Cuba condemns the negative impact of the blockade on its economic development

HAVANA, Cuba, Jun 21 (ACN) During the 68th meeting of the Trade and Development Board, held today in Geneva, the Cuban ambassador and permanent representative in that Swiss city, Juan Antonio Quintanilla Roman, condemned the negative impact of the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade on the island's economy.

The Cuban diplomat said that his country, without renouncing its plans for economic and social development, has made great efforts to confront the COVID-19, in the midst of a tightening blockade by Washington.

He stressed that under the current conditions, this U.S. policy is a huge burden for the Cuban population and economy, with acute consequences in the context of the pandemic.

In order to confront COVID-19, he stressed, the island has had to devote considerable resources to urgently guarantee the equipment and materials necessary for its health system, to the detriment of other products and medicines necessary for the population.

For Cuba, he added, this policy continues representing an obstacle for the development of the potential of the economy, for the implementation of the National Economic and Social Development Plan, as well as for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals.

The Cuban official stressed the importance that any document resulting from the next Ministerial Conference should reflect this reality and reaffirm the need to put an end to the blockade measures which, even in times of pandemic, have been tightened.

Likewise, Quintanilla Roman urged the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to take into account in its projection the problems of the most vulnerable economies, as well as the special and differentiated treatment.

At the end of his speech, the diplomat reaffirmed that his country advocates a multilateral trade system based on rules and respectful of the sovereign decision of each State to choose its economic and social development system.