The economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States government on Cuba is an undeniable reality that has reached two trillion 103 billion 897 million dollars over more than six decades, said Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs, at a press conference today.
The full impact of this criminal policy can never be fully quantified because the damage is beyond numerical accuracy; it is psychological and emotional, an expression of the human cost of this ruthless conduct for more than 60 years, the Minister insisted.
During the presentation of Cuba’s report on the impact of the US blockade from March 2024 to February 2025, the Foreign Minister announced that on October 28 and 29, the United Nations General Assembly will consider the Caribbean nation’s report for the thirty-third time in an international context marked by unilateralism and the aggressive policy of the US government against the Cuban people.
The presentation took place before representatives of the national and international press and was broadcast live on Cubavisión, Cubavisión Internacional, Canal Caribe, Radio Habana Cuba, as well as on the official Facebook page of the Cuban Foreign Ministry.
The Cuban Foreign Minister also said that compared to the previous report, the damages caused by this monstrosity had increased by almost 50 percent, with estimated losses amounting to $7.556 billion.1 million, figures that demonstrate the extreme intensification of the hostile policy against the island and its impact on the economy, human rights, and the quality of life of Cubans.
These are exorbitant figures with an oppressive effect, the Minister of Foreign Affairs denounced, pointing out that just 19 minutes of blockade represent the cost of the wheelchairs needed by special education schools in the country. He explained that if it hadn’t been for the blockade, the Gross Domestic Product could have grown by 9.2 percent this past year.
He criticized the United States’ actions against Cuba, which include fraudulent lawsuits, sanctions against companies, and financial restrictions that affect citizens of third countries. These actions cause suffering among the Cuban population. However, the Cuban people demonstrate resilience and creativity in the face of adversity.
In his speech, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla warned about the U.S. government’s military actions against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which he considers a threat to regional peace. He urged international organizations to recognize Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of peace and to mobilize in defense of international law, respecting the United Nations Charter.
Cuban historiography specifies that the US administration’s economic, commercial, and financial embargo began in 1960 and gradually grew until it began to harm the interests of third countries in 1992, when the UN General Assembly requested for the first time the elimination of this policy.
This request, repeated every year since then, joins the most recent request by the majority of states and blocs of countries to remove Cuba from the List of State Sponsors of Terrorism, unilaterally drawn up by Washington.
This archaic, unjust, and criminal policy of the US government is the main obstacle to the development and well-being of Cuban society, in addition to being a flagrant violation of the human rights of the people of Cuba.
