The US blockade against Cuba returns to global scrutiny this Tuesday at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) with the debate on the draft resolution calling for the lifting of the longest economic blockade in history.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez is leading his country’s delegation in New York to “participate on October 28 and 29 in the discussion and vote on the UNGA draft resolution, which calls for an end to the United States blockade against Cuba,” he wrote on his account on the social media platform X.
“Their corrupt political clique fears being isolated once again by the overwhelming UN majority’s condemnation of their measures of economic suffocation and suffering against the Cuban people,” warned the foreign minister, who used the hashtag #TumbaElBloqueo (TumbaElBloqueo).
This will be the thirty-third time that a proposal arguing for the need to end the blockade, imposed more than six decades ago by successive Democratic and Republican administrations, without distinction, will be debated.
During Tuesday and Wednesday, the global forum of 193 countries will examine and vote on the document presented by the Caribbean nation, which argues the worsening impact of this policy of suffocation on its population.
The international community, in “The Cuban government has unequivocally rejected the blockade, which last year found support in only two countries: the United States and its ally Israel, compared to the overwhelming majority of 187 others who opposed it.
According to official data, the blockade has caused damages of $7.556 billion in the last year, representing a 49 percent increase compared to the previous period.
Added to this is Cuba’s reinstatement to the arbitrary and unilateral list of state sponsors of terrorism and the application of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, which aggravate the financial and commercial persecution,” Rodríguez recalled.
According to the list of speakers circulating at the United Nations—which may be subject to change—representatives from at least 49 countries and groups, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Caribbean Community, will take the podium of the General Assembly today. The debate and voting will continue tomorrow, Wednesday.
