U.S. blockade against Cuba causes loss of billions of dollars

HAVANA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Thursday denounced the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade against his country, which has caused a total loss of over 159 billion U.S. dollars over 60 years.

"Between March 2022 and February 2023, the damage from the blockade totaled more than 4.8 billion dollars, which is 405 million dollars a month or 1 million dollars every two hours," he said at a press conference regarding the most recent report on the U.S. blockade.

According to Cuban data, over 80 percent of Cubans were born and have lived under the U.S. blockade which started in February 1962 and have caused serious difficulties to Cubans' daily life.

The official said the "blockade has a lethal impact, depriving the country of the financial resources that would allow it to undertake the modernization of the electric system."

On Nov. 1-2, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is expected to consider a Cuban draft resolution on the need to put an end to the blockade for the 31st consecutive time.

Since 1992, Cuba has presented a resolution condemning the U.S. blockade every year at the UNGA, which has been widely approved by the international community.

In the last vote in 2022, 185 countries supported the Cuban resolution, while Ukraine and Brazil abstained, and only the United States and Israel voted against it.