[:es]Cuban Ambassador at UN Notes World Support for End to U.S. Blockade[:]

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United Nations, Dec 29 .-Cuba’s permanent representative at the United Nations, Anayansi Rodriguez, assured today that the Caribbean island has the support from the international community in its just demand for the lifting of the United States blockade, and expressed gratitude for that solidarity.

In an interview with Prensa Latina, the ambassador noted that as long as the blockade is in place, Cuba will continue to denounce it at all multilateral forums possible and will submit the resolution demanding its end at the United Nations.

This year’s voting showed again how the international community rejects the tightening of the blockade and is concerned about the return of the aggressive and disrespectful rhetoric of the administration of President Donald Trump and the U.S. ambassador at the UN, Nikki Haley, the Cuban diplomat pointed out.

In contrast, the UN member countries have demonstrated with their almost unanimous vote that they bet on dialogue and cooperation in relations among the States, she stressed.

All these are based on the principles of the UN Charter and international law, including the respect for the sovereignty, free determination and territorial integrity of the States, which means to choose their political, economic and social system freely and without interference, as the Cuban people have done, Rodriguez underlined.

‘History has proved that the peoples of the world are consistent with the just causes; therefore, they have increasingly joined the vote in support of Cuba,’ she added.

When the draft resolution was first submitted in 1992, at the 47th session of the UN General Assembly, 26 delegations took the floor, including two groups: the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the then European Community, she recalled.

However, that number has increased gradually and over the past few years, more than 40 countries have raised their voices to support Cuba, the ambassador stated.

In 2017, 42 delegations took the floor, eight of which were representing major regional blocs, like the Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of 77.

Other participants were the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Community of Caribbean States, the African Group, the Organization for Islamic Cooperation and the South East Asian Nations Association. Most speeches noted that the disputes among States should be resolved through commitment and dialogue, not through confrontation, the Cuban representative said.

The speakers also noted Cuba’s contributions to South-South cooperation and its solidarity with many nations in the world, she added.

‘That way, the support for Cuba and the universal demand for the lifting of the blockade are not only expressed by 191 votes in favor of the resolution and the total isolation of the United States, with its sole companion Israel,’ she pointed out.

As long as the blockade exists, the Cuban delegation at the UN will denounce it permanently everywhere possible, because that mechanism is the main obstacle to the country’s development and it is a flagrant violation of the entire people’s human rights, Rodriguez stressed.

As has been proved for a long time, the blockade is a failed policy. Instead of ‘causing hunger, desperation and the government’s overthrow’, as it was expected since its establishment, it has only made Cuba more humane and friendly as taught by the leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro.

‘Today, we are more convinced than ever that the responsibility for defending our sovereignty and choosing our future freely is only ours and no one else’s,’ the Cuban ambassador stressed. (Prensa Latina)

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