Cuban Civil Society Raises Its Voice against US Blockade

Representatives of Cuban civil society denounced at the University of Havana on Friday the impact of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the U.S. on all spheres of life of the Cuban people.

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Hundreds of members of the Cuban civil society raised their voices against this policy from the University of Havana in the framework of the XIX Cuban Civil Society Forum in against the blockade.

The event was held under the theme "The multidimensional blockade applied by the U.S. against Cuba, the main obstacle to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals."

Two declarations were approved to be sent to the UN Secretary General. The first text explains the unanimous position of Cuban civil society organizations against sanctions against Cuba. The other condemns the genocide committed by Israel against the population of Gaza and the West Bank in the recent escalation of violence unleashed on October 7.

The tweet reads, "XIX Forum of the Cuban Civil Society against the Blockade takes place this Friday at the University of Havana."

On the occasion of the forum, the attendees discussed the draft resolution to be presented by Cuba on November 1 and 2 against the U.S. policy that has been in force for more than half a century. 

Opening the event Norma Goicochea, president of the United Nations Cuban Association (UNCA), expressed her rejection of the U.S. embargo. "The blockade is the main obstacle to the implementation on the island of the 2030 Agenda and the 2023 national development plan is brutal, criminal and unjust and intensified during the pandemic," Goicochea said.

The UNCA president added that all spheres of the nation's life "are marked by the blockade," with "devastating" effect on children, women, the elderly and other vulnerable groups. Goicochea said U.S. sanctions are a mechanism of political pressure "that damages the most sensitive areas of Cubans human rights."

This forum of Cuban civil society against Washington's sanctions took place about a week before the Caribbean island is to vote at the UN, for the 31st time, on a resolution calling for an end to the aggression of the United States against the island.

Every year since 1992, the Caribbean island has presented a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly condemning the U.S. blockade. This resolution has been consistently and overwhelmingly approved by the international community time and time again.

According to the Cuban government in the latest update, at current prices, the cumulative damages caused by the imposition of the unilateral U.S. policy against the country amount to more than 159,084 million dollars.