According to AP, Cuba is recognizing that the U.S. embargo of the island has cost the nation over 4 billion dollars over the last year.

Cuba’s losses increased from July 2005 to July of this year because the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has steadily tightened the embargo at the same time Cuba’s economy is growing and spending more money abroad, Vice Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez told a news conference.

He cited tougher U.S. scrutiny of Cuban nickel exports and of Cuban use of dollars in international transactions. The government claimed a loss of US$2.8 billion for the mid-2004-2005 period.

The Cuban foreign minister calls the embargo “a policy which causes suffering”.

In addition to lost trade revenue, Cuba is also missing out on the potential boon of U.S. tourism to the island. Visits made by Cuban-Americans also fell this year by half, from 200,000 to roughly 100,000.

According to the Cuban government, the island has lost over 86 billion dollars in trade revenue since the embargo was first imposed in 1960.

Via / International Herald Tribune