World
Cuba Once More Seeks U.N. Condemnation of U.S. Embargo
[Reuters]
Marilina Barcesia, who is four-month’s-old, rests in the arms of her mother at the William Soler Children’s Heart Center as she waits for surgery in Havana October 7, 2013.
(Reuters) – For the 22nd consecutive year, Cuba will ask the United Nations to condemn the United States economic embargo against the island, a top Cuban official announced on Monday, accusing Washington of tightening sanctions in place for more than half a century.
U.S. President Barack Obama, who stated before taking office that he wanted to recast long-hostile U.S.-Cuba relations, has been a disappointment to the Cuban government, which expected him to do more to dismantle the embargo.
The embargo, fully in place since 1962, has done “astronomical” economic harm, Deputy Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno said during a news conference to present Cuba’s annual report on the damage wrought on the Communist-run Caribbean island by U.S. sanctions.
Last year the vote at the U.N. General Assembly was overwhelming, with 188 nations – including most of Washington’s closest allies – condemning the embargo. Only the United States, Israel and the tiny Pacific state of Palau supported it.
