Havana, October 17 (RHC)-- Cuba has rejected in the strongest terms the latest misinformation and slander, orchestrated by the U.S. government at the United Nations, in Washington's continued attempts to justify its blockade of the Caribbean state.

The Cuban Foreign Ministry, MINREX, has issued a statement in which it condemns Washington's manipulation, once again, of the human rights issue to attack Cuba.   MINREX notes that this latest provocation takes place just two weeks before the UN General Assembly is to debate and vote, for the 27th consecutive year, on a Cuban-sponsored resolution, urging the lifting of Washington's economic siege of Cuba. 

The MINREX statement reads: “These type of actions aim to fabricate pretexts to maintain and further tighten the blockade policy, which constitutes a gross, massive, flagrant and systematic violation of the human rights of all Cubans.”   

The Cuban foreign ministry categorically stated that the U.S. government has no moral authority in criticizing Cuba.

The statement read: “A country run by millionaires, with a corrupt electoral system, where money and corporate interests decide who the next president will be, can not teach anyone lessons of democracy and human rights.”

MINREX stated that instead of attacking Cuba, the U.S. government should take full responsibility for the 987 people killed by police in the U.S. in 2017 alone, 23% of whom were African Americans, noting that racial discrimination is a constant in law enforcement and the judicial system.

It further noted that hate and violent crimes have also registered record highs over the past years, with the U.S. government yielding to pressure from the industrial military complex, and thus failing to adopt the U.S. people's widely-demanded gun control laws. 

The statement issued by the Cuban Foreign Ministry insisted that instead of attacking Cuba, the U.S. government should end the separation of immigrant families, particularly of thousands of migrant children, who were separated from their parents by U.S. immigration authorities and thrown behind bars indefinitely.

It stated that here in Cuba, the only prisoners whose rights are constantly violated, who are routinely tortured and confined to long terms without charge or a due process, are those held by the U.S. government itself at its detention center in the Guantánamo Naval Base, locally in a portion of Cuban territory illegally occupied by the United States.

The Cuban Foreign Ministry called special attention to the fact that the anti-Cuba event took place at a conference hall of the United Nations, in clear violation of conditions related to the use of such premises which clearly establish that only events in consonance with UN policies and principles may be held in such areas, and that their relevance to the work of th UN must be presented.

The Cuban foreign ministry has formally requested UN Secretary General Antonio Guterrez for a thorough internal investigation to be conducted to determine how this violation was permitted, and to duly report to the UN General Assembly that necessary measures be taken to prevent this type of action being taken against member states in the future.