Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez stated today in a press conference that the United States government, in its desire to create greater tensions and increase hostility, is posing obstacles to the forthcoming vote against the blockade in the UN.

He explained that the U.S. State Department originally presented a document consisting of eight paragraphs of amendments to the draft resolution “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba.” However, the text was hastily divided into eight separate amendments that will be submitted to the United Nations General Assembly for analysis tomorrow.

All this pursues the obvious aim of creating a pretext to tighten the blockade, and attempt to present the illusion that there is international support for the policy, Rodríguez stressed. The U.S. delegation to the UN seeks to disturb, consume time, create confusion and hinder the adoption of the resolution calling for the end of the blockade against Cuba.

The amendments presented by the United States have the objective of changing the nature of the resolution that opposes the blockade, with emphasis on the extraterritorial application of the policy, he explained. Instead, he said, the United States wants to turn it into a resolution that contains attacks against Cuba in the field of human rights, which are totally unjustified.

Cuba has presented this draft resolution for the last 26 years and, this time, the United States seeks to obstruct the adoption of the resolution, and thus disguise “the massive, flagrant and systematic violation of the human rights of all the Cuban people,” that the blockade represents, the Minister emphasized.

The U.S. delegation is thus forcing the UN General Assembly to debate eight aggressive amendments, which manipulate the issue of human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals. Rodríguez noted that there are other bodies of the UN where it would be more appropriate to seriously debate such issues.

Unlike in previous years, in the morning session this Wednesday, October 31, there will be a debate in the General Assembly about the resolution presented by Cuba, including remarks by groups of countries and member states. The vote on the draft resolution calling for the end of the blockade will take place on Thursday, as instead of facilitating a short voting act as in previous years, the U.S. State Department seeks to alter the process through the submission of these eight separate amendments, he explained.

“It is a policy that violates international law, transgresses the internationally recognized rules of commerce, violates freedom of navigation, that constitutes an act of aggression and economic warfare.

“Powerless, the government of the United States has found no other way this year than to try to hamper the adoption of the resolution, or to modify the content in an opportunistic, underhand manner.

“Thus, my impression is that the United States government, in its desire to increase tensions, increase hostility against Cuba, knows no bounds in this case, in creating difficulties for the General Assembly, which is an international, universal and democratic body of the United Nations.

“It is an attempt that will surely be rejected, but that does not pursue other purposes than to try to mask the situation of absolute and profound isolation that the United States government has in relation to Cuba, and to obscure the overwhelming rejection of the economic, commercial and financial blockade.

“We are confident that the amendments will be rejected, and that the resolution will receive overwhelming majority support, as has happened in the past,” the Cuban Foreign Minister stressed.

(Cubaminrex)