State Duma members approved a statement addressing the parliaments of UN member states and international parliamentary organizations.
The statement accused the United States of consistently ignoring UN General Assembly anti-embargo resolutions for the last 16 years, breaching commonly acknowledged principles of international law, the UN Charter and free international trade.
The MPs said the continuous blockade had grave consequences for the country, particularly in healthcare, education, culture, science, transport, power generation and agriculture.
The lawmakers said in their statement that the inhumanity of the economic blockade had been made especially clear by the damage caused by Hurricane Ike in September and Hurricane Gustav in late August, which is estimated at $5 billion.
The hurricanes severely damaged the country's agricultural sector, communications and housing. At least seven people were killed and thousands were left homeless.
The legislators accused the United States of giving the Cuban leadership unacceptable political demands as a condition for humanitarian aid, which Washington formally agreed to offer and which Cuba refused to accept.
The MPs called for the lifting of the Helms-Burton Act that strengthened the U.S. embargo against Cuba in 1996, saying Cuba would then be able to buy food and construction materials from U.S. firms.
The parliamentarians called on the parliaments of UN member states and parliamentary organizations to offer help to the socialist Caribbean country in dealing with the consequences of the hurricanes without politicizing the issue.
