Carlos Salsamendi, Cuban Ambassador to The Gambia, on Thursday issued a press release on the sixteenth consecutive year resolution on the necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America on Cuba.

 This resolution will be dealt with at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
In his statement, Ambassador Salsamendi emphasised that last year, the resolution was approved by 183 of the 192 UN member states, with only four voting against and one absentee.

For forty-seven years, Ambassador Salsamendi added, the Cuban people have been suffering from the aggressive blockade policy against them by the United States government, which included acts of sabotage, fostering terrorist actions against Cuba and even the Bay of the Pigs Invasion, which was defeated by the Cuban people. He stressed that such hostile policies have been further strengthened by the present administration as a top priority on President Bush's agenda.

The ambassador justified his case, reflecting on President Bush's assertions at the White House, where he pronounced an unprecedented escalation of his policies against Cuba. He said Mr Bush confirmed that his true intentions are to change Cuba's system by force. Ambassador Salsamendi further pointed out that President Bush has also declared that in their future dealings with Cuba.

He condemned President Bush's actions, saying that he has no mandate to impose changes of legal and political systems that other people of the world have chosen for their countries. "It is an outright violation of our rights as an independent people," he said.
He refuted the statements by Mr Bush that in Cuba, it is illegal for more than three persons to meet without being authorised. "It seems that he hasn't watched one million Cubans, who gathered voluntarily in a rally and demanded for the end of the blockade," he said.

Ambassador Salsamendi, said Cuba has been elected to the Unesco  Executive Council by 157 votes out of 175, despite White House's opposition.
He said instead of President Bush announcing three new programmes for Cubans, including scholarships and export licences, he should include 12 points in his agenda.

"This should include respect for the rights of the Cuban people, immediate end of its policy of aggression and threats against Cuba, and cease stimulating the illegal immigration from Cuba, which is the cause of the death of hundreds of people, including children in high waters," he explained.

He then emphasised that the Cuban government's statement reminds President Bush that Cuba's sovereignty is not negotiable and that Cuba will never go down to bend on its knees before the US. He stressed that for Cuba, since the beginning of the revolution which was led by Fidel Castro, the word of order is "courage".