UN to again voice demand for an end to the US blockade against Cuba

November 6, 2019 - 20:22

The demand for an end to the US blockade against Cuba once again tops the agenda of the UN General Assembly, which has voiced its condemnation of this policy for the last 27 years.

Of the 193 member states that make up the largest United Nations agency, only two or three - on different years - have supported Washington in imposition of the economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba.

As the Assembly again approaches a vote on the issue, US authorities have exerted strong pressures and even blackmail against countries to persuade them to change their position regarding the blockade, especially those of Latin America, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez warned.

Far from responding to the call by the international community, which for more than two decades has almost unanimously adopted the resolution calling on the United States to lift the blockade, the US is undertaking maneuvers to hinder its adoption and erode the positive voting pattern, he stressed.

During the penultimate week of October, the embassies of four Latin American nations were summoned in Washington by the State Department with the aim of obtaining their vote against the draft resolution entitled, 'Necessity of Ending the Economic, Commercial and Financial Embargo Imposed by the United States of America against Cuba,' the foreign minister explained.

Cuba has presented this resolution for 27 years to the United Nations General Assembly, which has almost unanimously supported the demand for an end to the policy in every vote. This Wednesday and Thursday, the largest UN body will again vote on the draft resolution for the 28th consecutive year.

Although the UN General Assembly has approved a resolution every year since 1992 calling for the lifting of the blockade, the US government continues to ignore the international community, while maintaining and intensifying this hostile policy.

China supports

China on Wednesday ratified its support for the draft resolution that Cuba will submit to the United Nations to demand an end to the United States blockade, and condemned the permanence and tightening of that policy, despite global rejection.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told Prensa Latina that his country will adopt the common stance of the majority of the members of the UN General Assembly, as for 27 consecutive years they have voted almost unanimously for an end to that hostile policy.

Geng described the persistence of the economic, financial and commercial blockade as regrettable, even though the UN has repeatedly called to revoke extraterritorial actions that violate States' sovereignty and legitimate rights, free trade and navigation.

'China urges the United States to cease the blockade of Cuba as soon as possible. It is a call from the international community,' he stressed.

The spokesman noted that China respects each country's decision to choose its own path to development and social system, the maintenance of international order based on law, and the safeguarding of justice and equality.

Geng repeated China's opposition to unilateral sanctions against other territories, whether through military, political or economic means.

Finally, he called on the United States to normalize relations with Cuba, and noted that this is in the interest of the two countries and their peoples, but also in the benefit of peace and stability in the Americas.

Source: (Prensa Latina)