US Blockade the Main Obstacle to Development, Cuba Charges

Geneva, May 14. – Cuban denounced today here that the main obstacle to the Cuban people''s ability to exercise their right to development is the economic, trade and financial blockade imposed by the United States against the island for more than 50 years.

This aggression persists and continues to be intensified, and is a mass, flagrant, and systematic violation of human rights, said Cuban delegate Alejandro Castillo.

Speaking at the 15th period of sessions of the Working Group on the Right to Development, Castillo said that to justify this siege, the U.S. government uses all kind of political maneuvers, included the absurd and unjustifiable designation of his country as a State sponsor of terrorism.

"We energetically reject the manipulation of such a sensitive issue as international terrorism, to become an instrument of policy against Cuba, and a justification for the blockade," the delegate stated.

Castillo demanded the definitive exclusion of his country from that spurious, unilateral and arbitrary list that is an insult to the Cuban people, and demanded that the United States lift the blockade, as the international community insists.

The economic damages inflicted on the Cuban people have reached $1.157 billion USD, considering the depreciation of the dollar relative to gold.

In his speech, the Cuban representative recalled that nearly 30 years after the adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development, the issue remains a priority for many countries, including Cuba.(Prensa Latina)