Havana. Cuba suffered losses of more than 5 billion dollars between March 2023 and February 2024 due to the United States sanctions against the Caribbean nation, according to a report from the island’s government released this Wednesday by the authorities and which will be delivered to the United Nations.
“From March 1, 2023, to February 29, 2024, the blockade caused material damages and losses to Cuba estimated at around $5,056.8 million, which represents an increase of $189.8 million compared to the figure reported in the previous report,” calculated the document that annually evaluates the impact of the economic sanctions imposed by the United States on the country.
The Cuban government annually prepares a report entitled “Need to end the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba” and presents it to the United Nations so that countries can express their opinion on the sanctions.
The report is expected to be presented in Cuba at a press conference on Thursday by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, but authorities released its content on official websites on Wednesday.
“It is estimated that, had the blockade not existed, Cuba’s GDP at current prices could have grown by around 8 percent in 2023,” the report said. “These data show that the current challenges of the Cuban reality would have a better and easier solution if Cuba could have access to the considerable resources that the blockade deprives it of.”
The island is going through a severe economic crisis, the worst in decades, as a result of several combined factors such as sanctions, difficulties in restarting production and services – especially tourism – after the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a package of internal reforms implemented by the government that unleashed inflation and shortages.
After an 11 percent drop in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020, the Cuban economy grew by just 1.3 percent in 2021 and 2 percent in 2022, before contracting by 2 percent in 2023.
The US sanctions imposed in the 1960s during the Cold War were intended to put pressure on Cuba to change its political model. Washington relaxed them during the Barack Obama administration, when diplomatic relations were even reestablished, but they were severely tightened by his successor Donald Trump and left almost unchanged by the current White House president, Joe Biden.
During last year’s diplomatic exercise at the UN – reports were submitted as far back as the 1990s – 187 countries voted in favor of the resolution to lift sanctions against Cuba, while two voted against – the United States and Israel – and one abstained, Ukraine. The mandate issued by the multinational forum is not binding.
The sanctions against the island affect all sectors, from health and education to tourism and industry, as they target potential partners, force the use of expensive freight and impose financial fines, among others.
According to the Cuban report, the damage amounts to about $421 million per month and about $13.8 million per day.
#Cuba #reports #losses #billion #dollars #annually #due #sanctions
– 2024-09-15 21:13:09
