Physical Address
Indirizzo: Via Mario Greco 60, Buttigliera Alta, 10090, Torino, Italy
During a press conference held on Saturday in Algiers, the Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to Algeria, Héctor Igarza Cabrera, implacably denounced the repercussions of the “criminal” blockade imposed by the United States for more than sixty years, a few days before the examination by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) of the draft resolution calling for its lifting.
As the 80th session of the UNGA approaches, which will take action on October 28-29 on Cuba’s report on resolution 79/7 entitled “Need to lift the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America on Cuba”the Cuban ambassador Héctor Igarza Cabrera, wanted to explain, at the headquarters of his embassy, the firm position of his country. In his speech, the diplomat recalled that this resolution, presented for the thirty-third time, benefits from “almost unanimous support from the members of the United Nations”. In this sense, he declared that the demand for lifting the blockade “is now universal”, but that “the American government persists in the application of a cruel and illegal policy which violates international law”. “No sector of Cuban society escapes the effects of the blockade. The majority of the Cuban population was born and lived under the constant siege of this criminal policy, which directly affects their well-being, quality of life and rights,” said Igarza Cabrera.
In this circumstance, Igarza Cabrera, as an example, cited the internal memorandum of US Undersecretary of State Lester Mallory, dated April 6, 1960, as “irrefutable proof of the criminal and inhuman nature of the blockade.” This document “recommended, roughly speaking, weakening the economic life of Cuba, provoking hunger and despair in order to overthrow the government, freely chosen by its people,” he explained.
The ambassador castigated the obstinacy of a policy which he describes as “total economic war”. He cited, among its effects, the drop in external income, the drop in tourism, the disruption of international medical cooperation, the shortage of fuel leading to power outages, as well as obstacles to family remittances, foreign investments, trade and cooperative relations with other countries. It should be noted that “the tense economic situation and in particular the bans on the purchase of medical devices have hampered the ability of our health system to meet the needs of the population,” he lamented.
According to the figures presented, the blockade would have cost Cuba 7.556 billion dollars between March 2024 and February 2025, an increase of almost 50% compared to the previous year. In this regard, the ambassador said that in the absence of the blockade, Cuban GDP would have grown by 9.2% in 2024. The total losses, he indicated, are estimated at 170 billion dollars, and taking into account the evolution of the dollar against the value of gold on the international market, “the blockade caused quantifiable damage of 2 trillion 103 thousand 897 million dollars.”
In the same spirit, the ambassador highlighted the serious consequences of the blockade, citing the paralysis of banking transactions, the rupture with suppliers, the increase in logistics costs and industrial and technological shortages. He then protested against the ban on using the dollar in Cuba’s international transactions and the restrictions linked to products containing more than 10% of American components – which cannot be exported to Cuba – as well as products of Cuban origin or incorporating more than 10% of Cuban materials, which the United States prohibits from purchasing, even if they come from third countries. Furthermore, he described the application of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act as an “unacceptable instrument of extraterritorial coercion”. Another strong point, the diplomat also recalled that the American ESTA visa waiver program is no longer valid for people who have visited Cuba, which “hardly penalizes the tourism sector”.
Furthermore, he was indignant at the “unjustified and arbitrary” nature of the inclusion of Cuba on the American list of countries supporting terrorism, describing it as a malicious initiative motivated by political calculations. In this wake, the Cuban representative denounced the tightening of the system under the Trump administration, which returned to power. According to him, his decisions prove that Washington still uses the blockade as a tool of political blackmail and economic domination. Contrary to certain “fallacious” assertions, Barack Obama and Donald Trump “are of the same nature”, the ambassador also insisted, explaining that the apparent differences between their policies towards Cuba were more of style than substance.
Moreover, the ambassador shined the spotlight on the broad diplomatic support that Cuba benefits from. He also mentioned many recent events illustrating the growing isolation of the United States on this issue. “Between June 2024 and September 2025, several international organizations reaffirmed their opposition to the blockade imposed on Cuba. The Non-Aligned Movement, the G77, the G77+China, as well as the African Union have successively called for its lifting, while at the UN, many heads of delegation have condemned this policy and denounced the inclusion of Cuba on the American list of states supporting terrorism,” he recalled.
At the end, the diplomat reaffirmed that the American blockade constitutes “an act of genocide and a systematic violation of the human rights of the Cuban people.” While expressing his country’s gratitude for the international support, Igarza Cabrera called for “strengthening global mobilization against this unjust policy.” And to conclude: “International support for Cuba remains massive. We know that, like every year since 1992, Algeria will maintain its vote in favor of lifting the blockade.”