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Resounding Condemnation at UN
of US Blockade Against Cuba
United
Nations, September 25 (Prensa Latina).—
Leaders of Latin America, Africa and Asia expressed
their rejection at the UN against the economic,
commercial and financial blockade of the United
States against Cuba, positions that were mentioned
as part of the high-level discussions at the General
Assembly.
 During
the plenary of the 193 UN members, the president of
Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, the siege imposed by
Washington against Cuba for more than half a century
a Cold War anachronism.
"What terrible damage this doomed policy, condemned
for 22 consecutive years by the General Assembly,
has caused the Cuban people," he said, in the
general discussion that will continue until next
Tuesday with the attendance of asome 140 heads of
state or Government.
Meanwhile, the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales,
called the US blockade the most unjust, severe and
prolonged system of unilateral sanctions ever
applied against any country.
"It is an act of genocide and colonialism, which
must end immediately," he said.
South African head of State Jacob Zuma, was another
government leader who called for the economic
liberation of the island, where authorities recently
said that the damages caused by the policy amount to
more than a trillion U.S. dollars.
The president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, said
he was deeply troubled by the sanctions, reinforced
by persecution and extraterritorial initiatives like
the Torricelli (1992) and Helms Burton (1996) laws.
"The blockade is unethical and unjust due to its
impact on innocent people," he said.
The first day of the general discussions at the 69th
General Assembly session also featured a speech from
the president of Chad, Idriss Déby Itno, who
reiterated his demand for the siege to be lifted.
The highest-level UN forum will host on October 28 a
new draft resolution on the necessity of ending the
United States blockade, a similar initiative which
last year received the support of 188 of its 193
members.
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