Cuba hits back at US after being told 'no request for assistance', Russia joins in statement opposing any embargo on Havana

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has asked the United States to lift its decades-long economic embargo on the Caribbean nation.

Cuba has asked the United States to lift the embargo that has been imposed on the Caribbean nation for decades.

On October 21, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said that the Biden administration has not received any requests for assistance from Havana following the damage caused by Hurricane Oscar.

Responding to the above statement, on October 23, the Cuban President wrote on social network X: “The US says we are not asking for anything. This is our request: lift the blockade.”

The leader also said that 41 countries and several international organizations "showed solidarity with Cuba - a country facing the double burden of the hurricane and the energy emergency with admirable resilience".

On October 18, the Cuban government said that an incident at the Antonio Guiteras Power Plant in the western province of Matanzas had caused the grid to collapse, causing a nationwide blackout. To date, Cuba has restored power to about 70% of consumers.

Regarding this issue, Sputnik news agency reported that on October 23, the Federation Council (Senate) of Russia passed a statement on the need to end the economic, trade and financial embargo against Cuba.

The statement, presented by Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Federation Council of Russia Grigori Karasin, stated that Russian senators asked the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and other international parliamentary organizations to promote the prompt implementation of relevant resolutions of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

Affirming that the vast majority of UN member states support the legitimate demand of the Cuban people for the abolition of the embargo unilaterally imposed by the United States, the Russian Senate made it clear that the blockade of Cuba is a clear violation of widely recognized principles and norms of international law, including the UN Charter.

The Russian Senate also supports the repeal of the Helms-Burton Act passed in the United States on March 12, 1996, because this document violates the sovereign rights of the Cuban people and the rights of Havana's foreign partners to free and mutually beneficial development of economic, trade and financial relations.

Russian senators also demanded that Cuba be immediately removed from the list of states sponsoring terrorism.

Since 1992, the UN General Assembly has systematically voted in favor of the adoption of relevant resolutions, but the economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba remains in effect. The UN is scheduled to continue discussions on the issue at the end of October.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/cuba-dap-tra-my-khi-bi-noi-chang-thay-yeu-cau-ho-tro-nao-nga-sat-canh-ra-tuyen-bo-phan-doi-moi-su-cam-van-havana-291157.html