Cuba's Diaz-Canel: Will 'Denounce Aberrant Blockade' To UN

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Sunday he’ll "denounce the aberrant blockade policy" imposed by the United States on the island more than 55 years ago.

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It’s a failed policy, said the Cuban leader who arrived in New York to participate for the first time in the United Nations General Assembly now in its 73rd session. With all our might this request will be ratified, said Diaz-Canel to reporters as he entered New York on Sunday.

The head of state added that this is the longest lasting blockade in history, which has affected “generations born before and after the Cuban Revolution” in 1959.

Diaz-Canel noted that the current U.S. administration is inciting Cold War rhetoric making it difficult to advance a relationship between Cuba and their counterparts. However, Cuba seeks to maintain a civilized relationship with Washington despite the differences, said the newly elected president.

U.S. President Donald Trump removed the country's newly-appointed diplomats from Havana after they and their families accused the Cuban government of orchestrating an "acoustic attack" on them, an accusation that Cuba and several studies reject.

“We also come to bring the message of peace and solidarity from our people who desire to build a better world,” said Diaz-Canel.

The president said that as he arrived in New York, memories of former Cuban President Fidel Castro, speaking to the UN assembly came to mind. “That is why we have mixed emotions in thinking about the task that we have to accomplish within the Assembly,” he added.

The 193 members who gather annually at the general assembly meeting in New York to kick off each session have long voted to revoke the U.S. economic and trade blockade placed on the Caribbean nation. Last year 191 members voted to lift the nearly six-decade-old economic ban, while the U.S. and Israel elected to maintain it.

Last week Diaz-Canel met with U.S. Republican Senator Bob Corker in Havana to strengthen diplomatic relations between the two countries. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla welcomed Corker as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Also expected to attend the week-long meetings is Cuba’s general director to the United States, Carlos Fernandez de Cossio and Cuba's permanent representative to the UN, Anayansi Rodriguez.