“The United States claims there is no blockade or energy embargo against Cuba. The Special Rapporteur’s report exposes the liar,” declared the island’s Permanent Representative to the HRC during the UN body’s 63rd session.

  Referring to the report by Special Rapporteur Zaina Jallad, the diplomat stated that, based on solid evidence verified during her visit to Havana, the Rapporteur concluded that these measures not only exist but are being steadily intensified and are causing enormous damage.

  The report also shows that this policy flagrantly, massively, and systematically violates the human rights of Cubans—including the rights to food, health, education, development, and life—the diplomat denounced.

  There can be no greater cynicism than suffocating a people while blaming others. The Rapporteur’s report proves that the United States lies when it attempts to hold Cuba responsible for the consequences of its own cruel acts, the Caribbean nation’s ambassador emphasized.

  The Rapporteur determined that, despite the Cuban government’s sustained efforts to protect the population and mitigate the impact, the coercive measures imposed by the United States are of such magnitude and persistence that they cause shortages of essential goods and services in Cuban households, the Permanent Representative explained.   Washington upholds that its policy toward Cuba is legal and that the blockade is an exclusively bilateral issue, Benitez noted in his address, which was followed by a long list of speakers supporting the Special Rapporteur’s report.

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