US extends blockade of Cuba for another year

China

US extends blockade of Cuba for another year

2024-09-19 16:28 Last Updated At：23:57

President of the United States Joe Biden has extended for another year the Trading with the Enemy Act, a 1917 regulation under which the blockade of Cuba was imposed, Cuban media reported on Wednesday.

The continuation of the exercise of these authorities with respect to Cuba for one year, until September 14, 2025, is in the national interest of the United States, Biden said in the brief memorandum sent to the Treasury Department, published in the Federal Register.

The Trading with the Enemy Act, enacted under the administration of Woodrow Wilson who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921 during the period of World War I (1914 to 1918), empowers the government in power in Washington to restrict commercial activities with any nation that they consider an adversary.

Based on this legislation, on February 7, 1962, Democratic President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 3447, which officially began an economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba that has survived 11 White House administrations.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Thursday that the blockade constitutes a massive, flagrant and systematic violation of the human rights of the Cuban people and the main obstacle to the country's development.

At current prices, the accumulated damages of the economic, commercial and financial blockade and trade embargo over the past six decades have amounted to the astronomical figure of 164.141 billion U.S. dollars, according to Rodriguez.

Since 1992, the United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly voted in favor of the resolution presented by Cuba to lift the blockade. Last year, the draft resolution was approved by 187 countries and opposed only by the United States and Israel, with Ukraine abstaining.

China expects Colombia's firm implementation of peace deal to achieve national stability: envoy

2024-10-16 11:09 Last Updated At：11:37

China expects all parties in Colombia will steadfastly implement the peace agreement to achieve national stability, peace and development in all aspects, said China's United Nations envoy Geng Shuang at a Security Council meeting on the peace process in Colombia on Tuesday.

At the meeting, the United Nations Security Council deliberated on Colombia's progress in implementing the peace agreement reached between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in August 2016.

"We expect and believe that all parties in Colombia, under the leadership of President Petro and the Colombian government, will demonstrate firm determination in implementing the agreement, overcome various difficulties and challenges, and form powerful resultant forces in the peace-building process, to ultimately achieve national stability, peace and development in all aspects," Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told the U.N. Security Council meeting.

According to the Chinese envoy, China proposed that Colombia should continuously unleash the dividends of development, consolidate the achievements of peace talks, and enhance its security capabilities.

"We support the Colombian government in effectively implementing policies to disarm armed groups and combat criminal gangs, increasing security force deployment in areas lacking effective control, and better protecting vulnerable groups such as former armed personnel, women, children, and ethnic minorities," Geng said.

In 2016, FARC, the largest anti-government guerrilla group in Colombia, signed a peace agreement with the government, ending over five decades of armed conflicts. However, some of its members splintered off, continuing to attack government forces, leading to a deadlock in the peace talks.