In a forum organized by the Cuban Embassy in Caracas and the Venezuelan Anti-Blockade Observatory, Cuban Minister Counsellor Rubén Ramos noted the impact of this policy on Cuban society and people.
Ramos presented to officials from the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, lawmakers, political parties, students, cultural and academic institutions and solidarity movements, the report that the Cuban Government will submit to the United Nations plenary next week.
Referring to the document entitled “Necessity to End the Economic, Commercial and Financial Blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba,” the diplomat pointed out that it shows the consequences of these “unilateral blockades and sanctions” by US administrations.
The head of the economic and commercial office at the Cuban Embassy in this capital informed that only between March 1, 2023, and February 29, 2024, the enforcement of this genocidal policy caused damages in the order of 5,056.8 million dollars.
According to the official report, this figure represented an increase of 189.8 million dollars with respect to the previous period.
In an accumulated manner, he indicated, at current prices the damages caused by “these unjust unilateral coercive actions, which do not have the support of the international community,” amount to 164,141.1 million dollars,” he added.
Ramos stated that not only “we are talking about a systematic action, but that it is increasingly being intensified by Washington to cause hunger, hardship and anguish in the Cuban population.”
The deputy minister of Anti-Blockade Policies of Venezuela, William Castillo, recalled that on October 28 and 29, Cuba will – present, as it has been doing since 1992 – this report, which is approved by 99.99 percent of the countries of the world that reject and ask for the end of the blockade.
Castillo pointed out that this economic blockade is “a criminal policy that violates the human rights of millions of Cubans,” and considered it important that public media, community media, communicators and social organizations disseminate this report, debate it and “make active solidarity with Cuba.”
The president of the Rómulo Gallegos Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CELARG), Pedro Calzadilla, highlighted the integrity and courage of the Cuban people in the confrontation with US imperialism and the blockade.
At the end of the meeting, a proposal was made to create a chair of Cuba-Venezuela solidarity at the CELARG headquarters, in order to deepen knowledge of the causes and consequences of the US economic blockade, as well as to strengthen ties of cooperation between the two countries.
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