Managua, April 11 (Prensa Latina) The Cuban ambassador to Nicaragua, Iliana Fonseca, today denounced the hostility of the United States blockade against her country and affirmed that it constitutes a policy of permanent aggression.
In a meeting with members of the National Assembly (Parliament), the diplomat explained the law on trade with the United States’ enemy, the legal basis for which the economic, commercial, and financial siege imposed on the island for more than six decades has been underpinned.
In this regard, he referred to the Torricelli (1992) and Helms-Burton (1996) laws, legal instruments that became a strangulation mechanism towards Cuba.
Both regulations seek to eliminate all forms of economic support for the Caribbean nation and seek to legalize intervention in its internal affairs.
During the presentation, which was attended by the legislative board of directors, as well as the Nicaragua-Cuba parliamentary friendship group and other guests, the ambassador also addressed the maximum pressure policy pursued by the Donald Trump administration (243 measures) and Joe Biden.
Fonseca explained to the Nicaraguan deputies the difference between “embargo” and “blockade,” pointing out that an embargo is a technical-legal term, while a blockade is “an act of war that seeks to cut off, close off, and isolate communications with the outside world in order to achieve the surrender of the besieged by force or starvation.”
Along these lines, he outlined the prohibitions imposed by Washington’s unilateral measure against Havana and noted that Cuba cannot import or export to the northern nation.
Furthermore, Americans are prohibited by law from traveling to the island; Cuba cannot conduct transactions in dollars, nor does it have access to credit from international institutions.
Likewise, he clarified that no products with Cuban components can be exported to the United States, while the largest of the Antilles can only access products that have less than 10 percent American components.
The diplomat described the blockade as a violation of international law and an act of unilateral aggression, as well as a threat to Cuba’s stability.
“It constitutes a massive, flagrant, and systematic violation of human rights. Given its stated purpose and the political, legal, and administrative framework on which it is based, it qualifies as an act of genocide,” Fonseca emphasized.
For their part, the Nicaraguan deputies expressed their solidarity with Cuba, while reiterating their condemnation of the aforementioned policy, which affects all sectors of the Caribbean country’s political, economic, and social life.
According to the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is unacceptable, legal, and unethical for a small country to be subjected to a criminal policy of suffocation for decades, with economic damages exceeding $164.141 billion at current prices, and $1.499 trillion, considering the value of gold on the international market.
According to the most recent report presented by Cuba to the United Nations, between March 2023 and February 2024 alone, the blockade caused damage to the island estimated at approximately $5.568 billion.
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