We will not succumb to America – Cuba Ambassador to Ghana

The Cuba Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Pedro Luis Despaigne Gonzalez has said that it is time for Cubans across the world to fight the American blockade with their ideas.

H.E Gonzalez said, Cuba even though has survived the blockade by the United States of America for over 56 years, it was time the country with the support of the rest of the world fought against this bad treatments.

According to him, the commercial, financial and economic blockade imposed on Cuba by the Americans does not only affect the citizenry of Cuba but the interests and sovereign rights of third world countries who do business with the Cuban government.

“The economic, commercial and financial blockade is simply their way of stampeding the development of the Cuban economy,” he said.

He said the economic damage to the government of Cuba from the blockade by the American government for the period of June 2017 to March 2018 is four million three hundred twenty-one thousand two hundred dollars ($4,321,200.00).

“We have been able to survive all these years through strategic measures put in place by our government, but you know we as a country cannot produce and manufacture everything by ourselves, we need other people to survive” he added.

H.E Gonzalez added that the over 56years of unjust economic, financial and commercial blockade has to stop because Cuba will not trade its sovereignty for anything.

“So because we are different, we have to suffer?” he quizzed adding that, “even in this situation, Cuba has been able to train medical doctors and provide free medical care and education for its people”

He said, the U.S government over the years have tightened the blockade against Cuba up until President Barack Obama started the normalization process in 2015 but unfortunately, the blockade has once again been tightened by the Donald Trump administration.

H.E Pedro Luis Despaigne Gonzalez was speaking on the Cuba resolution 72/4 of the United Nations General Assembly entitled “Necessity of ending the Economic, Commercial and Financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba June 2018” at the Cuba Embassy in Accra on Tuesday.

BACKGROUND

The U.S.-Cuba relationship has been plagued by distrust and antagonism since 1959, the year Fidel Castro overthrew a U.S.-backed regime in Havana and established a socialist state allied with the Soviet Union.

During the half century that followed, successive U.S. administrations pursued policies intended to isolate the island country economically and diplomatically. The United States has sanctioned Cuba longer than any other country.

Cuban leader in 2008, took some extraordinary steps to normalize bilateral relations, meeting with each other, restoring full diplomatic ties, and easing travel restrictions. President Donald J. Trump has reversed some actions taken by the Obama administration and raised the prospect that the United States will further roll back ties.

Both Castroism and hard-line policies toward the United States are expected to continue under President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who succeeded Raul in April 2018.