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The blockade against Cuba is an economic, financial and commercial warfare and qualifies as a crime of genocide. It is a flagrant, massive and systematic violation of the human rights of our people. It is the most encompassing, comprehensive, and longest-standing system of unilateral coercive measures ever applied against any country. (Bruno Eduardo Rodríguez Parrilla, a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba, and Foreign Minister of Cuba since 2009, Address to the United Nations at the presentation of draft Resolution a/79/l.6 entitled “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba" (30 October 2024).
U.S. goods exports to Cuba in 2022 were $372 million, up 13.6 percent ($45 million) from 2021 but down 20 percent from 2012. U.S. goods imports from Cuba totaled $6 million in 2022, up 92.9 percent ($3 million) from 2021, and up 5,811 percent from 2012. The U.S. goods trade surplus with Cuba was $366 million in 2022, a 12.9 percent increase ($42 million) over 2021. (Office of the US Trade Representative, Cuba; as of August 2024 trade for the current year was reported by the US Census Bureau at $383.9; in 2023, the EU exported €1,653 million to Cuba (here))
Cuba does not publish figures on remittances and is not a member of international financial institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Inter-American Development Bank, which provide credible statistics. There are estimates produced by research groups, but these vary significantly. For example, Manuel Orozco of the Inter-American Dialogue reported $1.53 billion in remittances in 2019, while the Havana Consulting Group reported $3.72 billion. Despite these disparities, remittances constitute Cuba’s third-largest source of dollar reserve after the service and tourism industries. (U.S. Policy on Remittances to Cuba: What Are Some Viable Options?)
Except for its political and discursive effects, which continue to be significant, one might be excused for coming to the conclusion that an extensive set of sanctions against the government of a state imposed for the purpose of inducing a change in that State's governance system in operation for about sixty (60) years without producing the desired political outcome ought to be an object of reconsideration by the sanctioning state, even if its fundamental goal of regime change remains intact. And yet inertia in politics produces value, especially where realities on the ground may provide proof of inconvenience to the sanctioned State but where even the sanctioning state remains a critically important trade partner for the sanctioned state.
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It is with that in mind that one might approach the annual celebration of sanctions discourse built around the annual performance of condemnation of the now 60 something year long architecture of sanctions imposed by the United States against the government of the Republic of Cuba with the aim of enhancing the possibilities of a regime change more to the liking of the United States.
The UN General Assembly on Wednesday once again urged the United States to end its economic, commercial, and financial embargo on Cuba, renewing a demand it has made annually since 1992. The resolution, titled “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba,” passed with 187 votes in favor, two against (Israel and the US), and one abstention (Moldova). Though non-binding, the result drew attention the relative isolation of the US regarding the embargo, which was first imposed in 1960 after former leader Fidel Castro came to power following the revolution. The resolution reaffirmed, among other principles, the sovereign equality of States, non-intervention and non-interference in their internal affairs and freedom of international trade and navigation. (General Assembly renews long-standing call for end to US embargo against Cuba)
Pix credit here (The Eagle (2011) Universal)
Fair enough; this is a sin for which repentance would be required of virtually every State in the community of States. And, indeed, the General Assembly included its usual ritualized encouragement of States to control themselves in these matters--without naming names (for irony see European Parliament resolution of 20 May 2021 on Chinese countersanctions on EU entities and MEPs and MPs). States are right to view sanctions as damaging--that is their intent; their damage is meant to produce a nudging effect by making negatively affecting the people of a targeted state. Cuba is neither the first nor last state to loath sanctions directed against them; and the United States is neither the first nor last state that uses sanctions to seek regime change. Indeed, even as the ritual of the Cuba sanctions vote was proceeding apace, the movement toward sanctioning Israel--to achieve a different sort of regime change and especially useful in encouraging more generalized sanctioning of its people directly, appears to be gathering momentum among the same lot of States (eg here). Not that these other engagements with sanctions regimes ought to be viewed one way or another--but the irony cannot be lost on anyone (who will then spend time in justification by differentiation and the sui generis attack--another form of ritual well practiced within the community of states and its instruments.
None of this is particularly interesting in and of itself. Most states view this ritual, as it applies to Cuba at least, as both painless and (from their perspective seeking advantage within competing imperialist camps) cost-less. And indeed, one of the most delightful aspects of the ritual was its use by the European Union to push its own regime change agenda, grounded on its 2016 EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (analysis here, and here).
Nonetheless three points of ritual performance evolution that may be worth consideration.
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The second is built into the actualities of sanctions as against its discursive realities. In the case of US-Cuba relations it is indeed both a moving target and quite messy. While the ritual focuses on the official sector and state to state relations--which the discourse effectively manages to convince many is the only or principal element on the basis of things perceptions about sanctions are to be determined, the realities of the Cuban unofficial markets and its officially sanctioned non-state sector, combined with the actualities of trade from the bottom up between the Cuban diaspora and its counterparts in the Cuban Republic make for the sort of messiness that discursive clarity abhors. It suggests, indeed, the the object of ritual are the ritual objects themselves. In this case both the management of inter-community relations among the players in the UN's Estates General, and the control, through ritualized repetitive performance, of the language of discourse and its presumptions of perception.
The third, and perhaps most interesting, is the way in which these rituals tend to absorb the rhetoric of whatever seems to have captured the imaginations of the ritual-performance community. This year the discursive term is genocide. The sanctions condemnation ritual this year included the transposition of genocide from its current framework in religious and ethno-imperialist wars to that of the economic relations among states that loath each other for all sorts of good, bad, rational, irrational and structural reasons (or reasonable facsimiles thereof). Adding genocide to the rituals of sanctions affects not just the perception of sanctions regimes, but also that of genocide. That ritualization of the invocation of genocide affects then not merely its discursive power, but at some level, and in some form, the application of its ritualized meaning tropes into action. One already sees that in the work of international courts, whose administrato-jurists perform within the theaters of their own ritual performances. Its seeping into this context will likely have some unexpected impact. But that is for the future.
The Address of the Cuban Foreign Minister follows below. The US response also follows. It is similar to those what have been made since the state of the Biden Administration. The EU response supporting the end to sanctions and the adoption by the US of its own approach also follows.
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Mr. President;
Distinguished Permanent Representatives;
Esteemed delegates;
For five consecutive days, from Friday, October 18 to Wednesday, October 23, Cuban families had no electricity, except for a few hours, getting all uptight about the possibility that their food would be spoiled, knowing that it would not be possible, or very costly, to replace them. Many of them lacked running water. Hospitals worked under emergency conditions and schools and universities suspended their classes. Entities interrupted their activities. The most important ones maintained only those considered vital. The economy stopped.
Hurricane Oscar started to lash the eastern region of the country since October 20. It had a devastating impact in the province of Holguin, but the hardest hit province was Guantanamo, where a US naval base is usurping part of our territory. Despite the tireless and effective efforts of the internationally recognized Civil Defense of Cuba, 8 persons died, including a 5 year old girl; and two went missing. The municipalities of Imias, San Antonio del Sur, Maisí y Baracoa reported severe damages. Satellite photos showed a country with all the lights off, lashed by strong winds and heavy rains.
It was impressive to see the serenity, understanding, confidence, consciousness and mobilization of an entire people offering their support in solidarity with neighbors and vulnerable citizens, together with 52 thousand dedicated and heroic electrical workers who were far from their relatives, worked uninterruptedly and pulled off a feat, together with our Party, our Government, the Revolutionary Armed Forces, the Ministry of the Interior and the People’s Power bodies.
The primary cause of the National Power System failure was the lack of fuel that affected power generation and caused instability, associated to the precarious conditions of our power plants, both of them being a direct consequence of the extreme economic warfare measures applied by the US government since 2019, designed in particular to prevent the supplies of fuel, spare parts and components required to guarantee the technical maintenance of our power plants and main grid, as well as obstruct investments and access to financing.
We have overcome that serious power contingency but, to Cubans, normalcy includes long-lasting and frequent black-outs that affect private homes as well as fundamental services.
Power generation in our country largely depends on imported fuel. It is well known, however, that the US government has continued to implement a maximum pressure policy, in violation of International Law, aimed at depriving Cuba from fuel supplies coming from third countries by resorting to sanctions and intimidation against manufacturers and suppliers, forwarders and insurers. Only in one year, the former Republican government imposed sanctions on 53 vessels and 27 companies associated to shipments heading for Cuba.
The damage caused to the Cuban economy during 18 days of blockade amounts to 252 million dollars. That money that our country loses or fails to receive would be enough to guarantee the maintenance of our thermo-power stations; purchase the spare arts that will make it possible to ensure the normal functioning of those plants and avoid power outages.
The cost of the damages caused by 5 months of blockade is equivalent to Cuba’s annual fuel imports, which are approximately 2 billion dollars.
President Joseph Biden’s administration usually claims that its policy is intended to “help and support the Cuban people.” Who would believe such an assertion?
We deeply appreciate the significant expressions of solidarity with Cuba and the offers of cooperation received in these days from numerous nations and several actors.
Mr. President;
In the last few years the Cuban economy has experienced unprecedented difficulties, which has severely impaired the well-being of the population.
These are being suffered by our people on a daily basis. Our government works tirelessly to find solutions to such an adverse challenge. It is an unavoidable as well as an extremely difficult obligation.
The causes of these situation are varied, as can be the case for any other other country. They are both of a domestic nature and also the consequence of international developments which fall beyond our capacity for action.
In the case of Cuba, what makes this situation unique and extraordinary is the deliberate determination of the United States to asphyxiate the national economy; sabotage and impose insurmountable obstacles to prevent our growth and development.
No other country in the world, not even those whose economies are far more robust than the Cuban economy, could cope with such a brutal, asymmetric and long-standing aggression without a considerable cost for the living standards of its population.
The United States is seeking to teach a lesson.
With the economic blockade against Cuba, imperialism is warning the whole world that any nation daring to firmly defend its sovereignty and build its own future will pay a price for its rebelliousness.
No one would doubt the US current capacity to deal a demolishing blow to the economy of any country. In the case of Cuba, it has been doing so for 64 years .
The United States knows only too well that such a merciless aggression is a violation of the United Nations Charter and International Law.
It is likewise aware that it is violating the international standards governing trade and navigation. It applies or threatens to impose coercive measures against citizens of any nation, their companies and financial institutions, if they trade or have economic relations with Cuba.
Whoever reads the infamous Helms-Burton Act of the United States will realize how that legislation forces the president of that country and its institutions to exert pressure on other countries; interfere in their relations with Cuba; expand its extraterritorial coercive measures and impose them within the borders of the rest of the member States of this Organization.
The blockade against Cuba is an economic, financial and commercial warfare and qualifies as a crime of genocide. It is a flagrant, massive and systematic violation of the human rights of our people. It is the most encompassing, comprehensive, and longest-standing system of unilateral coercive measures ever applied against any country.
How would Cuba be like today should it have had the 164 billion dollars that the blockade has deprived it of since its implementation? Those damages amount to 1 trillion 499 billion 710 million dollars, taking into account the US dollar value against the gold price.
Curiously enough, under such extreme conditions, Cuba has built a social work that has earned world recognition and protected the lives of Cubans without applying a single neoliberal measure and with the invariable commitment not to abandon or exclude anyone.
Mr. President;
Since the year 2017, the former US government started to impose additional coercive measures against Cuba to reinforce even more the economic blockade.
It was a political commitment previously announced by the then President since he was elected, aimed at reversing the discreet progress achieved in Cuba-US bilateral relations between 2015 and 2016.
In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, these measures escalated to an extreme and even more perverse and harmful dimension. They even obstructed the purchase of medical oxygen and ventilators.
President Joseph Biden, with surprising mimicry, has maintained the coercive regime imposed by his predecessor intact, and has implemented it, being aware of its consequences and devastating impact for all Cuban families.
Under Joseph Biden’s presidency, the losses caused to Cuba by the blockade amount to more than 16 billion dollars. This means that every day of enforcement of that criminal policy costs our country 14 million dollars.
Those are exorbitant figures for any nation, even more so for a small, island-State developing economy, without huge natural resources, like the Cuban economy.
The comprehensive Report presented by the United Nations Secretary General by virtue of Resolution 78/7, which contains the valuable contributions of 183 member States and 35 Agencies, Funds and Programs of the UN System, is a compelling testimony of the terrible consequences of the blockade on the Cuban population and economy and its extraterritorial effect on other countries.
Its impact is visible in the deterioration of several essential services and supplies that Cubans have enjoyed for decades as a result of social justice and equity policies, among them, electricity, health, education, water, public utilities, public transportation, food and medicines production, all of which they require and for which the scarce financial resources available in the country are not enough.
More than 80 per cent of our population has only known Cuba under a blockade. All Cuban youths have had to live in a blockaded country.
Cuban families suffer the unease and pain of the separation artificially imposed by inhumane measures which affect all of us and are expressed in the high rates of migration. It would be impossible not to recognize that the extreme tightening of the blockade is the main reason that has led a significant number of Cuban youths to bet on temporary or permanent ways of individual realization outside the Island, which presupposes a searing impact for families and the Homeland.
Mr. President;
The right to food is a human right. The accrued cost of 4 months of economic blockade is equivalent to 1.6 billion dollars. That amount would be enough to guarantee, for a whole year, the delivery of that rationed food basket that, for decades, has been delivered to Cuban families, which today is not enough to cover all needs, but attends to the most pressing needs of all families, at highly subsidized prices.
The blockade measures translate into a continued agony to find the resources that will make it possible to pay for the punctual shipments hired by the country, which are so much needed to guarantee people’s consumption.
The long-standing blockade has also a severe impact on Cuba’s food production, since it obstructs the availability of fuels, seeds, fertilizers, fodder pesticides and other inputs, which add up to the difficulties already described affecting transportation and the availability of electricity.
It is well known that -since the US has manipulated this concept over and over again, and you will most certainly hear it from its Representative in the next few minutes- by virtue of the legal provisions that date back to the year 2000, the government of that country allows, despite the absolute prohibition to make exports to Cuba, that, only by exception, foods could be exported to our country through licenses.
Those are one-way sales that are subject to extraordinary limitations, among them the prohibition to find credits or financing of any sort for such transactions.
Permits are only granted for sales that are paid in cash and in advance. Commodities can only be shipped on board of US vessels that will return empty to their ports of origin.
In he light of the needs to cover people’s food consumption requirements, Cuba has made use for years of that narrow possibility, even despite its Draconian conditions. But those transactions could become a true and more dynamic trade should the blockade did not exist.
The same government that authorizes those sales, deprives Cuba of the financial resources it requires to import food or inputs for the food industry from any country in the word, not only from the United States.
The human right to health should be sacred. Cuba is capable of producing around 60 per cent of its basic adjusted or essential drugs list. In recent years it has impossible to guarantee this potential due to the extreme tightening of the measures imposed against our government, which have taken a toll on peoples’ lives; increased the infant mortality rate and reduced the life expectancy rate of Cubans.
The money Cuba is deprived of during 25 days of blockade, which amounts to 339 million dollars, would be enough to guarantee the manufacturing and availability of antibiotics, painkillers, hypotensive drugs and many other essential medicines required by our ill persons, including boys, girls, the elderly and pregnant women during an entire year.
With 12 million dollars Cuba could buy the insulin necessary to treat all of our diabetic patients. The losses caused by the blockade on a single day exceed that amount.
The damages caused by 9 days of blockade are equivalent to the 129 million dollars necessary to import the expendable medical supplies used in our country every year, including cotton, syringes, catheters, needles and suture, among other inputs; as well as all the reagents required by the national health system.
Fifteen minutes of blockade, are equivalent to 144 thousand dollars in losses for Cuba. That is the amount of money that we require to buy the prosthesis needed by our hearing impaired children and teenagers.
It is still not possible to access the best suitable medical equipment, therapies and medicines from US companies, which we have to acquire at exorbitant prices, through intermediaries; or replace with generics that are not as effective, even to treat sick newly-born and children.
The US government knows only too well the direct and indirect impact that its policy has on the Cuban health system. It is well aware of the suffering and the anguish it causes as well as its consequences in terms of incomplete treatments, postponed surgeries and scarce medical inputs. It can not hide that its purpose, in full awareness, is to cause harm to the population.
Mr. President;
No government should pursue, as a policy, the task of impoverishing and provoking scarcities to other nations, much less a neighboring country that has not enforced any measure against the country of that government. It is a collective punishment, proscribed by International Law and International Humanitarian Law.
Among the measures aimed at reinforcing the blockade applied during the last few years, standing out for its slanderous nature and the enormous damage it causes, is the US decision to include Cuba in a list issued by its State Department that arbitrarily designates countries as sponsors of terrorism.
In sharp contrast, there is still tolerance and indifference on the part of the US government in the face of individuals and groups that organize, finance and execute, from the territory of that country, violent and terrorist actions against Cuba. An example of that was the recent release, by the US judicial authorities, of an individual who, on October 30, 2020, standing in the middle of the street, shot 32 rounds with a machine gun against the Cuban embassy in Washington D.C.
That list has no legitimacy whatsoever. Neither does it contribute in the least to the international efforts against terrorism. It is an instrument of political coercion through the implementation of economic punishment actions and threats.
The presence of any country in that list automatically activates a series of coercive measures which, in the case of Cuba, add up to the already existing blockade. Standing out among them is the capacity to threaten financial institutions from other countries that are afraid of suffering US reprisals if they establish links with Cuba.
Since the early days of President Biden’s administration, 1 064 foreign banks have reportedly refused to offer their services to Cuban entities out of fear of US fines.
Our nationals in several countries have been refused banking services just for being Cuban citizens, which is profoundly discriminatory.
Citizens from countries enjoying the privilege of the electronic expedite visa service (ESTA) to enter the US would also be deprived of this benefit only for having traveled to Cuba.
In the course of last year more than 300 000 European citizens who visited Cuba were denied those expeditious visas. In order to expand the intimidating effect, the lists of persons whose visa applications have been refused are made public.
The United States is trying, in every possible way, to prevent Cuba’s recovery by harming tourism, which is a major source of income. It feels it has the right to tell persons from other nations what country they are not allowed to visit, at the risk of suffering reprisals. It infringes on the freedom of travel of its citizens and those of other nations and use this as a political weapon.
The US government knows only too well that Cuba does not sponsor nor is in anyway linked to terrorism. The presence of our country in that list, besides being totally unjustified, is an evidence of the lack of political or ethical arguments to justify the economic warfare that is imposed on us.
The current US President inherited this nefarious decision that was taken by his predecessor 9 days before leaving the White House. But President Biden has every prerogative to sign any time a document to take Cuba out of that spurious list, where it should have never been included. It would be the morally and legally correct thing to do.
The international community has broadly recognized that Cuba is not a terrorist country.
Numerous governments, parties, parliaments, solidarity movements, associations of Cubans residing abroad international bodies and the initiatives supported by former presidents and US Congress members, journalists and intellectuals have made statements calling for Cuba’s removal from the list of alleged State sponsors of terrorism. We likewise recall the declaration signed by 123 countries pursuing a similar purpose at the Human Rights Council.
Mr. President;
In the course of last year, the US government has announced several measures that it portrays as alleged palliatives to the economic blockade. Let nobody be deceived. They are not.
Obviously pursuing a political goal, it proclaimed exceptions within the broad range of prohibitions and reprisals, allegedly intended to offer opportunities to the private sector of the Cuban economy.
This is a sterile and deceitful move. None of these measures are truly in force and they happen to be be inapplicable.
Small private entrepreneurs in Cuba also suffer the consequences of the blockade, like the rest of the population. The alleged opportunities clash with regulations and prohibitions that are designed to paralyze the Cuban economy.
Our government promotes the harmonious development of all forms of management, including private or state-owned small and medium size enterprises. There is only one Cuba, as there is only one Cuban entrepreneurial system. The US has no right to interfere in our constitutional order and economic model in transformation, just as they have no right to interfere in the internal affairs of our country or any other country.
The economic blockade is not the only instrument of aggression of the United States against Cuba. It is accompanied and complemented by a powerful and generously financed machinery of cognitive or non-conventional warfare, systematic misinformation, fostering of confusion, incitement to violence and promotion of apathy, pessimism and distrust.
With that permanent discredit information operation, they cynically attempt to blame the Cuban government for the impact intentionally caused by the US siege against our population, intended to bring about a change of regime, impose domination and provoke an economic collapse and a social explosion, following the same guidelines of the infamous memorandum drafted by Assistant Secretary of State Lester Mallory on April 6, 1960, an excerpt of which I will quote:
“The majority of Cubans support Castro. There is no effective political opposition. Fidel Castro and other members of the Cuban Government espouse or condone communist influence. Communist influence is pervading the Government and the body politic at an amazingly fast rate. Militant opposition to Castro from without Cuba would only serve his and the communist cause. The only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship.
“If the above are accepted or cannot be successfully countered, it follows that every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba. If such a policy is adopted, it should be the result of a positive decision which would call forth a line of action which, while as adroit and inconspicuous as possible, makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.”
Enough is enough, ladies and gentleman! Let Cuba live! Let Cuba live in peace!Let Cuba live! Let Cuba live in peace!
Mr. President;
In a few days there will be presidential elections in the United States. The government wining the elections will have the opportunity to decide whether to continue applying a failed approach and the inhumane siege measures of the last six decades or if it will finally and democratically heed its own people and also the overwhelming majority of the international community and allow our country to develop its true potential and capabilities.
Whatever the case, that government will find in Cuba a strong determination to defend its sovereign right to build an independent, socialist future of its own, free from foreign interference and committed to peace sustainable development, social justice and solidarity.
It will also find the disposition to hold a serious and responsible dialogue and move on towards a constructive and civilized relationship based on sovereign equality, mutual respect, reciprocal benefits for both peoples, while being aware of the profound political differences between our governments.
Our people and government highly appreciate and are deeply grateful for all the valuable expressions of support and solidarity received.
The condemnation of the blockade was one of the most frequently mentioned issues during the recently held high level segment of the UN General Assembly. Not even one country spoke in favor of the criminal policy that is imposed against Cuba.
They exclaimed: Cuba is not alone!!
This exclamation is also being increasingly heard within the United Sates, even among Cubans who live here and their descendants.
Mr. President;
Distinguished Permanent Representatives;
Esteemed delegates;
Since 1992, this Assembly has unequivocally called for an end to the blockade. The reasons behind that demand are today as valid or even more valid.
In brief, the electronic screen of this room will be turned on and you, on behalf of your respective nations, will record, once again, your position regarding the blockade against Cuba.
With your votes in favor, you will reaffirm the right of our people and of all peoples to defend their independence, sovereignty and free determination, without interference and foreign interventions.
Upon pressing the green button on your tables, you will confirm, as has happened on 31 former occasions, that the blockade against Cuba is a flagrant violation of the UN Charter and International Law and should cease.
The support to our resolution will launch a firm message and it will be a clear call for the current and future President of that country to make use of their executive prerogatives and repair the grave injustice that is being committed against our people.
What the resolution demands from the United States is not a concession to Cuba. It does not ask for a generous act or a preferential treatment. It simply calls for the ceasing of abuse and injustice.
Cuba has the right to live without blockade! Cubans tell President Biden: Drop the blockade!
Colossal challenges do not frighten us. As was said by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, and I quote:
“We will continue to endure the consequences of the blockade, which will one day be defeated by the dignity of the Cuban people, the solidarity of the peoples and the almost total opposition of the world’s governments, as well as the growing rejection of the American people”, end of quote.
The support to the resolution will also be a fair recognition to the heroic resistance of the noble, proud and fraternal Cuban people.
On their behalf, I respectfully ask you to vote in favor of draft resolution L.6 entitled “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.”
Thank you, very much.
(Cubaminrex)
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Ambassador Paul Folmsbee
Senior Advisor for Western Hemisphere Affairs
New York, New York
October 30, 2024
Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you members of the General Assembly.
The United States stands with the Cuban people. We strongly support their pursuit of a future with respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Approximately 1,000 unjustly detained political prisoners remain behind bars in Cuba – more than at any point in Cuba’s recent history. Nearly 700 of those detentions are connected to the July 11, 2021, historic protests. These people have languished in horrible conditions in Cuban jails for exercising their freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly to demand better living conditions from their government.
Despite Cuba’s membership in the UN Human Rights Council, the Cuban government has delayed responding to several requests by special procedures that mandate holders of the UN Human Rights Council send independent experts to Cuba, who would help advance respect for human rights, including freedom of expression, freedom of religion or belief, and the freedom of peaceful assembly. Some of these requests have remained pending for more than 10 years.
Sanctions are one element of our broader effort to advance democracy and promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cuba. We therefore oppose this resolution.
That said, we recognize the challenges the Cuban people face. That is why U.S. sanctions include exemptions and authorizations relating to exports of food, medicine, and other basic goods to Cuba.
The United States remains a significant source of basic goods to the Cuban people. In 2023, the United States exported nearly $336 million in agricultural products and authorized another $100 billion in humanitarian exports, demonstrating America’s desire to help the Cuban people.
We encourage this body to urge the Cuban government to adhere to its human rights obligations and listen to the Cuban people and their aspirations to determine their own future. Thank you.
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EU Explanation of Vote – UN General Assembly: Embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba
Mr. President,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.
The Candidate Countries North Macedonia*, Montenegro*, Serbia*, Albania* and Bosnia and Herzegovina*, as well as San Marino align themselves with this statement.
Once again, I need to stress today our conviction that the economic, commercial, and financial embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba has a damaging impact on the economic situation of the country and negatively affects the living standards of the Cuban people. We should keep in mind that external trade and foreign investment, which are undermined by the embargo, can play a crucial role in setting the country on a path towards modernisation, reforms and sustainable growth, and help it overcome the economic hardship endured by the population. The EU considers therefore that lifting the embargo could make economic reforms more effective and facilitate the opening of the Cuban economy to the benefit of the Cuban people.
We remain concerned about the human rights situation in Cuba, in particular following the events of July 2021, about the severe judgments issued by Cuban Courts so far, and about the respect of civil and political rights. We therefore reiterate our call on the Cuban Government to fully grant its citizens internationally recognised civil, political and economic rights and freedoms - including freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and demonstration, and free access to information - to release all political prisoners and those arbitrarily detained, to ratify the UN Covenant for Civil and Political Rights and the Covenant for Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, and to extend a standing invitation to all UN Special Procedures to visit Cuba. We strongly emphasize the importance of upholding the UN Charter and respecting the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all UN members and urged Cuba to stand in full solidarity with these fundamental principles and work together for their defence. We further believe that empowering civil society is essential for the promotion and protection of all human rights, and call upon the Cuban Government to open spaces for a constructive and inclusive dialogue, without preconditions, with the whole spectrum of civil society actors on the island. A broad spectrum of civil society, both Cuban and European, should also be involved in the implementation of the EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA).
The EU believes that positive change in Cuba is best brought about by closer engagement at all levels – government, economy, civil society, but also through people-to-people exchanges. We therefore welcome any measures to ease restrictions on family remittances and travel to the island and to ensure the availability of full consular services. The re-designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism (SST) by the previous US Administration without presenting any new facts, and its maintenance on the list until today without obvious justification, has introduced additional obstacles to international financial transactions with the island. We call thus for its removal. Moreover, the embargo continues to restrict Cuba’s ability to import, among others, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and other medical supplies.
Beyond the damaging impact of the embargo and the SST listing on ordinary Cubans, US sanctions and other administrative and judicial measures are also negatively affecting EU economic interests.
We have firmly and continuously opposed any such measures, due to their extraterritorial application and impact on the European Union, in violation of commonly accepted rules of international trade. We cannot accept that such measures impede our economic and commercial relations with Cuba.
The EU strongly rejects the US activation of Title III and IV of the Helms-Burton Act in April 2019. This breaches the commitments made by the US in the US-EU agreements of 1997 and 1998. We will draw on all appropriate measures to address the effects of the Helms-Burton Act, including in relation to our WTO rights and through the use of the EU Blocking Statute, which protects against the extra-territorial application of those US sanctions to EU citizens, businesses and NGOs operating in Cuba.
Mr President,
For the EU, international cooperation, dialogue and closer - even critical - engagement are the way to go with Cuba. The provisional application of the EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) is now in its seventh year. The Agreement has put our bilateral relationship on a new and solid legal footing and sets out an agenda of constructive but critical engagement with Cuba that will also allow us to support and accompany Cuba on its path of reform and modernisation.
We are enhancing dialogue and cooperation also on issues on which we still have fundamental differences. To this end, the PDCA includes a human rights dialogue, which is a key pillar of our relationship. The fourth formal meeting of the dialogue was held on 24 November 2023, and resulted in the agreement of 4 initial outcomes, including the discussion of potential cooperation projects in various areas of human rights, including food, housing, health care, energy, culture, environment, climate change, citizen’s participation, attention to persons or groups in vulnerable situations and the accepted recommendations of the Universal Period Review, among others. The next meeting is expected to initiate a new cycle of political dialogues in 2025.
Following the adoption of the country's new Constitution, and to overcome the current economic and social crisis, we call on Cuba to ensure that its reform agenda extends economic, judicial and social reforms and is implemented in a manner that addresses the key concerns of the Cuban population, as well as meeting the legitimate democratic aspirations of the Cuban people for more opportunities to participate in the shaping of the country's future.
With the EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement, the EU offers Cuba a consistent and reliable partnership to support it as it seeks to reform its political and economic model, to pursue sustainable development, and to find common solutions to global challenges, while continuing to advocate democracy and respect for human rights, in the exclusive interest of all Cuban citizens.
It is our considered view that the US embargo and connected measures do not contribute to promoting these aims. On the contrary, they impede their achievement. Against this background, the Member States of the European Union voted unanimously in favour of the draft resolution.
Thank you.
* North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
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