The Movement of Non-Aligned Countries rejected – this Wednesday – the economic and commercial blockade imposed since February 7, 1962 by the American President of the time, John F. Kennedy, to Cuba.
The statement was made by the permanent representative of Venezuela before the United Nations (UN), Rafael Ramírez, during the UN General Assembly, in the United States, when he ratified the support of the countries grouped in the NAM to the resolution calling for the lifting of the embargo imposed by the United States against this sovereign nation.
“The Movement of Non-Aligned Countries reiterates – once again – its full opposition to the promulgation and imposition of unilateral coercive measures given its extraterritorial implications and its illegal nature”; He expressed doing an exhort to the cessation of the aggression.
Cuba, – he continued pointing out-, is an adverse example of unilateral coercive measures used as an instrument of political and financial pressure against states and developing countries. “The direct and indirect damage inflicted by this unearned embargo against Cuba is enormous, affecting all the crucial sectors of the Cuban economy, including public health, nutrition, agriculture, as well as banking, commerce, investment and tourism”.
Ramírez stressed in his speech that the economic damage to the Cuban people “amounts to 822 billion dollars, taking into account the depreciation of the dollar with respect to the price of gold in the international market, at current prices, during these years the blockade has caused more than 130 billion dollars in damages”.
He added that this measure, in addition to violating International Law and the Charter of the United Nations, represents a violation of Cuba’s right to fully interact with the international community.
The NAM called for the restoration of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba as a first step towards the normalization of bilateral relations, while denouncing that the conditions of the blockade imposed more than 50 years ago have not changed.
