A unanimous call against the US blockade of Cuba was heard today at the UN General Assembly in the voices of dozens of representatives of member states.

During the opening of the debate convened by the largest of the Antilles in the forum, groups such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation called for an end to the policy of suffocation.

Representatives of these associations also demanded Cuba’s removal from the list of alleged sponsors of terrorism drawn up by the US State Department.

Meanwhile, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira reaffirmed his country’s commitment to a solution based on the principles of solidarity and cooperation.

We firmly believe that the end of the embargo will be fundamental for Cuba to overcome the challenges it faces, he remarked.

For its part, the representation of Cameroon, the nation that heads the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, considered the intensification of the blockade contradictory after 31 resolutions approved by the UN General Assembly to end it.

«All of these to support the immediate end of the series of measures that have been imposed on Cuba,» said the African nation’s ambassador to the UN.

With a similar demand, the Community of Caribbean States (Caricom) considered the coercive measures against the island without any legitimate justification.

The principles stipulated in the UN Charter remain pillars of civilised society and should therefore be respected by all member states, demanded the representative of Grenada on behalf of the regional group.

For Venezuela’s permanent ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, the blockade is an anachronistic policy that has been in place for more than 60 years.

This siege, due to its extraterritoriality, affects any country or entity that maintains legal and sovereign economic, commercial or financial relations with Cuba, he reminded the forum.

«It is time to correct this historical injustice and to put an end to an imperial delirium that imposes its national laws on the entire international community,» Moncada urged.

A similar demand was made by Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasili Nebenzia, who warned that the blockade limits the rights of almost 200 states that wish to maintain commercial relations with Cuba.

«We start from the absolute futility of what is being carried out. The US economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba is a relic of the Cold War and prevents Cuba’s interaction with multilateral institutions, its full participation in international and regional cooperation debates,» he said.

Tomorrow, the 193-nation forum will vote on Cuba’s proposed resolution, which estimates losses of five thousand 56.8 million dollars as a result of the blockade between March 2023 and 29 February 2024.

This will be the thirty-second time that the General Assembly will vote on the draft prepared by Cuba against this set of measures, described in these spaces as nonsensical and obsolete.

The figure represents an increase of 189.8 million over the previous report.

Meanwhile, the approximate monthly damage is more than 421 million dollars, more than 13.8 million dollars a day, and more than 575,683 dollars in damages for each hour of the blockade.