UN rapporteur urges halt to ‘suffocating’ US sanctions as they reshape life in Cuba
United Nations Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan has said the “suffocating” US sanctions must be stopped as they reshape life in the Republic of Cuba.
Douhan, on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, said during a media conference in Havana, Cuba, on Friday that the ongoing US sanctions are “suffocating the social fabric of Cuban society.”
The United States maintains a comprehensive economic embargo on Cuba, preventing American businesses and citizens from doing trade or commerce with Cuban interests since 1960, after the Cuban Revolution led by leftist Fidel Castro.
The UN rapporteur criticized the US sanctions against Cuba, pointing out that the decades-long embargo is “causing significant effects across all aspects of life” in the Latin American state.
Douhan said that US sanctions have caused shortages of food, medicine, electricity, water, essential machinery, and spare parts in Cuba, while a growing emigration of skilled workers, including medical staff, engineers, and teachers, is further straining the country.
The UN Special Rapporteur noted that the “extensive regime of economic, trade and financial restrictions” against Cuba is the longest-running unilateral sanctions policy in US history.
“As a result, generations of Cubans have lived under unilateral coercive measures, which has shaped the country’s economic and social landscape,” Douhan said in a statement released on Friday.
Washington’s imposed measures have progressively tightened since 2018, with further sanctions imposed on the already existing ones, Douhan said.
She added that there was also a significant intensification in 2021 following Cuba’s re-designation as a so-called “state sponsor of terrorism.”
The UN Special Rapporteur pointed out that other countries and international companies comply with the US embargo in an effort to avoid being targeted with secondary sanctions.
Douhan said the US sanctions affect the Havana government and the nation in their ability to make long-term plans, “suffocating the social fabric of Cuban society.”
The top legal expert condemned the US sanctions, saying the accumulative effect of the cruel sanctions on the Cuban nation has had “severe consequences for the enjoyment of human rights, including the rights to life, food, health and development.”
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