Celac: “US blockade remains an obstacle for Cuba”

 HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 29 (ACN) The blockade is still a reality for the people of Cuba and the main obstacle for that nation to develop normally, it was affirmed today on behalf of the member countries of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), of which Honduras assumes the pro tempore presidency.

Based on Agreement A/79/80, presented by the Secretary General of the United Nations, this policy entails considerable damage to the country and to the well-being of its people, which is contrary to the wishes for peace of the Latin American and Caribbean peoples as expressed in the proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of peace, the diplomat commented.

Although the Celac welcomed the measures adopted between 2015 and 2016 for the normalization of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States - a fact that marked the opening of a new chapter in the history of peace and coexistence among the American nations -, the economic, commercial and financial blockade has been maintained, which contradicts the letter, spirit, purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international law, the Honduran representative said.

The member states of this regional bloc, he assured, reiterated their rejection of the application of laws and measures such as Helms-Burton, including their extraterritorial effects, among them the impossibility of carrying out financial transactions on a global scale.

Celac also expressed its disapproval of the inclusion of Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, as it is an unfounded decision that reinforces the intimidating effect of the restrictions associated with the blockade and undermines the possibilities for Cuba to establish trade and financial relations with international partners.

The Honduran representative requested the government of the United States to abide by the successive resolutions of the General Assembly and in response to the repeated calls of the international community to put an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade against the island and expressed his concern about the hardening of the policy and its rejection of the extraterritorial dimension.

Celac supports the adoption of the draft resolution (A/79/L.6) entitled “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba and insists that it is incongruous to apply unilateral coercive measures that are not supported by international law or in the letter, spirit or purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, he sentenced.