Havana, December 27 (RHC)-- Washington's nearly six decade-old blockade policy toward Cuba limits the country's access to  markets of technologies used for environmental protection.

Dr. Nelson Espinosa Peña, Director of Cuba's Ozone Office, said the U.S. siege constitutes a serious obstacle, preventing Cuba from accessing alternatives to ozone-depleting substances.     
    
Espinosa Peña further stated that Washington's hostile policy forces Cuba to purchase environment friendly refrigerants at distant markets, which translates into far higher prices.

Cuba is a signatory to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by gradually reducing the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion.