Aid organization Oxfam condemns US embargo on Cuba

The US embargo against Cuba affects the rights of women, adolescents and girls, Oxfam, a confederation of 20 independent charitable organizations focusing on global poverty alleviation, said Tuesday.

The embargo "deepens the economic crisis and blocks the Caribbean nation's access to international providers," Elena Gentili, Director of Oxfam on the island, said during the presentation of a report on the US embargo's impact on Cuba.

Gentili said that the US unilateral policy toward the island nation particularly harms private entrepreneurs and more vulnerable people.

Oxfam's report, which includes interviews and testimonies of women from across the country, highlighted the effective response of Cuba during the health emergency.

The US blockade "hinders the acquisition of raw materials and supplies required to confront the sanitary situation provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic in Cuba, including the mass vaccine production and medical treatments," it said.

First imposed in 1962, the embargo was tightened during former US President Donald Trump's administration, which banned US flights to Cuban cities except Havana, barred US cruise ships and yachts from visiting the Caribbean nation, and limited remittances that Cuban-Americans send to their families on the island.

The Cuban government will present its annual draft resolution against the embargo before the United Nations General Assembly in June. (ANI/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )