Cuba condemns lies and measures by the US that tighten the blockade.

247 - The United States government chose April 17th, the day Cuba defeated the US military aggression at the Bay of Pigs in 1961, to announce the adoption of new aggressive measures against Cuba and to reinforce the application of the Monroe Doctrine. This prompted an immediate reaction from the Cuban government, which issued an official statement highlighting the lies in declarations made by Trump administration officials and measures that intensify the blockade.

The Cuban government "rejects in the strongest terms the decision to allow, henceforth, legal action in US courts against Cuban and foreign entities outside the jurisdiction of the United States, and to tighten restrictions on entry into the United States for managers and relatives of companies that legitimately invest in Cuba, in properties that have been nationalized."

The Cuban government warns that "these are actions under the Helms-Burton Act, which have long been rejected by the international community, condemned by the Cuban nation since its enactment and implementation in 1996, and whose main objective is to impose colonial rule on our country."

Cuba also rejects the decision to once again limit remittances that Cubans living in the US send to their relatives and friends, to further restrict travel by US citizens to Cuba, and to implement additional financial sanctions.

The document states that the US government "blatantly lies when it claims that Cuba maintains thousands of military and security personnel in Venezuela, influencing and determining what is happening in that country."

The statement severely criticizes the Donald Trump administration: "The current United States government is recognized, both domestically and internationally, for its unscrupulous tendency to use lies as a tool of domestic and foreign policy. It is a habit that is consistent with old practices of imperialism."

The document concludes by reiterating the defense of Cuba's sovereignty, independence, and commitment to the cause of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.