Cuban envoy says US pressure is deepening island’s crisis

Cuba’s ambassador to Iceland, Raúl Delgado, says US measures have made the country’s economic crisis more severe than ever before. He spoke to Morgunblaðið during a recent visit to Iceland.

Delgado visited at the invitation of the Iceland-Cuba Friendship Association and discussed Cuba’s situation at a public meeting at Friðarhúsið, a meeting house. He said the country was “walking through a dark valley” because of measures ordered by US President Donald Trump.

Those measures include a broad oil blockade, expanded economic sanctions and diplomatic efforts to isolate Cuba in order to force changes to its socialist system. The article says the US has also threatened tariffs against any country that sells or ships oil to Cuba. Mexico and Venezuela, Cuba’s main oil suppliers, have halted nearly all shipments, contributing to prolonged power cuts, fuel shortages and a severe crisis for residents.

The Trump administration has also sought to persuade other countries to vote against an annual United Nations resolution condemning the US trade embargo on Cuba, according to the article. US diplomats have been accused of using pressure and threats, including possible visa restrictions. The next vote on the resolution is scheduled for 28 October.

Delgado said Cuba had been under a US trade embargo since 1961. He cited a statement by then US assistant secretary of state Lester Mallory that, he said, described depriving Cubans of necessities and causing hardship as a way to weaken public support for the revolution. The embargo formally took effect on 7 February 1962.