In his speech at the 68th Commerce and Development Board, a forum that meets here once a year, the ambassador repudiated the strengthening of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by Washington on Cuba for more than 60 years amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In that regard, he pointed out that Cuba has made big efforts to deal with the heath crisis, without neglecting its socioeconomic development plans, in the middle of an increase in aggression to strengthen the blockade.

During the Donald Trump administration (2017-2021), the United States approved 243 new measures to tightened its efforts to suffocate Cuba, including 55 during the pandemic, and those actions still remain after the arrival of President Joe Biden at the White House five months ago.

¨Under the current conditions, the blockade represents a huge burden for the Cuban people and economy, with harsh consequences in the context of the pandemic, when Cuba has had to spend large amounts of resources to urgently assure the necessary equipment and materials for its healthcare system at the expense of other products and medicines,¨ Quintanilla stated.

The Cuban ambassador noted at the Commerce and Development Board that the US blockade against his country is the most severe and prolonged coercive unilateral measure enforced in history, and stalls the nation´s progress.

To our country, it is vitally important that any document resulting from the next UNCTAD Ministerial Conference reflects that reality and reaffirms the need to end these measures, some of which even have an extraterritorial effect, he underlined.

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