ECLAC highlighted Cuba's resilience despite U.S. blockade

Alicia Barcena, executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), highlighted Cuba's great resilience, despite being subjected for more than 60 years to the largest series of sanctions that the United States has applied to any country in the world.

The Mexican newspaper La Jornada reported that in a dialogue between the Grupo Hermandad (made up of major Latin American political figures) and the Cuban foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, the ECLAC representative expressed that the Caribbean nation is also facing the economic crisis derived from the pandemic, and nevertheless, it has developed its own anti-COVID-19 vaccine.

She also warned about the type of support that should be provided to the island, since interventions in other latitudes have been carried out under the name of humanitarian aid.

This is the case of Yugoslavia, she explained, where in 1999, in the name of humanitarian aid, there was actually an intervention, even without the agreement of the United Nations Security Council.

The Caribbean nation is the most punished state by the United States, Barcena added, and in 64 years, those economic measures have caused damages amounting to 147 billion dollars: five percent of the island's GDP.

Washington's blockade, which between April 2019 and December 2020 caused losses of 9.157 billion dollars, constitutes a setback in the regime of international law and a very significant barrier to the efforts of the Cuban people and government to achieve development and fulfill its objectives, the executive secretary stressed.

This policy has left structural marks on the economy and life of Cuba, in terms of financing, growth, investment and productivity, and now the country is facing a very complex situation, in addition to the pandemic emergency, she continued.

Nevertheless, the Island has made enormous efforts, and ECLAC has the entire review of the updating of its economic model; and she concluded by adding: I thank Cuba for its trust in allowing us to accompany the process.