Cuba: Raul Castro calls on US to end embargo

(Baonghean.vn) - On Wednesday, January 28, President Raul Castro asked the US to end the embargo against Cuba to demonstrate progress in restoring relations between the two countries. This was Raul's first statement since the bilateral summit in Havana.

President Raul Castro on January 27, 2015. Photo: AFP/Roberto Sanchez

Fourth, in a speech at the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Summit in Costa Rica, Raul declared, “The main problem remains unresolved. The economic, commercial and financial embargoes are still causing great damage to people and property. At the same time, these embargoes are a violation of international law and must be ended.”

Wednesday, December 17th, made history for Cuba when both US President Barack Obama and his counterpart Raul Castro announced the normalization of relations between the two countries after many years of severance. It is known that during the Cold War, diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed since 1961.

President Obama announced that the embargo imposed on Cuba since 1962 will be reviewed by the US Congress. The White House hopes that the trade embargo on Cuba will be lifted by Congress before Mr. Obama's term ends in 2017.

The purpose of the US embargo on Cuba at that time was to "collapse" the Cuban government that had just been established after the revolution in 1959. Before the embargo, the US was considered the traditional market of the Cuban economy. However, decades have passed but it seems that the US's purpose in imposing the embargo has not achieved much effectiveness. Later, even President Obama had to admit that "The embargo has had relatively little effect and isolation has not been very effective".

Chu Thanh

According to Le Monde January 28