Under US pressure, Cuba appeals for international help

HAVANA: Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla asked the international community for urgent help to prevent disaster in his country, which is under a US energy blockade, in a speech to the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

"I call on the international community to mobilize to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe that could be imposed through arms or the fuel blockade," Rodriguez said.

He added, "now should be the time for solidarity with Cuba."





US President Donald Trump has openly mused about taking over communist Cuba, saying that after the US attack in January that ousted Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, Havana could be his next target for military action and big change.

Due in part to a US trade embargo imposed after Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, Cubans have suffered dire economic conditions for years, with shortages of food, medicine and other basics. Nationwide power blackouts are common.

Things got worse when Trump cut off the supply of oil from Havana's ally Venezuela after the ouster of Maduro.

The Trump administration tightened the screws last week by indicting Raul Castro over the downing of two small US-based planes in 1996, fueling fears the United States was seeking a pretext to overthrow the government in Havana.

The day after the Castro indictment was announced, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Cuba that the United States was laser-focused on changing the communist system.

On Tuesday, Rodriguez called the indictment politically motivated and denied US allegations that Cuba poses a national security threat to the United States.

"It is an idea that goes against logic and common sense," he told the council. "Let Cuba live in peace."
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