At UN, Cuba slams US ‘criminal’ practices undermining country’s development

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations.

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At the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, the Foreign Minister of Cuba condemned the United States for imposing blockades and other “criminal, non-conventional measures” that are hindering his country’s progress. Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla painted a grim picture of the foreign trade obstacles, banking and financial restrictions, and travel limitations which he said are part of Washington’s “steady and qualitative” increase in hostilities against Havana. Meanwhile, he stressed that the US-imposed economic, commercial and financial blockade continued to be the main obstacle to the country’s development. With companies transporting fuel, flag States, States of registration, as well as shipping and insurance companies all being “threatened and persecuted” by the US, Cuba has been “facing severe difficulties” and forced to adopt temporary emergency measures. He rejected all such target measures, saying the US itself is “drowning in a sea of corruption, lies and immorality.”  He also denounced the country for allocating tens of millions of dollars toward political subversion and denying the First Secretary of Cuba’s Communist Party an entry visa on the basis of “gross slanders”. The Americas Moreover, Mr. Rodríguez Parrilla pointed out that earlier this week, in its “anti-Cuban obsession”, the US had blamed Cuba for “the failed plan to overthrow the Venezuelan Government.” “Bilateral relations between Cuba and Venezuela are based on mutual respect and true solidarity”, he stressed, affirming his country’s support for “the legitimate Government headed by comrade Nicolas Maduro Moros”. The Foreign Minister condemned the US for “the encouragement of coup d’etats, assassination of the country’s leaders, economic warfare and sabotage to power generation plants”. Noting that the US and a few other countries recently decided to activate the “obsolete” Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, which he said “envisages the use of the military force”, Mr. Rodríguez Parrilla criticized the “absurd decision” as jeopardizing regional peace and security while justifying interference in Venezuela’s internal affairs. “We reject Washington’s attempts to destabilize the Government of Nicaragua and ratify our unswerving solidarity with President Daniel Ortega”, he continued. He said “neoliberal capitalism is…responsible for the increasing social and economic inequality affecting even the most developed societies” and that it “fosters corruption, social marginalization, the rise in crime, racial intolerance and xenophobia”. Even under the present circumstances, he said “we will not renounce our determination to develop a civilized relation” with the US, as his country believed that to be the desire of the American and Cuban people living in the US. At the same time, the Foreign Minister cautioned that “economic aggression, no matter how hard the threats and blackmail might be, will not extract a single concession from us”.