Cuba has called for the United Nations to stop the United States from starting a war in the region, amid rising tensions due to a military build-up in the Caribbean to counter drug cartels.
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez made the announcement on Wednesday (17 September).
“I call on the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council to fulfill their obligations and to exercise their prerogatives under the mandate of the Charter to preserve peace in our region,” Rodriguez told a press conference in Havana to launch its annual campaign for a United Nations resolution condemning the trade embargo.
The foreign minister said fighting drug trafficking in the name of U.S. national security was a “crude and ridiculous pretext” for aggression.
“The United States is today the main financial centre and the primary centre for money laundering of foreign assets that originate from transnational organised crime, fundamentally drug trafficking,” he charged.
Tensions have been mounting between Washington and Venezuela, Cuba’s most important political and economic ally, after U.S. military strikes in the Caribbean on three boats out of Venezuela that it claimed were carrying drugs.
“The interception and destruction of boats, the extrajudicial killing of civilians, the interception of fishing vessels ... create a dangerous situation that threatens peace and security,” Rodriguez said.
For the last 32 years the United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly passed a non-binding resolution calling on the United States to lift its comprehensive sanctions regime on Cuba.
Rodriguez said “what is new this year is an international context characterised by increasing unilateralism ... and the strengthening of the U.S. aggressive policy against Cuba and against virtually every country on the planet.”
President Donald Trump has doubled down on sanctions, returning Cuba to a U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, tightening financial and travel restrictions and sanctioning third country nationals who host Cuban doctors.
Rodriguez blamed sanctions for the gruelling crisis the country is mired in, the worst economic downturn in decades characterised by shortages of basic goods, collapsing infrastructure and runaway inflation.
The Trump administration blames Cuba’s Communist system.
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U.S. President Donald Trump is addressing the UN General Assembly as world leaders gather in New York for the 81st session. Conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, global security and diplomacy set to dominate the event.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York on Wednesday, as Washington pushes for an end to the war in Ukraine and Kyiv and Moscow continue to strike energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready to halt strikes on Russian energy facilities if Moscow stops targeting Ukraine’s energy sector, critical infrastructure, and food exports, as he prepared to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in New York.
U.S. President Donald Trump said his team held a three-hour meeting with an Iranian delegation in New York that he described as “very good” and “productive”, with another round of talks scheduled soon.
The 81st UN General Assembly continues in New York on Wednesday, with another day of high-level speeches and diplomatic meetings. The wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, global security and international cooperation remain at the centre of discussions.
The 81st UN General Assembly continues in New York on Wednesday, with another day of high-level speeches and diplomatic meetings. The wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, global security and international cooperation remain at the centre of discussions.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has told the UN that Tehran will not surrender to U.S. pressure but remains open to diplomacy, responding to Donald Trump’s threat to “annihilate” Iran.
A former Seleka militia leader has been convicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of crimes against humanity for his role in the torture and persecution of suspected supporters of the former Central African Republic president, François Bozizé.
Saudi Arabia has restarted its East-West oil pipeline, bringing back an important route for moving crude from the kingdom’s oil fields to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York on Wednesday, as Washington pushes for an end to the war in Ukraine and Kyiv and Moscow continue to strike energy infrastructure.
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