10 examples of how the US blockade hinders Cuba's efforts to combat the COVID-19 epidemic.

@vonderleyen @JosepBorrellF @PhilHoganEU @wallacemick @lukeming

The US economic blockade prevents the purchase of medical supplies and technologies that contain more than 10% of US-made components.

US multi-national companies and others that use North American components are the main producers of medical equipment and instruments worldwide

Cuba does not have access under similar conditions to other UN member states to the resources and technologies necessary to fight the global pandemic.

Constant fines and sanctions against third countries and their companies (including EU banks and businesses) hinder Cuba's commercial operations, including the purchase of medical supplies and technology.

The arrival in Cuba of charitable donations, remittances and humanitarian aid is hindered by the restrictions imposed by the blockade on banks, shipping companies and airlines.

The prohibition of entry into the United States of ships that have passed through Cuban ports makes the costs of all Cuban commercial operations difficult and expensive, and many of them impossible due to the onerous costs that Cuba has to bear with the shipping companies.

The impossibility of using the dollar and the United States financial system for the international transactions that Cuba must carry out, makes food purchases more expensive due to the additional cost of banking services derived from the use of other currencies.

Fuel shortages as a result of the extraordinary measures imposed by the United States in 2019 against shipping companies, ship owners and insurers that previously transported oil to Cuba, impair the operation and rapid response capacity of the health system.

The blockade sanctions have a marked extraterritorial impact, with the capacity to hamper Cuba's economic and commercial relations with practically any other country.

The international community has an almost unanimous position of rejecting the US economic blockade against Cuba, which the North American government ignores with apparent impunity.

US multinational companies that offer free software to users around the world are not permitted to offer these products to Cuban residents. Every download offered by them requires users to agree not to share the software with anyone in Cuba.