UN Cuba Assistance Faces Hurdles of US Blockade

 The assistance given by the United Nations of Cuba in 2022 to recover from the occurrence of disasters and to help boost sustainable development priorities was not exempt of obstacles posed by the US economic, commercial and financial blockade of the island nation.

The initiatives to assist the island had to sort the strengthened unilateral sanctions imposed by Washington even under the COVID-19 pandemic, the skyrocketing consumer and energy prices and the Ukraine conflict, according to authorized sources.

United Nations resident coordinator in Havana Francisco Pichon told the Cuban News Agency that the US measures hinder assistance operations particularly disaster response and assistance for development.

Pichon recalled that some 14.7 million dollars in assistance was provided as part of a plan of action to cushion the impact of hurricane Ian and his office coordinated the support by agencies, funds and programs, including a strategy focusing on the western province of Pinar del Rio, hard hit by the storm.

The multi-dimension and integration of technical, operative and logistic capacities of UN entities has been crucial both to face emergency situations and to help in the so-called cooperation framework with Cuba, the diplomat said.

The allocation of vital resources in Cuba ahead of any emergency has been an important alternative to act fast and efficiently as it happened with the passage of Ian, the blast in the Havana Saratoga hotel and the massive fire in the oil depot in Matanzas province.

But the blockade delays the efforts to bring such resources from other countries even more under a lack of funds, he said and added that when the goods and resources are purchased in faraway countries, operations get very costly with complex payment arrangements and even more because Cuba has been banned from accessing international financial mechanisms.

However, the assistance by the European Union, Arab countries, Russia, China and Vietnam is viable.

The UN Service in Cuba includes 22 agencies, funds and programs. All support the island’s priority areas for sustainable development and the 2030 sustainable goals.