New York, 11 October 2019. From April 2018 to March 2019, the tightening of the blockade continued to be the nerve center of the U.S. government policy towards Cuba, with increasingly notable effects in its extraterritorial application. The U.S. strategy focused on consolidating confrontation and hostility, both on the declarative level and in the implementation of measures of economic aggression against the country.
The measures announced by President Donald Trump against Cuba as of 2017 have had serious repercussions on tourism, one of the strategic sectors in the economic and social development of the island.
The losses caused in the sector amount to some 383,000,000 dollars and are due, among other things, to the elimination of general permits for "People to People" group educational trips; and to the prohibition, as of June 2019, of permits for non-commercial aircrafts and passenger and recreational ships for temporary stays, including cruise ships, to visit the island.
In the telecommunications sector, the economic losses caused to the Cuban system of communications during the period under analysis are estimated at over 55,000,000. The Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (ETECSA) continues to be the entity that has been most affected, recording approximately 98% of the total amount of losses. It is worth mentioning that this company was a member of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) up to December 2017, the date on which a letter was received from the Legal Director of the GSM Association to announce the suspension of its membership in said organization. The executive alleged their obligation to comply with U.S. law regarding commercial sanctions against those providing services to Cuban companies.
In addition, Cuba is denied access to official information on first line technological sites, making self-train or long-distance training difficult. Such are the cases of Cisco, VMWARE, Google Code, Google Web Designer and Google Page Speed Insights. The blockade prevents access to high-end brands and/or equipment and leaders in the market of info-communications or those that are distributed or hold patents from U.S. entities, including landline phones, mobile phones, antennas, IT systems, and so on.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations