US policy of sanctioning coronavirus-hit countries ‘self-defeating’: Analyst

Washington’s policy of imposing economic sanctions on other countries amid the global fight against the new coronovirus pandemic is “self-defeating,” says an American political analyst. 

Dan Kovalik, an author and political commentator in Pennsylvania, made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Saturday, while commenting on decades-long sanctions that the US administration has unilaterally levied on Cuba.

The US blockade comes as the Caribbean nation currently struggles to acquire medical supplies with a recorded number of 564 COVID-19 infections and 15 deaths so far.

Cuba slams 'cruel' US sanctions amid coronavirus pandemic

Cuba has blasted "cruel" US sanctions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Other nations currently being harmed by US sanction in the midst of the pandemic -- notably Iran, Venezuela, Syria and North Korea – have condemned Washington’s inhumane measures.

“The US has had an almost total blockade against Cuba for over 50 years now; It has cost Cuba billions of dollars for its economy and cost its health care system as well… The blockade and sanctions are making it hard for Cuba to get the medicines they need and supplies they need to fully deal with the pandemic,” Kovalik told Press TV.

“This pandemic is global, if you hamper one country's ability to deal with a pandemic it's going to allow for the spread of the pandemic, you know beyond that particular country you sanction and so it's self-defeating in many ways, but this is the policy the US is pursuing even ratcheting up sanctions during the pandemic, and it's a cruel policy,” he added.

Attributing the sanctions to Washington’s intentions to trigger regime change in various countries, the political analyst went on to say that the policy is “one that seems to have no logic or reason behind it except to simply punish other countries that the US doesn't like. It depends on what the US wants. I mean, the US wants regime change in some of these countries.”

US hits Cuba with new sanctions over Venezuela

The United States says it is imposing new sanctions on Cuba over its support for the Venezuelan government.

The United States and Cuba severed relations in 1961 during the Cold War. Cuba has been under a US economic blockade for over 60 years.

In 2015, the US, under former President Barack Obama, restored diplomatic relations with Cuba. However, his successor, Donald Trump, began to partially roll back the historic rapprochement as soon as he took office in early 2017.

Trump has even tightened the blockade over the past couple of years. Most recently, it slammed more sanctions on Havana to try to prevent it from receiving oil from Venezuela -- another target of Washington’s hostility.

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