Cuba labels U.S. embargo a 'genocidal act'

Cuba labels U.S. embargo a &#039;genocidal act&#039;

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last updated 8 January 2015

The U.S. economic embargo imposed on Cuba in 1962 is continuing to stunt the country's development, and Deputy Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno went so far as to call it a "genocidal and vile act" that has deprived the country of $1.1 trillion.

The Cuban government's annual report to the UN on U.S. sanctions states that "the damage to Cuban foreign trade between April 2013 and June 2014 amounted to $3.9 billion," a number Moreno says amounts to "implacable persecution," since the embargo affects tourism, access to the internet on the island, and prevents the developing country from providing services to its struggling population.