The Ambassador of Cuba to Mongolia, Jorge Ferrer, gave a lecture on Cuba-US relations and the US policy of aggression and blockade at the School of Political Science, International Relations, and Public Administration of the National University.
The diplomat provided an overview of the milestones in Cuban history, the roots of the historical dispute with the US since the 19th century, including its blockade policy and its extraterritorial effects on third countries. He argued how these policies violate the principles of the UN Charter and international law, as well as the Convention against Genocide and international humanitarian law.
He recalled that the accumulated economic damages of the blockade at current prices for more than 60 years amount to $164.141 billion and that U.S. aggressions has caused the deaths of 3,478 Cubans and the disability of 2,099.
He reviewed the three limited measures announced by outgoing President Biden in January and how, from the outset, without any justification, the new Trump Administration reversed Biden's measures and intensified the economic warfare.
He described the recent measures to strengthen the blockade and elaborated on the Secretary of State's announcement to apply visa restrictions to officials from other countries who receive Cuban medical assistance. He added that this measure would deprive millions of poor and vulnerable people in developing countries, who would have no other source of medical care than the 24,180 medical professionals currently providing services in 56 countries.
He highlighted the firm rejection of this blackmail by numerous leaders of small Caribbean states, who affirmed that they will not trade their dignity, the lives, or the health of their citizens for a US visa.
He mentioned as the most recent attack on Science, the ban on access by scientists from Cuba, China, Iran, Russia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and Venezuela to 21 US biomedical databases, which will delay research into the causes and treatments of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
He concluded that the greatness and victory of a nation is not determined by the size of its territory, its population, or its greater economic and military power compared to its adversary, but by the justice and legitimacy of its cause, the unity and will of its people, and their determination to overcome any adversity, no matter how great it is.