupación por la grave crisis humanitaria que atraviesa el pueblo de Cuba y emplazamos a que se adopten las medidas necesarias para aliviar esta situación y se eviten acciones que agravan las condiciones de vida de la población o contrarias al Derecho Internacional. Nos comprometemos a incrementar de manera coordinada nuestra respuesta humanitaria dirigida a aliviar el sufrimiento del pueblo cubano.
2. Reiteramos la necesidad de respetar en todo momento el Derecho Internacional y los principios de integridad territorial, igualdad soberana y arreglo pacífico de las controversias, consagrados en la Carta de las Naciones Unidas.
3. Reafirmamos nuestro compromiso irrenunciable con los derechos humanos, los valores democráticos y el multilateralismo, y en ese sentido hacemos un llamamiento a un diálogo sincero, respetuoso y acorde al Derecho Internacional y a los principios de la Carta de Naciones Unidas. Su objetivo debe ser encontrar una solución duradera a la actual situación y garantizar que sea el propio pueblo cubano quien decida su futuro en plena libertad.
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