By Mario Villar

United Nations, Sep 26 (EFE).- Cuban President Raul Castro made his debut in the United Nations Saturday demanding an end to the U.S. embargo on the island, which he considers “the chief obstacle to the economic development” of his country.

In his first speech at the U.N., Castro said the renewal of diplomatic ties between Cuba and the United States plus the changes decreed by U.S. President Barack Obama “constitute an important step forward.”

“Nonetheless, the economic, trade and financial blockade against Cuba has continued for over half a century,” he said in his speech at the Sustainable Development Summit being held at the United Nations.

According to Castro, the embargo “causes harm and hardship to the Cuban people,” affects other nations and also hurts American companies and citizens.

As it has done every year for more than 20 years, Cuba is urging the U.N. General Assembly to pass a resolution critical of the embargo, a text that normally obtains majority backing, but which, for the first time, could pass without a U.S. vote against it.

According to Cuba, since the U.S. embargo was implemented in 1962, it has cost the island a total of $833.7 billion.

The Cuban president, who was greeted with enthusiastic applause by participants at the summit, slammed the “unacceptable levels of poverty” in many parts of the world, the growing economic gap between north and south, and the increasing “polarization of wealth.”

“The instability of many regions is rooted in the plight of underdevelopment in which two-thirds of the world’s population lives,” he said

In that regard, he noted that the development achieved in the 15 years of the Millennium Goals has been “insufficient” and its rewards have been “unequally distributed.”

“Amid the current economic and financial crisis, wealthy individuals and multinational companies get richer all the time, while the number of the poor, the unemployed and the homeless rises dramatically due to the cruel policies that go by the name of austerity,” the Cuban president said.

Following his speech on Saturday, Castro will speak at the General Assembly again next Monday, when Obama will also be present after arriving Sunday in New York.

The Cuban president has already made use of his visit to New York to meet with, among others, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and with such U.S. authorities as New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo. EFE