In an extensive interview digitally broadcast and to be published in a 32-page dossier in the bimonthly edition of La Marea magazine, the diplomat referred to Washington’s latest measures against Havana.

‘The most recent sanctions against Cuban officials and institutions announced by the current U.S. government are politically motivated and lack practical effects in that they do not affect in any way those concerned,’ Machin explained.

This announcement seems to be aimed more at a certain domestic public in the U.S., as well as to satisfy its main critics who seek to impose their agenda against Cuba and prevent the dismantling of the policy applied by Donald Trump, he added.

The Cuban ambassador remarked that ‘the US government lacks the moral, political and legal authority to sanction third parties, especially when its way of acting domestically is more than reprehensible in terms of repression (?)’, he said.

Regarding the effects of the blockade on the pandemic of the new coronavirus, Machin pointed out that it is curious how, after months of lethargy, Cuba has become an absolute priority for the current U.S. government.

He noted that only in the last year, losses associated with the blockade exceeded nine billion dollars at current prices and since the beginning of the pandemic, ‘our government has allocated two billion pesos and 300 million dollars to fight the coronavirus’.

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