Havana, Cuba – Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, has denounced what he described as a campaign of pressure by the United States government aimed at discouraging the international community from supporting Cuba’s upcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution calling for an end to the U.S. economic, commercial, and financial blockade.
Rodríguez said Washington’s attempts to influence member states ahead of the annual vote demonstrate the U.S.’s continued disregard for the overwhelming global consensus that the blockade violates international law and the principles of sovereignty and non-interference.
According to the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the impact of the blockade remains devastating. In just 16 days, the U.S. sanctions are estimated to have caused $339 million in economic damage—an amount equivalent to the funding needed to cover the country’s Basic Medicines List. Cuban officials emphasized that these restrictions translate into direct human suffering, especially among patients requiring nephrology and dialysis services.
Key U.S. companies, including Baxter Healthcare, one of the largest suppliers of dialysis machines in Latin America, have refused to sell medical equipment to Cuba. Similarly, Drake Whilock and other U.S. firms have repeatedly cited the blockade as the reason for not marketing their products to the island nation.
Cuban authorities noted that refurbished dialysis machines, easily obtainable in the U.S. and costing a fraction of the price of new ones, remain inaccessible to Cuba due to the sanctions. As a result, Cuban importers have had to turn to Europe to buy new machines at much higher prices. Officials revealed that the amount spent on 18 new dialysis machines could have purchased 54 refurbished ones in the U.S.—enough to serve an additional 180 patients.
Beyond the health sector, the blockade continues to cripple other critical areas of Cuba’s economy. The government estimates that in just five days, the sanctions cause losses of approximately $100 million, an amount that could fund the repair of major thermal power plants such as Antonio Guiteras or Carlos Manuel de Céspedes.
The top Cuban diplomat presented what he called “irrefutable” evidence of a campaign that began two weeks ago — two documents dated Oct 8 and 17, which were sent by Washington to various world capitals, pressuring governments to oppose the resolution by claiming that Cuba poses a “threat” to the US.
Cuba’s leadership has reaffirmed its determination to continue presenting the resolution before the United Nations, underscoring that the blockade remains the principal obstacle to the country’s development and the well-being of its people.
The annual UN vote on the resolution this week, is expected to once again see overwhelming international support for Cuba, as has been the case for the past three decades.
