Harassment against Cuba, US obsession

HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 17 (ACN) The U.S. harassment of Cuba is an insane obsession and persists in choking the economy and drowning the people with sanctions, acting with impunity despite 29 UN resolutions against the blockade, said Miguel Fraga, an official of the Cuban foreign ministry, today.

In a virtual meeting against the economic blockade organized by the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP by its Spanish acronym), Fraga pointed out that this genocidal policy is maintained despite that the majority of the US people do not want it, and he mentioned the resolutions issued by 19 cities of that nation in favor of the normalization of the relations with the island.

Seven years after the announcement of the reestablishment of diplomatic relations, these are formal, not fluid and much less of cooperation by decision of the U.S. government, while Cuba remains open to dialogue without conditions and without prejudice to sovereignty, ready to seek agreements that benefit both people, he stressed.

The Cuban diplomat pointed out that the Trump administration put into effect 243 measures to reinforce the blockade (of those 60 in the midst of the pandemic), all of which are still in force today by his successor, such as the ban on remittances and the persecution of financial transactions and fuel supply operations.

In spite of the pandemic and the economic blockade -the main obstacle to the country's development-, we count on the solidarity of millions of people in the world and we will go ahead fighting for a better world for all mankind, Fraga continued.

For her part, Mildrey Granadillo, deputy minister of economy and planning, denounced, on the same virtual meeting, that the U.S. blockade against Cuba is the most extensive, unequal and prolonged economic war that has ever been unleashed against any nation.

Under those conditions, an underdeveloped and small country can avoid collapse and even advance in its development only with a socialist system, based on social justice and the unity of the people around its leadership.

She stressed that the damages to the economy caused by the blockade, from April to December 2020, amounted to 3,586 billion dollars at current prices, while the accumulated damage is in the order of 147,853 billion dollars.

Granadillo concluded by stating: "We are grateful for the support of the international community in denouncing the blockade, we will continue working for the prosperous and socialist nation we want, maintaining our principles and the achievements of the Revolution".