The Vice Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investments of Cuba, Déborah Rivas, condemned this Monday the economic, financial and trade blockade on the island imposed by the United States (USA), which she described as “the greatest obstacle to the normal development of Cuba”. Legal Commercial Relations of Cuba with the Rest of the World” under the XII. World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference.
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In his speech, Rivas recalled that his country has a small and fragile economy, not only because of its tiny involvement in world trade, but also because of the illegal blockade, “it has entailed serious consequences that after 60 years of applying the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States government, which has been tightened to unprecedented levels in connection with the pandemic,” he said.
“At current prices, the cumulative damage to Cuba over six decades of applying this policy is $150,410.8 million. Between January and July 2021 alone, the impact on Cuban foreign trade caused by the blockade reached 923 million 829 thousand 755.13 dollars,” said the Cuban representative at the international meeting.
Rivas stressed that the island’s trade relations have been affected by the resurgence of the campaign of intimidation against banks, corporations and international businessmen, the increase in freight and insurance costs as a result of the imposition of trade with more distant regions, and the restrictions on the acquisition of foreign currency and the Search for commercial intermediaries.
The deputy minister explained that despite the blockade, Cuba had implemented a successful immunization strategy against Covid-19 using island-made vaccines, based on “technological platforms with proven safety and efficacy”.
At the same time, he assured that 89.9 percent of Cubans were fully vaccinated, 80.9 percent had already received a booster shot, and the pediatric population aged two to 18 was also vaccinated.
In his words, Rivas reiterated the island’s commitment to equitable, inclusive access “and affordable prices to vaccines and treatments for Covid-19”. He also called on the international community to multiply solidarity gestures that guarantee the elimination of export restrictions, the increase in technology transfer through international cooperation “and capacity building in the countries of the South”.
“Cuba will continue to rely on a fair, just and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system that allows the reduction of existing asymmetries and promotes the sustainable development of our peoples,” assured the Cuban Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade and Foreign Investments.
The 12th Ministerial Conference kicked off Sunday at the WTO headquarters in the Swiss city of Geneva and was co-hosted with Kazakhstan. The meeting takes place every two years and is intended to take the opportunity to analyze the functioning of the multilateral trading system and to reach agreements on food safety, fisheries and intellectual property of vaccines against Covid-19.