Cuba condemns at the UN reinforcement of US blockade amid COVID-19 pandemic

The Permanent Representative of Cuba to the UN, Pedro Luis Pedroso, denounced on Monday how the United States is tightening its blockade against Cuba in the times of Covid-19, hindering its acquisition of medical equipment.

Speaking at the General Assembly in the debate on item 131, entitled 'Global Health and Foreign Policy', Pedroso explained that the U.S. government had used the blockade to deprive the Cuban people of mechanical lung ventilators, masks, diagnostic kits, protective glasses, and reagents.

These are necessary inputs for the management of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus disease, and they can make the difference between life and death for patients and the health care personnel who care for them, he said.

From April 2019 to March 2020 alone, the U.S. blockade caused losses to Cuba above five billion dollars. More than 160 million corresponded to the health sector, the ambassador said.

The Cuban diplomat warned that it is alarming how amid the pandemic some countries resort to unilateralism and unleash an unbridled and irresponsible race to ensure, just for them, the necessary means to face the pandemic.

While the highest authorities of the United Nations call for the lifting of unilateral coercive measures - contrary to the UN Charter and International Law - the application of such actions on developing countries is strengthened, he observed.

The Permanent Representative also said that it is an unsustainable paradox that the world has so much scientific development and so many economic resources. Yet, millions of people die from curable or preventable diseases.

He denounced that this situation is a consequence of the current unjust international order.