Thousands of Cubans Gather to Draw Attention to Upcoming UN Vote

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Thousands of Cubans Gather to Draw Attention to Upcoming UN Vote on US Embargo

Cuba's parliament speaker blasted America's four-decade embargo against the island nation as "genocide" on Saturday, as thousands gathered to draw attention to the upcoming U.N. vote to condemn the sanctions.

Ricardo Alarcon noted that 70 percent of Cuba's 11.2 million citizens were born after the United States imposed trade sanctions in the early 1960s in an effort to undermine Fidel Castro's communist government.

"It's a policy of genocide ... aimed at causing suffering and hunger," Alarcon said. The rally was the first major political gathering in Cuba since the 78-year-old president tripped and fell after a graduation ceremony speech in the central city of Santa Clara Wednesday night.


Among those in the audience was Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, who will travel to New York next week for the embargo vote scheduled for Oct. 28. For 12 consecutive years, the United Nations General Assembly has voted to urge the United States to end the embargo.


http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBG60THO0E.html