Saturday, November 4, 2006

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP): Russian lawmakers unanimously condemned a United States trade embargo against Cuba on Friday as "a flagrant violation of human rights" and called for international help to end the blockade.

All 432 members present in the State Duma, Russia's lower house, voted in favour of the resolution which urged other world parliaments to join Moscow in condemning the sanctions and in exerting pressure on Washington.

Leading Cuban officials visiting Russia expressed their gratitude to Moscow for adopting the resolution.

"I am particularly grateful for this resolution that condemns the unacceptable and illegal trade embargo on Cuba by the United States," Ricardo Alarcon, chairman of the Cuban National Assembly (parliament), told the Duma.

Friday's resolution is similar to previous ones adopted over a decade ago which likewise condemn the US embargo imposed in 1962 after Cuban leader Fidel Castro defeated an unsuccessful CIA-backed invasion.

The trade blockade has been steadily tightened under US President George W. Bush's two terms despite overwhelming calls in the United Nations to end the sanctions.

"I thank you in the name of all Cuban people, victims of political genocide," Cuba's Ambassador to Russia, Jorge Martinez, said, reading Havana's official reaction to the Russian resolution.

"The progress of the Cuban people is a reality that no one would be able to dispute."

Castro, 80, communist Cuba's only leader for nearly five decades, handed power to his brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro, 75, before intestinal surgery in late July.

When questioned about the health of the ailing leader, Alarcon said that Castro was recovering and was "in good spirits".

"He is resting a lot, but he is attentively following world events. I spoke to him last night," Alarcon added.

Raul Castro welcomed Russia's Prime Minister Mikhail Fradov to Cuba in September, the first visit by a Russian leader in over 15 years and during which a series of mostly economic agreements were signed.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, economic relations between Russia and the island nation have been quite limited, in large part due to Havana's debt to Moscow, which some Russian analysts have put at 26 billion dollars.

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