First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the UN.

In a virtual interactive talk with the special rapporteur on the negative repercussions of unilateral coercive measures on human rights Alena Douhan, Mr. Behmaras referred to many damages these measures have caused to Cuba.

My country has been subjected for over 60 years to a strict economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States. Such a hostile policy was deliberately and opportunistically tightened amid the Covid-19 pandemic to unprecedented levels, the Cuban diplomat stressed.

The US blockade is a massive, flagrant and systematic violation of all Cuban people´s human rights. It breaches the UN Charter and international law, Behmaras said.

Plus, the hostile blocklade is the major drawback to Cuba´s economic development. It hinders the capacity to respond to Covid-19 and the purchase of food and medical supplies, including for producing Cuba´s own vaccines, as well as the arrival of donations for humanitarian purposes.

In this regard, Behmaras stated, Ms. Douhan’s report is clear concerning the negative impact of these measures on the right to health, just to mention one.

However, we would appreciate if Ms. Douhan deepened on particular impact to access to Covid-19 vaccines and other medical supplies to respond to the pandemic.

Since the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and repeatedly in last year, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres has called for lifting all sanctions and unilateral coercive measures that hamper an adequate response to present health crisis.

But nations like the United States maintain and even tighten economic, commercial and financial sanctions on nations including Cuba, Venezuela, Syria and Iran, as those governments are increasingly condemning.

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