Cuba denounces US hostility before UN vote on blockade

Cuba on Sunday denounced mounting United States (US) hostility towards the island two weeks before the United Nations (UN) General Assembly vote on a non-binding resolution calling for an end to the nearly six-decade blockade on the Caribbean country.

In the last few months, Washington escalated the "hostile rhetoric" against the island to create greater bilateral tension, said a statement by Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, director of US affairs at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"Far from discussing the basis of respect...the US Government resorts to fraudulent accusations and defamatory campaigns," Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

The statement added that Washington continued to "fabricate" false accusations against Havana like health incidents that affected US diplomatic personnel based in Cuba.

In August 2017, there were reports that the US and Canadian diplomats in Cuba had fallen ill in Havana back in late 2016. The US later accused Cuba of committing unspecified health-related attacks.