US embargo cost Cuba $4.6 billion

U.S. sanctions cost Cuba $4.6 billion last financial year, the government said on Friday, and called on U.S. President Barack Obama to do more to ease the pressure in the spirit of improved relations between the two countries, Reuters  reports.

According to the source, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez made the comments at the launch of an annual campaign for a United Nations resolution condemning the U.S. trade embargo put in place after Cuba's 1959 revolution, but which has softened a little under Obama.

“The blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba persists. The blockade is the main cause of the economy's problems and obstacle to development,” Rodriguez told reporters at a news conference.