UNESCO releases report on the consequences of the U.S. blockade on Cuba

Paris, June 22 (RHC)-- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) issued a report Tuesday on the consequences of the U.S. blockade against Cuba.

The Paris-based multilateral organization provided elements on the consequences of Washington's blockade for the report prepared by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, in view of a new vote slated for Wednesday in the General Assembly on a draft resolution calling for a halt of the hostile measure.

According to UNESCO, the U.S. policy has a negative effect on the implementation on the island of important transformations aimed at perfecting its education system, among them the modernization of the curriculum and actions to raise the efficiency and quality of the teaching process.

This updating involves the use of laboratory materials and equipment, as well as new texts, whose access and printing, respectively, are made more expensive by the blockade, UNESCO stressed in the document that provides inputs to the Secretary-General's report requested by the Assembly in 2019, when 187 of the 193 UN member states supported the initiative.

Also, in higher education, accessing technology and supplies is limited, while the impossibility of free academic exchange and cooperation between universities and research institutions in Cuba and the United States affects what would be a highly beneficial exchange for scientific knowledge, it added.

In the cultural sector, UNESCO pointed out to the Secretary-General that the siege hits the promotion and dissemination of artistic talent, which is illustrated with the difficulties faced by Cuban musicians in taking advantage of the U.S. market.