A parliamentary public hearing in rejection of the US embargo on Cuba was held this Thursday at the National Capitol, in Havana.
Under the slogan “Better Without Blockade”, national and foreign deputies participated in the parliamentary session, who referred to the effects caused by the US sanctions on the Island and demanded the end of that Washington policy.
At the hearing, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío reiterated that the embargo “constitutes the main obstacle to economic development” for the development of Cuba and pointed out that its maintenance does not depend on the Caribbean country but on “the internal political realities of the United States. United States and its system of government”, refers a report from the agency Latin Press (PL).
Given this situation, the diplomat emphasized the importance of “reporting in all circumstances and scenarios” the effects of the embargo, and said that whoever denies the impact of this policy “either has a profound ignorance of reality or is lying.”
In Photos | Parliamentary Public Hearing “#BestNoBlock” from the National Capitol of #Cuba??. #ParliamentaryHearing pic.twitter.com/yafBCrA3s4
— Cuban National Assembly (@AsambleaCuba) October 27, 2022
Foreign guests and legislators took part in the hearing, both directly and digitally. Among them were the MEP Manu Pineda, from the United Left (Spain); the president of the Bolivian Chamber of Deputies, Freddy Mamani, from the ruling Movement for Socialism (MAS); the Colombian senator Gloria Flórez, and the senator of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) of Mexico, Beatriz Paredes, according to the Spanish agency EFE.
As part of the event, the International Relations Commission of the Cuban Parliament issued an appeal to the parliamentarians of the United States and the world to join the “universal demand” against the embargo, which he classified as “the largest and most unjust, severe and prolonged system of unilateral coercive measures that has been applied against any country in the world”.
Convened by the National Assembly of People’s Power, the session takes place a few days before the Cuban government presents its proposed resolution against the embargo at the UN, which each year receives the majority support of the international community but, due to its non-binding nature, , has no practical effect for the removal of US sanctions.
According to the most recent estimates by the island’s authorities, the embargo caused a record impact of 3,806.5 million dollars between August 2021 and February 2022, a period in which the Cuban GDP could have grown by 4.5% from no exist this restrictive policy, in accordance with what was reported days ago by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez.
In addition, according to the report, during the first 14 months of the government of Democrat Joe Biden, the damage caused to Cuba by the embargo amounts to 6,364 million dollars, “also a historical record” which is equivalent to damages of more than 454 million. of dollars monthly and more than 15 million dollars daily.
In this way, in the six decades of application of this policy, the accumulated damages add up to 154,217 million dollars at current prices, while at the value of gold, taking depreciation into account, these accumulated damages exceed one trillion dollars (1 391,111,000,000).
