The accumulated losses from more than six decades of the blockade exceed US$150 billion.

On Wednesday, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez denounced the United States for exerting diplomatic pressure on numerous countries to change their stance ahead of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly vote on the economic blockade imposed on the island.

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According to the Cuban minister, Washington’s actions are intensifying in the lead-up to the debate scheduled for October 27 and 28, when UN member states will again vote on the draft resolution calling for an end to these sanctions.

Rodriguez stated that the current discussion is taking place against a backdrop of a tightening blockade and noted that, for the first time, the General Assembly will also address the effects of the energy blockade imposed on Cuba.

The foreign minister maintained that the U.S. measures are affecting Cuban foreign trade and are part of a strategy designed to create economic and social hardship in order to generate instability in the country.

During a public appearance, the Cuban foreign minister asserted that he possesses documents evidencing efforts to influence foreign governments to change their vote on the resolution presented by Cuba.

As the cruelty of collective punishment continues, Cubans are standing together against the shortages caused by the U.S. blockade.

Watch how hundreds of community groups are helping Cubans get the medicine they need 👇 pic.twitter.com/0NdgM0mM29

— Cuban Americans For Cuba (@Cubans4Cuba) October 21, 2026

According to Rodriguez, these documents include messages that deem the blockade legitimate. The minister also denounced threats of sanctions against sovereign countries, including trade measures, restrictions against officials, and other forms of political and economic pressure.

He also rejected claims that, he said, attempt to link Cuba to the conflict in Ukraine, calling these accusations “false” and part of a “smear campaign” against the Caribbean nation.

Rodriguez asserted that these actions reflect the international isolation of U.S. policy toward Cuba and recalled that, according to calculations presented by Havana to the United Nations, the accumulated losses from more than six decades of the blockade exceed US$150 billion.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | In Cuba, over a million students return to school, marking an achievement for the nation's education system amid ongoing United States aggression. pic.twitter.com/oMCCt8jRPD

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) September 4, 2026

teleSUR: JP

Source: teleSUR

European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno has announced a hunger strike to draw international attention to the humanitarian disaster in Russian-occupied Oleshky in Ukraine’s Kherson Oblast, she wrote on X on 20 October. The Italian lawmaker called on associations, citizens, and institutions to join her and demand a humanitarian truce, food and medicine for residents, and safe evacuation for those who want to leave.

Russia has occupied the left bank of the Dnipro in Kherson Oblast since 2022. Its forces have cut Oleshky off, leaving its remaining residents short of food and medicine, Ukrainian officials and UN monitors say. Oleshky had about 24,000 residents before the full-scale invasion. About 1,700 remain, including 47 children, Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said. Picierno’s protest adds to growing international pressure after Pope Leo XIV asked Russian leader Vladimir Putin for a truce to help the town.

“This battle cannot be mine alone”

In Oleshky, thousands of people are trapped in territory occupied by the Russian army, without regular access to food and medicine, Picierno wrote. Mined areas make escape extremely dangerous, she added.

“Those who stay risk dying of hunger, those who try to leave risk their lives,” she wrote. “To draw international attention to this emergency, I have announced a hunger strike. But this battle cannot be mine alone.”

She said the campaign is meant to support the efforts of Pope Leo XIV and others trying to avert a humanitarian tragedy. By the morning of 21 October, 277 people had joined the initiative, Liga reported.

Picierno, who left Italy’s Democratic Party in June and joined the Renew Europe group, has backed military aid to Ukraine, tougher sanctions on Russia, and Ukraine’s bid to join the EU, according to Liga.

A town Kyiv calls a “death trap”

On 16 October, Pope Leo XIV expressed deep concern to Putin about the situation in Oleshky. He asked for a truce so that food and medical aid could be delivered and civilians could leave voluntarily and safely.

A day later, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross to help evacuate residents.

“Russians are trying to turn the Ukrainian town of Oleshky into a death trap,” Sybiha wrote. “Dozens of bodies lie in the streets or in homes, as Russians forbid residents from burying them.”

Ukraine has flown tons of food into the town by drone. Russian troops seize some of the parcels and accuse the people who receive them of cooperating with Ukraine, local officials say. A resident said eggs there cost nearly 20 times the US price.

Evacuation talks “moved forward”

Talks with Russia on a ceasefire and evacuation are at the stage of “agreeing the final details,” Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on 18 October. He estimated that about 6,000 civilians, including up to 200 children, remain in Oleshky and six nearby settlements. He gave no timeline.

On 20 October, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was doing everything it could to help people in Oleshky, calling the situation there “simply terrible.”

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