UNICEF official recognizes damage to Cuba by U.S. blockade

By Juan Pablo Carreras

From the National News Agency

HOLGUIN – The United States’ blockade against Cuba is a direct attack on childhood and damages the entire nation, said in the eastern city of Holguín the representative of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), José Juan Ortiz Bru.

While analyzing the consequences of the actions by the United States against Cuba, the official of that international organization described them as cruel, because they impede Cubans’ full access to development, particularly the access of children, who are the population segment that is most vulnerable to hostile acts.

In statements to the NNA, Ortiz Bru, who this month ends his mission in Cuba, said that any measure taken in favor of children has added costs, because this country, as a society under siege, invests resources in its necessary defense that could have been employed for development in general.

The programs implemented through the United Nations also are affected by the U.S. blockade because they do not permit the purchase of several products that are absolutely essential for the preservation of life, stressed Ortiz, after a working visit to the city of Holguín.

As an example, he pointed to the Cuban government’s inability to buy some types of heart valves and anesthetics for children, as well as other items and resources.

Ortiz Bru, who has led UNICEF activities in Cuba for the past five years, promoted – along with the Public Health Directorate – the project “Learning To Live,” which had a positive influence on sexual education and the prevention of suicidal tendencies.

Other cooperative projects in the province of Holguín include the creation of the Mothers’ Milk Bank at the Vladimir Lenin Hospital, and the development of activities of a healthful, safe and educational nature in the coastal municipality of Gibara.

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, created in 1946 to aid European children after World War II became, seven years later, a permanent organization within the United Nations Organization system