For the 30th year in a row the United Nations overwhelmingly voted to call for an end to the economic, commercial and financial embargo, imposed by the USA against Cuba.
The vote was a staggering 185 in favour with only the United States and Israel voting against. There were 2 abstentions, Ukraine and Brazil.
On October 19 Cuba released a report on the devastating consequences of the US blockade whose highlights included:
- Between August 2021 and February 2022, the US blockade caused losses to the Cuban economy in the order of 3.8 billion dollars, a figure 49% higher than that reported in the previous period (January-July 2021)
- It is estimated that Cuban GDP could have grown by 4.5% in these seven months in the absence of the blockade, which projected to a year represents about 8% growth
- Taking into account the damages reported between January-July 2021, in the first 14 months of the Biden administration the damages caused by the blockade reached the figure of 6.364 billion dollars, which represents more than 454 million dollars per month and more than 15 million dollars per day.
- "As a result, the performance of the Cuban economy has experienced extraordinary pressures that manifest themselves in industry, service services, retail, shortages of food and medicine and the deterioration of the level of consumption and general welfare of the population"
Once again, the result, which will almost certainly be ignored by the Biden administration, highlights that when the US talks about "international law" or a "rules based international order" they are talking about their rules and their laws and nothing else.