United Nations, Jun 23 (Prensa Latina) The international demand to put an end to the United States blockade against Cuba on Wednesday once again tops the agenda of the UN General Assembly, which has already expressed its rejection to that mechanism on 28 previous occasions.
Resounding show of world solidarity with Cuba
The draft resolution calling for an end to that siege imposed by Washington more than six decades ago will be submitted at the multilateral forum this Wednesday, and then it will be voted on.
Since 1992, most of the United Nations member States have expressed themselves in favor of lifting that policy, while nations such as the United States and Israel have remained isolated with their vote against ending the unilateral mechanism.
Claim against US blockade against Cuba returns to UN https://t.co/PFLTuJp9jL #EliminaElBloqueo #TambienEsUnVirus @B_Johnson_U @joaquinsglez @Aranelis18 @mambisa25 @LaCmkc @IndioMayari @oshun1958 @Toar21640791 @Pasarn3 @aguilarpaloma1 @CmkcConcierto @arevalo_eglis @YeroChao
— Compay Naguito (@CompayNague) June 23, 2021
In 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Cuba could not submit the draft resolution ‘Necessity to put an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba’ and postponed it for this year.
Every year, Havana publishes a report entitled ‘Cuba vs Blockade,’ which presents with figures and by sectors the tangible and accounting effect of the sanctions the Caribbean nation has suffered for 62 years due to Washington’s policy.
U.S. cities join worldwide call against the blockade of Cuba
That report, rigorously drawn up, shows that the US siege is the main reason therefore Cuba could not have materialized its sustainable development plans and the complete achievement of the 2030 Agenda, Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations Pedro Luis Pedroso told Prensa Latina.
As in 2020, the debate and voting session of the draft resolution calling for the end of the blockade was postponed, now an annex or addendum has been submitted to that report, the ambassador said.
The text includes the main effects caused by that policy from April to December 2020, a period in which the US Government tightened the blockade in an opportunistic and unprecedented way in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, Pedroso stressed.
Under the Donald Trump administration, the White House adopted more than 240 unilateral coercive measures and sanctions against Cuba, which currently remain intact, he recalled.
Between April and December 2020, the blockade caused about 3.5 billion dollars in losses for Cuba. That added to the damages of the previous period, amounts to a total of 9.1 billion dollars, from April 2019 to December 2020.
International groups demand end to U.S. blockade against Cuba
United Nations, Jun 23 (Prensa Latina) International organizations and regional consensus-building forums today demanded at the UN General Assembly the end of the blockade that the United States has maintained against Cuba for more than 60 years.
The Movement of Non-Aligned Countries (NAM) expressed its firm opposition to unilateral coercive measures such as the North American siege against the Caribbean island, which violates human rights and the right to development of an entire people.
He also denounced the extraterritorial nature of the blockade that affects third countries and prevents commercial and financial relations with Cuba.
The United States Government must take the necessary measures to reverse the measures against the Caribbean island, said the permanent representative of Azerbaijan to the UN, Yashar Aliyev, on behalf of the NAM.
For its part, the Group of 77 plus China highlighted the example that Cuba provided in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and its solidarity with other nations of the world.
He also reiterated the call for the end of the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States, which constitutes the main obstacle to the development of the largest island in the Antilles.
Meanwhile, the Singaporean representation, on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), called for the lifting of this North American measure as soon as possible.
Asean reaffirmed its support for the draft resolution that will be presented today and calls for an end to the blockade, a text similar to the one systematically approved by an overwhelming majority of UN member states.
For the twenty-ninth time, the draft resolution ‘Necessity to end the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba will be presented to the United Nations General Assembly.’
Since 1992, the Assembly has supported that resolution calling for an end to the US siege, but the United States Government continues to ignore the countries of the world and persists in its hostile policy.
Former US President Donald Trump applied 243 new measures and sanctions against the island during the four years of his mandate, and to date Joe Biden’s government applies the same policy in its entirety.
