U.S. blockade of Cuba causes losses to the island of US$6.364 billion in the last 14 months

The economic, commercial and financial blockade that the United States has imposed on Cuba since 1962 caused losses to the island of US$6.364 billion in the last 14 months, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla said on Wednesday when presenting the 2022 report that he will deliver to the General Assembly of the UN in November.

“In the first 14 months of the current U.S. Government, the damage caused by the blockade reached US$6.364 billion, an impact of more than US$454 million per month and more than US$15 million per day. President (Joe) Biden maintains a policy of maximum pressure against Cuba initiated by (Donald) Trump,” stressed the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Read also: Check out our coverage on Cuba

During the presentation to the national and foreign press of the update of the national report under resolution 75/289 of the UN General Assembly, entitled “Need to end the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the U.S. against Cuba” , Rodríguez Parrilla denounced the tightening of sanctions against Havana, and its negative impact on Cuban society.

In the report, which includes the main economic effects in the period between August 2021 and February 2022, the losses caused by the U.S. blockade are calculated in the order of US$3.806 billion.

“It is a historical record amount for a short period such as these seven months. The Gross Domestic Product of Cuba, according to very conservative data, could have grown, despite the adverse circumstances facing the Cuban economy, by 4.5% in that period, if those measures had not been applied,” Rodríguez Parrilla emphasized.

The foreign minister also added that in the six decades of application of these U.S. restrictive policies against Cuba, at current prices, the accumulated damages add up to US$154.217 billion, while at the value of gold, taking into account depreciations, the accumulated damages reach the figure of US$1.392 trillion.

“An exorbitant figure for a small economy, without great natural resources, insular, underdeveloped, like the Cuban one (…) Imagine, imagine our people, what Cuba could have done with those resources. What would Cuba be like today if the country had of those resources,” the foreign minister said.

Since 1992, this will be the thirtieth time that Cuba has presented a report to the UN demanding the end of the U.S. blockade on the island, which in its last vote in the General Assembly in 2021 had the support of 184 countries.

With information from Sputnik

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