Geneva, November 15 ((RHC)-- The economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba constitutes a massive, flagrant and systematic violation of human rights, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez denounced in Geneva on Wednesday.

The Cuban Foreign Minister presented at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva the report of the Antillean nation in the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Human Rights Council, where he condemned the intensification of Washington's aggressiveness and its impact on all spheres of society.

"Since the previous review, the blockade was significantly intensified with the application of more than 240 additional unilateral coercive measures and the fraudulent inclusion of Cuba in the spurious list of countries sponsoring terrorism drawn up by the US State Department", he criticized.

In that sense, he specified that from April 2018 to February 2023, the siege has caused damages conservatively estimated in the order of 24.7 billion dollars.

According to Rodriguez, the inhumane nature of the blockade was once again evident during the Covid-19 pandemic, in which sanctions against the island, unlike the rest, were deliberately tightened to extreme levels.

Cuba was prevented from acquiring pulmonary ventilators from subsidiaries of U.S. companies; and parts, pieces and inputs for the industrial production of effective Cuban vaccines; the acquisition of medical oxygen in third countries was hindered and the requirement of a specific license to do so from the United States was demonstrated, he repudiated.

The Foreign Minister of Cuba recalled at the Human Rights Council that just 13 days ago, the UN General Assembly demanded for the thirty-first time since 1992 -through a resolution adopted by 187 countries- the cessation of a policy that causes direct and indirect damages; suffering, shortages and anxiety to Cuban families.

In addition to the economic war, Cuba has been and is the victim of sustained media and communication campaigns aimed at projecting an absolutely false image of human rights, in order to subvert the constitutional order of the nation, he said.   (Source: Prensa Latina)