The United States and Israel are left alone in defending the economic, commercial and financial embargo that Washington has imposed on the island for 60 years
The UN General Assembly this Thursday again called for an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba for 60 years. An overwhelming majority of 185 countries have adopted a resolution to that effect. Only the United States and Israel voted against, while Ukraine and Brazil abstained. It is the thirtieth time since 1992 that the United Nations has adopted a resolution in this area, although it has no practical effect.
In the resolution, the Havana government also called for the end of the embargo, the “sovereign equality” of the states, the “non-interference in their internal affairs” and “freedom of international trade and navigation”.
“We do not attribute all the difficulties our country faces today to the blockade, but to deny its very serious consequences and not recognize that it is the main cause of the hardship, shortages and suffering of Cuban families would be false.” , he said. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez assured, after warning that “it creates the conditions that encourage illegal immigration.” Rodríguez lamented that the embargo “is still the central element determining United States policy towards Cuba.”
The embargo was imposed in 1962, at the height of the Cold War and shortly before the missile crisis, when US President John F. Kennedy. Since then, the blockade has been gradually tightened to stifle the communist regime.
In 1992, Cuba submitted the first proposal to the UN to end the embargo. Since then, it has asked for it every year and has always succeeded, mainly with the votes of the countries of the global South. In any case, the support is gaining more and more majority, as this Thursday showed. Almost unanimous.
However, the defense of lifting the blockade reflects the existing rift between the developed countries and the rest. Because, despite voting for it, none of the representatives of the nations of what we call the First World has come to the stage to defend their position or openly criticize the United States. The representatives of the South, on the other hand, have spared no adjectives to label the embargo as “unjust”, “illegal”, “unacceptable”, “criminal”, “inhumane” or “disproportionate”.
The draconian sanctions have a major economic impact. The Cuban Secretary of State has explained that in the first 14 months of Joe Biden’s Democratic administration, the “damage” caused by the blockade rose to $6.364 million. In the past six decades, there have been 154,217 million.
Despite his campaign promises, Biden is maintaining the sanctions imposed by his predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, with the exception of some changes to visas, travel and money transfers to the island. To deal with the devastation wrought by devastating Hurricane Ian, Havana has asked Biden to lift the sanctions that depend on him, as the rest can only be suspended by Congress. Numerous Latin American leaders and former leaders have also asked for it.
Exacerbated by the covid pandemic, Cuba is going through its worst economic crisis in three decades, with food, medicine and fuel shortages, while facing daily power cuts due to the outdated technology of its thermoelectric plants. Since 2000, food has been exempt from the embargo, but Cuba has to pay for it in cash.
Source: La Verdad
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