The General Assembly rejects for the thirtieth time and an overwhelming majority the embargo on Cuba

The general Assembly of the United Nations reiterated this Thursday for the thirtieth time unequivocally its position against the embargo economic aid from the United States to Cuba and called for an end to this unilateral punishment.

The rejection resolution obtained this year 185 votes in favor, 2 against (United States and Israel,) and 2 abstentions (Ukraine and Brazil).

With your vote today, Brazil fractured the unanimous position for the third time of support to Cuba from the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The first was when he voted against it during the November 2019 session and then abstained last year along with Colombia.

The adopted text reaffirms, among other principles, “the sovereign equality of States, the non-intervention and non-interference in their internal affairs and the freedom of international trade and navigationenshrined in numerous international legal instruments”, urges all States to refrain from enacting and applying laws and measures that contravene them, and urges the repeal of such measures on those who still impose them.

Likewise, it expresses concern about regulatory provisions, such as the one enacted by the United States on March 12, 1996, known as the “Helms-Burton Act”, “whose extraterritorial effects affect the sovereignty of other statesto the legitimate interests of entities or persons under its jurisdiction and to the freedom of trade and navigation”.

In explaining their vote, one after another, the many speakers in the session insisted, in their national capacity and as representatives of blocs of countries, on the illegal nature of the embargo, stating that it constitutes a flagrant and systematic violation of the Charter of the United Nations, and demanding their removal.

Delegates highlighted the unjustified damage that the blockade inflicts on the Cuban people by depriving him of indispensable income and supplies as essential as medicines.

The same way praised in unison Cuba’s response to COVID-19 -which included the development of vaccines against the coronavirus-, and its solidarity with other countries during the health emergency despite its limited resources.

The resolution A/77/L.5 today joins the 29 that have been adopted since 1992, when the General Assembly began voting annually on the issue, with the sole exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

deliberate act of economic warfare

In his speech prior to the vote, the Cuban Foreign Minister stated that the embargo is “a deliberate act of economic warfare with the purpose of preventing financial income to the countrydestroy the capacity of the government to meet the needs of the population, cause the economy to collapse and create a situation of ungovernability”.

Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla denounced that since 2019, the United States government escalated the fence against his country “to an extreme dimension, more cruel and inhuman, to deliberately inflict the greatest possible damage on Cuban families,” and detailed that in the first 14 months of President Joe Biden, “the damage caused by the blockade reached 6.364 billion dollars, more than 15 million dollars a day.”

Tightening of the lockdown during the pandemic

He also referred that despite the fact that the United States applied temporary humanitarian exemptions to the countries under embargo during the worst moment of the pandemic, in the Cuban case, the blockade “intensified and generated difficulties and delays for the arrival of essential medical supplies and equipment for face it, in particular, for the industrialization of Cuban vaccines. Even the acquisition of medical oxygen in third countries was hindered”.

The foreign minister explained that the “arbitrary and fraudulent” inclusion of Cuba on the list of alleged State sponsors of terrorism exponentially increases the country’s risk and obliges you to pay for any merchandise up to twice its price in the international market.

Rodríguez Parrilla clarified that Cuba does not attribute all the difficulties to the embargo that it faces today, “but whoever denies its very serious effects and does not recognize that it is the main cause of the deprivation, shortages and suffering of Cuban families would be untrue,” he emphasized.

unconventional warfare

In his speech before the plenary session of the Assembly, the Cuban diplomat accused the United States of allocating tens of millions of dollars and use the media and digital platforms most powerful to carry out a virulent campaign of disinformation, discredit, hatred and destabilization against Cuba through methods of unconventional warfare.

As part of this campaign, he added, he has tagged publications, limiting their reach on the networks and has removed critical accounts in targeted actions and coordinated that violate the rights to free expression of Cubans.

The Foreign Minister warned, on the other hand, that the blockade creates the conditions that encourage irregular migrationmessy and insecure with all the implications that this has.

Before ending his participation, he asserted that even in the midst of the inhumane limitations imposed by the blockade, “Cuba will never give up its socialist system of social justice (…) We will not accept the attempts to impose on us pretended paradigms of democracy or any other foreign culture to the Cuban one. With the same energy that we defend the inalienable right of each country to decide its political, economic and social system, we demand respect for ours”, he stressed.

On the other hand, Rodríguez Parrilla thanked the international support to Cuba in the context of the recovery from the serious damage caused by Hurricane Ian in the western provinces last September.

The United States supports the Cuban people

After voting on the resolution, the representative of the United States requested the floor to maintain that his country keeps its commitment with the Cuban people in their search for freedom, prosperity and a more dignified future.

“State focused on the political and economic well-being of Cubansand we focus our efforts on democracy and human rights and fundamental freedoms,” he said, accusing the Cuban government of repressing last July the numerous citizens who demonstrated peacefully throughout the island demanding freedom.

The US diplomat assured that the Cuban government has even imprisoned minors and has used intimidation tactics, arrests and internet service interruptions to prevent people from exercising their human rights.

In the same way, he called on the Cuban authorities the immediate and unconditional release of political prisonersas well as to protect the free expression and peaceful assembly of all people in the country.

Regarding the embargo, he indicated that there are exceptions and authorizations for the export of food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies to Cubaadding that the United States donates a significant amount of humanitarian goods to Cubans, in addition to being one of the main trading partners of the Caribbean country.

“The United States opposes this resolution, but supports the Cuban people and will continue to look for ways to provide you with ongoing support.”

Cuba He refuted the US arguments, calling them “false claims.”