Blockade Vs Human Rights
- Written by Lourdes Pichs, Jorge Fernández and Calixto González
- Published in Holguin
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Depriving people, communities, a country of their rights to health, education, food, housing or cultural development... is to condemn them to deprivation and even take away their right to life.
This is the case with the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba, a massive, flagrant and systematic violation of the human rights of the people, which in recent years has increased with the application of more than 240 coercive measures and the fraudulent inclusion of the Island on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Here, the impact of this policy in various sectors of Holguín province:
Health
Well-being and life are priceless; hence the impact of the blockade on the people of Cuba is incalculable, where one of the most affected sectors is Public Health, which is distinguished by its universal health coverage with Primary, Secondary and Tertiary care, without distinction of skin color, creed and geographical location, economic, social or political situation.
In Holguín, although medical services are maintained, some services have been reduced due to the impossibility of acquiring essential resources for the stable functioning of hospitals, polyclinics, dentistry clinics and vector control.
To list some examples, it is essential to start with the deficit of absorbable and non-absorbable sutures, supplies and expendable material, which prevents surgical activity and has increased the waiting list, both for adults and children.
Historically, the province exceeded 85 thousand operations per year, at the end of October, it accumulated about 65 thousand 500, of them more than 36 thousand seas, despite the problems faced.
Dr. Miguel Colas Logui, director of Medical Assistance at the Provincial Health Directorate (DPS) of Holguín, explained that “by not being able to acquire calibrators and controls for the quantification of cyclosporine and Tacrolimus for kidney transplant patients, as well as custodiol, sutures specialized equipment and surgical instruments, has led to the paralysis of organ transplant activity for the second consecutive year in the province.”
Added to this is the impossibility of obtaining parts and accessories for high-tech medical equipment, currently paralyzed, as well as equipment for videoendoscopic surgeries, which imply less expenditure of resources and better patient recovery.
One of the most affected programs is Oncology, whose patients face, among other shortages, cytostatics. On many occasions, it is impossible to carry out the combinations planned in the treatments, which affects their quality of life. Surgeries also are postponed due to the lack of necessary materials in surgical units. 
Likewise, the impossibility of obtaining a children's cystoscope leads to carry out other types of studies and the most complex cases, which could be resolved in the pediatric hospital, must travel more than 700 kilometers to be treated in Havana.
There is a lack of pacemakers, catheters for the management of renal failure and hemodialysis; osteosynthesis material and total hip and knee prostheses, intraocular lenses for implantation, bags for blood donations and transfusions, raw materials for nationally produced and imported medicines, sphygmomanometers in offices and the network of polyclinics and hospitals consultations , tires, batteries and spare parts for medical transport.
Even under these conditions, it is worth highlighting the efforts and creativity of professionals, technicians, nursing staff and workers in general in the sector, to maintain notable health indicators, such as infant mortality in children under one year old.
Industries
Holguín's industries do not escape the negative effects caused by the blockade in different sectors and, a large part of them, stay afloat thanks to the innovative capacity of their workers, who offer accurate solutions to limitations.
Acquiring most of the raw materials becomes a Homeric mission, due to the obstacles that Cuban entities suffer and their possible negotiations at an international level.
“Our polygraph industry has suffered restrictions with paper supply, which increases the cost of entry to Cuba for the entire journey it must take, due to the blockade. These factors cause losses and negatively affect the payment of workers,” said María Dolores Domínguez Escalona, general secretary of the provincial bureau of the National Union of Industrial Workers. 
For her part, Oliday Frías Vega, representative in Holguín of the National Union of Food Industry and Fishing Workers, referred to the consequences of this policy that considerably affects the industrialization and distribution of food.
“The products destined to support medical diets and care for vulnerable sectors are limited due to obstacles in production due to this hostile policy, which causes a chain of limitations,” she said.
The industries have technological obsolescence, since importing spare parts is extremely complicated, due to an unjustifiable measure that insists on attacking the Island.
Tourism 
The blockade directly affects Tourism, one of the main sources of income to the Cuban nation.
Regarding some of the damages to the sector in Holguín, Carlos Álvarez Infante, commercial specialist of the Tourism Delegation in the province expressed: “They prohibit people subject to US jurisdiction from attending or organizing professional meetings or conferences in Cuba. Violating this provision can result in an American being sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and fines of $250,000.”
The United States could be one of the main tourist issuers to Cuba, as Dominican Republic and Mexico. “So far in 2023, more than 750 air operations have arrived at Frank País International Airport, both charter and regular; However, of a total seating capacity of 135,896, only 41.1 percent have been occupied.”
Álvarez pointed out that the entry of American cruise ships to Cuba has also been prohibited since 2019. 
Likewise, Cuba is unable to use international online platforms for tourism marketing, such as Booking.com and Expedia. There are also limitations to accessing supplies abroad and the delay in bringing them to the Caribbean country affects the maintenance of equipment in hotels, among other activities.
Other actions of the U.S. government are related to the closing of foreign accounts of Havanatur, the International Group of Tour Operators and Travel Agencies, a leader in the promotion and marketing of Cuban tourism products.
Holguín is one of the main sun and beach destinations in Cuba and where many natural, heritage, cultural and historical riches come together, with a hotel plant of more than 7,900 rooms, more than 90 percent four and five stars and the projection of growth by 2030 of up to 1.5 times in relation to the current one, in more than 11,170 new rooms.
Sports 
Apart from the internal deficiencies, the economic siege damages the sports movement of the Greater Antilles, as has happened in 2023.
For example, in the province of Holguín, resources are scarce to better serve athletes from the base in terms of food, equipment, clothing and competitions. Likewise, national and local competitive events have been suspended.
There are many sports activities in the province, related to activists, correspondents, a sports history symposium and others, that could not be carried out this year, due to lack of budgets due to the blockade.
On different occasions, we have referred to the lack of bullets for the training in Havana, of the best active athlete in Holguín, the champion and Olympic runner-up Leuris Pupo, in rapid fire pistol, at 25 meters. 
However, there would be fewer injuries of stars and promises of the Cuban sports movement, since the athletes who emigrate seek to improve their professional and economic possibilities, which their blocked Homeland cannot offer them.
