Cuba denounces at the UN the resurgence of hostile US policy

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez denounced today at the UN General Assembly the resurgence of the hostile policy of the United States against the island and the onslaught of the Donald Trum padministration.

In recent months, he explained, Washington has begun an escalation in its aggression towards Cuba, with the application of unconventional measures, to prevent the supply of fuel to the country from various markets through sanctions and threats against tankers, shipping companies and insurance companies .

Its goal, in addition to impacting the economy, is to damage the living standards of Cuban families, he stressed.

In April of this year, he continued, the filing of lawsuits before US courts by US and third-country entities against Cuba and companies operating there was authorized, under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act.

The persecution of Cuba's banking transactions and financial relations with the rest of the world intensified, remittances were restricted to Cuban citizens, the granting of visas was reduced and consular services were limited, the foreign minister stressed.

An agreement between respective national baseball federations was canceled, individual trips by US citizens were canceled, cruises and direct flights to Cuban airports were banned, he added.

The leasing of airplanes with more than 10 percent of US components and the acquisition of technologies and equipment in similar conditions were also prevented, while commercial promotion activities, cultural and educational exchanges ceased.

The US government has aggressively intensified the extraterritorial application of its blockade policy against Cuba, persecuting third countries, their companies and citizens, Rodriguez stressed.

Nor does it hide its purpose of economically stiffling the country and increasing the damage, deprivation and suffering of its people, he stressed.

Washington has proposed to sabotage the international cooperation that Cuba provides in the field of health with a campaign of slande. US politicians and officials attack a program based on genuine concepts of South-South cooperation, which also has the recognition of the international community, he denounced.

In response to the statements of the permanent representative of the United States to the United Nations, the Cuban foreign minister stressed that the US government is responsible for such damages.

He also outlined the incalculable humanitarian damage caused by the blockade, which constitutes a flagrant, massive and systematic violation of human rights and qualifies as an act of genocide. "There is no Cuban family that does not suffer its consequences," he remarked.

Due to the blockade, the island suffers limitations in health services because it cannot access US medical equipment and prostheses, which especially affects Cuban children.

The blockade also makes it impossible to access new drugs for the treatment of cancer, only produced by US pharmaceutical companies, explained the Cuban minister.

The UN General Assembly on Thursday votes on the draft resolution 'Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba', which has received majority support from the international community since 1992.