This is how Ismara Vargas, director of US Legal Affairs and Analysis at the Cuban Foreign Ministry, summarized how Washington’s coercive measures are fulfilling their purpose of causing considerable damage to the national economy and Cuban population.

In exclusive statements to Prensa Latina on the presentation to the UN General Assembly on June 23 of the 29th briefing to demand the end of the unilateral blockade, the official anticipated a new defeat for the US government.

Cuba will once again have the overwhelming support of the UN member countries, ‘this is an unequivocal message from the international community on the need to lift a policy that deeply harms the Cuban people,’ Vargas noted.

The diplomat commented that this vote will take place in a context of growing activism at the international level. ‘Every week in different corners of the world, there are initiatives for the legitimate right of Cubans to live in a country without a blockade,’ she pointed out.

The director pointed out that the smothering measures, increased during the mandate of former President Donald Trump (2017-2021), limit the capacity of the Cuban State to guarantee the functioning of basic sectors of the country, including food, health, electricity and transportation.

In figures, the blockade caused from April 2019 to December 2020 damages in excess of nine billion dollars, official sources estimated.

US President Joe Biden and other members of his administration have reiterated that Cuba is not a priority issue for his government, and despite electoral promises, they maintain intact the 243 punitive measures imposed by the previous head of the White House.

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