US Blockade Prevents Cuba from Fully Implementing Biological Weapons Convention

The 50+ year US economic, financial, political and commercial blockade of Cuba is the main obstacle for the island to fully implement the UN Biological Weapons Convention, said the Cuban representative in Geneva.

During a meeting of experts with the parties of the UN Convention, Cuban representative Juan Antonio Quintanilla denounced that the US measure hinders cooperation, assistance and international exchange in terms of biological sciences and technologies, including the exchange, with peaceful means, of equipment and materials, according to an article posted on the website of the Cuban Foreign Ministry.

The US blockade imposes strong restrictions on the purchase by Cuban hospitals of medications, lab reagents, vaccines, biological protection and diagnostic means, as well as equipment if they are made in the United States or produced by subsidiaries of American companies based in third countries.

Also prohibited is the direct exchange by Cuban and US scientists dedicated to the control of infectious diseases, which is crucial for the full deployment of their responsibilities, said the Cuban diplomat.

Meanwhile, Cuban research centers cannot access US websites providing important scientific information, such as specialized publications that may contribute to update knowledge on the new advances of biological sciences and technologies in the field.

Cuba will continue to denounce the unilateral, absurd, illegal and morally unsustainable US blockade, Quintanilla pointed out and noted that such measure must be lifted as repeatedly demanded by the overwhelming majority of the international community at the UN General Assembly.

Source

UN High Commissioner Meets with Wife of Geraldo Hernandez

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navenethem Pillay

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navenethem Pillay, met with Adriana Perez, wife of Gerardo Hernández, in Geneva on Monday.
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At the meeting, Adriana referred to the damage to health and the suffering of the five anti-terrorist fighters and their families caused by their 14 years unjust imprisonment. 
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Gerardo Hernendez, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero, and René González were condemned to long sentences in a rigged and arbitrary trial for warning their country of terrorist acts planned by the Miami mafia.
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In the case of Geraldo, who is serving two life sentences plus 15 years, the US government also prevents him from seeing his wife.
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Adriana Perez told the UN High Commissioner of the need for that body to directly interfere in favour of the motion requested by the defense lawyer of Rene Gonzalez, so that he be allowed to travel to Cuba to visit his brother, who is seriously ill.
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Rene Gonzalez was released on October 7, 2011, under supervision and he is banned from leaving US territory for 3 years.
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Adriana Perez also expressed the wish for reunification on behalf of the elderly mothers of the five Cuban antiterrorist fighters.

(Prensa Latina)

New York Times highlights Cuba’s efforts in combating cholera in Haiti

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"Half of the NGOs are already gone, and the Cubans are still there."

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In an article published November 8, The New York Times recognizes that, "as the epidemic continues, the Cuban medical mission that played an important role in detecting its presence in Haiti, winning accolades from donors and diplomats for staying on the front lines and undertaking a broader effort to remake this country's shattered health care system."
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"Paul Farmer, the United Nations deputy special envoy to Haiti and a founder of Partners in Health, said the Cubans sounded an important early alarm about the outbreak, helping to mobilize health officials and lessen the death toll," the newspaper writes.

Cuban medical personnel were in Haiti when the earthquake happened and are still there, while half of the NGO’s have already left. (Photo: Juan Diego Nusa Peñalver) 

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Even more, while the death rate peaked last December and the world's attention has largely moved on, Farmer noted, "Half of the NGOs are already gone, and the Cubans are still there."
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To date this year in Haiti, 6,600 people have died of cholera and more than 476,000 contracted the disease – close to 5% of the country’s 10 million inhabitants – considered by UN officials as the highest cholera rate in the world.
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Cuban medical personnel have been working in Haiti since 1998, when 100 doctors arrived there in the wake of Hurricane Mitch. They are part of the internationalist medical missions that Cuba has maintained for 50 years. 

UN: U.S. Blockade Condemned for 20th Year

The UN General Assembly approved by an overwhelming majority the resolution demanding an end of the US blockade of Cuba, a vote passed by the assembly for the 20th consecutive year.
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This year 186 UN member states voted in favour of the resolution, while 2 voted against (the United States, Israel) and three abstained (Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau). 
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The resolution calling for an end to the blockade has been approved on 20 occasions with backing that has grown steadily from 59 votes in 1992 to the 186 today.
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Before the vote, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla spoke before the General Assembly and noted that it would have seemed impossible two decades ago that the United nations would be still discussing the same issue.
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He described the 50-year long blockade as an act of genocide. “The object of the blockade is to weaken the lives of Cubans and to cause hunger. The US has never hidden the fact that it wants regime change in Cuba.” 
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Rodriguez added that the Obama Administration has spiked its chase of Cuban money transactions throughout the world, showing no respect whatsoever to the laws or governments of third countries. He also pointed out that Cuba cannot use US dollars in its transactions, or freely import or export products, including medicines, to and from the United States. 

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As an example of the criminal policy, Rodriguez recalled the seizure by the US government of some 4 million dollars the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria had allocated for programs to be carried out in Cuba.
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After explaining how the blockade had cost Cuba close to a trillion dollars in losses in the last 50 years, Rodriguez urged the world representatives to back up the resolution, on behalf of his people.
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Read Cuba’s Report on Resolution 65/6

here

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Download Cuba’s Report on Resolution 65/6

Also See
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> CARICOM: U.S. Blockade of Cuba Is Anachronistic
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> Cuba-UN Bonds Continue to Strengthen

Cuba insists that the UN must recognize Palestinian statehood

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez speaking at the General Assembly insisted that the U.N.  recognize Palestine as a free and independent state and oppose the Security Council or the United States government's attempt to use its veto of the resolution, 
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"The General Assembly has the inescapable moral, political and legal obligation to guarantee the recognition of an independent Palestinian state with its pre-1967 borders and East Jerusalem as the capital, as a full member of the United Nations. It must do so with or without the Security Council, with or without a United States veto, with or without new peace negotiations," he specified.
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He also reiterated that the Palestinian people have been the victims of continual Israeli attacks, supported by the United States which, given its arms merchant strategy, sells Israel the weapons it needs to sustain this aggression.
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Mahmoud Abbas challenging U.S. hegemony 

Cuba, which has a small Jewish community, likewise condemns the historic injustices of anti-Semitism, the crime against humanity which was the Holocaust, and also recognizes the Israeli state's right to exist. "Our people harbor only fraternal sentiments for the Israeli people, who are also victims of this conflict," he said.
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He repeated that the U.S. is obliged to "cease its continual vetoing of Security Council resolutions to protect Palestinian citizens."
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> Read the rest of the article 


> Read Rodríguez full speech 
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US Blockade Against Cuba Rejected at UN General Assembly

Representatives from several countries have again criticized  the nearly 50-year-old economic, commercial and financial blockade maintained by the United States against Cuba at the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Danilo Astori: contary to UN Charter

Prensa Latina reported that Uruguay’s Vice President Danilo Astori said Washington’s unilateral measure against Cuba is against the UN’s Charter, and added that his country condemns all types of violence, threats and the irrational use of force and terrorism.
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In his address to the Assembly, the Uruguayan Vice President also said his government considers all the conditions required for the UN to recognize Palestine as its 194th full member have been met, as requested by President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday before the UN’s organ, an AFP report reads.
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Lesotho’s Prime Minister Pakalitha Bethuel Mosisili, advocated the lifting of the US blockade against Cuba, as well. He said a solution to the long-standing dispute between the US and Cuba should be found, said PL.
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The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla is scheduled to address the UN’s General Assembly in New York on Monday afternoon.
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For 19 years the General Assembly, the UN’s main decision-making body, has witnessed the rejection of Washington’s blockade against Cuba on the part of an overwhelming majority of its member states.

Up to the present, this unilateral measure, which came into force in February 1962, has brought about direct economic damage to Cuba valued at more than 975 billion dollars.

Click to view

Cuba Denounces U.S. and Israeli Policies against Palestine

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Cuba’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Pedro Nuñez, said that the United States’ veto at the UN Security Council hinders a solution to the Palestinian issue.

Speaking before the UN General Assembly in New York, Nuñez said that Israel attacks the Palestinian people with total impunity because it feels protected by Washington.
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Nuñez said that the UN Security Council has not been able to seriously tackle the Palestinian issue due to double standards and the veto threat by the United States, one of its permanent members.

The Cuban diplomat reiterated Cuba’s commitment to achieving a definite solution to the issue, including the delicate situation of Palestinian refugees.

He also condemned the illegal occupation of territories by Israel as the main obstacle to attain a just and long-lasting peace in the Middle East.

Source

World Condemns US Blockade against Cuba at UN General Assembly

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Cuba: 187

Abstentions: 3

USA: 2 

For the 19th consecutive year, The U.N. General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to condemn almost a half-century of U.S. sanctions against Cuba, demanding an end to what member states say is a cruel Cold War anachronism that only hurts ordinary people.

Cuba´s report on the UN 64/6 Resolution received the support of 187 countries, while three abstained and the US, along with its traditional ally Israel, voted against .

Thirty heads of state and government and foreign ministers from several countries reiterated their condemnation of the blockade a month ago in the General Assembly.

The US blockade has a huge negative impact on the Cuban people’s everyday lives and has caused Cuba’s economy losses for over 751 billion dollars.

The US government’s hackneyed argument that this is a “bilateral issue” is demolished by the blockade’s extraterritoriality as it affects companies and citizens from third countries, making of it an actual economic war.

Sources 1 2 3

Also See

NZ Cuban Embassy Press Release October 27th 2010

Blockade Resolution Ready

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For the nineteenth consecutive year, the General Assembly of the United Nations will vote on a Cuban resolution demanding the end of the almost 50-year-old US blockade against the islan9

Prensa Latina news agency reports that the UN General Assembly will vote on the document as part of the discussion on topic 41 of the agenda under the title “Necessity to End the Economic, Trade and Financial Blockade Imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.”

The text of the resolution reaffirms the principles of equal sovereignty among States, non interference in domestic affairs and freedom of trade and international navigation.

It also rejects the approval and implementation of laws such as the Helms-Burton Act, “whose extraterritorial effects damage the sovereignty of other states and the legitimate interests of entities or individuals.”

The document mentions that a similar resolution has been approved by the UN General Assembly on 18 previous occasions. It also refers to other declarations and accords adopted by several intergovernmental forums, international organizations and governments rejecting the implementation of this kind of unilateral measures.

The text urges all states to abstain from passing and implementing similar regulations and to comply with the principles included in the Charter of the United Nations and international law.

Finally, it asks the UN General-Secretary to prepare a report on the compliance with the resolution to present it during the 66th ordinary period of sessions of the UN General Assembly.

Last year, 187 countries voted to lift US blockade against Cuba while only three voted against (United States, Israel and Palau) and two abstained (Marshall Islands and Micronesia).

According to conservative estimates, the blockade has cost the island more than 751 billion dollars.

Source

Also see

Cuba is the Second Haiti

Cuban Parliament Calls for World Solidarity against US Blockade

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The Commission for International Relations of the National Assembly of the People's Power (Parliament) called upon the international community on Tuesday to demand the end of the economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba.

Ramon Pez Ferro, president of the commission, presented the members of this working group the draft of the call, unanimously approved after being read by Deputy Yenielys Vilma Regüeiferos at the island's Parliament office.

The document asks for the solidarity of parliaments and peoples from around the world, so they request their respective governments their support for Cuba at the United Nations, when there are only a few days left before the discussion at the UN General Assembly of the Cuban resolution against the blockade.

The absolute truth some intend to conceal –reads the call- is that for over 200 years the United States has tried to control Cuba's destiny in the face of Cubans' determination to live in a free, independent and sovereign nation.

The text recalls that that indefensible US policy against the island caused the death of 3,478 people and disabling injuries to another 2,099, as a consequence of terrorist acts.

Also see
> US Blockade Affects Cuban Civil Aviation
> US Economic Blockade: Without Change
> Call for Lifting the Blockade and Repeal of the Common Position

The Blockade Shoots to Kill and Wounds Everyone

No Cuban escapes from the effects of the blockade. Age, sex, race, social position, education level, religious beliefs or political affiliation does not matter. Cuba does not exaggerate when it speaks of genocide. The economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States during the last 50 years targets all of us.

Time has turned this measure a part of our daily lives. Millions on the island do not know any other way of living under this terrible measure and the Cuban people have done miracles to resist and open paths towards development and leave imperialism with the desire of destroying the Revolution or starving out the Cuban people.

Click to read the Report

Effects of the blockade? It would be impossible to list, but it is visible at all times, everywhere, even in the psychic of the Cuban people. In the health care system it is particularly painful. But in education no one escapes the blockade, because in a country like Cuba where human rights is fully guaranteed to its population, everyone goes to school and even after graduating we are all still tied to the sector in one way or another.

Since the literacy campaign in 1961, experiences and achievements have turned Cuba as a source of reference in the world as how to work in the field of quality education and its accessibility to all.

The National Literacy Campaign of 1961 is recognized as one of the most successful initiatives of its kind, mobilized teachers, workers, and secondary school students to teach more than 700,000 persons how to read. This campaign reduced the illiteracy rate from 23% to 4% in the space of one year

Despite the blockade, education is still there, intact and Cuba shares its experiences with other nations in the world. What affects education is its quality, because not one single child has been left without a school or teacher and this information is found in Cuba´s report on Resolution 64/6 of the UN General Assembly entitled: “Necessity to End the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”.

More ...

By María Elena Álvarez

Want more on the 1961 literacy campaign?  - download

Perspectives on the Cuban National Literacy Campaign

(PDF)

Harlem Commemorates Historic Fidel Castro-Malcom X Meeting

The meeting 50 years ago between the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, and U.S. civil rights fighter Malcolm X, was commemorated Sunday in Harlem´s Hotel Theresa, NY.

The celebration included , exhibitions of photos and newspapers from that time, and confereces by speakers such as Rosermari Mealy, author of the book Fidel and Malcom X: Memories of a Meeting, published in 1993.

A very special moment will feature young graduates from the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) in Cuba, who will pay tribute to the late Rev. Lucius Walker, an icon of the solidarity with Cuba movement.

In September 1960, the leader of the Cuban revolution traveled to New Cork to address the 15th UN General Assembly, but faced the hostility of the Dwight Eisenhower administration (1953-1961).

Due to problems with ensuring the Cuban delegation's safety, Fidel moved to the black neighborhood of Harlem and stayed at the Hotel Theresa, where the two leaders met on September 19.

Sources: RHC

Checkout Fidel speaking in Harlem 1995

U.S. blockade Causes Billions in Losses

The  blockade has cost Cuba over 750 billion dollars in direct economic damage

The U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade has cost Cuba over 750 billion dollars in direct economic damages in half a century, reads a report introduced today by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla.

This figure reveals that despite there is a new US government, allegedly inspired by the philosophy of change, there hasn’t been any change in its policy towards the island, said the Cuban Minister.

Rodriguez Parrilla presented today to the domestic and foreign press the report on the subject that Cuba will take to the 65 regular session of the UN General Assembly.


An act of genocide

He called the blockade an act of genocide that has extraterritorial reach, since its unilateral sanctions would have a widespread effect on business outside the U.S. territory over third countries and their citizens.

He denounced that Cuba continues being prevented from exporting or importing goods and services freely to or from United States; it cannot use the US dollar in international transactions or have accounts in that currency in banks of third countries, and it is not allowed access to credit from U.S. banks , its subsidiaries and institutions under its control.

He cited statements made to NBC by the economic adviser to President Barack Obama Lawrence Summers, according to which, the lifting of the embargo, as he euphemistically call it “will depend on what Cuba does”

No intention to change

 “It is clear that the United States government harbors no intention to change in its policy toward Cuba, or to comply with the repeated resolutions of the General Assembly of the United Nations calling for its removal,” said the minister.

On the contrary, he said, they still cling to interventionist unacceptable conditions and requirements as a condition for a correction of their strategy.

Although he had a considerable political support in Congress, in the press, public opinion and the business sector, President Obama has been far below the expectations of its prerogative to alter significant aspects of policy, he said.

It is a smoking mirror the claim that the U.S. president cannot change the economic, commercial and financial siege that has lasted half a century, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Violation of basic international norms and continued political subversion
 
However, he warned, the current U.S. administration, violating basic international standards, continues using political subversion as a weapon in its confrontation with Cuba and approved, to promote such programs, 40 million US dollars for the 2009 and 2010 fiscal years

In 2009 representatives of 187 countries showed their support to Cuba at the Un General Assembly, with only three against: U.S., Israel and Palau, the last two dependent on the first.

The 65 session of the General Assembly of the United Nations began on Tuesday and there will be a debate with the participation of Heads of State and Ministers of Foreign Affairs. It will run from September 23 to the 30.
Source

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Report By Cuba

On Resolution 64/6 of the United Nations General Assembly

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United Nations Documents

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly
62/3. Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba


Reports of the Secretary-General at the United Nations on the Us Blockade Against Cuba

2005    2006   2007  2008