In compliance with the resolution adopted in November 2023 by the General Assembly on the lifting of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba (A/RES/78/7), the Cuban authorities presented their contribution to the UN Secretary General´s report on this issue.
Cuba's contribution indicates that, from March 1, 2023 to February 29, 2024, the blockade caused damages and material losses to the Cuban nation estimated in the order of USD 5 056 800 000, which represents an increase of 189.8 million with respect to the figure reported in the previous report.
This represents an approximate loss of more than 421 million dollars a month, more than 13.8 million dollars a day, and more than 575,683 dollars in damages for each hour of the blockade.
The above is a reflection of the intensified impact of the blockade on Cuban exports, mainly in the tourism sector, the ruthless persecution of the country's banking and financial operations, as well as the comprehensive damage to the Cuban business system and to the production and services provided to the population.
Cuba’s inclusion in the US State Department unilateral list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism; the possibility to take legal action before US courts and file lawsuits by virtue of Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act (the Helms Burton Act); the sanctions or threat of sanctions against shipping, forwarding, insurance or re-insurance companies involved in the supply of fuels to Cuba; the intensive and thorough persecution of Cuba’s financial transactions and the resulting obstacles to the supply of basic commodities; as well as the persistence of other equally unilateral lists have been confirmed as the harshest measures during the period covered by Cuba's most recent contribution to the Secretary General's report.
In recent years, and more acutely in recent months, the effects of population aging and high emigration involving the younger segments of Cuban society have become more noticeable. This situation would be very different in the absence of the blockade, which has been tightened as a result of the policy of maximum pressure implemented by President Donald Trump, and which has been maintained by the government of President Joseph Biden. It is a truth that the U.S. counterparts have no arguments to reject.
The blockade is a crime against humanity, an act of genocide and a flagrant, massive and systematic violation of the human rights of more than 11 million Cubans. It is a cruel policy of punishment.