President Raul Castro called on wealthy nations to accept
their “historic debt” during his address to the UN Sustainable Development Summit in New York on Saturday. On Monday 28 September he will address the 70th
session of the UN General Assembly, the first time a Cuban head of state has
spoken at the United Nations since Fidel Castro in 2000.
The Cuban president is expected to call on international
leaders for support to end the US blockade which has cost the country’s economy
US$833.7 billion in five decades according to Cuban calculations.
Cuba’s annual report on the impact of the blockade was
launched at a press conference by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez earlier this
month. Cuba is due to present a resolution calling on the US to end the
blockade to the UN General Assembly on 27 October. For the last 23 years the UN
has voted overwhelmingly in Cuba’s favour, with the 2014 vote totalling 188
countries in favour of the resolution and only the United States and Israel
against.