CELAC Nations Urge US to Scrap Economic Blockade of Cuba

The leaders of Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) urged US authorities to lift economic embargo against Cuba during the summit with EU authorities. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa claimed that such kind of economical pressure is "illegal and inhumane".

BRUSSELS, (Sputnik) — The leaders of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) urge the United States to lift its "illegal and inhumane" economic embargo against Cuba, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said Thursday.

An EU-CELAC summit took place in Brussels on June 10-11, bringing together over 60 European, Latin American and Caribbean heads of state or government to discuss hot-button issues of mutual interest.

"We praise the recovery of [US-Cuba] diplomatic relation, but first this illegal and inhumane blockade should be canceled," Correa said following the two-day summit in Brussels.

In December 2014, US President Barack Obama announced that the United States is seeking to normalize its relations with Havana, including potentially lifting the trade embargo, which was introduced in 1960 after the Caribbean country nationalized property that belonged to US citizens and corporations.

According to the country's Deputy Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno Fernandez, as of March 2014, the economic cost of the US blockade to Cuban residents had cumulatively amounted to $116.8 billion in lost trade.