Eighteen former Latin American and Caribbean leaders signed a letter published today calling on U.S. President Joe Biden to end the blockade imposed on Cuba more than six decades ago.
The signatories, who made the appeal after the devastation inflicted by Hurricane Ian in September in the Caribbean nation, also request that the U.S. President remove Cuba from his (unilateral) list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.
The letter, published by The Associated Press, comes at a time when Cuba is suffering severe shortages and a complex economic scenario derived from the tightening of the blockade, aggravated by Ian as it passed through the west of the country just a month ago.
"We ask you, Mr. President, to take into account this dramatic situation experienced by thousands of Cubans and do what is necessary to lift the restrictions that affect the most vulnerable," said the text, which appears just when the debate on the issue begins this Wednesday at the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
Among those who signed the letter were former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, two former Colombian presidents -Juan Manuel Santos and Ernesto Samper-, as well as former leaders from Bolivia and Belize, reported ABC News.
The U.S. blockade of Cuba, a policy of asphyxiation applied by 11 administrations, both Democrat and Republican, is the longest and most extensive economic, commercial and financial siege in history against any country.
It was Democrat John F. Kennedy, the 35th in the White House, who made it official on February 3, 1962, while the 45th, Republican Donald Trump, intensified it during his term (2017-2021) with 243 coercive measures in force under Biden.
Designed from the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, the blockade had its genesis in the secret memorandum of April 6, 1960 by then Deputy Secretary of State Lester D. Mallory.
The issue for the official was to deprive the island "of money and supplies, to reduce its financial resources and real wages, to provoke hunger, despair and the overthrow of the Government", a line that remains unchanged.
Since 1992, the UNGA has voted consecutively for the lifting of a failed policy, in the opinion of former President Barack Obama (2009-2017).
On June 23, 2021, the Caribbean nation won an undeniable victory when 184 countries (out of 193) supported the resolution "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba".
A vote that will take place again tomorrow for the 30th time in the General Assembly.
According to official data, in the first 14 months of the Biden administration alone, the damages caused by the US blockade of Cuba amount to 6,364 million dollars, at current prices.