Cuba decries ‘inhuman’ US blockade, demands end to Cold War policies

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez has called for an end to the long-running “inhuman” US blockade against the Caribbean island nation, saying Washington has no reason to maintain its Cold War policies against Havanna.

Rodriguez made the call in a tweet on Friday and stressed that the United States lacks reasons to enforce coercive measures of “economic suffocation” against the Cuban people amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“There is also no justification for keeping the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by Washington for almost six decades,” Rodriguez added.

The Cuban diplomat recently held Washington responsible for five days of unrest in the country that led to at least one death and dozens of injuries and more than 100 arrests.

Rodriguez also insisted that Washington was using high-tech digital systems to incite protests in the small island nation close to US southern coast waters.

Cuba is going through its worst economic crisis in 30 years, with chronic shortages of electricity and food exacerbated by hefty US sanctions.

Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a post on Twitter earlier in the month that the White House “has failed in its efforts to destroy Cuba, despite spending billions of dollars to do so.”

Diaz-Canel was referring to the US trade embargo that has been in place against Cuba since 1962 and that was reinforced under former president Donald Trump.

The Caribbean nation is also experiencing its toughest phase yet of the coronavirus pandemic. The Cuban government has reiterated that the US embargo is impeding the country’s ability to purchase equipment and other supplies to deal with COVID-19.

MG