Cuban FM denounces US persecution to deny fuel to Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 8 (ACN) The persecution of ships, shipping companies and insurance companies to deprive Cuba of fuel is a criminal action by the U.S. government, denounced today the island's foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla.

On Twitter, the Cuban diplomat detailed that only in 2019, 53 vessels and 27 companies were included in blacklists.

He stressed that Washington's measure persists, and has a sensitive impact for Cuba, in the context of COVID-19.

The U.S. State Department has continued expanding its List of Restricted Cuban Entities, with which persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are prohibited from carrying out operations.

This includes mainly companies linked to the country's retail network, the supply system of the most important needs for the economy and the population, the entire nation's hotel facilities and several institutions of the financial sector.

According to the general director of foreign trade of the Cuban ministry of foreign trade and investment (MINCEX by its Spanish acronym), Vivian Herrera Cid, in 2021 there was a clear outflow of the shipping companies MCC and Zim, which expressed that they would no longer work with Cuba to avoid problems due to the effect of the blockade.

According to official figures, Cuba's losses due to this unilateral policy during the last five years amounted to more than 17 billion dollars, and the accumulated damages in six decades amount to 147 billion dollars, and the value of gold, 1 billion 337 million dollars.