Cuban pianist and composer Arturo O'Farrill, winner of six Grammy Awards, today expressed his support for his country's sovereignty and denounced the tightening of coercive measures by the United States government.

In a statement released by the Cuban Institute of Music, O'Farrill described Washington's policy as cruel, including restrictions on oil supplies and tariffs on countries willing to provide humanitarian aid to the Caribbean island.

"It is literally starving ten million Cubans; the richest nation in the world is watching human beings suffer and die 90 miles south of Key West," affirmed the musician, founder of the Belongó cultural institution in Harlem.

The artist, also the recipient of two Latin Grammys, emphasized that Cuba poses no threat whatsoever to the security of the United States, as it possesses no weapons of mass destruction nor harbors terrorists.

Instead, he highlighted that the island maintains a deep respect for American culture, reflected in a world-renowned jazz festival and outstanding baseball players.

Every year, O'Farrill recalled, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passes a resolution demanding an end to the embargo against Cuba, which the musician considers "a monstrous act of cruelty."

The statement adds to the voices of artists and intellectuals from within and outside the country calling for the lifting of unilateral coercive measures and the normalization of relations with Cuba.