Cuba presents latest case to UN for lifting U.S.-led embargo

Cuba Tuesday presented its latest report to the United Nations General Assembly, calling for an end to the U.S.-led economic embargo.

Similar document has been presented annually to the UN General Assembly, which each year votes in favor of a resolution calling for an end to the embargo, said state daily Granma.

In presenting the text to reporters, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Abelardo Moreno said the embargo violated human rights of Cubans, and "worse still, it has turned into a financial war ... against Cuba."

The embargo, launched in 1962 by then U.S. President John Kennedy and enforced by every U.S. administration ever since, has caused a total loss of more than 116 billion U.S. dollars to Cuba's economy, Granma said.

That did not include the economic loss from fines on Cuba and other countries or companies doing business with the country, said Moreno.

"The fines imposed by the United States and its current administration add up to more than 11.5 billion dollars," he said.

"The pursuit of financial entities for supposed violations of the embargo against Cuba, and the imposition of billions in fines, has become an instrument of U.S. foreign policy," he added.

Similar reports have been presented for a UN vote for the past 22 years.

In 2013, 188 countries voted in favor of the resolution and only two countries, the United States and Israel, voted against it.