Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez denounced the United States on Saturday for intensifying its blockade policy against the island and rejected statements by Secretary of State Marco Rubio regarding the country’s economic situation.
In a post on his official X profile, the head of Cuban diplomacy questioned the US official’s statements about alleged internal management problems in Cuba and asserted that Washington maintains a strategy aimed at obstructing the nation’s access to fuel, technology and financing.
“When the US Secretary of State speaks of incompetence in Cuba, we should ask him why he chronically lies and contradicts the US president and his spokesperson by denying the existence of the total fuel blockade that the White House acknowledges,” Rodríguez stated.
The foreign minister also questioned whether, if incompetence existed as Rubio argues, the application of restrictive measures and sanctions against strategic sectors of the Cuban economy would be pointless.
He explained that the actions promoted by Washington include restrictions on the acquisition of parts and technologies destined for the island’s thermoelectric plants, as well as obstacles to the purchase and transport of fuel.
Rodríguez also denounced sanctions against the state-owned company Unión Cuba-Petróleo (CUPET), responsible for the logistics and distribution of fuel in the country.
According to the foreign minister, US policy also seeks to affect key economic activities through measures targeting companies linked to nickel production, tourism, and mining.
Bruno Rodriguez also noted that foreign citizens who visit Cuba face restrictions on subsequently accessing the US Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), while governments that maintain medical cooperation agreements with Havana are subjected to pressure and threats.
“He blackmails and threatens the states that sovereignly maintain cooperation agreements with Cuba in the area of health,” the foreign minister stated, asserting that the plan meticulously targets the development of the Cuban economy and the origin of all its funds.
Cuba’s top diplomat described the measures as a “total blockade,” comparable to a military siege, and accused Rubio of promoting actions aimed at undermining the Cuban constitutional order.
“Meanwhile, he openly calls for the subversion of the Cuban constitutional order and relentlessly seeks a U.S. military intervention in Cuba,” the foreign minister concluded.
[ SOURCE: PRENSA LATINA ]
