La Micronésie, les Iles Marshall et
Palau, trois nations du Pacifique qui votent habituellement comme les
Etats-Unis, se sont abstenus cette année.
"Les dégâts humains qu'engendre le 'blocus' sont incalculables. Il provoque des souffrances et constitue une violation massive, flagrante et systématique des droits de l'homme", a déploré Bruno Rodriguez, le ministre cubain des Affaires étrangères.
Cuba a dû encaisser des pertes de plus de 1000 milliards de dollars à cause de l'embargo depuis sa mise en place en 1962 sous l'administration de John F. Kennedy, selon Bruno Rodriguez.
Mais d'après Ronald Godard, un diplomate américain, les Etats-Unis font figure de "bouc émissaire" pour justifier les problèmes et défis auxquels l'île est confrontée.
"Notre politique de sanctions à l'égard de Cuba fait partie d'une batterie d'instruments dans notre effort global pour que soient respectés les droits de l'homme", a-t-il ajouté.
Ronald Godard a aussi assuré que les Cubano-américains installés aux Etats-Unis sont parvenus à envoyer plus de 2 milliards de dollars à leurs proches vivant sur l'île l'an dernier.
AFP
rtbf.be
29/10/13
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"Les dégâts humains qu'engendre le 'blocus' sont incalculables. Il provoque des souffrances et constitue une violation massive, flagrante et systématique des droits de l'homme", a déploré Bruno Rodriguez, le ministre cubain des Affaires étrangères.
Cuba a dû encaisser des pertes de plus de 1000 milliards de dollars à cause de l'embargo depuis sa mise en place en 1962 sous l'administration de John F. Kennedy, selon Bruno Rodriguez.
Mais d'après Ronald Godard, un diplomate américain, les Etats-Unis font figure de "bouc émissaire" pour justifier les problèmes et défis auxquels l'île est confrontée.
"Notre politique de sanctions à l'égard de Cuba fait partie d'une batterie d'instruments dans notre effort global pour que soient respectés les droits de l'homme", a-t-il ajouté.
Ronald Godard a aussi assuré que les Cubano-américains installés aux Etats-Unis sont parvenus à envoyer plus de 2 milliards de dollars à leurs proches vivant sur l'île l'an dernier.
AFP
rtbf.be
29/10/13
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- In United Nations vote, 188 countries condemn U.S. embargo of Cuba.
A record-equalling 188 countries on Tuesday condemned the five-decade-old US embargo against communist Cuba in an annual UN General Assembly vote that signalled hardening opposition to US sanctions.
Only Israel joined the United States in opposing resolution, the smallest number ever. Last year two allies voted with the US government.
Three Pacific island states normally close to the United States — Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau — abstained as the barrage of criticism of the embargo reached a new peak in the 22nd annual vote at the UN Assembly.
China, Iran, which has launched a bid to thaw relations with the US administration, Latin American and African nations all publicly condemned the United States.
“The US policy against Cuba is suffering from an absolute international isolation and discredit and lacks every ethical or legal ground,” Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said.
While the United States has eased travel restrictions on Cubans, Parrilla said: “Sanctions remain intact and are being fully implemented.”
Cuba has lost more than $1.1 trillion dollars because of the embargo, according to the minister who told the meeting how the blockade prevents Cuba from getting heart and anti-AIDS drugs for children.
The United States is being used as an “external scapegoat” for the island’s problems, a US diplomat, Ronald Godard, hit back in an address to the meeting.
“Our sanctions policy toward Cuba is just one of the tools in our overall effort to urge respect for the civil and human rights” upheld by the UN, Godard said........http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/29/in-united-nations-vote-188-countries-condemn-u-s-embargo-of-cuba/
29/10/13
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U.N. urges end of U.S. embargo on Cuba for 22nd time...
ReplyDeleteBy Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly for the 22nd time to condemn the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba, whose foreign minister said the American policy in place since 1959 was barbaric and amounted to genocide.
There were 188 votes for the non-binding resolution, entitled “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba,” in the 193-nation General Assembly.
The only country that joined the United States in voting against the resolution was Israel.
Last year, there were the same number of votes for the resolution, though the tiny Pacific island nation of Palau voted with Israel and the United States against the resolution. This year, Palau abstained, along with fellow Pacific island nations Micronesia and Marshall Islands.
U.S. President Barack Obama, who said before taking office that he wanted to recast long-hostile U.S.-Cuba relations, has been a disappointment to the Cuban government, which hoped he would do more to dismantle the embargo.
“The human damages caused by the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States are incalculable,” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez told the assembly.
“It provokes hardships and is a mass, flagrant and systematic violation of human rights,” he said. “The fact that 53 years later the same policy still prevails is something extraordinary and barbaric.”
He added that the economic damage to Cuba amounted to $1.126 trillion and that the embargo “has been classified as an act of genocide” under the Geneva Convention of 1948.
U.S. envoy Ronald Godard dismissed the resolution, saying that while Washington welcomed some of the recent changes in Cuba, the country “still has one of the most restrictive economic systems in the world.”
He added that the United States continues to allow aid and monetary remittances to flow into Cuba.
“The United States is a deep and abiding friend of the Cuban people,” Godard said.
He also urged Cuba’s government to release Alan Gross, a U.S. contractor serving a 15-year sentence in Cuba for setting up internet networks – work that a Cuban judge said was a crime against the Cuban state.
Other countries lined up to slam the U.S. embargo, including Ethiopia on behalf of African states, Iran on behalf of the 120-nation non-aligned movement, India, Mexico, China, Ecuador, Russia, Bolivia and Indonesia. Nicaragua’s delegate called the blockade “inhuman and criminal.”
Countries criticizing the U.S. blockade spoke of the importance of non-intervention in the affairs of sovereign states, a concept enshrined in the U.N. charter.
Rodriguez said the blockade “has been further tightened under President Obama’s administration.” Some 30 U.S. and foreign entities were hit with $2.446 billion in fines due to their interaction with Cuba, he said.
(Editing by Will Dunham)
http://www.euronews.com/newswires/2184792-un-urges-end-of-us-embargo-on-cuba-for-22nd-year/
29/10/13
Record number of nations oppose US embargo of Cuba in UN vote...
ReplyDeleteIn an overwhelming UN vote, 188 countries have called on the US to lift its 53-year trade embargo on Cuba. Havana has slammed the financial sanctions as a flagrant violation of human rights and said they are tantamount to genocide.
The recording-breaking opposition to the embargo saw Israel isolated as the only country to vote in support of the US. Palau, the island nation that got behind the US last year, abstained in the 22nd UN annual vote, along with Micronesia and Marshall Islands.
Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla conveyed Havana’s disappointment at the Obama administration, stressing that the human cost of the embargo is “incalculable.” Upon assuming the presidency Barack Obama pledged to take steps to improve US-Cuban relations, but Rodriguez said the sanctions had actually tightened under Obama.
"Our small island poses no threat to the national security of the superpower," Rodriguez said. "The human damages caused by the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba are incalculable.”
Rodriguez also stated that the sanctions had been classified as “genocide” under the Geneva Convention of 1948 and the total cost to the Cuban economy was estimated at $1.1 trillion dollars.
Several other nations spoke out against the US embargo at the UN vote. China’s Deputy UN Ambassador Wang Min urged the US “change its policy toward Cuba” as the “call of the international community is getting louder and louder.”
Moreover, Bolivia’s UN ambassador Sacha Llorenty Soliz decried the embargo as "sullying the history of mankind"
In the name of human rights?
The US mounted its defense in the face of overwhelming opposition and a barrage of criticism, claiming the sanctions were in place “urge respect for the civil and human rights."
Seeking to justify the financial penalties that have been held in place for 53 years, US diplomat Ronald Godard said the US was being used as a “scapegoat” for Cuba’s internal issues.
"The international community cannot in good conscience ignore the ease and frequency with which the Cuban regime silences critics, disrupts peaceful assembly [and], impedes independent journalism," Godard said to the assembled UN countries.
Moreover, Godard added that the US had sent $2 billion in remittances to Cuba in 2012 and underlined that the US provides a large portion of the food aid to the island.
The US began imposing economic penalties on Cuba when Fidel Castro seized power in 1959 and nationalized property owned by American individuals and corporations. The measures were ratcheted up three years later by the US government to a full embargo on Cuba.
Last year Washington took action to ease travel to and from Cuba, granting 16,767 visas to Cubans in the first half of 2013 - 80 percent more than were issued in the same period in 2012.
http://rt.com/news/un-vote-cuba-embargo-940/
30/10/13
China calls on US to end embargo on Cuba.....
ReplyDeleteBy CCTV reporter Wang Xinye
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla continued his official visit to China on Wednesday, holding talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
A friendship dating back half a century…
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China and Cuba share the same ideals. China hopes to deepen political trust with Cuba and further expand bilateral relations.
Bruno Rodriguez said he is happy with the development of Cuba-China relations. His country currently holds the rotating presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and will give full support for the region’s links with China.
Last week, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution urging the United States to end its long-running embargo against Cuba. 188 countries voted for the resolution. Only the United States and Israel voted against. This is the 22nd year in a row that the General Assembly has overwhelmingly backed a resolution condemning the US embargo on Cuba.
"The blockade is aggressively extraterritorial and a violation of international law, which lacerates the sovereignty of other states. It’s a transgression of the international rules that govern foreign trade and freedom of navigation. The cruel inclusion of medicines and foodstuffs is a violation of international humanitarian law. It is a hostile and unilateral act that should cease unilaterally," Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said.
Despite the continuous adoption of similar resolutions at the UN, Washington has repeatedly refused to budge.
“The international community cannot in good conscience ignore the ease and frequency with which the Cuban regime silences critics, disrupts peaceful assembly, impedes independent journalism and dispute positive reforms continue to prevent some Cubans from leaving or returning to the island. The Cuban government continues its tactics of politically motivated detentions, harassment and police violence against Cuban citizens," US delegate to UN Ronald Godard said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said China continues to support Cuba’s legitimate demands. She said the UN member countries should abide by the UN Charter and UN resolutions and end the economic blockade.
The United States imposed its blockade against the Caribbean island in the early 1960s. Foreign Minister Rodriguez says the blockade has damaged his country’s economy to the tune of 1.2 trillion US dollars. Analysts say China is trying to encourage its business leaders to invest in Cuba, but they are discouraged from doing so by the embargo and trade blockade.
http://english.cntv.cn/program/newsupdate/20131106/104784.shtml
6/11/13