Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez on Monday accused the United States of trying to trigger a “humanitarian disaster” in Cuba with an oil embargo that he described as an “aggressive escalation.” TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
- Cuba accused the US of causing a humanitarian crisis by blocking oil.
- The US considers Cuba an extraordinary threat to its security.
- Oil supplies from Venezuela and Mexico to Cuba were stopped.
The United States “is now imposing an energy blockade and intends to create a humanitarian disaster, using as a pretext the absurd claim that Cuba poses an unusual and extraordinary threat to its national security,” Rodríguez told the Geneva Conference on Disarmament.
Blockade of oil tankers
Cuba has not received oil from Venezuela since December, as US President Donald Trump ordered a complete blockade of tankers carrying this raw material from the South American country. With the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by special US commandos on January 3, Havana lost an important ally.
Trump called the Cuban government an “extraordinary threat” to US national security and threatened to impose tariffs on countries that continued to supply oil to Cuba. After this threat, Mexico stopped its deliveries.
Blockage response
This Caribbean country has been struggling with fuel shortages and power outages for many years.
“These are criminal and illegal acts that represent a ruthless collective punishment for the Cuban people,” stated the head of Cuban diplomacy.
The minister declared that Cuba does not threaten the United States or any other country.
“It is not Cuba that applies the strategy of national security and national defense according to the Monre Doctrine with the open goal of dominance, nor is it a country that deploys military forces and violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other states,” he stated.
The Monroe Doctrine
The head of the White House called the mentioned American operation in Venezuela an update of the Monroe Doctrine. It is a concept formulated in 1823 by the fifth American president, James Monroe.
“If we remain inactive in the face of these attempts to impose global tyranny, we will endanger all states, without exception,” Rodríguez said. According to him, Cuba is not attacking anyone, but will defend its sovereignty and independence.
Statement by the United Nations
She later told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that Cuba would avoid a humanitarian crisis but would have to endure “deprivation and hardship”.
In February, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed deep concern over the deepening socio-economic crisis in Cuba, which is taking place there in connection with the blockade of oil supplies by the US.
Last week, Trump declared that Cuba had become a “failed state” and called on Havana to strike a deal with the United States.
