UNITED NATIONS, Nov 03 (APP): Pakistan, speaking on behalf of Group of 77 (developing countries) and China, Wednesday called for an immediate end to the 61-year-old United States’ economic, commercial and financial embargo on Cuba, saying that it was having a “debilitating impact” on the Island nation and its people.
“The limited foreign investment and difficulty of access to development credits translate directly into economic hardship and humanitarian suffering for the people of Cuba,” Ambassador Aamir Khan, deputy permanent representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, told the UN General Assembly, which is set to take action on a resolution that demands, for the 30th time in a row, the lifting of the US economic blockade on Cuba.
“Between August 2021 and February 2022, the embargo caused more than $3.8 billion in losses to Cuba,” he told the 193-member Assembly.
The resolution will come up for a vote at the end the 2-day debate on the issue on Thursday.
Pakistan is the current chairman of G77 and China, which now has 134 members and is the United Nations’ biggest intergovernmental group of emerging countries.
“The Group (of 77) regrets that the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba for more than six decades remains in full application and continues to be enforced, the Pakistani envoy told the 193-member Assembly .
In that regard, the G-77 statement recalled the “positive steps” taken by the Obama administration between 2015 and 2016, which were not sufficient to effectively end the embargo’s impact but were moving in the right direction. However, it regretted the Trump administration’s policy aimed at reinforcing the embargo on Cuba, which remains in effect despite the change in administrations.
“We are deeply concerned about the widening of the extraterritorial nature of the embargo on Cuba, including the full implementation of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act and the unjust inclusion of Cuba in the list of States sponsors of terrorism,” Ambassador Aamir Khan said, speaking for G-77/China.
“We reject the United States Government’s reinforcement of the financial measures it has adopted, aimed at tightening the embargo.”
The Group of 77 and China, he said, reiterates its commitment to the principles of the UN Charter, particularly regarding the sovereign equality of States, non-intervention and non-interference in States’ internal affairs, and freedom of international trade and navigation.
“We believe that it is the duty and responsibility of every Member State to strictly comply with those principles, and that any policy or action that disregards them — in this case, unilateral economic, commercial, and financial sanctions against Cuba — should be immediately repealed.”
Aamir Khan said the G-77/China was concerned about the possibility that if the economic sanctions continue, Cuba’s development potential will be unfairly undermined in both economic and human development terms, making it impossible for the country to successfully embark on the path towards sustainable development envisaged in the 2030 Agenda.
“Cuba has extensively and consistently contributed to the international community for many decades, particularly through South-South cooperation,” he told the General Assembly,” adding that Its help to other countries during the coronavirus pandemic was a great example of South-South cooperation.
“We therefore appeal to the international community to step up efforts for the elimination of the embargo, not just to improve Cuba’s prospects, but to help all members of the global community in their quest to fully realize their economic and social development.”
