25 Oct 2017

Ambassador of Cuba to Botswana, Ms Patricia Guerra says the trade embargo imposed on her country by government of the United States of America has caused severe economic damage worth over US$ 130 billion.

Speaking at a press conference in Gaborone on Tuesday, Ms Guerra explained that health, finances, agriculture, education, and construction were among sectors strongly impacted by the blockade which has been in effect since the 1960s.

In February 1962, US former President, Mr John F. Kennedy decreed a total trade embargo on trade between the US and Cuba in compliance to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.

Ms Pego Guerra said the blockade has caused suffering to Cuban people and obstructed economic development in the country of 11.2 million people.

She therefore called for more international support to her country’s continued fight to have the blockade removed.

She further pleaded with the US government under President Donald Trump to lift the blockade.

She said since 1992, the Cuban government has consistently made presentations against the blockade to the United Nations.

“It (the blockade) is the most unjust, severe and longest standing unilateral sanctions system ever imposed against any country. The US government should totally, unilaterally and unconditionally lift the blockade,” said Ms Pego Guerra, adding that an overwhelming majority of the international community was against the blockade.

The damages caused by the blockade during all these years, at current prices, are worth over 130,178 billion US dollars,” she added.

She said the most harmful effects caused by the blockade against the Cuban people were difficulties to acquire in the US markets the medicines, reagents, spare parts for diagnosis of equipment and other inputs needed in the health sector.

Ms Guerra said while the US government under former President Barrack Obama enforced positive measures aimed at modifying the implementation of some aspects of the blockade in areas like travel, telecommunications, trade, remittances and finances, those steps were now being reversed under the Trump administration.

“On June 16, 2017 US President Donald Trump signed the National Security Presidential Memorandum of Strengthening the Policy of the US toward Cuba. This directive establishes a new policy that proclaims as one of its main objectives the tightening of the blockade against the island,” she said.

She said the new measures prohibited economic, commercial and financial transactions of US companies and entities with Cuban companies and entities linked to the Armed Forces or the Ministry of the Interior.

Furthermore, she said the measures eliminated individual travels under the category of people to people.

She however said Cuba and its people were confident that this year the international community once again support them in their legitimate call for an end to the blockade.

“Lifting of the blockade is the most important thing in the Cuban foreign policy because of the impact it has on development,” she said.

Some 193 countries will vote on November 1, 2017 on the blockade. ENDS