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Hong Kong stocks soared on Thursday with the benchmark Hang Seng Index up 1.72 percent to close at 26,394.26 points.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index jumped 2.14 percent to end at 8,905.11 points, and the Hang Seng Tech Index surged 3.67 percent to 5,092.08 points.

The U.S. embargo against Cuba is violating fundamental rights and worsening shortages of food and medicine, Aleida Guevara, daughter of revolutionary leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara, said Monday in an interview.

Her comments came on the sidelines of an international solidarity conference in Berlin, where activists warned that the United States' decades-long blockade has shifted from a political tool to a humanitarian crisis, cutting off basic supplies and isolating Cuba from global trade.

"The blockade is one of the worst things that a country can experience, causing years of severe suffering for the Cuban people. The embargo should not affect food and medicine, but it hit those basic needs first -- food and medicine for the people. So for many years, we have faced constant shortages of supplies," she said.

Guevara, a pediatrician at a Havana children’s hospital, said U.S. sanctions prevent pharmaceutical companies from selling medicines to Cuba, directly harming public health. She added that Washington’s measures, imposed in the name of democracy and human rights, have instead created a humanitarian crisis.

"It is unacceptable that the U.S. is trying to prevent other countries in the world from engaging in free trade with Cuba. This is damaging every aspect of our lives. People's lives are affected. Food, medicine, and transportation -- everything is impacted," she said.

The embargo dates back more than half a century. Rooted in the Trading with the Enemy Act of World War I, it was formally codified when President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order in 1962, launching an economic, commercial and financial blockade that has survived 11 successive U.S. administrations.

Today, Cuba is enduring one of its worst economic crises since the 1990s. The island has suffered three nationwide blackouts in March, while gasoline shortages have crippled hospitals, slashed public transport, and strained essential services. Since January, the Trump administration has imposed new oil restrictions and repeatedly issued military threats, further tightening pressure on Havana.

Aleida Guevara’s comments carry symbolic weight given her father’s legacy. Born in Argentina in 1928, Ernesto "Che" Guevara trained as a doctor before joining Fidel Castro’s insurgency in 1956 to overthrow Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. After playing a leading role in the rebel victory, he left Cuba to pursue revolutionary struggles abroad, eventually being killed in Bolivia in 1967.