Cuba condemns US for increasing embargo, “suffocating” economy
The Cuban government has condemned the US decision to expand the list of Cuban businesses banned from doing business with US companies, accusing Washington of plotting to strangle the Caribbean island nation's economy.
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| Illustration photo. Source: Progresso Weekly |
According to a VNA correspondent in Havana, in a statement posted on the official website of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, the Director of the US Affairs Department of the agency, Fernández de Cossio, emphasized that the above list of the US is "absurd" and essentially aims to continue to increase the embargo, besiege the Cuban economy and attack Cuba with dishonest accusations.
On November 14, the US State Department announced the addition of 26 Cuban businesses to the list of restricted businesses with US citizens, most of which are hotel businesses in important tourist destinations in Cuba.
In addition, this list also includes 5 amendments to companies that were on the list issued by the Trump administration a year ago, as 3 companies on the list changed their names. Thus, the list of Cuban entities and companies that are restricted from doing business with US businesses has reached 205 units. The US State Department announced that it will continue to update this list periodically.
Cuba and the United States officially resumed diplomatic relations in 2015. However, relations between the two countries later deteriorated when President Donald Trump took office and implemented policies that reversed his predecessor Barack Obama's efforts to mend relations with the Caribbean island nation.
In November 2017, Washington announced a series of measures to tighten the embargo on Cuba, including restricting travel by Americans to Cuba, as well as limiting business ties between US entities and Cuban organizations and businesses linked to the Cuban armed forces and the Ministry of the Interior.
The Cuban government announced that the economic damage caused by the US embargo had reached more than 4.3 billion USD from April 2017 to March 2018, criticizing the embargo as "a systematic violation of human rights".
In its annual report released at the end of August on the economic, financial and trade embargo imposed by Washington, the Cuban Foreign Ministry said that "this failed policy" is the main obstacle to the development of the Caribbean island nation. The report stated that the total economic losses over the past 60 years amounted to 933.6 billion USD./.
