Cuban families feel it in shortages, excessive prices, and devalued salaries, Rodríguez said while addressing the forum gathered to vote on the resolution presented by Cuba on the need to end the blockade.

The foreign minister recalled the Havana government’s efforts to guarantee the basic family basket despite the obstacles imposed.

With only a third of the cost of the blockade’s effects from March 2022 to February 2023, it would have been possible to cover expenditures under that item, he said.

At the same time, sectors, including agriculture and energy, face severe obstacles in acquiring spare parts or machinery.

Under strict licenses, some agricultural products in the United States travel to Cuba under draconian and discriminatory laws that violate international trade regulations, the diplomat said.

These products, he added, arrive in US ships that have to return empty due to the blockade itself.

The Cuban foreign minister recalled the intensification of the harassment policy during the most complex years of the Covid-19 pandemic when exemption of sanctions was promoted for humanitarian reasons in some cases.

“Why was Cuba excluded from this temporary relief?” Rodríguez asked, rejecting Washington’s use of the pandemic as an ally in its policy toward Cuba.

The effect on the quality of life and services provided to the population is painful, he stressed.

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