UN Special Rapporteur Urges End of US Blockade of Cuba

Havana, Nov 21 (ACN) United Nations Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan called in Havana for an immediate end of the network of unilateral coercive and extraterritorial measures making up the US economic, commercial, and financial blockade against Cuba.

During a meeting with the press on Friday in the Cuban capital to present the preliminary report of her visit to the Caribbean nation, Douhan noted that these measures, maintained by the U.S. administration despite the broad rejection of the international community, lack legitimacy, violate the basic principles of international law, free trade among countries, and the United Nations Charter, and pose a serious obstacle to the realization of the human rights of the island’s population.

She pointed out that the impact of the US pressures—applied not only to Cuba but also to third countries and organizations willing to engage in business, investment, or cooperation—resulted in a negative trade balance for Cuba last year, which hindered the local economy and social projects.

Douhan also stressed the additional limitations implied by the designation of Cuba on the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, which prevents the effective participation of the island in the global market.

She also condemned the pressure aimed at undermining Cuba’s international medical cooperation in other regions, which threatens the right to health of many communities where Cuba has provided services—benefiting around 165 countries over six decades.

The Special Rapporteur thanked the Cuban government for its constructive willingness to engage in dialogue and for providing all the necessary information to verify the impacts of the economic blockade, and she expressed her solidarity with the population of the eastern provinces affected by Hurricane Melissa’s passage through the territory.