Cuba asks the UN General Assembly to end the US embargo

The UN General Assembly began to analyze this Wednesday a new resolution proposal presented by Cuba that demands “an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade” imposed by the United States 60 years ago.

The draft resolution expresses “concern” about the maintenance of the commercial, economic and financial embargo and its “negative effects on the Cuban population.”

Cuba defends the “sovereign equality” of the States, the “non-interference in their internal affairs” and the “freedom of international trade and navigation” to demand that this embargo imposed in February 1962, in the midst of the Cold War, by the then President John F. Kennedy and strengthened ever since.

A report by the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, made at the request of the General Assembly as Cuba demands in each resolution, concludes that “the continuation of the financial and commercial blockade of the United States against Cuba is incompatible with an international system based on the rule of law”.

“It is based rather on the exercise of political and economic power,” he says.

illegal and inhumane

“Illegal”, “unacceptable”, “criminal”, “inhuman”, “economic aggression”, were some of the adjectives that abounded in the UN gallery, particularly in the mouths of Latin American countries.

“The United States must cease these measures and repair the damage” inflicted on the Cuban people, said the Mexican ambassador, Juan Ramón de la Fuente.

For the Argentine ambassador, María del Carmen Squeff, who spoke on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the blockade “is contrary to the letter, spirit, principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and International Law.”

This is the 30th resolution presented Cuba since 1992 against the US embargo. Only in 2020 there was no resolution due to the covid pandemic.

In the first resolution of 1992 only 59 countries voted in favor, but now almost all members of the UN support it, with the exception of the United States and Israel, which are usually the only ones who vote against.

Only in 2016 did Washington abstain, as a consequence of the rapprochement policy of the government of then Democratic President Barak Obama (2009-2017), which reestablished relations with the Cuban regime in 2015.

But the American opening with the island was short-lived. The confrontation with Cuba was part of the White House policy during Donald Trump’s term (2017-2021), which introduced nearly 250 new sanctions and declared the communist country a sponsor of terrorism.

Despite his campaign promises, his successor, Democrat Joe Biden, Obama’s former vice president, maintains those sanctions with the exception of some changes in visas, travel and remittances to the island.

Trumpification of politics

“The “trumpification” of the United States’ policy with Cuba has solidified,” Harold Cárdenas, director of the blog La Joven Cuba, tells AFP.

“We have spent 60 years in this game between the two governments and the Cuban people caught in the middle,” he says.

After the devastating passage of Hurricane Ian over the island on October 19, Havana asked Biden to lift the sanctions, which are attributable to the president, since the rest can only be suspended by Congress.

Cuba is going through its worst economic crisis in three decades with food, medicine and fuel shortages, while facing daily blackouts due to the obsolete technology of its thermoelectric plants, aggravated by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Cuban authorities, the embargo has caused economic damage equivalent to 154.217 million current dollars. Of them, 3,806 million between August 2021 and February 2022 alone, according to Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, which according to the Cuban government would have translated into a 4.5% growth in the economy.

The lack of political changes on the island, as demonstrated by the fierce repression of the demonstrations on July 11, 2021, does not contribute to a shift in Washington’s policy towards Havana, and less so in the midst of the campaign for the mid-term elections. on November 8, in which the Democrats are playing for control of Congress.