The deputies, who are members of the International Relations Commission of the National Assembly of the Peoples Power’:
Remembering that the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States against Cuba, from the start of its implementation in October of 1960, constitutes the most unfair, severe and prolonged system of unilateral sanctions ever applied on any country,
Also remembering that this unlawful policy against Cuba maintains the same genocidal aims that in April of 1960 moved then-Assistant Secretary of State Lestor Mallory to acknowledge that the blockade sought to cause “hunger, despair and the downfall of the Cuban government”,
Reaffirming that the blockade is a massive, flagrant and systematic violation of the human rights of the Cuban people and the principal obstacle for the development of the Cuban economy, and for implementation of the National, Economic and Social Development Plan, Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals,
Signifying that the damages accumulated by the blockade during close to six decades have reached the figure of 933,678 billion dollars, taking into account the depreciation of the dollar in comparison to the price of gold on the international market and that at today’s prices the blockade has caused calculable harm for over 134,499 billion dollars; and between April of 2017 and March of 2018, the blockade has caused Cuba losses for the amount of around 4, 321, 200 billion dollars,
Emphasizing the intensification of the permanent persecution on Cuban financial transactions and Cuba’s banking and loan operations on a world scale, something that has severely harmed the country’s economy, in particular, commercial activities of companies and the national banks in their dealings with international banking,
Knowing that the human and economic damage caused by the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba is growing,
Emphasizing that since 1992, the United National General Assembly has requested in 26 resolutions the need to put an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on Cuba by the US government, and that 191 of the 193 Member States of the United Nations supported the most recent Resolution A/RES/72/4, approved on the first of November of 2017,
Knowing that bilateral relations between the United States and Cuba have taken steps backwards and that the US government has decided to intensify the economic, commercial and financial blockade by imposing new obstacles to the already limited possibilities of its business community to do business with and invest in Cuba and imposing additional restrictions on its citizens to travel to Cuba,
We declare that:
We reject any policy that is contrary to the principles of international law and to the United Nations Charter and the Proclamation of Latin American and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace;
We condemn the policy of the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States against Cuba;
We invite the Congress of the United States of America to listen to the opinions of the majority in broad sectors of US society who are advocating putting an end to the blockade, and thereby to put an end to this obsolete policy against Cuba;
We urge the parliamentarians of the world to reinforce the international claims to put an end to that policy which is so injurious for the rights of the Cuban people and third States; and,
We call on the parliamentarians of all nations to make statements to encourage and support their respective foreign offices in their support of the draft resolution entitled «Need to put an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba», which will once again be presented before the General Assembly next October 31 of 2018.
