India condemns continuing US blockade of Cuba

Betwa Sharma
United Nations, Oct 27 (PTI) India has joined other
countries of the world in condemning the five-decade long
embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba.
"Cuba has had to pay enormous extra cost, in the last
five decades for sourcing products, technology and services
from third countries located thousands of kilometers away,"
Communist Party of India leader D Raja, told the UN General
Assembly on Tuesday.
"The extra territorial application of the US embargo has
discouraged investment, technology transfer, and sale and
other forms of business collaborations between Cuba and third
countries," Raja said.
India joined other countries in voting for a resolution
that called for an immediate end to the US embargo on Cuba.
The US and Israel voted against the resolution.
"Permit me to reiterate India's opposition to unilateral
measures by countries, which impinge on the sovereignty of
another country," Raja said.
The Indian parliamentarian also pointed out that this was
the nineteenth year that the General Assembly was debating the
economic, commercial and financial embargo on Cuba.
"In all these years, this Assembly has repeatedly
rejected the imposition of laws and regulations with extra
territorial impact and all forms of coercive economic measures
that hurt the progress and prosperity of the world," he said.
For two decades, the US has ignored General Assembly
resolutions that have called on Washington to end the
embargoes that have been in place since the 1960s.
Defending the persisting restrictions on Cuba, US
representative, Ambassador Ronald D Godard said, "The US, like
all Member States, has the sovereign right to conduct its
economic relationship with another country."
"The US economic relationship with Cuba is a bilateral
issue and part of a broader set of relations meant to
encourage a more open environment in Cuba and increased
respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms," he added.
Godard also stressed that the debate in the General
Assembly was not helping Cubans and slammed Havana for
labeling the trade restrictions as genocide.
"We should not lose sight of that in a debate mired in
rhetorical arguments of the past and focused on tactical
differences-a debate that does nothing to help the Cuban
people," the ambassador said.
"My delegation regrets that the delegation from Cuba
continues, year after year, to inappropriately and incorrectly
label US trade restrictions on Cuba as an act of genocide."
Godard further said the US sold USD 533 million in
agricultural products, medical devices, medicine, and wood to
Cuba in 2009 – a year in which Cuba reported that the United
States was its fifth largest trading partner. PTI