During the opening debate convened by Cuba, such groups such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ANSEA), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation advocated the end of the US policy of suffocation.
Representatives of these associations also demanded the removal of Cuba from the list of alleged sponsors of terrorism drawn up by the US State Department.
Brazil’s Foreign Minister, Mauro Vieira, ratified his country’s commitment to a solution based on the principles of solidarity and cooperation.
“We firmly believe that the end of the embargo will be fundamental for Cuba to overcome the challenges it faces,” he stressed.
The delegate from Cameroon, the nation chairing the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, considered that strengthening the blockade run counter to the 31 resolutions approved by the UN General Assembly and calling for a halt to it.
“All of these (resolutions) support the immediate end of the series of measures that have been imposed on Cuba,” said the ambassador of the African nation to the UN.
The Community of Caribbean States (Caricom) considered the coercive measures against the island have no legal justification.
The principles stipulated in the United Nations Charter continue to be pillars of civilized society and, therefore, must be respected by all member states, demanded the representative of Grenada, on behalf of the regional group.
For the permanent ambassador of Venezuela to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, the blockade is an anachronistic policy applied for more than 60 years.
That siege, due to its extraterritoriality, affects any country or entity that maintains legal and sovereign economic, commercial or financial relations with Cuba, he reminded the forum.
“It is time to correct this historical injustice and put an end to an imperial delirium that imposes its national laws on the entire international community,” Moncada urged.
A similar demand came from Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasili Nebenzia, who warned that the blockade puts limits to the rights of almost 200 states that wish to maintain commercial relations with Cuba.
“We start from admitting the absolute uselessness of such policies. The economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States against Cuba is a relic of the Cold War and prevents Cuba from interacting with multilateral institutions, its full participation in international and regional cooperation debates,” he said.
Tomorrow, the forum of 193 countries will vote on Cuba’s proposed resolution, which estimates losses of 5,056.8 million dollars as a result of the blockade, from March 2023 to February 29, 2024.
This will be the thirty-second time that the General Assembly has voted on the project prepared by Cuba against US sanctions, described here as nonsensical and obsolete.
The figure represents an increase of 189.8 million with respect to the previous report, translating into an approximate 421 million dollars a month, or more than 13.8 million dollars daily, and more than 575,683 dollars in damages for each hour of blockade.
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