Cuba blasts US Cold War sanctions, condemns genocide policy.

The United States government officially announced recently that it is once again extending its decades-long comprehensive trade embargo against Cuba, maintaining the harsh Cold War-era sanctions. The move immediately triggered strong dissatisfaction and an angry backlash from the Cuban Communist Party government. In an immediate response through official channels, the Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs issued a scathing condemnation, blasting Washington's decision as unjustifiable and directly characterizing the long-standing embargo policy as a "genocidal policy." He argued that the U.S. action is deliberately and continuously inflicting devastating blows on the lives of the entire Cuban population, highlighting the deep-seated hostility and structural contradictions between the two countries that have frozen relations over a long period.

Tracing the origins of this long-standing economic sanction, its roots date back to the early 1960s. At that time, under the leadership of Fidel Castro, Cuba moved toward communism and nationalized a large number of U.S. enterprises and assets in Cuba, prompting the administration of U.S. President John F. Kennedy to officially implement a comprehensive trade embargo against Cuba in 1962. Over the following decades, the embargo underwent multiple amendments and intensifications. The most notable among these was the Helms-Burton Act passed in 1996, which not only prohibited U.S. companies from trading with Cuba, but also expanded the scope of sanctions to third-country enterprises conducting business with Cuba. This effectively imposed a near-suffocating economic blockade on Cuba, making it one of the longest-running single-country economic sanctions in the world today.

For Cuba, the embargo—lasting more than half a century—has long been deeply embedded in every corner of its domestic economy, causing incalculable structural damage. The Cuban economy is highly dependent on imported food, medicine, and basic industrial raw materials. However, the U.S. sanction network leaves Cuba facing roadblocks everywhere when seeking international financing, procuring critical medical supplies, and conducting cross-border financial transactions. In recent years, Cuba has faced even more severe crises, including an energy crisis, soaring inflation, and an extreme scarcity of daily necessities. Havana authorities have long blamed all domestic economic imbalances, material shortages, and livelihood hardships directly on the U.S. economic blockade, believing that Washington is attempting to use the creation of civilian hardship to incite internal unrest and ultimately overthrow the current regime.

However, when maintaining the embargo policy, the official stance of the U.S. government is typically anchored in promoting human rights improvements and democratic transition in Cuba. Washington consistently maintains that until the Cuban Communist Party regime releases political prisoners, stops suppressing dissidents, and opens the door to genuine democratic elections, it is impossible for the United States to lift or ease the sanctions. Successive U.S. administrations, regardless of political party, have largely viewed economic sanctions as a necessary tool to pressure Havana. Although a brief thaw in bilateral relations and the restoration of diplomatic ties occurred during the presidency of Barack Obama, subsequent changes in the U.S. administration caused related exchanges to stall once again, with policies even taking a sharp turn back toward tightening, demonstrating the high degree of sensitivity and rigidity in domestic U.S. politics regarding the Cuba issue.

The U.S. decision to extend the embargo for another year not only shatters once again the faint hopes from the outside world that bilateral relations might see a softening, but also adds insult to injury for Cuba's already precarious economy. In the international community, this embargo policy has long been highly controversial. Over the past many years, the United Nations General Assembly has repeatedly passed resolutions by overwhelming majorities calling on the United States to end its economic, trade, and financial blockade against Cuba. However, these resolutions carry no legal binding force, and Washington continues to act as it pleases. As U.S.-Cuba confrontation heats up once again, the plight of the Cuban people striving to survive in the cracks is unlikely to be eased in the short term, and the long, hostile game of chess between the two countries will continue to reach a stalemate on the international political stage.

(Source: Central News Agency)