Today, November 7, for the 28th consecutive time, the draft resolution to end the U.S. blockade of Cuba will be considered by the United General Assembly
Venezuelan Jorge Arreaza, People’s Power Minister of Foreign Relations, took the floor, and began by conveying the importance president Nicolas Maduro affords this vote against the criminal U.S. blockade of Cuba.
He said the current situation is a threat to multilateralism and international law, insisting that no sanction will prevent the two countries from working together, and with other nations present.
He emphasized that the Cuban people is determined to exercise its right to self-determination and no coercive measure will stop them.
The blockade, aggravated by the current administration, causes Cuba losses of millions of dollars. The extraterritorial impact of the arbitrary policy also affects countries that maintain bilateral relations with Cuba. The United States government has no authority over other sovereign states, he stressed.
Despite economic difficulties, Cuba has always provided solidarity cooperation to other countries in the world. The blockade is an obsolete policy intended to isolate Cuba, that has clearly failed, he said.
Arreaza stated that Venezuela demands that all UN organizations at all levels show greater courage and take concrete action to end this inhuman policy that constitute an aggression and an affront to the United Nations. He concluded reiterating that his country will vote in favor of the resolution.
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Neville Melvin, representative from Namibia, began his remarks reiterating that, as in years past, his country would vote against the blockade of Cuba.
Unfortunately, instead of advancing to put an end to the suffering of the Cuban people, we have seen a setback, he noted. New sanctions adopted by the U.S. concern us, he added
Melvin said that, for his country, the island’s people are family, never sparing any effort to contribute to the wellbeing of many other nations.
In defense of the United Nations Charter, our delegation will vote in favor of this resolution, he concluded.
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10:00am: United Nations General Assembly session begins.
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Today, November 7, for the 29th consecutive time, the draft resolution to end the U.S. blockade of Cuba will be considered by the United General Assembly