The US Imposes “Collective Punishment” on the Cuban People and Intends “Humanitarian Catastrophe” with the Oil Embargo
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez denounced on Monday the “dictatorship” imposed by the United States globally to “destroy” the order established after World War II and criticized the “collective punishment” inflicted on the Cuban people by the oil embargo imposed by Washington.
“It proclaims the philosophy of plunder as the exceptional and supreme right of the United States of America to conquest and the use of force as an inherent, natural, and everyday way of being. Beyond ideologies, all nation-states are in danger regardless of their cultural or political models,” Rodríguez warned during his address to the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Rodríguez also recalled that Venezuela, the world’s largest hydrocarbon reserves, “was vilely attacked.” “What will happen to critical mineral and rare earth deposits, water reserves, the Amazon, the seabed, the Arctic and Antarctic, the occupation of supposedly strategic enclaves, interoceanic passages, trade routes, and how weakness and opportunism fuel conquest?” he asked.
Regarding Cuba, Rodríguez emphasized that the January 29 executive order imposing an oil embargo on the Caribbean island constitutes “collective punishment of the Cuban people” and “aims to create a humanitarian catastrophe through the energy blockade.”
“Can a great power be allowed to attempt to destroy a small, peaceful nation, provoke a humanitarian tragedy, destroy its national culture, and subject a noble and compassionate people to genocide under the flimsy pretext of national security?” he asked.
In response, Cuba “will defend with the utmost vigor and courage, in close unity and broad consensus, its right to self-determination, independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and constitutional order,” he emphasized.
The Cuban diplomat stressed that “we are a conscious, educated, and courageous people, with highly qualified human resources and powerful and universal education, health, and science systems.” “We will prevent a humanitarian crisis in Cuba, even though we will endure hardship and suffering,” he concluded.
Rodríguez had a busy schedule on Monday, participating in a meeting of the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter (GADC), the High-Level Segment of the Conference on Disarmament, and meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
“We reiterate Cuba’s support for the promotion of and respect for multilateralism, the role of the UN, and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. We agree on the importance of strengthening international cooperation as a solution to present and future global challenges,” Rodríguez stated, referring to his meeting with Guterres.
“We express our concern about the accelerated global geostrategic reconfiguration, based on the US doctrine of imposing peace through force, and its immediate impact on countries of the Global South and on international peace, security, and stability,” he added.
