Ambassador Alan Torres of Cuba to Kuwait, Osama Diab, affirmed that his country reiterates its demand to the international community to end the economic, commercial, and financial embargo imposed on it by the United States. He emphasized that the vote in the United Nations General Assembly represents a significant step in reaffirming the necessity of respecting international law, freedom of trade and navigation, and rejecting the imposition of one country's laws on others.
In a statement to Al-Anbaa newspaper, the Cuban ambassador said that the UN General Assembly discussed yesterday, for the thirty-fourth time, the draft resolution submitted by Cuba entitled "The Necessity of Ending the Economic, Commercial, and Financial Embargo Imposed by the United States of America on Cuba." He explained that his country has been raising this issue before the international community annually since 1992, and that the overwhelming majority of member states have supported Cuba's just demand to end the embargo for more than three decades.
He added that this year's vote is of greater importance, as the General Assembly will, for the first time, have the opportunity to express a collective stance rejecting the embargo on energy supplies and the resulting collective punishment of the Cuban people. He emphasized that his country looks forward to a clear international position demanding an end to this policy and respect for the rules of international law.
He explained that the report submitted by Cuba to the UN Secretary-General revealed that the direct damages caused by the embargo amounted to $8.0833 billion during the period from March 2025 to February 2026, an increase of 7% compared to the previous period, while the cumulative losses over more than six decades have reached $178.7005 billion.
The ambassador quoted Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez as saying that "these damages are not side effects, but rather the deliberate consequences of a policy aimed at causing suffering," referring to the economic and humanitarian repercussions of the embargo imposed on his country.
He noted that efforts to strangle and completely isolate Cuba have intensified this year through an unprecedented tightening of the blockade and a surge in multifaceted pressure, negatively impacting the living standards of Cuban citizens and causing them serious humanitarian harm.
He emphasized that several special procedures of the Human Rights Council, along with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed concern in 2026 that these restrictions would jeopardize essential services in Cuba, including healthcare, food supplies, and access to drinking water, given the country's heavy reliance on imported fuel.
The Cuban ambassador stressed his country's confidence that the vast majority of UN member states would vote in favor of the draft resolution, as they have in previous years, and would reiterate their demand for an end to the blockade, which he described as a policy of collective punishment that directly harms the Cuban people.