Cuba Presents Report on Impact of U.S. Blockade
"The World Would Be Better Without the Blockade Against Cuba" Foreign Minister Says
Report to the national and foreign media by Cuban Minister of
Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, October 19, 2022.
On November 2 and 3, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will consider for the 30th time the agenda item "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade Imposed by the United States of America against Cuba."
As it has done every year since 1962, Cuba will present its "Update to the Report of Cuba on Resolution 75/289 of the United Nations General Assembly entitled 'Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba' (August 2021 -- February 2022)." The 29th vote, taken June 23, 2021, resulted in 184 countries voting in favour of the resolution, only two voting against it (United States and Israel), and three abstaining (Brazil, Colombia and Ukraine).
On
October 19 Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez
Parrilla
outlined to the diplomatic corps in the country, and to the
national
and foreign media, the update Cuba will present to the UNGA.
He pointed out that this year's debate at the UN is taking place in a special context -- one marked by the devastating effects of Hurricane Ian, by the effects of a multidimensional global crisis that includes an international economic crisis and an imminent threat of a global recession, food crisis, energy crisis, health crisis, and others. It also comes at a time of unprecedented intensification of the blockade, starting from the second half of 2019 based on the policy of the previous Republican government of the U.S. of economic suffocation, of economic war, of deliberately seeking the collapse of the Cuban economy and the country, without measuring the serious humanitarian consequences or the impacts of that objective, which will never be fulfilled, he said, but which would undoubtedly lead to unpredictable consequences.
Rodríguez said losses caused by the blockade between August 2021 and February 2022 were in the order of $3.8 billion, a record amount for such a short period of time. The Gross Domestic Product of Cuba, according to very conservative data, he said, could have grown, despite the adverse circumstances facing the economy, by 4.5 per cent in that period had those measures not been applied.
In 60 years, at current prices, he said, the accumulated
damages add
up to $154.2 billion. This is an exorbitant figure for a small
economy
like Cuba's, without great natural resources, insular,
underdeveloped,
he said. But, when quantifying the damage by taking into account
the price of the U.S. dollar against the value of gold on the
international market, the amount comes to more than $1.391
trillion.
Some other facts he provided were:
- Cuba cannot acquire, anywhere, in any way, technologies, equipment, parts, pieces, digital technologies or software, which have 10 per cent U.S. components, which has an impact as serious as that of the lack of foreign currency to guarantee supplies.
- Dozens and dozens of banks deny services to Cuba for fear of incurring U.S. fines. Between January 2021 and February 2022, foreign banks reported 642 refusals of service to Cuba in this regard. Dozens of diplomatic missions, of Cuban embassies today lack banking services.
- During the height of the pandemic the U.S. allowed temporary exemptions from its unilateral coercive measures to dozens of sanctioned countries, which allowed them to purchase vaccines, oxygen and ventilators. No such exemption was allowed for Cuba.
The update explains that by keeping Cuba on its List of State Sponsors of Terrorism the U.S. has reinforced the deterrent and intimidating impact of the blockade and Cuba's difficulties engaging in international trade and financial operations of all kinds. This represents "incalculable costs and consequences" for the Cuban people and economy.
Another aggravating factor this year's update refers to is that on top of its economic war, the U.S. government has unleashed a pernicious media campaign in an attempt to destabilize the country. Lies, slander, manipulation of data, images and a host of other methods of unconventional warfare have been used in hopes it will lead to "regime change" which it calls a clear violation of the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of countries:
"They placed our children, youth and artists at the centre of the media barrage. They promoted artificial leaders, fabricated pretexts for the rehearsal of a humanitarian intervention, encouraged irregular migration and displayed a misleading narrative in order to position the false image of a government in crisis, repressive and unstable, incapable of responding to the demands of its population."
Cuba's Foreign Minister Rodríguez said, "In the face of these adversities, in the face of the hostility of the U.S. government, our country does not stop, or stop renewing itself. Cuba renews itself all the time. Cuba changes every day, and will continue to change. What does not change, what is not renewed, what remains anchored in the past, is the blockade policy."
As examples of the transformations taking place in Cuba, the Foreign Minister pointed to the expansion and registration of thousands of new micro, small and medium-sized companies, both state and private, as well as new opportunities for foreign investment. He referred also to the development of science, technology and innovation as a pillar of the revolutionary government's management. He mentioned the new Family Code, adopted by referendum on September 25, as another example of the principle Cuba adheres to of "changing everything that needs to be changed and moving towards a fairer, more humane, more democratic socialism for all our people."
Rodríguez made a point of saying that rejection of the blockade was one of the most discussed topics in the speeches of the Heads of State and Government at the High-Level Session of the UN General Assembly at the end of September, with 40 of them demanding the end of this policy. Some, he said, "called for Cuba to be removed from the United States government's arbitrary, unjust, capricious, immoral and illegal list of countries that sponsor terrorism. Others expressed appreciation for Cuba's cooperation, especially the international medical cooperation that Cuba offers in a modest and quiet way."
All of this shows, Rodríguez said, that the blockade only leads to isolation and discrediting of the United States government. The majority of those in the U.S. oppose it, the majority of Cubans residing in the United States and in other countries oppose it, and it is rejected practically unanimously by the international community.
He concluded his remarks saying, "Cuba has the right to live without a blockade; it has the right to live in peace. Cuba would be better off without lockdown. Everyone would be better off without the blockade. The United States would be a better country without a blockade against Cuba. The world would be better without the blockade against Cuba."
The full transcript of Minister Rodríguez's remarks can be found here.
Report to diplomatic corps, October 19, 2022.
(With files from Cubadebate, Minrex)
This article was published in
Volume 52 Number 37 - October 28, 2022
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmld2022/Articles/D520371.HTM
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