Cuban president denounces U.S. embargo's damage to economy

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Saturday denounced the U.S. embargo's damage to the island's economy.

Addressing legislators at Cuba's National Assembly of People's Power in Havana, he said that the U.S. embargo is an external factor that harms the economic development of the Caribbean nation.

"This huge external factor gravitates against the country's development," he said, adding that capitalism has increased inequality and exclusion worldwide.

Diaz-Canel said that the U.S. economic war on Cuba, the global economic crisis, the slow pace of post-pandemic recovery and war conflicts negatively affect the economic recovery strategy of the island.

"The measures adopted, without meeting the expected results, reveal a slight recovery trend," he said.

He said the Cuban economy is projected to implement structural transformation and macroeconomic stabilization programs over the next three years, which will benefit development funding in the mid-term.

Diaz-Canel said that foreign investment programs in energy, agriculture, and sugar industry will be implemented in the year's second half.