In an interview with Spanish journalist and writer Ignacio Ramonet, published in Granma newspaper, the Cuban leader noted that in the face of this aggression, the country has not stood by idly and is developing its capacity to resist.

He pointed out that the deepening and widening of the US blockade, Cuba’s inclusion on the unilateral State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT) list, and in general the hostile policy by that power, have made the people’s daily life particularly difficult in recent years.

We are a country that has been affected by the limitations and adversities imposed on us by the blockade for more than sixty years; an illegal, unjust blockade as a policy and loaded, above all, with an arrogant perspective by the US Government, he pointed out.

Díaz-Canel explained that the tightening of that policy since 2019, under the Republican administration of Donald Trump, suddenly cut off all sources of foreign currency income of the nation, applied for the first time Title III of the Helms-Burton Act to put pressure on foreign investors.

Simultaneously, a huge energy and financial persecution was organized, he said, and explained that more than 92 banks or international financial institutions have been sanctioned or pressured by the US Government, for which reason they have ceased their financial relations with Cuba.

The president pointed out that this, together with the suspension of remittances, which was an important source of income for the country, and the measures against countries that supply stable fuel to Cuba, have caused a deficit in the availability of foreign currency and energy problems.

He affirmed that as part of these actions, tourism decreased notably because the United States Government denies the US people’s right to visit Cuba, and the arrival of cruise ships, which was an important part of tourist arrivals, was banned.

Cuba has been affected by limitations and adversities; however, the country has not only been able to resist the blockade, but under these conditions it has advanced, contributed and grown as a nation and, in addition, it has developed.

If we have been capable of so many things under the blockade, what would we not have been capable of without being blockaded, he pointed out.

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