Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque presented a draft resolution in Havana on Thursday that will be subjected to approval by the UN's General Assembly on October 29. The motion is entitled "The need to put an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States against Cuba."
Perez Roque said Washington's more than 50-year-old blockade is the main obstacle hindering development in the country and is making it more difficult for the Cuban people to recover from the devastation that resulted from the hurricanes Gustav and Ike.
According to very conservative figures, the US policy has meant $93 billion in economic losses to the island since 1962 - with $3.7 billion in such losses in 2007 alone, said the foreign minister.
Perez Roque explained that this past year, the White House's anti-Cuba policy was dramatically strengthened with a set of irrational measures directed against businesses, banks and citizens from the US, as well as even third countries.
Under the Geneva Convention, the American blockade against Cuba can be called an act of genocide, stressed Perez Roque.
The Cuban Foreign Minister said Washington's apparent concern about the wellbeing of the Cuban people after the passing of the two hurricanes was a blatant advertising campaign that seeks to deflect the public opinion's attention from the growing demands for a change of its policy against Havana.
Perez Roque emphasized the Cuban government's recent appeal to be allowed to freely buy basic materials from American companies, since current American mechanism for the approval for licenses for certain American firms to sell limited amounts of food to Cuba is tortuous and bureaucratic.
Cuba also requested to be granted lines of credit, which are normal in all commercial dealings, explained Perez Roque, noting that Washington has not responded to the Cuban request, which has been officially presented three times by Havana.
The Cuban Foreign Minister said more than twenty countries have offered humanitarian aid, donations or have sent messages of solidarity to the Cuban people in the wake of hurricanes Gustav and Ike.