Convincing and heartbreaking evidence of the deadly effects of the blockade against Cuba resounded this Friday before the emblematic Tree of Life of the Casa de las Américas, in the voice of representatives of civil society.
Restrictions in various fields of public health such as oncology, cardiology and pediatrics; the limitations faced by people with disabilities and even the obstacles that harm private entrepreneurs, were exposed by its protagonists in a meeting promoted by the Cuban Association of the United Nations (ACNU).
“The blockade has a clear and specific interest in destroying us and undermines the fundamental human right to life, commented Norma Goicochea, president of the ACNU, when leading the debate.
The suffering of cancer patients whose medical care is damaged by the impossibility of acquiring or repairing technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease and of having the appropriate medicines, was explained by Dr. Jorge Juan Marinello, president of the scientific society of that specialty.
The director of the Cuban Pediatrics Magazine, Dr. Albia Pozo, also referred to the difficulties in treating infants suffering from epilepsy or leukemia, and Dr. Eduardo Rivas, from the Society of Cardiology, listed the devices that the country cannot access or its acquisition becomes more expensive.
A second panel addressed the effects of the blockade for people with disabilities, to the detriment of their inclusion and social integration that the Cuban government seeks to favor with public policies addressed by Belkis Delgado, director of social prevention at the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.
Representatives of organizations that bring together people with motor, visual and hearing disabilities detailed the problems in accessing wheelchairs, canes, mattresses and anti-decubitus medications; devices for reading or hearing, and sports implements for Paralympic athletes.
“The blockade weighs on all families, but even more so for those with someone with a disability,” said Osvaldo Domínguez, president of Aclifim.
Pedro Fuentes and Javier Barza, private entrepreneurs, narrated the obstacles that harm their enterprises due to the blockade, both to acquire supplies and to carry out their productions and services.
The consequences of US sanctions for the exercise of religious freedom and the enjoyment of spirituality by the Cuban people were not left out of the analysis, as explained by Reverend Joel Ortega Dopico, president of the Council of Churches of Cuba.
The meeting also supported an urgent appeal to President Biden to facilitate the reconstruction of the territories hit by Hurricane Ian, and approved a Final Declaration condemning the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the government of the United States of America on the Cuban people. .
Before the Tree of Life they denounce death blockade • Workers