The State Duma called on the UN to end the US blockade of Cuba

State Duma deputies adopted an appeal to the UN General Assembly on the need to end the trade, economic and financial blockade of Cuba by the United States, should from the Duma electronic database.

The draft resolution was registered in the database on October 19 and then sent to State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. In the text of the statement, parliamentarians protest against Washington’s actions, which are expressed in “systematic attempts to intimidate” Cuba and in “depriving its people of the material resources necessary for a decent life.”

“The illegal actions of the American authorities against the people of the Republic of Cuba negatively affect their well-being, jeopardize the right to a dignified existence of millions of Cubans, harm their health, cause moral and physical suffering, and limit their ability to receive vital medical care. Artificially provoking a humanitarian crisis through a blockade creates conditions for an increase in the number of premature deaths and a decrease in the birth rate,” the text of the document says.

In addition, State Duma deputies drew attention to the fact that the sanctions imposed by the United States against Cuba “prevent the building of equal and mutually beneficial relations” between the republic and other countries in various fields. At the same time, sanctions could not stop the people’s desire to gain independence.

Volodin also noted that last year, when considering the issue of lifting the blockade, 185 countries voted for lifting it, only two were against: the United States and Israel.

The trade and economic embargo against Cuba was introduced by Washington in 1962. In mid-October, Foreign Minister of the Republic Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla notedthat the total damage to Cuba from the blockade amounted to about $159 billion.