25 Oct 2011

GA / CUBA

As the General Assembly for the 20th consecutive year overwhelmingly voted to end the US economic blockade on Cuba, Bruno Eduardo Rodriguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba said that “despite the false image of flexibility” portrayed by the Obama Administration, the sanctions “remain intact.” UNTV

Posted at: October 25, 2011 3:34 pm

Duration: 02:08

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: GA / CUBA
TRT: 2.08
SOURCE: UNTV 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ SPANISH / NATS

DATELINE: 25 OCTOBER 2011, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1.	Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

25 OCTOBER 2011, NEW YORK CITY

2.	Zoom in, General Assembly
3.	Wide shot, Ahamed walks to the podium
4.	SOUNDBITE (English) E. Ahamed, Minister of State for External Affairs of India:
"The nearly half-a-century-old US embargo on Cuba has brought immense suffering for the people. It has severely undermined the progress and the development of the country. The embargo, which perhaps has no parallel in history, is a transgression of the right of a sovereign State to development and to enjoy freedom of trade, economy and navigation."
5.	Zoom out, Rodriguez Parrilla walks to the podium 
6.	SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Bruno Eduardo Rodriguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba:
"In spite of the false image of flexibility which the current Government of the United States aims to portray, the blockade and sanctions remain intact and in full application and have in recent years accentuated their extra-territorial character. As a distinctive trait of President Obama's period, prosecution of Cuban international financial transactions have been reinforced, without respect for the laws of third countries or their Government's opposition." 
7.	Zoom out, delegates 
8.	SOUNDBITE (English) Ronald Godard, Senior Advisor for Western Hemisphere Affairs of the United States:
"This resolution and much of the stale rhetoric surrounding it, ignore some basic facts. As President Obama made clear last month, the United States is open to a new relationship with Cuba, if the Cuban Government starts taking proper steps to open up its country and provide the space and the respect for human rights that will allow the Cuban people to determine their own destiny."	
9.	Zoom out, voting board
10.	Wide shot, audience applause

STORYLINE:

The General Assembly today (25 October) renewed its call, for the 20th consecutive year, for an end to the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States against Cuba for the past half century.

E. Ahamed, Minister of State for External Affairs of India, in agreement with statements from the G.77 and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) told the General Assembly that the embargo "has brought immense suffering" to the people of Cuba and has "severely undermined the progress and the development of the country."

He stressed that the embargo is "a transgression of the right of a sovereign State to development and to enjoy freedom of trade, economy and navigation."

Introducing the text of the resolution, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Foreign Minister of Cuba, stated that the US has never hidden the fact that the objective of the embargo – which he said has caused more than $975 billion in damage to the Cuban people – is to overthrow his country's Government.

He pointed out that "in spite of the false image of flexibility" portrayed by the Obama Administration, the blockade and sanctions "remain intact."

He added that in recent years the sanctions have "accentuated their extra-territorial character", pursuing Cuban international financial transactions "without respect for the laws of third countries or their Government's opposition."

The US representative, Ronald Godard, said that for yet another year, the Assembly is taking up a resolution designed to confuse and obscure. Godard stressed that the economic relationship between the US and Cuba is a bilateral issue and is not appropriately a concern of the Assembly.

He said that President Obama is open to improved relations with Cuba, "if the Cuban Government starts taking proper steps to open up its country and provide the space and the respect for human rights that will allow the Cuban people to determine their own destiny."

The resolution was adopted by 186 votes in favour to two against (Israel and the US) and three abstentions (Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau), the Assembly reiterated its call to all States to refrain from promulgating and applying laws and measures not conforming with their obligations to reaffirm freedom of trade and navigation.

It also urged them to repeal or invalidate such laws and requested the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the resolution at the Assembly's next session, which begins in September 2012.