Cuban civil society denounces U.S. blockade

HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 25 (ACN) Members of several Cuban civil society organizations denounced the intensification of the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States against the Cuban people during the third Cuba-European Union Unilateral Coercive Measures Dialogue, held virtually.

According to the official website of the United Nations Association in Cuba, at the meeting, the Cuban participants agreed that the blockade has limited the full enjoyment of human rights on the island and has limited the management of cooperation projects in different sectors, among them those aimed at strengthening the health system.

In that sense, they denounced the implementation of more than 240 measures against the Cuban people during the U.S. government of Donald Trump, intensified during COVID-19, limiting the care of vulnerable groups of people and the research and production of equipment and medicines to face the pandemic.

The Cuban representatives asserted that the ban on the sending of remittances and the permanent financial persecution against Cuba reaffirmed the extraterritorial nature of the blockade and the attempts of the U.S. government to economically suffocate the Cuban people.

In addition, they referred to the limitations imposed on Cuba by this U.S. interference policy for free access to information technologies, the use of data banks and to work on digital platforms such as Zoom or WebEx, limiting access to knowledge and the participation of Cuban professionals in international exchanges and events.

Likewise, they condemned the inclusion of Cuba once again in the list of State sponsors of terrorism, which increases the country's difficulties to enter into trade, carry out financial transactions and acquire basic inputs.