Cuba Denounces U.S. Collective Punishment Against the Island

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez stated that every act of aggression by the U.S. government, such as the measures announced today by the Secretary of State, demonstrates an attempt to impose collective punishment on the island's population.

Rodríguez wrote on his social media accounts that "despite the U.S. government continuing to deny the existence of the economic siege against Cuba, it is becoming increasingly difficult for it to hide its genocidal intentions and its desire to cause a humanitarian crisis."

The attack on Cuban medical cooperation amounts to an assault on the human right to access healthcare services for hundreds of thousands of people in many parts of the world, he denounced.

"They punish Cuba for providing a humane and supportive service that has been recognized by the international community. This is done by the government of the richest country in the world, which is bent on denying this basic human right to tens of millions of its own citizens," the Foreign Minister indicated.

The U.S. government imposed new measures against Cuba this Thursday, this time targeting nine entities and two officials, as part of its sustained policy of economic and financial pressure against the island.

Under the pretext of limiting the Cuban government's access to funds it considers "illicit," the Department of State included Centro de Investigaciones del Petróleo S.A. (CEINPET), Empresa de Energía S.A. (ENERSA), and EINARBO S.A. from the energy sector on its restricted entities list.

Washington also unilaterally added Terminal de Contenedores de Mariel S.A., Coral Marítima S.A., CEIBA Investments Limited, and Orbit S.A.

Furthermore, the measures target Cuban international medical cooperation.

In that sector, the Department of State added Comercializadora de Servicios Médicos Cubanos S.A., the Central Unit for Medical Cooperation, its director Gretza Sánchez Padrón, and Cuba's Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, to the restricted list.