Cuba accuses U.S. at UN of 'genocide' over blockade

Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez leveled accusations of "acts of war and genocide" against the United States before the UN Security Council, citing the ongoing energy blockade against the island. During a session organized by China, which currently holds the council's presidency, Rodríguez also condemned the recent U.S. indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro. The charges against Castro relate to the deaths of four pilots from the organization Hermanos al Rescate 30 years ago, including murder and conspiracy to kill Americans.

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an act of war and of genocide

Rodríguez characterized the U.S. charges as a "politically motivated, fraudulent decision" designed to mislead American citizens and garner support for military action against Cuba. He asserted that the intensified oil and energy blockade, which he equated to a naval blockade, constitutes an act of war and genocide. This collective punishment, he argued, subjects the Cuban population to conditions that threaten their existence, citing a doubling of the infant mortality rate for children aged four to nine and a reduction in cancer survival rates for children from 85% to 65%.

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a politically motivated, fraudulent and directed decision to deceive American citizens and foreigners

The Cuban minister highlighted that U.S. President Donald Trump has escalated the blockade, pressuring the Cuban government for profound economic and political reforms. The intensified oil blockade has triggered an energy crisis, threatening a humanitarian crisis and raising the possibility of military intervention. Rodríguez warned that such aggression would result in a "bloodbath," with thousands of Cubans dying in defense of their homeland and values, alongside young Americans drawn into violence by an "imperialist neofascist policy of domination, plunder, and conquest."

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This cruel and indiscriminate collective punishment causes deaths to this day: there is a doubling of the infant mortality rate from four to nine years and the life expectancy of children with cancer has been reduced from 85% to 65%.

Rodríguez appealed to the international community to mobilize to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, whether imposed by military means or through the extreme tightening of the energy blockade, which he stated also causes death and suffering. Despite the strong accusations, Rodríguez indicated that Cuba remains open to dialogue with Washington.

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A military aggression would cause a bloodbath. Thousands of Cubans would die defending the homeland and sacred values and reasons, and young Americans would also perish without cause or ideal to defend, dragged into violence by a neofascist imperialist policy of domination, plunder, and conquest.