Havana - The US blockade on Cuba, imposed for almost 60 years, has caused losses to the island of over 138.843 billion dollars at current prices, an official source denounced on Thursday.

From April 2018 to March 2019, Washington's economic war against the island caused damages amounting to 4.343 billion dollars, highlighted Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Rodrigo Malmierca in a tweet.

'Just how much more could we do if they let us be?' the minister stressed.

In mid-2019, local authorities assured that the accumulated damages during almost six decades of economic, financial and commercial blockade amount to over 933 billion dollars, taking into account the depreciation of the dollar against the value of gold in the international market.

Since the arrival of US President Donald Trump, US hostility has increased. Recently the Republican administration applied new restrictions on US citizens' trips to Cuba.

As part of that punitive policy, authorization for people-to-people educational group visits and licenses for passenger and recreational cruisers, as well as private and corporate airplanes, were removed.

Shortly before, the White House activated Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, which allows US nationals to file lawsuits before US courts against individuals and entities, including third countries, who 'traffick' in properties nationalized after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959.

These actions are part of Washington's strategy of trying to economically strangle Cuba by attacking foreign investment and tourism, key areas for the country.