Damascus, Syria.- The Syrian Foreign Minister, Faisal al-Mekdad, today condemned the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba and described it as unjustifiable, unjust and cruel.

This siege, like the one imposed against my country, affects innocent people and their basic needs, he said in statements to Prensa Latina after his meeting with the Cuban ambassador to this Arab nation, Miguel Porto.

He added that Damascus rejected from the beginning this U.S. policy against Cuba, and welcomed the vote of 185 out of 193 member countries of the United Nations (UN) against this blockade in the General Assembly the 3rd of November.

This is an evidence that Cuba has gained the respect of the whole world, and all countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and even in Europe, hold it in high esteem, the Foreign Minister stressed.

According to Al-Mekdad, Syria’s condemnation of the blockade stems from its faith in just causes of the world, and ‘we consider that Havana has historically always unconditionally supported the peoples fighting for their liberation’.

He denounced the direct intervention by the United States in the two countries, which demands more unity to face common challenges.

In Cuba, the United States has the military base of Guantanamo and in our country they occupy the province of Hasakeh, where they plunder the riches of the Syrians: oil, wheat and cotton, said the minister.

He concluded his statement by describing the relations between Syria and Cuba as strategic at popular and governmental level, and ratified the will to work and promote them in all fields.

Syria and Cuba have 57 years of relations, which began on August 11, 1965.