Cuba Calls for Cooperation and Denounces the US Blockade at UN

Cuba's Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, intervened this Tuesday before the United Nations Human Rights Council in its 46th session, calling on the body to internationalize cooperation in the face of Covid-19, to which he attributed an aggravation of the prevailing unjust global order.

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"The pandemic has unleashed a serious economic and social crisis, in which inequalities, hunger, and discrimination are growing exponentially, in a world already burdened by an unjust and undemocratic international order and by the application of a ruthless neoliberalism," Rodriguez said during his online speech.

The Cuban foreign minister pointed out that in times of Covid-19, the world observes how the wealthiest countries of the West try to monopolize the means to fight it, with only ten nations that bought 95 percent of the vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

"Privileging narrow interests over the general welfare will increase suffering and deaths, even in industrialized countries. The internationalization of cooperation is urgently needed. It is necessary to fight for the establishment of a just, democratic and equitable international order," Rodriguez stressed.

At the same time, the head of Cuban diplomacy today reiterated his country's commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights and denounced the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States.

Rodriguez stressed that 56 Cuban medical brigades had provided support to several countries even under the pandemic and the blockade effects.

"This despite the cruel U.S. blockade, intensified to extreme levels by the outgoing administration of President Donald Trump, which included Cuba in the unilateral and spurious list of state sponsors of terrorism," he warned.

The foreign minister pointed out at the Council that manipulating the noble cause of human rights in terms of twisted political interests is unacceptable when referring to the attacks against the largest island in the Caribbean.

"In the face of attempts to denigrate the nation and overshadow its indisputable achievements in human rights, we will defend our truth and will never renounce sovereignty and independence," she remarked.

Rodriguez stressed that in Cuba, its free, universal, and quality health care system guarantees the right to health for all, which pays off in the battle against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

"Although we regret the loss of lives, it has allowed us to face the pandemic with positive results. Today we have four vaccine candidates in different phases of clinical trials, thanks to the development of Cuban science and our scientists' selfless work. We hope this year to immunize the entire population," he said.